Page 1 of Fated Midlife Christmas
1
“Wow. This is a huge turnout,”Amanda Quinn observed as she threaded her way through the crowd along Washington Square. Throngs of people were already lining up across the street from the Hawthorne Hotel. For early December, downtown Salem was unusually packed—busier, even, than it always was on Halloween. A brass band played nearby, and several vendor stalls had been set up along the street. Adults chatted while children tipped their heads back, staring up hopefully at the roof of the iconic building.
“What do you expect?” her cousin Kristy asked, her green eyes bright beneath her knit hat. For once, she wasn’t fiddling with a deck of tarot or oracle cards. “It’s not every day you get to see Santa arrive.”
“How long until he comes?” Sage asked, bouncing along as she held Tina’s hand. Her long locks had been carefully tamed into two braids, each tied with sparkling red ribbons at the end.
“Soon, I think. We’ve just got to find Aunt Chelsea and Uncle Beck. They’re supposed to already be here with Corbin,” Tina explained patiently. She lifted her head and looked through the crowd.
“Who was it that they said was coming?” Erin asked, rubbing a smearing of peanut butter and jelly off Arden’s chin. “I know Chelsea told me, but I’ve been a bit busy at the shop. Everyone wants holiday herbal teas, and I’ve been crafting some new ones for this year.”
“Someone that Beck knows,” Kristy replied. She reached absently into her pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. She looked at her gloved hands, frowned, and put the deck back. “From Norway, I think?”
“Those dragons really do get around,” Tina remarked.
Amanda smiled to herself. It was only in a place like Salem where you could mention a supernatural being in the middle of a crowd and not have anyone look at you sideways. By her appearance, no one would know that she could shift into a bear at any moment, nor that she could do magic, but the same was likely true of plenty of others in the crowd.
Sirens split the air as a fire truck slowly pulled up in front of the hotel, its lights flashing. Children began screaming, knowing that the special moment was getting closer.
Arden was starting to get really excited now. “A fire truck! A fire truck!”
Amanda looked around as they moved along South Washington Square. “I don’t see Chelsea anywhere.”
“Hang on. I just got a text.” Tina fished her phone out of her pocket. “She and Beck went to get some cocoa for Corbin. They were right near the entrance to the Commons, so we can just meet up with them when they get back.”
Fortunately, there was still some room on the circle of brick pavers right at the corner of the street, so the group settled in there. Amanda looked up at the darkness above the historical hotel. She hadn’t agreed to come because she was desperate to see Santa arrive in Salem. It was just about spending time with family. Something inside her stirred, though. Her bear wasfeeling a tad off. She looked at the crowd around them. Most of them were families and couples, many dressed festively. All of them looked happy, or at the very worst, a little chilly. Why was her bear so restless?
“Isn’t there just something about the holidays that makes you feel all cozy inside?” Tina said, rubbing her hands together and stomping her feet.
“Oh, definitely,” Erin agreed, her face soft as she looked down at her son, whose eyes were glued to the fire truck. “I even like getting cold just so I can get warm again.”
“It only feels that way because you’ve both found your mates,” Kristy suggested. “The holidays for the rest of us are just a reminder that we haven’t found ours yet.”
“Don’t think about it like that,” Erin said, her eyes full of worry. “You still have plenty of family all around you.”
But Kristy shook her head. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you didn’t have Jace! Family is great and all, and of course I love you guys, but it’s just not the same. I’m fine the rest of the year, but then I have to watch all the couples giving each other gifts or kissing under the freaking mistletoe.”
Tina, who had much more recently rediscovered her connection with her true mate, nodded. “You’re right. The holidays can highlight all the things that have gone wrong, especially if it’s been a minute since you’ve had…” She hesitated as she looked down at Sage, who was looking up at the hotel but still right there within earshot. “A goodmeal,” she finally finished.
Erin let out a snort of laughter. “Maybe I am a little spoiled. I’ve been getting served plenty of good meals for a while now.”
“Well-balanced ones,” Kristy asked, her eyebrow arched, “or fast food?”
“If it’s a busy week, sometimes you’ve just got to make sure you eat,” Erin snickered. “Then on the weekends, you canhave something that took a long time to cook, with premium ingredients.”
“Shouldn’t it be an all-you-can-eat buffet when you’ve always got someone to dine with?” Amanda asked.
All the women were laughing now. Fortunately, the kids seemed oblivious.
“You’re lucky because you know exactly where to go when you’re hungry,” Kristy told Tina and Erin. “There are plenty of places to eat in the world, but you have to try them to see if you’re going to like them. And most of them are pretty bad!”
“There should be a rating system,” Amanda suggested. “A place where you can just log in and find out if it’s worth sitting down at the table or not.”
Kristy was laughing so hard her eyes were watering now. “The last place I ate only served appetizers. No main course!”
Amanda braced herself on Kristy’s arm as she wheezed. “At least you had that! It’s been so long for me that I need a full Viking feast!”
As they cackled with laughter, a man standing in front of them turned around. His dark blond hair was carefully combed to the side and back, revealing a creased brow and piercing blue eyes. Those eyes looked straight into Amanda’s as the corner of his mouth tipped up in amusement, accentuating his rugged, square jawline.
