I hugged my pillow. Normally, it was a stand-in for Mr. Waddles. But tonight, the thought of Harvey brought me comfort. I remembered him hugging me by the sink, his arms enveloping my waist. Then, I pictured us horizontal on the bed, his bare back flexing as he kissed my chest. Waking up next to him had been better than expected, all sleepy smiles and twinkling eyes. Any fantasy with him, PG to X-rated, was a cure for my stress headache.
“You’re cute,” he’d say, and I'd hear, “You’re great.”
He’d hand me a cookie, and I’d feel like he loved me.
Visions of Harvey danced in my head. Tonight had been amazing. Hopefully, a future with him would be more than a sweet dream.
27
Smother
The next day, Chestnut raised his eyebrows, then stuck his phone in a cubby as I skipped into our cove.
“What?” I smoothed the back of my skirt, hoping I hadn’t flashed anybody with my enthusiastic flouncing.
“Someone seems awfully jolly,” he said.
“I have every reason to be.”
“True. You’ve got a hot guy, and I have a feeling you’ll sweep the Nice Bonus categories.” He ticked off his fingers. “Most Cheerful. Most Punctual.”
“You could win too if you weren’t sneaking in here all the time.” I bopped his nose with a candy cane.
Scrunching his face, he backed up and knocked his hat into a tree branch. “I need my sanctuary.”
“You need some caroling. Come on.” I led him out by the wrist and waved at some kids.
Frosty Santa nodded at us. “Thank you for retrieving him. We need to make sure our guests get their candy.”
“Absolutely. What do you want?” I dropped Chestnut’s wrist and dug into my pockets for two fistfuls of candy canes, then jokingly moved my hands around. “I can mix them up if you like variety.”
Frosty Santa shook his head, but he had a twinkle in his eye that I think meant aNicebonus for me. In some ways, his reserved charm reminded me of Harvey. My mind wandered back to my beautiful barista at every opportunity. Coffee cups, fussy kids, caps and hats…they all had a happy memory tied to my almost-boyfriend.
The patter of fast-approaching feet pulled my attention. A little boy called out, “Shelby.”
I braced myself.No, no, no.I was Sugarplum right now.
Joon slammed into my leg and grunted.
Another kid stepped out from his parents’ side. “Hey, no cutting.”
“More like crash landing,” I joked, patting my little cousin’s head. “Hi, buddy. Did you come to see Santa today?”
He nodded and scratched the inside of his nose. “Mom wants a photo. She said you could get us in quickly.”
“Idoknow Santa. But he’d put us on the naughty list if we didn’t wait our turn, don’t you think?”
He huffed and pressed into my leg. “I hate waiting.”
“Look how well all these other people are doing. They’re on the nice list.” I gestured to the line, but he seemed unimpressed. Another kid gave him the evil eye. “You don’t want to wake up with coal in your stocking, right?”
“Santa wouldn’t do that.” Joon took one look at Frosty Santa’s furrowed brow and clutched my skirt, shimmying behind me.
A few Christmas carols kinda implied Santa was the morality police. “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake…” It was all in good fun, of course. For most, it was a funsong celebrating the spirit of generosity and a subtle way to get kids to behave around the holidays.
I patted the side of Joon's head. “If you wait nicely, I’ll make extra Christmas cookies.”
His eyes widened. “The green ones?”
