“It went.”
“Ouch. That bad, huh?”
He gave her another one of those eye-crinkling smiles that made her feel unsteady on her feet. “No, not too bad, really. I’m just still getting a handle on it. I didn’t realize how often the kids would want to interrogate Santa. My favorite was, ‘Well, whycan’tI have a snow leopard for Christmas? It’s the only thing I want!’”
“You need a default ‘no dangerous wild animals’ policy.”
“Not to mention explanations for how I get everywhere in one night, whether I come to houses where no one celebrates Christmas, whether I like rich kids better—”
That last one made her wince.
“Exactly,” Wade said with great feeling. “It’s a lot to deal with. I bet Petey was better at it.”
“I bet he wasn’t.”
The strength of her reaction surprised her, because Petey had been a very good Santa: cheerful, lighthearted, and ready to roll with whatever hassles the day served up. But he didn’t take anything too seriously, and some of the kids’ questionswereserious. He could have rattled off an excuse for Santa’s “no snow leopards” policy without missing a beat, but would he have been able to tackle bigger questions about why life was unfair?
If she was a five-year-old whose wish was for her parents to get back together, or a seven-year-old from a struggling family who had just noticed that “Santa” seemed to bring a lot more gifts to her richer friends than he did to her, she would want Wade, not Petey. He felt like he would be the better choice for a broken heart.
Maybe that was one reason she was so drawn to him. Her heart wasn’t broken, but all her worries about taking care of her parents had chipped away it over the last few months. Petey could have distracted her from that ... but Wade comforted her.Helpedher. And he did it without even knowing what was going on with her.
“I bet you’re a great Santa Claus,” Mira said fiercely. “I’m sure the kids love you. And I know their parents do.”
“Because I bought them cookies,” Wade said with a self-deprecating smile. “Speaking of which, I should go settle my gingerbread tab.”
She swept the last of the snow into the dustpan, dumped it in the garbage, and followed along. It felt so natural to accompany him that she had to fight the urge to slip her hand into his.
Maybe she could get a hot cider to go, and that would help her throat. An hour ago, she would have said that all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep the rest of this day away, but being with Wade had given her a new burst of energy. She didn’t want to say good night to him, not yet.
Then again, this would be a bad evening for a first date. She sounded like a frog—and not one who could be kissed and turned into a princess.
“Hi, Natalie,” Wade said to the elf at the bakery stall. Mira was impressed that he’d learned everyone’s names so fast. “I need to settle up before you close for the night.”
“No, you don’t,” Natalie said with a genuinely elfin grin. “The parents all paid.”
Wade blinked. “But I told them it was free as a thank-you for them letting those kids cut.”
“You’re underestimating just how grateful they were to you for shutting down the endless rounds of ‘Jingle Bells.’ I think they guessed you would have to cover the costs, and they decided to make it easy on you.”
“Those weren’t the only families I sent over here, though.”
Natalie arched her eyebrows. “You mean all those times when you went over to give Mira a break?”
Mira had been plenty grateful then, but she could see how the parents wouldn’t be. There hadn’t always been an onslaught of “Jingle Bells” going on to make them feel like he was helping them as much as he was her. No wonder he’d bribed them a little.
“We took up a fund to cover that,” Natalie said. “You were helping a fellow elf, and we elves look out for each other. It’s the spirit of Christmas. And the spirit of the Elf Mafia.” She gaveWade a faux-intimidating look. “Believe me, you don’t want to reject the generosity of the Elf Mafia.”
“I would never,” Wade assured her. “Seriously, thank you all. That’s really nice. I wish I could thank the parents too.”
“You thanked them by saving their sanity.” Natalie waved them off. “Now both of you, get out of here.” Her smile took on a sly cast. “Didn’t Becky say the two of you were grabbing dinner together tonight?”
Becky had said no such thing, and Natalie knew it. Mira was sure she did. But when a bunch of teenagers decided to play matchmaker, there was no way of getting out of it. Her time in the Christmas Village had taught her never to underestimate the collective power of people who had grown up using group chats.
She had a thousand reasons to put off dating until after the holidays were over, and only good reason—Wade—to go ahead with it now. But Wade overpowered everything else.
Well, that and you reallydidn’twant to reject the generosity of the Elf Mafia. Everybody knew that.
“I’m good with dinner,” Mira said in her newfound croak. “If you don’t mind me sounding like this.”
