Shedoessense the mate bond!his polar bear said jubilantly.She knows we belong together, even if she doesn’t knowhowshe knows.
Wade reached across the table and took her hand.
“I was going to say that next Christmas, maybe we could rent a cabin in the mountains. Someplace where we’d see snow.”
“I’d love that.”
“I would too.” He tightened his fingers around hers, and she squeezed back. “And I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you why I’m so sure this is only our first Christmas together. See, when shifters—”
Marsh’s voice cut through the romantic haze around them. It was like a sudden chill descending.
“Why haven’t I seen any pictures of Santa and his reindeer?”
Wade’s polar bear had very distinct, veryvividideas about how to deal with this particular interruption, and as much as Wade could sympathize with it on that front, he had to push the gory visions away.
“I thought Mira told you,” he said. “I’m afraid of reindeer. It’s called tarandophobia.”
“I don’t care what it’s called,” Marsh hissed. “You’re afraid of doing your job, and I know whatthat’scalled: laziness! Laziness and lack of vision! No one here wants to do what it takes to make the Christmas Village truly extraordinary, but I’m not letting your indifference stand in my way. This is going to be an experience that our guests remember for years to come.”
Wade thought Marsh was a self-centered blowhard who enjoyed wielding his petty powerwaytoo much for his owngood, and there was no defense for the way the guy took his frustrations out on the rest of the world—and especially on Mira. But was there any way to reason with him at all? Could they play to his ego?
“It’s a fantastic Christmas Village,” Wade said. “And the kids seem to love the reindeer. If you want extraordinary, I think you’ve already got it. You don’t need anything else.”
Marsh narrowed his eyes. Clearly, he knew that Wade was humoring him, and all it did was irritate him.
Wade guessed that if you imagined yourself as a man of truly singular vision, you didn’t reallywanttoo many people appreciating you, at least not without them being humbled into it. Marsh wasn’t letting this go until Wade fell to his knees and begged forgiveness for not seeing how great all Marsh’s plans were ... which meant he wasn’t going to let this go, period.
“Youwilltake photos with the reindeer,” Marsh said. “I’m sick of everyone’s excuses. After lunch, you are going to play Santaright.”
Mira flared up in Wade’s defense. “Kids want a Santa who will listen to their Christmas lists. Wadeisplaying Santa right. Anything else is just a bonus.”
“It’s interesting that you’d use that word, because that’s what’s at stake here for you,” Marsh said. “I told you, your bonus depends on this situation goingperfectly.”
Wade couldn’t sit here and watch him talk to her like this.
“Why are you like this?” he said bluntly. “Mira’s done good work for you all season. I’veseenher doing it, these last few days. Maybe the costume means she doesn’t look like it, but she’s the best Christmas elf anyone’s ever seen. Why are you punishing her for wanting the reward for it? It’s not even like it comes out of your salary. Honey Brook pays the bonuses.”
“She should be devoted toChristmas, not herself,” Marsh said.
“And you think that everyone else here would work for free, and she’s the only one who needs the money? That’s ridiculous. And don’t you get an end-of-season bonus too?”
Marsh’s face was turning purple. “Ideserveit!”
Ah. And everyone else was supposed to just be a minion dutifully carrying out his plans with no hopes, dreams, wants, or needs of their own.
Maybe it was easier for Marsh to dismiss the kids because they were, well, kids, but Mira was too obviously her own person for his tastes. And no matter how much he made her put up with, he couldn’t break her down or make her grovel. She stuck it out, but she didn’t yield. She didn’t make him feel superior, and he hated her for it.
Marsh mistook Wade’s disgusted silence as appeasement, and that, of course, cheered him up. “Then it’s settled. After lunch, you’ll do what you’re supposed to do.”
“He still can’t,” Mira said, her cheeks blazing with color. She was as defensive of Wade—and of the reindeer’s peace of mind—as he was of her. “He doesn’t want to upset the reindeer, can’t you understand that?”
Marsh scoffed. “Get your story straight, Mira. A minute ago it was that the reindeer upsethim.”
“Wade and reindeer are a bad combination,” Mira stressed. “We’re trying to tell you that it won’t work.”
“For your sake,” Marsh said, “it had better.”
Chapter Sixteen
