“Hmm. Wait a second. I was sure I handed you a green deck. Did I give you a green deck?”
The kid nodded.
Breck wrapped his knuckles on the deck. “Then why are they covered in snowmen?”
The crowd gasped.
The little boy looked up at Harmony. “How’d he do that?”
“Magic.” She half laughed the word as she said it. “I don’t think he’s done, though.”
Breck’s eyes twinkled as he lifted an eyebrow. “You’re right. I do believe there is something else inside this deck that—wait a minute.” He held it up to his ear. “Did you hear that?”
He moved it to the kid’s ear. The kid listened and then shook his head. “I can’t hear anything.”
“Hmm.” Breck shook the cards by his head like he was shaking a bell. “I could have sworn … There is it again. Hold out your hands.”
The boy did as he was told, and Breck sprayed his hands with the cards. When he was done, a toy drum had appeared. The boy jumped in surprise. The crowd clapped wildly.
“Can I have it?”
Breck nodded, and the kid scampered back to his mom’s side, where she hugged him. The smile on her face was worth twelve drummers drumming. When the attention swiveled back to Breck, he made a white handkerchief appear. “Of course, it wouldn’t be the holidays without snow, now would it?”
Eager faces leaned closer.
“Will you please inspect this to see if there’s any snow inside?” He handed the cloth to Harmony.
“Help me out, guys.” She turned it front and back for everyone to see, holding it up high for the people in the back. Then she shook it out, wadded it up, and laid it flat. “No snow. Agreed?” she asked the crowd.
They nodded and hollered their confirmation of her inspection.
She handed the handkerchief back to him. His fingers brushed hers as he took it, and warmth shot up her arm. The temperature hit her cheeks like ice as they flooded with heat.
“Do you like snow, Harmony?” he asked, the show suddenly narrowing down to just the two of them. His gray eyes swirled like clouds that were heavy with days of happy snowmen.
“I do.” The words felt like a premonition—like one day she’d be standing before a preacher and saying them again. She blushed deeper. Those kinds of thoughts were what had gotten her into a marriage that she should have run away from instead of jumping into it.
“I hope so.” He made a fist and stuffed the handkerchief inside, sticking his tongue out one corner of his mouth like he was concentrating really hard. It was adorable and sweet and heart-melting. “Well, I’m not Jack Frost, so my snow won’t be good for snowballs, but I hope it fills all of you with the Magic of Christmas.”
Once there wasn’t any white handkerchief showing, he asked Harmony to blow on his hand. She did, feeling like they were the only two people in the park. All sounds had disappeared. All the people faded to the background and might as well have been trees for all she knew. His marble-gray eyes were so intent on her, she felt like he was looking at the real her—a woman she hadn’t seen for quite some time.
Breck tossed his fist into the air, and white and silver confetti rained from his open hand, shooting up, up, and then floating down over all of them. There was so much more than he could have held in his palm.
Harmony held out her hand, tipped up her chin, and let it fall on her cheeks. It was soft and happy. She glanced over and found Breck watching her with an odd look in his eye—one she hadn’t seen before but found that she liked.
Children squealed. Ron let out a hearty, “There you go, son!”
Breck bowed, then motioned for her to do the same. She did, although she hadn’t done much of anything to earn applause. Still, it was fun to take a bow, and it brought a real sense of accomplishment with it.
Several kids ran up to the table and began asking Breck questions about his show. He didn’t give away any secrets, but he handed outmagiccoins, which earned him two hugs and a whole lot of knuckles before moms and dads pulled their children away. The adults cleared out faster, a few of them shook Breck’s hand, and she saw him pocket money. That was nice. He hadn’t asked for tips.
Once everyone cleared out, he grabbed her up in a hug and then set her down quickly. The whole thing was over faster than she had time to register the fact that she’d been in his arms.
“Did you have fun?” he asked, his eyes full of hope.
“I did. Who knew I was such an attention hound?” She laughed at herself, feeling almost giddy. This must be a performer’s high.
He winked. “Careful, this is addicting. Next thing you know, you’ll be checking our views every twenty minutes to see if they’ve gone up.”
