Beck smiled at onlookers as they gave him curious looks. Of course, standing in the middle of the park with a curtain square wasn’t normal and would attract attention. That’s what he’d been counting on. Harmony had drawn a snowman instead of an elf on the chalkboard sign this time. She had a lot of artistic talent—meaning that not only could he tell that she’d drawn a snowman, but she’d made him look alive.
“Maybe you have a future in art,” he’d said after admiring her work.
She’d swatted the idea away. “I passed classes in high school, but I don’t love it.”
“What do you love?” He folded his arms and rested his chin on his fist, gazing at the back of her hand as letters appeared, all swoopy and Christmasy.
“I’m not exactly sure anymore. I think that’s why I want to go home for Christmas. I want to reconnect with the parts of me I lost in the big city.” She’d stood up and brushed the chalk dust from her hands, not even knowing she’d broken off a piece of his heart with those words. The way she’d spoken about leaving, as if she wouldn’t miss him at all, wouldn’t miss their magic act, was normal. It wasn’t like they’d become best friends over the last four nights as they practiced. But he’d gotten used to having her around.
Who was he kidding? He waited on bated breath for her to get off work and come over. The moment she walked through his door was the brightest spot in his day.
Now, she was inside the curtain, waiting for the signal to climb into Frosty. He was waiting for anyone who had seen her around to move on. The trick only worked if the audience didn’t know there was someone inside the snowman moving its parts.
When the last mother took her toddler twins home for a much-needed nap, he clapped his hands three times, letting Harmony know that he would start in five minutes. She snapped her fingers in response, telling him she would be ready. He checked the cameras on his phone once more. They were all up and running. He hit record, counted to three, and lifted his arms in the air.
“Ladies and gentlemen, gather ’round for a truly magical Christmas show.” He stepped on a lever, and two confetti cannons went off on the sides of the curtain box.
Thewhumpgot attention. One woman grabbed at her heart and gave him a dirty look.Oops. She moved on, but others stayed.
“May I borrow your hat, sir?” He proceeded to pull a poinsettia out of the man’s hat and hand them to the woman standing beside him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin the surprise. He was probably saving those for when you got home.”
She twittered behind her fingers and smacked at his arm.
He grinned. His mind wandered to what Harmony would do if he gave her flowers. Maybe he could send some to her office tomorrow, as a thank-you for giving up her weekend to perform. He jerked his thoughts back. Usually, when he was in front of a crowd, he was uber focused on what he needed to do. He couldn’t let his mind wander like that.
The man gave him a thumbs-up. “Can I have my hat back?”
“Uh.” He glanced inside. “I think there’s something else in here. Should we see what he’s hiding?” he asked the growing crowd.
They murmured their agreement.
He stuck his hand in, hit the release lever inside his jacket sleeve with his finger, and out fell a handful of chocolate gold coins. He pulled them out and tossed them in the air. “Well, I’ll be.” He smiled. Kids dived for the coins, laughing as they held them up. He handed one of them to the woman too. “Chocolate and flowers. You got yourself a real romantic man.”
She smiled and tucked her arm through his. “He’s a gem.”
Now that he had their attention, he was ready to move on to the real reason they’d come. “I’ll bet you’re all wondering what’s behind the curtain.”
“Yeah!” yelled a kid.
He smiled. Kids were the best. That was going to look amazing on the video. “Why don’t you come and pull this gold rope and we’ll find out?”
The boy ran forward, grabbed the rope with both hands, and pulled with all he was worth. The PVC shuddered under his excitement. The curtain fell away, revealing Frosty, and Breck let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. The prop was so still, he prayed Harmony was really inside of it. Since he hadn’t worked with an assistant before, he didn’t understand the anxiety that came from having to lean on someone else in order for an illusion to succeed.
“Thank you, young man.” He patted him on the head, letting several more coins fall out of his sleeve as he did so.
The boy snagged them and rushed back to his mom, holding the chocolate in the air like a prize.
“Just so no one thinks I’m trying to pull something over on them—” He picked up the PVC framework and scooted it backwards. “—let’s get this out of the way.” With that, he circled the snowman to show that there were no wires holding it up. “You know, when I was a kid, I loved to build snowmen. How many of you like to build snowmen?”
A few hands went up. Kids bounced on their toes.
“Right. In the spirit of Jack Frost and his magical pranks, I’m going to cut this snowman right in half.”
“Noooo!” yelled a small girl. Her big eyes were full of horror.
“Hmmm.” He tapped his lips. “What if I promise to put it back together when I’m done—by Christmas magic?” He set off a smoking snap that crackled and fizzed all around him.
The crowd was silent. He hadn’t really expected an answer. Even the girl seemed curious instead of fearful.
