As he circled the snowman, more to show that there weren’t any wires aiding him in his illusion, he pictured Harmony inside, getting ready for him to push the top two snowballs out of place with his invisible force field. He picked up a cookie sheet that was wide enough to fit between the two pieces, waved it in the air, smacked it to show it was solid, and then carefully positioned it to slide between the two bottom pieces. With a smile for the crowd and a pause to build suspense, he shoved the cookie sheet in place. Several gasps rose from the group.
He wiggled his fingers, stretched out his arms, planted his feet and said, “Count down with me. Three. Two. One!” Hopefully, Harmony could hear the crowd. She’d been unable to hear just him counting in the apartment, and there was a lot more background noise here. He grunted, and the top two snowballs began to slide away from him. He kept pushing the air like a mime, working the crowd with his exaggeration.
When the two balls were out of place, levitating to the side of the biggest snowball, he threw his hands in the air and took a bow. Applause surrounded them. Harmony had done amazing, even pausing on the right beats. They were both counting from the crowd yelling “one” so that when he pulled his arms back to mime “getting a better grip,” she stopped moving. Frosty had been cut in half. He walked to the other side and waved his hands under the suspended pieces. Then he went around and waved them over the bottom piece to show that there was nothing but magic holding them up.
“All right. Let’s put this snowman back together!” He pulled and pulled in the air, but nothing moved. He wiggled his fingers. “I think I’m a little low on Christmas spirit. Does anyone have some they can share?”
The little girl raised her hand. “Me! Me!”
He pointed his finger around the semicircle and then landed on her. “Come on up.”
She bounded forward and stood in front of him.
He turned her around. “What’s your name?”
“Kenni.”
“Well, Kenni, do you think you have enough Christmas magic in you to put my snowman back together?”
She lifted her shoulders and made a face.
“Here’s what I need you to do,” Breck said, adding drama to his tone. “I need you to close your eyes real tight.” She squeezed them so hard, her whole face got in on the action. “And now I need you to think of Santa Claus and flying reindeer and elves and mistletoe.”
Mistletoe? He wouldn’t mind getting caught under the mistletoe with a certain magician’s assistant.
“Okay. I got it.” Kenni’s squeaky excited voice brought him back to the illusion.
“Okay, count to three with me, really loud, and we’re going to pull together. Ready?”
She nodded so big, the pom-pom on her head bounced back and forth. They counted, and then they pulled together. He turned, as if pulling a rope over his shoulder, and leaned into it. Kenni used the hand-over-hand method, and the snowman slid back into place. When they were done, he gave Kenni a high five.
He stared at his palm. “Kenni! I can feel that Christmas magic in my hand. You’re just full of it today.”
She giggled.
He looked at the snowman. “In fact, there’s so much that I think I can do this.” He snapped his fingers, and the head slid to the side in one second. He snapped again, and the hat lifted several inches in the air. He had to keep the count going in his head. This part of the act was choreographed precisely.
The crowd clapped. He made his fingers into the inch sign and snapped his finger and thumb together, and the hat landed in place. He flicked his wrist, and the head went back on the body. “Thanks so much, Kenni!” He patted her on the back as the crowd clapped like crazy. “Thank you!” He did his normal end-of-routine plug for his channel and then bowed once more.
Several children approached, their moms wanting pictures with him and Frosty. He managed to work it so his sign was in the frame too. He caught some people snapping pics of it. Hopefully, they’d look him up.
He kept thinking about Harmony inside the snowman. She couldn’t be that warm—all she’d worn was a pair of leggings and a long-sleeved shirt. He’d given her a hand warmer to keep in there, but it was 35 degrees today. She had to be freezing. He needed to get in there and warm her up.
It took ten minutes for the crowd to disperse before he could rehang the curtains. Once he was safely inside and sure no one would run over to peek, he knocked twice on the base and released the latch to let her out.
She unfolded from the bottom, a huge grin on her beautiful face. “How’d it go?”
Her ears and nose were red with cold, and her first question was about the show. This woman was more than he could have ever hoped for in an assistant. In fact, she was more than he’d ever thought he’d find in a woman. “Perfect. You did amazing.”
“Eee!” She threw her arms around his neck. His pulse picked up speed, and the world shrank to the two of them inside the red velvet curtains. “I knew you could do it.”
Her confidence set him over the edge. He couldn’t hold back the dire need to kiss her any longer. He framed her face with his hands and went for it.
It wasn’t until his warm lips felt her cold ones that he realized what he’d done. By then his eyes were closed and his hands were on her lower back, pulling her body flush with his.
For a moment, time stood still. Sound died away. Their breath mingled in the space around them. And then she tilted her head and her lips began to move against his, and he was lost in the pure magic that flowed through his veins. It was all sorts of smoke and sparkles and trapdoors and thrills.
She suddenly pulled back, her eyes full of questions and doubts. “I’m so sorry.”
