His eyes glinted and then softened. “I know you’ve been hurt, but I’m not going to do that to you.”
Mitzi smiled. “I believe you. I just don’t have it in me to love anyone but Billy right now. He deserves all my attention.”
To her dismay, Ely brightened. “I’m not in a hurry.” He winked and spun on his boot. “I’ll see you later, Mitzi.” He started whistling “Winter Wonderland.”
Mitzi rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant!” she called after him. But either he didn’t hear her over his own whistle or he chose not to listen, because he didn’t respond.
She rolled her eyes and bumped the back door open with her hip. She stared around the kitchen, mentally picturing the sparse contents of the cupboards and fridge behind their closed doors. A sense of panic crept in like frost on a window, and she bowed her head, begging God to help her be strong. “I don’t see what you see, but please, show me how to do what I need to do. The bills are piling up. And I have too many mouths to feed. I don’t even have a Christmas gift for Billy.” She sniffed, feeling the loneliness of being single. Most times, she was happy to be on her own, making all the decisions and not having to make excuses for her ex’s behavior. As the daughter of a single mother, she had an excellent example of a woman who could do it all. It was just … there were times she wanted to lean into a warm body and rest.
In the silence that followed her plea came a warm reassurance that all would be well. When she opened her eyes, the stack of bills was still on the counter and the cupboards were still empty. But she had the courage to continue on. For now, that would have to be enough.
Chapter Three
When he looked at a picture of a snow-covered landscape, Forest always felt peaceful, as if the world was quieter because of the blanket. Like when he’d been a boy and his mom would wrap him in a quilt before bed and rock him in her big chair by the fire. He was quieter in those moments.
The reality of walking in a snow-covered landscape was quite different. There were sounds all around him—and it seemed as if Idaho was one of the loudest landscapes he’d tromped through. Geese honked not far away. A wolf howled, miles off. He wasn’t worried. Most animals weren’t looking for trouble, and he was all sorts of trouble today.
For four days he’d looked for clues in town after town, asking without asking outright. He had to be careful when he brought up a flying reindeer. Laughter was the first reaction. If he was lucky, there’d be a child nearby, so adults would put up with his inquiries—even winking now and again as if they were in cahoots. He didn’t need cahoots—he needed help!
His phone trilled and he shook off his leather glove. Pax’s name came up on the caller ID. Breathing hard, he answered for his younger brother with a quick “’Lo?”
“Hey, I’m in the barn so I can talk.”
Forest focused in, ready for the bad news. “How are things at the North Pole? Will they have enough reindeer?”
“We think so.” Pax sounded stressed. “I talked to Ginger this morning. She may call up Dunder, but we don’t want the old guy on for the long haul if we don’t have to use him.”
“He’s doing okay, though?” Last year, Dunder had given them all a scare coming down with a flu that about took the reindeer to starlit pastures forever.
“Yeah. Caleb and Faith have him on a new supplement—he’s acting five years younger and eyed up the ladies this fall. Though we don’t know if he managed to woo any of them. Not for a lack of opportunity. We penned him off with a smaller group of females just to see what happened, and we’re watching the ladies for signs of pregnancy.”
Forest grinned. “That wouldn’t be so bad.” They had a startling few flying reindeer out of the huge herd they watched over. Dunder was one of the best—a specimen of perfection. When a child fell asleep counting reindeer, they looked like Dunder. “Maybe he’ll start a new line for us.”
“We can only hope.”
“And pray. How are the others coming along?”
Pax sighed. “The same. Rudy’s as clumsy as you were at 13 when we harness him with another reindeer.”
Forest nodded. Rudy was born blind but could fly. The first two years of his life had been tough. He’d undergone a corrective surgery last Christmas and was able to fly in the open now.
“Of course, that could be part Sparkle too—she flusters him.”
“Well, now that he sees how pretty she is, he’s probably intimidated.”
“He doesn’t do well with Dunder either.”
“Same problem, different reason.”
“Truth.”
Forest felt the stress of his search melt away as he talked with his brother about the reindeer and training and regular things of life. He missed these moments.
“Speaking of all this … we have a new reindeer in the flier’s barn.”
Forest perked up. “Who?”
“Glory.”
