She trilled a laugh. “This is his phone. He left it in the workshop. Hang on a second and I’ll find him for you.”
Workshop? Jacob mouthed silently. His anger subsided as his curiosity about the North Pole and Santa’s workshop took over. He held very still as he listened to every sound in the background.
Machines beeped and booped. High-pitched voices called to one another, though he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Elves?
Ho Ho Ho. Santa?
A door shut, and there were footsteps on the carpet, and then another door opened. This sound was easy to recognize–someone was carving wood with a chainsaw. Wow, he did not know Santa was handy with power tools. It made sense, though; how else would they make enough toys for the whole world?
“Uncle Joseph?” yelled the woman holding the phone.”
Joseph? Joseph. Was Santa’s real name Joseph?
The chainsaw cut off. “Hi, Layla.”
“Hi. Have you seen Nick?” she asked.
“He’s in the stables, checking on the reindeer. They’re tiring out like the rest of us. If we don’t–” The line suddenly went quiet. They had put him on hold.
Before he processed what he’d heard and how it might relate to his current situation, Nick came on the line. “Jacob? What gives man? It’s been twenty-one Christmases. I thought you’d have Lauren all wrapped up for New Year’s by now.”
Jacob glared at the floor. “I thought so too. We–” he paused because kissing and telling went against every bit of him. “--have reconnected, and everything’s great. I even made her a simple Christmas dinner last night. Why isn’t the loop open?”
Nick was quiet for a moment. “You wished for a second chance with Lauren, right?”
“Yeah. And I have it. We’re steaming ahead,” he replied. Steam was right. That woman could turn his temperature to a thousand with one of her kisses. He particularly liked the way she’d grabbed onto the front of his shirt. Whew!
“Sounds like you’re moving in the right direction.”
“Direction? I thought we’d gotten to our destination.” He was there. Lauren seemed to be in love with him. “What more can we, er, I, do?”
Sleigh bells rang in his room, and Jacob jumped to his feet to see where they were coming from. He spun in a circle, but there wasn’t a Kringle in sight.
“Did it get there?” Nick asked.
“Did what get here?!” He kicked the floor.
“Check your nightstand.” Nick sounded as frustrated as Jacob. “Prancer, stop poking me with that antler, or you’re moving to the South Pole.”
An animal garbled a response.
Jacob stared at the red velvet box on his nightstand. “I have to propose to make this stop?” he screamed into the phone. “That wasn’t my wish.”
Nick didn’t answer right away, and in the silence, Jacob suddenly understood. “It was her wish, wasn’t it? She wished to marry me.”
Nick laughed. “Don’t be so full of yourself. She wished to be with her one true love for the rest of her life.”
Jacob scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “She did? That’s adorable.”
“And hopefully doable. Get to work, lover-boy. We need those wedding bells to ring sooner rather than later, if you know what I mean.”
Jacob strangled his phone. How was he going to convince a woman to marry him in one day? “You ask the impossible, you know that, right?”
Nick laughed. “I work with Santa–we make the impossible happen every Christmas. You just have to make it happen this one Christmas.”
There was no arguing with that logic. “Fine!” Jacob snapped. “You know what would help? A Ferrari. Lauren would totally marry me for my car.”
“Nice try. Gotta fly.” The line cut off.
