Nick met her gaze, his blue eyes swirling with mischief. That was all the proof she needed that her brother had indeed been weirded out by his wish-granted experience two Christmases ago.
“Okay,” Robyn drew their attention back to her. “Lux did the calculations and sent me the results.” She tapped the screen. “Vola.”
Charlotte and Nick circled the counter in opposite directions to stand behind her and see what was on the screen. Two golden balls bounced off one another in a baffling pattern. They left dotted lines behind them.
“Is it drawing a picture?” Charlotte asked.
“If so, it’s too early to see what it will be,” Nick tipped his head to the side as one would when examining a piece of artwork.
“Why do the wishes bounce like that?” Robyn asked.
Nick swallowed another cookie. There was one left. “They’re the same wish, so they should be together. They keep trying to combine. But, since one belongs to you and one to Lizzie, they can’t.”
Charlotte thought about how they moved in sync while still bouncing off one another; or why they had difficulty pulling apart. “That’s why they act like twins. Er–dysfunctional twins,” she added while pointing to her Christmas tree, which was still in shambles.
Nick nodded.
Robyn hummed as she typed again. “Nick, roll us through the options, please.”
“One,” Nick began, “Charlotte changes her wish.”
Charlotte shook her head. “Not a chance.”
“Two, Lizzie changes her wish.”
“Possible.” Robyn typed again. “Frost is sending letters; hang on….” Her phone dinged, and she flipped through several images of the little girl’s handwriting. “She’s never wavered before, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t be persuaded to change her mind.”
“We can try to interest her in something else,” Nick offered. “Maybe a dollhouse.”
Charlotte chewed her lip. “I can drop hints the next time I see her.” She didn’t know when that would be, but Moose Hollow wasn’t the big of a town. She had to bump into the two of them eventually, right?
“Okay–three?” Robyn hurried them along as she swiped the pictures off her screen.
Charlotte felt the rush of a meeting being summed up. She wasn’t quite ready for them to leave because it felt like they hadn’t solved the problem.
“Three–is …” Nick stopped. “I have no idea.”
Robyn paused. “Three is you figuring out your life.”
Nick groaned. “Don’t you start in on me too–you know what happened.”
Robyn laughed, as if the pain written on his face was as easy to wipe away as the frosting on her fingers. “You can only fight it for so long. Christmas Magic has been patient up to this point, but this situation,” she swirled her finger toward Charlotte, “tells me that you’re running out of time.”
Nick grumbled as they approached the old wood-burning stove in the corner. The thing hadn’t had a fire in it for over thirty years, and Charlotte was terrified that if she lit one, she’d burn the place down.
“We’ll be in touch.” Robyn smiled, and then theypoofedout of there.
Charlotte glanced up at the ceiling. Being in the basement, she didn’t hear the clomp of reindeer hooves on the roof. In a rush, she grabbed a bag of oats and filled a bucket, placing it at the top of her stairs for Prancer should he venture back this way tonight.
With a sigh, she decided to go to bed. The store would be busy tomorrow, and she had to figure out how to get Lizzie to change her wish.
Maybe Micah would help?
The guy didn’t believe in Santa, so she doubted he would care, but it was worth a try.
Also, she wanted to see him again.
Admitting that, even to herself, was difficult. He was all wrong for her, the rain cloud to her Macy’s Parade, but that didn’t seem to matter to her heart because it picked up speed at the mere memory of his touch.
