“I prefer the single life myself. No one telling me what to do or how to live. No one complains if I leave clothes on the floor next to the hamper. Maybe I want them there. Maybe I haven’t decided they were dirty enough to wash.” He grumbled on, citing his side of an argument that never happened. He had three married brothers and heard plenty of the arguments over socks in the living room that they had with their wives. Although, things like that were hardly arguments at all. If he didn’t know better, he’d think they left them in there to tick off their women so they could then kiss them into a blissful state.
“Do you know where your parents are?” Drake asked in an effort to change the subject.
Felix grabbed the carrot and chewed it, not giving anything away.
“A mystery man. I can respect that.” He reached out and patted the reindeer’s neck. He worked his way up to scratch behind his jaw in that spot all the reindeer loved.
Felix leaned into him.That feels good.
The front door opened. Drake jumped behind the tree Felix had been sleeping in. Night had fallen, and he wore dark clothing so no one would see him–unless the reindeer gave him away.
Felix had been so relaxed into the scratches that he toppled onto his side. He cast a dark look toward Drake.What’d you do that for?
“I don’t want them to know I’m here.” Drake motioned to the cabin.
Felix looked back and forth between him and the house.Why not?
“I,” Drake paused. He might contemplate kidnapping Felix, but that didn’t mean he was a liar. Yes, he was aware of the murky moral waters he swam in at the moment and wasn’t sure how to get out of them. “I ran away from home,” he replied. There. That was the truth.
“Felix?” yelled an older woman. Drake peered around the tree to see a lady with short gray hair dressed in snow pants and a heavy sweater. She was illuminated from behind and he couldn’t make out her face. “Felix! Let’s go for a walk.”
Stay down.Felix snorted once and then trotted over to the porch. It almost seemed like he was doing his best not to look back at Drake.
Step 1. Make friends with the reindeer. Check.
The lady stepped out and rubbed Felix’s face, scratching around his eyes where it was hard for a reindeer to get to. Clove appeared behind her, and Drake sucked in a breath as if he’d been punched in the stomach. She wore thick socks that went to her knees, a pair of tight black leggings, and a heavily oversized sweater. Was it possible for a woman to get prettier in a few hours?
“I have choir practice tonight.” She pecked a kiss on the woman’s cheek. This must be her grandmother, the one who had first contacted them. Interesting.. “So, I’ll be gone when you get back from your walk.”
“Have fun, dear.” Grandma patted her back. “Come on, Felix. We gotta keep these old bones in shape.”
Felix stepped back and bowed.Ladies first.
“You’re such a charmer,” Clove teased from the porch before disappearing back inside to do whatever women did to get ready to leave the house.
Drake waited until he couldn’t hear the grandma and reindeer's footsteps crunching through the thick snow before heading back down the mountain. He needed to move his truck and trailer before Clove saw them. Then he’d come back while she was gone and coax Felix into going with him. Coax being a nice way to say he’d get a halter on the reindeer and drag him down the mountain if he had to–yeah, like that was going to happen. He needed more carrots. A Hansel and Gretel trail into the back of the trailer might do the trick.
He could be on the road in a couple of hours and home in two days. This was the easiest reindeer heist in Christmas history, and at the end of it would be the generation of flying reindeer on Reindeer Wrangler Ranch. What could go wrong?
CHAPTERFIVE
Drake stopped by the grocery store and read a couple of chapters ofA Christmast Carolwhile he waited for Clove’s snowmobile to drive by his secluded parking spot between a couple of pine trees. Backing the trailer in there wasn’t something an amateur could have done, and he’d taken a picture to show his brothers when he got home. They’d be impressed with his skills.
Clove cruised past, and time seemed to slow down as he took in every detail.
Her pink or peach or whatever colored coat had a fur-lined hood that probably worked great when snowshoeing but couldn’t fit over her white helmet. She was smart to wear bright colors at night and the reflective patches on her coat would keep her safe as she traveled the edge of the highway. Her long blonde hair was braided down her back. He wondered what it looked like when she let it free. Was it wavy or straight?
She didn’t turn in his direction or make any other movement that said that she’d even seen him tucked off the road. He drove back to the clearing at the bottom of her lane. “Keep it together. You can’t let a beautiful woman distract you.” He cut the engine and sat in silence, contemplating what he was about to do.
He didn’t like it. If any of his brothers had had this fool idea, he’d talk them out of it right quick. Stealing, taking, kidnapping–however, he defined what he was about to do, it would land him on the wrong side of the law and probably put his soul in eternal jeopardy.
Life wasn’t always as cut and dry as a Naughty and Nice List though. He had to weigh the good and the bad. He glanced up at the silver-laced clouds.
Christmas had to continue on. Santa had to take presents to all the good little boys and girls this year and every year after. Was there any good reason to let the goodwill that filled the earth during the holidays die out? Was it fair for Clove to keep Felix to himself when he could do so much good for children all over the world? She didn’t understand the building blocks that happy holiday memories provided–they were foundational, the type of blocks people leaned on when times were tough. Blocks named hope and faith.
ChildrenneededChristmas Magic.
Adults too.
