Page 95

Kieran

"'Tiiiis the season to be jolly."

I sing along, one hand holding onto a pole on the carousel, the other extended wide into the air. My fake Santa beard blows in the wind of the moving carousel, and the occasional snowflake flies into my face. But I don't care, because I'm dressed as Santa, belly and all, dancing around on the damn carousel, and I get to pick the music.

The Christmas market is in full swing, and so is my carousel. I knew it would be a hit, but I did not expect a queue as long as it is. I should have thought of some kind of ticketing system so people can peruse the other booths as they wait for their turn.

Then again, it's not as if the booths are lacking visitors. Maybe it was a good decision to throw the two Christmas markets together. It is huge now, with a much bigger selection of goods and a lot more visitors than Wayward Hollow’s market got last year.

Either Kinstead is way more popular than us, or the combined Christmas market is more attractive to tourists. The main square park is lined with wooden booths, decorated with pine garlands, fairy lights, and ornaments. There are more booths on the street surrounding the main square, and the scent of sausages and mulled wine mixes with chocolate, warm butter, and sugar in the air.

Slowly, the carousel comes to a standstill. They don't let me operate it on my own. Something about liability and insurance. So, Jefferson, the guy who oversaw the setup, is sitting in a nearby booth, munching away on Christmas cookies, and occasionally hits a button to start the carousel once I give him the okay.

The kids are loving it, I am loving it, and my makeshift register is also loving it. I am nowhere near what it cost to rent out this thing for two days, but I don't give a damn because I haven't had this much fun in ages.

"Kieran, most handsome man in Wayward Hollow." Lauren appears, hand in hand with Caleb. “Well, second most handsome.”

"Hello? I'm Santa." I give him a deadpan stare and point at my fake belly. "You naughty girl. Who's manning your treat booth?"

"Kylie took over for a while," Lauren explains, swinging the hand holding Caleb's as she gets closer. "Any chance I can profit off our friendship and skip the line? Pretty please?"

I raise an eyebrow and I pointedly glance at the makeshift register. Pouting, she pulls out a tenner.

Is she serious? I narrow my eyes at her. "It's for charity, Lauren. And you’re asking to skip a line of..." I gesture at it. "At least thirty people."

"Okay, okay." She mumbles something under her breath and pulls out her wallet again. But before she can, Caleb hands me a fifty.

"Good cause and all that, right?" Lauren gazes up at him with an almost disgustingly cute expression.

"Listen, Caleb." I take the bill and stash it away neatly. "I almost would have said it's worth it, just to see you on one of those horses. But you're right." I snap the register closed and wink. "Good cause."

The carousel stops, and in my friendliest Santa voice, I ask everyone to get off.

"Here you go, VIPs. You want to wave at all the peasants in the line you skipped?" Lauren playfully hits my arm. "Ouch."

"We have a booth to get back to. These people don't," she hisses and climbs onto one of the horses. Caleb stares at her, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"You should go on that one." She pets the saddle of the one right next to her. It's a bit bigger than hers and black. Honestly, the most majestic horse on there.

"I named him Krampus." I pet the wooden head. "I'm sure the two of you will become best friends. Now excuse me while I collect more donations for charity from people who actually waited in line. Have fun riding Krampus, Caleb." Obviously, I emphasize the riding part.

Thankfully, everyone waiting is way too amused watching Lauren's and my banter unfold to complain.

"A good cause, you say?" A woman with three kids by her side glances from my Santa beard to the carousel.

"Yeah. Every year, the person who raises the most funds at the Christmas market gets to decide which charity we give it to," I explain, opening the register for her change.

"That's okay. You keep it. Happy holidays, Santa."

"Happy holidays."

Damn, I should hold more conversations conveniently close to the cash register with Lauren. Because the next few people? Extremely generous.

"Hey there, Jefferson." I give him the thumbs-up once everyone is seated and climb onto the carousel, because obviously I’m riding along. Then I change my mind because it's much more fun to watch Caleb's expression darken with each round.

Lauren squeals happily, her legs dangling off her horse as it moves up and down to the tune of All I Want for Christmas Is You. She’s having at least as much of a blast as the kids on there.

"This was fun." Lauren is still grinning when she stumbles her way to the register.