Epilogue
brIELLE
R udy and I ended up snowed in at my place for almost a week. We spent the time with the new puppies and enjoying each other. He even convinced me to take a few extra days off from the feed store to go back to Elfing with him, which was a town I didn’t even know existed until he mentioned it. The place was really charming if you loved Christmas, and I did. It felt like the place you wanted to be. Everything was so decorated and festive that the instant we drove into town, a large smile fell over my face.
We went right to his house, which was a large cabin that somewhat reminded me of my house. It had a warm, wonderful farmhouse feel. As soon as we pulled up, a small girl with blonde hair and a happy smile greeted us. At first, I felt very self-conscious. Was she an ex-girlfriend or something? She rushed over to me and wrapped me in a tight hug that didn’t seem possible with her short frame.
“Welcome to Elfing.” She bubbled. “I’m Joy, Rudy’s sister, and I’m so excited to meet you.”
“Thank you. I’m excited to meet you too,” I told her.
“Joy, what are you doing here?” Rudy came over and put his arm around my waist.
“CJ said you met someone and you were coming back today.” She gave him a half hug. “Mom is expecting you two tonight for dinner, I already stocked the fridge for you both, and hopefully now you will start coming to family breakfast with the rest of us.”
For the first time, I actually saw Rudy blush. I mean, his nose always had a little color to it, but his full face was red now.
“Joy.”
“Oh, and you have to meet my fiance, Felix, and Nicholas’s girl Lainey.” She took my hands in hers. “I’m so glad you’re here. This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”
“Joy, please.” Rudy groaned.
“Fine. I understand.” She winked at him. “You two probably need some time alone.” She gave us both one more hug and started to walk away before turning back. “Bring the doggies tonight too. I might be in the market to adopt, and mom already has some treats for them, compliments of dad.” She waved her hand. “You know how he is. Okay, bye.” She skipped off down the driveway kicking up snow as she went.
“Sorry about that, but Joy gets a little excited.”
“It’s okay.”
We put our things inside his house, and then he asked me to walk down to the stables with him. He suggested we bring the dogs with us.
“So there are a few things I need to tell you about Elfing and the Krinkles before dinner.” He held my hand in his.
I laughed. “The Krinkle’s? Like the cookie or Santa?”
“Well..” He let the sentence trail off as we turned into the barn.
My eyes trailed around the stalls that housed not only horses but..were those reindeer? My mouth dropped open just as I spotted something bright red in the corner.
“What’s going on here?”
“So here’s the thing.” He took in a long breath. “Elfing isn’t like other towns. Neither are the Krinkles.”
“What does that mean?”
“You should have a seat. There’s a lot I need to share, and it all started with a wish.”