20. Lacie
LACIE
The nearer I drew to the fireplace, the more the hair on my arms prickled. The stocking’s patterns were intricate. Along its upper half, what looked like red reindeer had been knitted into the striped design.
“I can’t count the times I tried making my Christmas stocking fit when I was younger,” I said. “The sides were always too wide?—”
“And the foot was always too small.” He rose from the bed and strode toward me.
“You sound like you tried it, too.”
“I admit nothing.” Jared removed the stocking from its peg and dangled it before him like a snake. “Yeah, this looks like something someone pulled out of their drawer and hung up.”
“Maybe a hundred years ago,” I said. “No one wears socks this long anymore, do they? My calves would never fit.”
I didn’t realize Jared had stilled until I met his glance and saw the pensiveness there.
“What year did Junie say the radio was delivered?” he asked, too quietly for my liking.
Again, my arms did the prickle thing, chills sweeping up as surely as if someone ran a feather duster across my skin. “1920.”
“Hmm.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. Where do you think this sock came from? It wasn’t there when I shut off the light last night.”
“Magic?” I suggested.
He folded his arms, making the muscles bulge across his chest. “Be serious.”
“I am!”
Except, I wasn’t. Not really. It couldn’t be magic.
Jared gripped the stocking. Something inside crinkled. The two of us froze.
“What was that?” I asked.
I took the sock from him and delved my hand in. Sure enough, there was something in here. My fingers made their way around something thin and round. I pulled it free.
It was a roll of paper tied with a red ribbon. I slipped the ribbon free and opened it. The paper wasn’t paper, but a card stamped with holly berries and bearing beautiful cursive writing.
“What’s it say?” Jared tilted in, either not realizing how close his scratchy cheek was to mine or not caring.
Or both.
Either way, his proximity was unraveling.
Even though he was close enough to take in the words too, I read aloud.
“ Dearest Lacie and Jared,
Harper’s Inn boasts many fine excursions befitting this time of year. However, one thing not usually offered to guests is a view of Santa’s reindeer themselves. You are festively invited to greet the infamous coursers this afternoon while basking in the surrounding snowy beauty at the barn at five thirty. The eight fellows look forward to your visit!
P.S. They love carrots.”
There was no signature.
“Carrots?” Jared mused. “What does it mean, ‘coursers?’”
“That’s from ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,’ ” I said, remembering a portion of the poem.
In a flash, I pulled the original up on my phone and directed his attention to the reference of the eight reindeer and their descriptions.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and call’d them by name;
“Now! Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer, and Vixen,
“On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixen;
“To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
“Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
“So reindeer,” Jared said. “We’ve been invited to go see some reindeer?”
“Don’t sound so cynical about it. When was the last time you saw reindeer?”
“Never?”
“Me neither!” My giddiness grew by the minute.
With all the heavy seriousness we’d been drenched in, we needed something lighthearted. This was the perfect thing. Junie must have done this to make up for the mix-up.
I inspected the invitation again, turning it over and face up, scanning the writing for any hidden clues or meaning.
“It addressed us by name. Do you think the inn gave one of these to all the guests?”
“If so, that would be creepy,” Jared quipped, “since they broke into our room in the middle of the night to hang it up.”
“Festive, though,” I said.
I doubted someone had broken in to hang this up. Junie had probably done it during her daily room check and towel refresh, and we hadn’t noticed.
“That’s some fancy talk. ‘Harper’s Inn boasts?’” Jared tapped the card with his finger. “‘Befitting?’”
“Who do you think it’s from?”
His lips twisted in thought. “Not sure. You did all the research for this place. Do the owners offer little personal touches like this? Was it Junie?”
“She did stock the room with towels and things. Maybe it was there before, and we were so distracted by being unexpectedly married last night we didn’t realize. Maybe it’s something Harper’s Inn offers to all their guests this time of year. It did say the reindeer visit at the barn wasn’t among their usual offerings.”
Jared still didn’t look convinced. In fact, from the way his brows gathered, he seemed upset by this.
“That paper that was on the bed detailing the hotel’s amenities and activities didn’t include complimentary reindeer,” he said.
I stared at the note longer, willing an answer to come. “What should we do?”
He gestured to my planner. “Our schedule is clear.”
His grin was so cheeky, I was ready to accuse him of being behind this again, but he couldn’t have wiped my planner completely. Unless he had another one lying around and had swapped the new one in place of mine.
But mine still had the personalization in its opening pages. He couldn’t have replicated that.
“Might as well look into it,” he said. “What else are we going to do? Although, I wouldn’t say no to some breakfast first.”
I wanted to protest. This wasn’t in the plan.
Then again, so much about what I’d planned on had exploded like a dormant volcano, gushing unexpected chaos over every aspect of my carefully organized life.
One good thing about it was the lack of Wyatt’s name on every page, I supposed.
What was I going to do about everything else, though?
I took pride in planning my life. It gave me a sense of control, of security, to know exactly what was happening. The slightest amount of anxiety trickled in, the pull to glance at the clock and ensure we weren’t late to anything.
But that was stupid. I had to let my plans go. Just like everything else.
We dressed and readied for the day, taking turns in the bathroom to change our clothes. My heart was in knots, while Jared had the sluggish motions of someone who may have been drugged.
Poor guy. He looked exhausted.
I donned my burgundy skinny jeans with my flowy, black snowflake T-shirt and gray cardigan. Jared wore one of his regular T-shirts with jeans.
Together, we made our way down to the inn’s restaurant and enjoyed a delicious breakfast of eggs and pancakes, with sausage and a heaping of fresh fruit.
I tossed back the last of my orange juice, set the cup down, and stared at Jared across the two-person table.
“Well,” I said with hesitation as he placed his utensils on his plate. “I did have the spa booked for us today.” Including that whole couples’ massage thing.
He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “So what?” he said. “We don’t have to go.”
To the reindeer? Or to the spa?
“We do if we made reservations.” Unless, like my planner, the reservations had also been cleared.
Jared pushed away from the table and waited for me to join him. Side by side, we left the restaurant, nodding in greeting to a few other guests in passing.
“Call the spa,” he suggested. “We have plenty of time for a massage or two before five-thirty. I can’t say I’d mind.”
“Good point.” Just because my planner had been wiped of its activity didn’t mean the activity itself was toast. And this way, I’d book us separate massage sessions instead of a joint one.
Once we reached our room, I crossed to the phone sitting below the TV and held the receiver to my ear. After a quick chat with Junie, the receptionist directed me to the spa.
Sure enough, their records showed no appointments for either Lacie Sorensen or Lacie Kingston.
I frowned. The element of anxiety I’d experienced earlier cranked up a notch higher, elevating my pulse. What was going on?
“I’m positive I made those,” I said, hanging up the receiver and staring at it as though it would give me some answers. “I’m not going crazy.”
“I never said you were.” Jared sat on the end of the bed.
The circles beneath his eyes were more pronounced, as though the more awake he was, the less he wanted to be.
“I just said it first.”
Jared put his hands on his knees. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation to what’s going on here. Did you mention the whole reindeer card thing to Junie?”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to keep bugging her. You may not think I’m going crazy, but she probably does.”
“You can’t tell me everyone here has the good sense to book ahead of time.”
True.
“I scheduled a facial and a massage,” I said.
He blocked a yawn with the back of his hand. “Sounds good. Actually, if you’re heading down to the spa for a while, I may get a nap in.”
“Right,” I said. That was actually a great idea.
He blocked another yawn before meeting me near the TV and the telephone. He slid a hand along my arm, startling me.
“Hey,” he said as though he knew the turmoil inside of me. “This is okay.”
I gave a shaky nod.
He went on. “It’s okay to let things happen as they will. We don’t need everything planned. For all you know, the planner escapade is connected to whatever has thrown our lives into a tailspin and will correct itself at some point. At least you can know we have a date with some reindeer later, right?”
I tried to accept his words.
It will be okay . Never mind that we had no explanation for why my planner was suddenly wiped clean.
It will be okay.
Not everyone had their life planned out like I did. I could go with the flow.
I could?—
“Okay.” I forced my voice to sound calm. Accepting. Rational.
Even though nothing else around me was.
Finding ourselves suddenly married. Social media feed overflowing with cutesy, sickeningly romantic pictures of the two of us. Random invitation to visit reindeer.
Sure, everything was just fine.
Still, what else could we do?
“I’ll go check in at the spa,” I said, needing normalcy. Needing relaxation and the soothing aromas of eucalyptus we’d encountered there when we’d spoken with Junie before. “You get some sleep.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Jared climbed into the bed, on the opposite side from the one I’d taken, and I closed the door, not realizing just how much this little reindeer visit was going to throw everything into even more of a loop than it already was.