Chapter 20 #2
Fliss left a few minutes later and Cora went back to the booth feeling good about herself and the festival. This year felt the way the first one had, and Cora was excited to come in each day and see how much Winter Wonderland was growing.
She’d brought a stack of intentions with her to look through so she could see what kinds of things people were writing. Most of the chains were upbeat and positive but then she got to one that stopped her in her tracks.
I hope my kids don’t wake up on Christmas morning with nothing under the tree.
The handwriting was neat and clean, and Cora’s heart broke at the sincere wish.
In a way, Cora’s own mom had taken that fear from their lives by being upfront about there being no Santa Claus, but Cora was starting to feel as if her mom had stolen a bit of magic from her childhood by not allowing Cora to believe.
These paperchains were from the day before. She was tempted to see if she could find the person who wrote it. There was CCTV in the event space for security. Without allowing herself to overthink it, she pulled up her access to the security footage on her phone.
She sent the files from the day before to her personal folder so she could go over them later. She heard Nick’s voice in her head telling her that one good deed fed another. What could she do for this person?
Nick was exhausted after a long day traveling all over the world to make sure that everyone who’d left their shoe out for him had a small trinket. The gift this year was a dove. The world could use more peace, so the decision had been an easy one. When he was finally done, it was around 6 pm.
He headed straight for the Pine Falls Retirement Community, changing into his ugly sweater on the way. It depicted a fat, gray-haired Santa in shorts, knee-socks, and flip flops with the words Get Festive!
Cora looked up when he entered the recreation room. There were tables scattered throughout, filled with residents doing crafts with school kids of various ages. Cora gave him a little wave, but she was working on a project so didn’t get up.
He found the director and asked where he could be of the most help. “I’m good with carving and whittling.”
“Dave is leading a group in the far corner. They’ve been working on robins.”
Nick joined them and found the tension in his gut easing as he held a piece of wood in his hand, carving and whittling it until it resembled a robin. He’d been worried about disappointing Cora. Some years the deliveries went smoothly but this wasn’t one of them.
Martha had warned that the Magic Coffers had felt the strain of the day, dipping into the amber zone as he used their power to manipulate time.
As much as he was enjoying this relationship with Cora, he hoped he hadn’t made a terrible mistake.
Her knot was lighter but not yet bright and colorful and it was still very twisted and tight.
Her name was still on the Naughty List but it was faded and he couldn’t wait to find out whether it was beginning to transfer to the Nice List. He hoped that hadn’t been wishful thinking on his part. At this moment, he had to ask himself if he’d been selfish in starting a relationship with her.
The progress he was making was solid but slow. He needed a big win, the kind that would flood the coffers with Gold Lumen and give him all the Yulekind magic he needed for Christmas Eve.
“Cookie and cocoa time,” the director announced and everyone moved to the adjoining room.
Cora caught his arm, hugging him close to her. “Missed you today. I was afraid you weren’t going to make it.”
“I gave my word,” he said.
“You did. It’s nice you kept it. I have an idea,” she said.
“You do?”
“Yes. It’s sort of tricky and I’m not sure legal.”
Nick groaned. “I don’t want to get busted by this group making out with you.”
Her tinkle of laughter made him smile.
“Nice idea, but not that. I was at the paperchain station earlier and I saw this one link written by a parent concerned about not being able to give her kids a Christmas. So … and this is the not-sure-it’s-legal part …
I spent the day reviewing the footage from the cameras in the area and as near as I can tell, it’s this woman who wrote it. ”
She handed Nick her phone.
Stacy Fields. Single mom of two. Strong believer in Christmas who had lost her job in October and hadn’t yet found another one. She had no savings because her youngest, Danny, had asthma and had recently been hospitalized.
“I want to maybe go to her house with a tree and presents and all the trimmings,” Cora said.
“I thought you had a team that handles charity,” Nick said, remembering her telling him about the twenty families.
“We do. But she didn’t put anything on the charity tree. I know because I checked to see if I could find her name. What I’m proposing is that we use social media to track her down and then since you’re big on good deeds and all that, we surprise her.”
Nick’s watch vibrated but he didn’t need to look down to see that Cora’s excitement for helping a woman she didn’t know was giving the coffers a badly needed boost. “Okay.”
“I knew you’d say yes. I think she’s local since today was a discounted day for Pine Falls residents.”
“I’m on socials all the time. I’ll track her down for you.”
“You are?” she asked. “What do you post?”
“Pictures of my carvings, mostly. Sometimes I create little videos showing how to make them.”
“That I have to see,” she said.
He pulled out his phone and showed her his online account. He was simply on there as TheWoodCarver. She scrolled through his pictures, tenderness appearing on her face. “This is really great, Nick. If your family kicks you out for not being married, you could sell your carvings and make a fortune.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” While doing his deliveries today, he’d had a lot of time to think.
He refused to give up being Santa Claus.
He’d decided he was going to ask the council for more time.
He wasn’t sure if there was a precedent for that, but having found Cora he knew he wasn’t willing to give her up either.
And he couldn’t rush her into marriage or rush the explanation of who he truly was.
Cora was called away and he stayed where he was, watching her. There were still nineteen days until Christmas. He had to find a way to convince her that a long-term relationship was what she wanted. Or at least show her that a lifetime with him wouldn’t be bad.
The more he got to know her, the more he realized that she was the only one he wanted by his side. The only one.
But would the council listen?