Chapter 25
Cora was in free-fall. Everything was too unreal. Like, she probably was having a fever dream, except she knew she wasn’t because Nick’s hands on hers were real, the heat from the fire warming them was real, and the familiar scents of cedar and pine were real too.
“I still have a bunch of questions.”
“I’ll answer them all,” he assured her. “I’m asking you to build on the love that is growing between us. To live with me here in Hearthvale and become the Hearth Anchor, my Mrs. Claus. My wife.”
“What would that entail?” she asked, shaking her head. “I was talking about loving you and dating you, Nick, but you’re talking about much bigger stakes.”
“No, I’m not. You don’t have to be anything other than yourself,” he assured her.
“But you have to get married?”
“I do. I always thought that it was simply for appearances, but working with you at Winter Wonderland, seeing the holiday through your eyes, made me realize that the woman at Santa’s side is the heart of the holiday. You are not only my heart, but I believe you are the heart of Christmas, Cora.”
“My knot told you all that?” she asked. She was still trying to piece this together and deal with her own fears, which had turned into a blizzard in her stomach. The only anchor in the storm was Nick with his sparkling blue eyes keeping her grounded.
“I wasn’t paying close enough attention at first and … you were on the Naughty List.”
“The Naughty List is real?” Not sure why she’d deserved to be on it. “That book on your desk, I thought I saw my name in it.”
“Yes. The Yearweave provides the names and then I add the names to the Naughty List and Pete gets the names for the Nice List. It’s a checks and balances system.”
“When you saw my name, did you hesitate?”
“I always do. It’s hard to add someone to it.”
“But you did it,” she reminded him. “Is that why I’ve met Pete and why I see him around so often?”
“It is.” Nick came clean and told her that he’d bargained with Pete to keep him from punishing her, thinking that if he could convert her, he’d get the boost in Gold Lumen he needed.
“So I was a pawn.”
“Never a pawn. To begin with you were a name on the list. When you came to me with your offer, I felt like the Yearweave was showing me how I could get you off the list.”
“When did it become about me and not the list?” she asked him.
“That first kiss under the mistletoe at your house.”
That night had changed everything for her as well. “Is there anything else you aren’t telling me?”
“Nope. I promise. If you agree to become my wife—and Mrs. Claus—you’d have to maintain the lists and liaise with the Thornreach. That’s Pete’s realm.”
“Great, so it’s a job too. As if I’m not busy enough already! I have a job I love. This year has shown me how much I need the Winter Wonderland and how much it needs me. I can’t walk away from that,” she told him.
“I wouldn’t ask you too. I’ve been moving between worlds this year. It will take some adjustment but I want your life to stay as close to how it is now—except with me in it.”
Cora was overwhelmed. She needed time to think and process all of this, but she also needed some clarity. “Start with me on the Naughty List and my knot.”
“I think the Yearweave put you there for me to meet. I’ve been struggling to find a woman to share my life with. When your name came to me, it never occurred to me that that’s why. I knew you were a brusque email writer and pushed a version of the holiday that was steeped in commercialism.”
“Rude. My emails are to the point and my holiday isn’t just about consumerism.”
“I saw that as soon as we started working together. Things weren’t adding up and I’m only now figuring out that fate put us in each other’s paths for a reason.
You were tangled up in your past Christmases, not able to see the beauty you were creating in the present.
I was also struggling, mired in a hit to my ego and trying desperately to prove I could do it all on my own.
I think the Weaver of Seasons … I think she saw that we were made for each other. ”
Made for each other.
Those words resonated deep within her soul.
“Let’s say I buy that. How would this work exactly?” she asked. He wasn’t lying to her. This was the man who had never let her down. She wanted to say yes to all of this. Her heart was on board, it was her mind and that wounded girl that still lived inside of Cora that held her back.
“You’d live here in Hearthvale with me, in the castle. I want to marry you, Cora. I can’t imagine a future without you in it.”
“But I’m not immortal.”
“If you agree to marry me, you’d sign a magical contract, the same as I did when I took over being Santa from my dad. It would grant you immortality in return for carrying out your responsibilities both here in Hearthvale and in the mortal world.”
Okay… “Would I be able to keep my job in Pine Falls?”
“Of course. The Gold Lumen you have created in that event is powerful. The success of your event has sparked other events in towns all over the country. Lumen like that will spread across North America and around the world.”
“I’d need time to decide.”
“I have until Christmas Eve,” he told her.
“What happens then?”
“Like I said, the mantle passes to Pete. He would take control of the season.”
“And remind me why that’s a problem?”
“It wouldn’t destroy Christmas,” Nick said, “but the season would run on fear instead of goodwill. And once that shift happens, it’s hard to undo.”
“So this isn’t just about you.”
“No,” he admitted. “It never is.”
“Is the fate of my world on my shoulders?” she asked. For all her faults, she’d never been a selfish person. To be honest, she already loved Nick. The decision was already made in a way, but she wanted all the facts before she committed. She’d never go back on her word.
“Not at all. This is on me. You are my North Star, showing me what I could have had all along if I’d gotten out of my own way.”
Nick was humble, sweet, caring and everything she wanted to take a risk on and have in her life.
But the reality of signing a magical contract wasn’t lost on her.
He told her she’d have until Christmas Eve but as she leaned back in her chair, she realized that she’d only be delaying a decision she’d already made.
The truth was, the happiest she’d been in her life was this month of December, with him. He frustrated her, teased her, made her laugh, and was the first person she wanted to see every day.
She could take the next few days but her answer would be the same. All of her beliefs of what Christmas was were now tied to this man. Even before she knew he was Santa Claus, he’d become her touchstone for the season.
He watched her carefully. His entire existence hung on what her answer would be. He could say that the responsibility was his, but how was she going to walk away from him knowing that she could have saved him?
“Okay.”
“You’ll consider it?” he asked her, as his heart was pounding so loudly he was sure she could hear it. It was like the drum tattoo that played when troops were marching. But he found he couldn’t focus on anything but her face.
“More than consider it, Nick Bari…”
He held his breath.
“I love you so much it scares me, but it also excites me. Being with you has brought my life into technicolor. Marriage always felt like some sort of outdated tradition but the idea of being your partner, creating a life together, it energizes me.”
Nick scooped her out of the chair as he stood up. She wrapped her legs around his hips as she kissed him slowly and deeply.
“I love you more than you can ever know,” he said.
He carried her into his bedroom and only when she was under him, her limbs wrapped around him, did he start to believe that this was real. That Cora loved him the same way he loved her.
They ate snacks in his bed as she peppered him with questions about Christmas Eve.
“So how do you suddenly have gray hair and a big belly? How do you get into houses on Christmas Eve? Do you have flying reindeer? Also, can I see them?”
A laugh boomed out of him. “For someone who never believed in Santa, you sure know a lot about me.”
“I do live in the world,” she informed him. “So…?”
“I have gray hair and a belly, but only on Christmas Eve. I use Gold Lumen to transform and that’s also how I get into the houses. The reindeer do fly. Animals also have contracts with the Weaver of Seasons. They come into service and retire when they are ready to.”
“I love the idea of that. The Weaver of Seasons has thought of everything.”
“They have. It’s a system to keep the spirit of the Earth in balance.”
“Makes perfect sense. How do you get all around the world in one night?” she asked.
He explained how the Starweave paths allowed him to travel between the stars and that Gold Lumen allowed for time manipulation. “But I’m limited to how many times I can reset the clocks. It’s exhausting to keep going back through the same few hours.”
“What do I do when you’re gone?”
“My mom always hosted a gala for the elves to thank them for their hard work. Also, you can watch my progress through the Yuleglass. It’s that mirror over there.
But there’s a large one in the banquet hall that’s only unveiled on Christmas Eve.
Everyone gathers there except for the elves in delivery and fulfillment.
They’re in the stables working to keep the bags full for me. ”
“I hear what you’re saying but it still sounds … fantastical. Like, I know it’s true but I still can’t quite believe it.”
“But you believe in me. When you said all you wanted for Christmas was me … it was my wish come true.”
“You were wishing for me?” she asked, moving to straddle him.
“I didn’t realize it until that moment. I had been hoping there was some way to slow down time so I’d have more with you, but I knew that wasn’t possible. The only way we could be together would be if we were both falling for each other.”