Chapter 30
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“Shubrum, mub dum.”
I press my lips together so a laugh doesn’t escape and wake Piper. She’s sprawled in the middle of the bed, an arm slung over my chest and a leg tucked over one of mine.
“Brum mubdub, hummm.”
My cheeks ache from smiling, and my chest feels full of pink cotton candy. I’ve never known happiness like this—bone-deep contentment and excitement that gives me goosebumps.
She’s coming to New Zealand with me. We’re doing this together.
I’d talked myself out of the job and made peace with the decision to turn it down. But now it’s actually happening, all thanks to my girl, I know I’m the luckiest guy alive. Piper’s right: it’s the role of a lifetime, and I’m the fortunate bastard who gets to make it his own.
And this beautiful woman is going to be by my side, today, tomorrow, and forever if I play my cards right.
“Crosshatch shading!” Piper says with the clarity and diction of a British art teacher who can’t wait to leave the classroom behind.
I can’t stop the snort that escapes.
Piper shuffles in bed, then stills, her breathing stopping.
“You awake?” I ask.
“Did I just shout something about drawing?” she mumbles.
“Cross-hatch shading, to be precise.”
She pulls the comforter over her head and groans. “So embarrassing.”
I lift the covers and smooth her hair from her face. “It’s cute. I’m learning so much.”
Opening her eyes, she blinks at me. “How do you get to be so gorgeous this early in the morning?”
I grin. “Not as gorgeous as you. And it’s nearly nine.”
She lifts onto her elbows. “What? Seriously?”
“Yup.”
Flopping back onto the mattress, she lets out another groan. “Not enough time for snuggles.”
I trail a finger down her shoulder. “I don’t know about that. What else is planned for Christmas Eve?”
Piper gives me a look. “In less than five minutes, we’re going to have a visitor.”
“Santa?”
“Not this morning.”
My hand stops as a baby elephant runs up the stairs and along the corridor.
There’s a loud knock at our door, followed a millisecond later by Martha, who dashes up to the bed and throws a bag and a bundle of wood onto the comforter, right where my own wood was looking forward to some “snuggle time” with Piper.
“Fu—aghhh!” I cry, hands darting under the covers to protect my junk.
“The elf came to visit!” Martha shouts, ignoring me completely.
Piper shoots me a worried look. “You okay?”
I nod as stars dance in my eyes.
“The elf left this!” Martha repeats. “At the front door! Look, Aunt Piper!”
The bundle contains a few small branches, and a net bag containing pinecone fire-starters made with colored beeswax.
“Grandma says they’ll make pretty flames when they burn!” Martha continues excitedly. “And we can try them tonight!”
Everything is tied together with a festive ribbon, and a gift tag is attached.
“To the Locke family, from the Hideaway elf.”
“See?” Martha says. “The secret elf came to us!”
“Did you just arrive with Daddy?”
“No, he got called to work last night, so Nana and Papa came to look after me and bring me here this morning.”
“Do you think I’ll meet the Hideaway elf this afternoon?” Martha continues.
I raise an eyebrow at Piper in question.
“It’s the elf treasure hunt in town,” she says to me. “But it’s absolutely nothing to do with the secret do-gooder. And Mom said Martha was coming here this morning to bake cookies for Santa tonight.”
Martha frowns at us. “Why are you still in bed?”
“Well—” Piper begins.
“You need to hurry up. Downstairs in five, okay?”
Before either of us can reply, she runs out of the room and down the corridor, leaving the secret Hideaway elf’s present on the bed with us.
I chuckle. “Why do I get the feeling she’ll be back up in four minutes to check on us?”
Piper kisses me on the cheek. “Because you know her well. How’s the King’s jewels? Still in one piece?”
I huff. “Only just.”
“Want me to kiss them better?”
I glance at the wide-open door just as Martha’s voice floats up the stairs, yelling, “Hurry up!”
Piper giggles. “Maybe later.” She hops out of bed and goes to the window. “Snowing already,” she says, grinning at me over her shoulder. “Merry Christmas Eve, boyfriend.”
I smile back. “Merry Christmas Eve, girlfriend,” I reply, even though inside I’m thinking, “Merry Christmas Eve, wife.”
“Don’t say a word,” Marv says, his palm raised as if he’s stopping traffic. “Not a f—fudging word.”
He’s wearing his camel-colored greatcoat and cashmere muffler, but a lurid green-and-red elf hat with a bell at the end is perched on his head, and bright red circles have been painted on his cheeks. He looks like a member of the mafia trying to hide out in Santa’s workshop.
“Go ahead, laugh,” he continues testily as Piper and I crack up. “You should look in a mirror yourself.”
Both Piper and I are also wearing elf hats and have rosy red circles on our cheeks, courtesy of Harper’s face paints. Piper looks so cute I can’t stop sneaking kisses from her.
We’re in the town square, getting briefed on the elf treasure hunt by John and Erica, who are dressed as Mr and Mrs Claus. I realize now why John grows a beard for Christmas. I think he’s been in that red-and-white suit more than his regular clothes since we arrived.
“You’ll be at your stations between two and three this afternoon,” John says.
“You’ve been given your scripts, but feel free to embellish them.
When each child works out the answer to your riddle, give them a magical token and stamp their treasure map.
And remember, you can always help the little ones out. ”
Mia’s taking photos and is currently up in Hudson’s face, whose cheeks are rapidly turning the same color as the spots Harper painted on them ten minutes ago.
“Then back here for hot chocolate and cookies at about five past three,” John continues. “Okay, any questions?”
Mia raises a hand. “What’s Hudson’s elf name this year? Frownie, Cranky, or Grouch?”
John laughs. “You’re going to hurt his elf-esteem. This year he’s Sparky.”
Erica claps her hands. “Let’s do a roll call! Do we have Tinsel?”
A woman waves. “Here!”
“Doodle?”
“Here!” Piper says.
“King Jingle?”
I give Erica a wave. “Present and accounted for.”
“Sprinkle …? Fizzle …? Twinkle …? Bubbles …? Glimmer …? Snickerdoodle …? Pickle …? Nibbles …?” Erica continues as people around us raise their hands.
“Sparkle …? And finally, last but by no means least, Big Apple?”
Marv reluctantly raises a hand.
“All here, Mr Claus!” Erica says to John.
“Ho, ho, ho-mazing!” he replies. “Right, off to your stations!”
Piper and I are posted outside the offices of The Almanac, and Marv’s set up on the opposite corner of the town square outside the bookstore. As soon as Piper and I get to the steps of the Almanac building, she turns to me.
“I really think I should tell Marv about the job and the fact that I’ve asked Jack to be my agent. I don’t want him finding out at the same time as everyone else.”
I nod. “We can tell him together later if you like?”
“I’d rather do it now. Are you okay for five minutes?”
“I’m a moderately famous actor, dressed as an elf, in the center of Hideaway Harbor on Christmas Eve,” I reply. “What could possibly go wrong?”
“You spend your whole time taking ‘elfies’ with fans?”
I laugh and pull her in for another quick kiss. “You’re adorable.”
She beams up at me. “So are you. Now have fun, and I’ll see you in a bit.”
My gaze follows her as she makes her way across the road and into the town square, love filling every part of me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see a family slowing their pace as they approach. I smile, trying to place how I know them.
“Mr King?” the man says.
He’s pushing a stroller with a toddler wrapped up inside, and the woman holds the hands of two older children.
“I don’t know if you remember us,” he continues. “You gave us your rooms at the Hideaway Hotel.”
“Yes! Great to see you all again. How’s your stay been?”
“The best. We can’t thank you enough.”
“Absolutely,” his wife says, then turns to her older children. “Say thank you to Mr King.”
“Thank you, Mr King,” they dutifully parrot.
“Are you here for the treasure hunt?” I ask them.
They shyly hold out printed maps.
“You ready to solve my riddle?”
Two heads nod.
“Okay, here we go. I’m curved and sweet, with stripes of red, a treat for the season that’s often widespread. I hang on the tree or stick in your cup. What am I? Take a guess, don’t give up!”
“A candy cane!” the girl cries.
“That was quick!”
“It was easy,” her younger brother says, then holds out his map.
I stamp both their maps, then give them one of the “magical tokens” Erica gave us to hand out.
“Good luck on the rest of the treasure hunt,” I say, then crouch down next to the kids for a photo as their mom holds up her phone.
“Thank you so much, Mr King,” she says. “You’re the best.”
I wave her words away. “It’s the least I could do. I’ll catch you folks again in the square at three for hot chocolate?”
They nod and thank me again, then move on to the next elf, leaving me feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
I strain to see the other side of the square where Piper is with Marv, but there are too many people, so I focus instead on the steady trail of kids with their parents, who come to take photos and solve the riddle.
It’s laid-back and festive, but just as I’m getting into my stride, a dog blindsides me, barreling out of nowhere, barking wildly, and jumping up like it wants to kiss or eat me.
“Brody!”
I wrestle the overexcited dog, only to be attacked by an overexcited little boy.
“Lucky knew it was you before I did!” Billy cries. “She’s so clever. Good dog! Good Lucky!”
“Hey, Billy! How’s it going?”
“Awesome! I’m on a hunt!”
“For elves?”
“Nah. Well, kind of.” He beckons me down to his level, then cups his hand over his mouth and whispers loudly, “The treasure hunt is my cover story.”
Lucky barks loudly in agreement.
“Hello, Mr King,” Billy’s mom says as she reaches us.
“Brody, please,” I reply and shake her hand. “Billy tells me he’s on another hunt.”
“SHUSH!” Billy whisper-shouts as his mom rolls her eyes.
“So, what are you hunting?” I ask quietly.
“Jack Frost. I saw The Santa Clause 3 last night, and if anyone’s gonna ruin Christmas, it’s him.”
“I like your logic. So what’s your plan for when you meet him?”
Billy narrows his eyes. “Mom ruined it.”
“Honey,” she says with a barely concealed smile, “you can’t bring your Nerf gun into town.”
I laugh, then immediately cough to disguise it.
“See?” he says, pointing at me. “Brody thinks it’s a good idea.”
“Your mom is right,” I say, using every actor’s trick in the book to keep a straight face. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other ways to handle Jack Frost.”
“Like what?” Billy asks breathlessly, as his mom’s eyebrows raise in alarm.
“A snowball?” I suggest quickly.
Billy pumps his fist. “Yes! Now all I need to do is find him.”
“Well …”
“Is he here?”
I lower my voice. “I’ve heard a rumor that he’s at the treasure hunt disguised as an elf …”
“No way!”
“Yes way.”
“What does he look like? Does he have white pointy hair, like the guy in the movie?”
“Not really. He doesn’t have much hair at all.”
“And where is he?”
“Apparently, he’s been seen skulking outside the bookstore.”
Billy gives me a serious nod, then gathers a handful of snow from the side of the steps leading up to the front door of The Almanac.
“Honey, you can’t walk around with that,” his mom protests.
“Okay,” he replies, then squeezes the snow into a ball and shoves it in his pocket.
“Billy!”
“What?” He doesn’t wait for an answer, scraping more snow from the steps, compacting it together, then filling his other pocket.
“Do you want to get your map stamped?” I ask, attempting to deflect him from his armament project.
He shrugs. “Sure. What’s the riddle?”
I tell him, and he immediately gets the answer.
“So, where’s your map?”
Rummaging in his pocket, he pulls out a wet and battered piece of paper and hands it to me.
“Maybe I should look after that?” Judy says after I stamp it.
“Thanks, Mom!”
I give her the map and a magical token for safekeeping, then turn back to Billy. “So, where are you going next?”
“Oh, I dunno,” he replies artlessly. “I was thinking about the bookstore.”
He gives me an enormous wink, and I fake another coughing fit to cover my laughter.
“Come on, Lucky! Come on, Mom,” he says, then gazes at me. “You’ll be there for hot chocolate at the end?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Good, I’ll let you know how I get on at the bookstore.” He gives me another wink, then dashes off with Lucky, his mom running after him, yelling at him to slow down.
“Was that Billy?” Piper asks as she crosses the street a few moments later.
I kiss her. “Yeah. Full of energy and on the hunt for Jack Frost.”
“We don’t have anyone playing him. Maybe we should have that next year.”
“I told him he was disguised as an elf.”
She gives me the side eye. “And who is that, then?”
I grin.
“Oh, you didn’t! Not Marv?”
“See, you picked him first too.”
She giggles. “Poor guy. He won’t know what hit him.”
“I think he will. Billy’s got snowballs in his pockets.”
“Brody! You are—” She shakes her head, but she’s still laughing.
“How did it go with Marv?”
She sobers up a little. “Okay, thank goodness. He’s just happy that we’re happy. He told me he was worried you were going to change your mind and turn the job down.”
“He knows me well.”
“I said we’re going to tell everyone tonight after the treasure hunt, when we’re home. And Mia’s going to be there too, for the family photo and presents.”
“You still do presents on Christmas Eve?”
“Just one or two. It’s nice and chill before the big day, which is mostly about Martha.”
“She must love it.”
“She does, and that just makes us love it even more as we see it through her eyes.”
I wrap my arms around Piper and kiss her, because I love this woman, and I can’t wait to spend forever by her side. The kiss is relatively chaste, but one turns into two, and two into twenty, and I completely forget we’re both dressed as elves, with a job to do.
“Beautiful!” Mia cries, and we break apart. “And another one with just smiling. Please?”
We pose for her with ridiculously cheesy grins on our faces.
“You photographing all the elves?” Piper asks.
“Pretty much. I got a great one just now of some kid lobbing a snowball at Marv.”
Piper digs her elbow in my ribs as I crack up. “See you for hot chocolate at three?” she asks Mia.
“Maybe not. I’ve got a few errands to run first.” Mia catches my eye, then gives me a tiny nod.
Good. My plan is in motion.
“But you’ll be at ours at four?” Piper continues.
“Sure, but I’ve gotta shoot now,” Mia replies, then jogs up the steps into The Almanac building.
My heart beats a little faster in my chest. If Mia comes through, I’ll have a present for Piper that she won’t be expecting.