Page 36 of Christmas Wishes
Epilogue
Blix spun in a circle, taking in every corner ofSnow Falls. Well, every corner she could see from the end of the street they were on. It was exactly as Rand had said. It was picturesque.
It was her first time visiting the town since Christmas. Rand had slept the day after. She’d slept part of it after staying up until he returned early Christmas morning. During those long hours, she’d baked.
When Santa had come, he’d brought packages with him. All the presents from her family and Rand’s family, from their friends. One of the gifts from Santa to her was a large wooden crate of baking supplies. Very basic ones, exactly as she’d started out with when she first openedWishes Bakery. That had been all she needed to bake dozens and dozens of cookies.
Bernie had checked on her in the middle of the night to make sure the fire was still burning. But she’d been fine and the cabin had been warm. All that had been missing was Rand.
He was back and keeping his promise to show her the town.
She was also wearing pants for the first time in her life. Jeans, as a matter of fact. They were comfortable and she looked like a short human. Her long hair hid the points of her ears; though Bernie said the longer she was around humans, the more normal her appearance would become. She would lose the glitter-like sparkle in her cheeks, her ears would take on a more rounded shell shape, but her magic wouldn’t diminish.
On one hand, the trade was hard to make. She would miss her family and friends and her bakery. On the other hand, she would be with Rand, in a cabin outsideSnow Falls,where he would be working on outreach missions for shifters and elves from the North Pole, taking wishes and good will into the whole wide world.
“What do you think?”
“It’s so pretty. It’s quaint and rustic like the cabin, but on a bigger scale.”
“It is.” He pulled her cap down more firmly over her head. “Your pointy elf ears were showing,” he whispered, stealing a kiss from her cheek. “Mmmm. But you still taste like cinnamon. Come on. Let’s look around.”
He took her hand and led her out of the street and up onto a wooden sidewalk. The snow had stopped earlier in the morning, but people were out, just like she and Rand were. As shop doors opened, bells jingled and jangled. Laughter and conversation could be heard before doors closed behind their customers.
The candy shop was bustling with people, mostly kids and Blix couldn’t deny she wanted to try each and every confection they made. A small diner was full as well and she wondered what a meal among humans would be like. She was sure they would find out soon enough.
“There are more people here than I expected.”
“There are.”
“And you can’t tell who is a shifter and who isn’t?”
“No. I kind of thought I might be able to, but I can’t. I don’t know if that’ll change or not.”
A door opened in front of them, bring them to an abrupt halt. “Rand!”
“Heidi! Blix, this is —”
“Heidi?” Blix laughed. “It’s lovely to meet you. Rand spoke very highly of you.”
“My aren’t you a pretty little thing. You positively glow. And Blix?. That is such an unusual name. I like it.”
“Thank you.”
Heidi didn’t look to be over a thousand years old, but according to Santa, she was. She still had a hint of rosy cheeks and a bit of sparkle in her eyes, though Blix saw strands of silver in her hair, showing age. She was beautiful and the humanity seemed to fit her.
“Bernie said we were getting a new baker in town. I guess that must be you.”
“Me?”
“You bake cookies, yes? I heard tell that you owned a bakery a little ways north. I was telling Rand her the day we met that I didn’t realize there were people living any farther up than us, but he assured me there were and then Bernie said you would be opening up here after Christmas.”
“Oh, I…” Blix didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know anything about a new bakery. She glanced up at Rand, confused.
“It’s another gift,” he said softly. “I’ll show you.”
“It was so nice to meet you, Blix.”
“Likewise, Heidi.”
