Page 12 of Run, Run Rudolph
Samantha
u drunk?
I think Malachi is going to propose. What do I do?
Gabby
Yay! Say yes!!!!!!
I smiled. Gabby was the most optimistic and romantic of the five of us, and naturally she saw the bright side of Samantha’s mostly likely doomed relationship. She was the one we relied on for hope, and I bit my lip as I scanned her next message, eager to see if she had anything helpful for me despite her lack of belief.
Gabby: Please tell me u don’t mean Rudolph as in the reindeer…
I could picture her rolling her eyes. It looked as though she still didn’t believe in the magical world.
Me
Yes. That Rudolph.
Char
Nothing from Estelle or the jolly fella?
Me
Not yet.
Gabby
Um? So we’re doing this again?
Samantha
They’re drunk. Ignore them.
Dots appeared under Josie’s name, and I held my breath as I waited for her to chime in.
Josie
This is bad. Very bad. It’s almost Christmas Eve! What were you thinking?
I shivered, and not from the cold. Her message should have been the helpful one I’d been counting on. Instead, it only gave me a deep, unwelcome sense of foreboding.
Me
I didn’t ask for this! I didn’t make a wish.
Why was this happening to me?
Char
Call Haden.
No. I pocketed my phone.
I couldn’t do that. He was my ex’s brother. He didn’t like me, and would have things to say about me bringing a ‘wild’ reindeer home. One with a blinking nose. Assuming he could even see any of this. He probably couldn’t even help me, and would think I was nutso, or trying to lure him into something like one of his HAGs—Haden Appreciation Group fan club members.
What was I going to do?
