Page 74 of Run, Run Rudolph
“Right. Thanks,” I said, breathless with shame. I knew better than to run blindly into the dark in weather such as this. Within a few hurried steps I’d already veered into the cocoon of falling snow that surrounded us, completely missing the trail.
Haden shone the light to the left as he gathered me in like a lost duckling, and I spotted the elf huddled in the snow. I bent down, reaching for his hand. “Come on. Sounds as though we have another problem to fix.”
Blitzen was stuck on the roof.
As we craned our necks to stare up at the faint outline of the reindeer, I could feel a headache coming on.
I was trying to deal with the growing heap of problems in a methodical and cool-headed manner like Haden, but this newest mess took the whole freaking cake. I wanted to scream. I wanted to go into my house and slam the door, take off all my winter gear, curl up under a thick warm blanket with a bottle of wine and pretend tonight had never happened.
That was what I wanted. And I wanted it right now.
Well, except I wanted Haden to come with me.
“I can’t deal with this,” I muttered to Haden, trying to blink back the wetness of futility forming in my eyes. It had to be near midnight and I was spent.
“I’ve got it,” he said, giving my shoulder a squeeze, and I leaned into him momentarily, relieved. “You and the elf go check on Rudolph and Santa.”
“I have a name,” Snarky said.
“Sorry, Snarky,” I muttered.
“It’s Hugo!”
The elf and I entered the barn where Rudolph was keeping an eye on the concussed Santa while Haden dutifully began tackling the issue of figuring out how to get a broken sleigh and drunk reindeer off the barn roof.
“Was that Mrs. Claus?” Rudolph asked when we reached his stall. “Did they land on the roof?”
“Mrs. Claus?” Santa perked up from his spot on the bale near Dolly. “She came?”
Rudolph shushed him and with a mumble, Santa dipped his head back down, as though deciding to nap.
“Um…” I glanced at the elf to see if he wanted to break the news to his reindeer friend—or foe, or whatever their relationship happened to be.
“Your drunken colleague landed the broken sleigh on the roof,” Snarky announced. “Apparently, he doesn’t understand instructions. Surprise, surprise.”
“Haden is dealing with it,” I said with a calmness that surprised me. I gave snoring Santa a pointed look. “Have you been waking him up?”
Rudolph had been under strict instructions to wake Santa every half an hour. I realized now that my directions had been myopic. Not only did the reindeer lack a watch, but he also probably couldn’t tell time. Further, his sense of time seemed to differ from mine here in the regular world. And then there was also the fact that, due to the painkillers, Rudolph kept dozing off as well.
“Santa?” I gave his thick shoulder a gentle shake. “Santa? Can you wake up? Do you know where you are?”
“Well! Hello there, Tamara Madden from Eagle Ridge,” he said warmly. “What would you like for Christmas this year?” He tipped his head to the side, giving me a gentle, playful look. “And you know I can’t deliver a boyfriend. Not a real, live one at least!”
He gave me a meaningful wink, and I shuddered. Beside me, the elf snickered.
“I’m working on it here on my own. So, you can scratch that off your list!” I said cheerfully. “No magic or wishes required!”
My mind immediately flitted to Char last summer. She was a wishing machine, and had thought her new boyfriend was under a love spell, thanks to Estelle and a poorly made wish. It hadn’t been easy for her, believing that he only loved her due to magic. That kind of extra emotional turmoil, while falling in love and sorting out all of those fun insecurities about whether a guy likes you or not, wasn’t something I felt the need to repeat. And knowing that Santa had nothing to do with Haden’s desire to kiss me tonight was reassuring.
“Santa, do you know where you are?” I asked, refocusing my efforts on the problems at hand.
Maybe this year was the last time I’d need to ask for love. My mom was going to be delighted I’d found someone…although she might be perturbed that I was hopping my way across the branches of the Powell family tree.
“I am here with you, Tamara Madden. And look, there’s Rudolph. Hello, old friend.”
“Hello, Santa,” Rudolph replied cheerfully.
“Santa, bring me a boyfriend,” Snarky said in a high-pitched voice, just loud enough that I could hear him, but quiet enough that Santa and Rudolph would probably miss it.
