Page 52 of Jam and Jingle Bells
He pointed at her. “You got it. If you need anything, I’ll be over there on that sleigh again next Saturday. Though I bet you’ll be pretty busy since your mom is getting married the day before.”
Holly gasped. “You know my mom, too?”
Santa shook his head, disappointment washing across his face. “I told you, Holly. I know all the little ones, even when they aren’t so little anymore. Your mom loved to bake when she was a little girl.”
“She still does! She made those cookies you ate a bunch of!”
Santa put his hand to his chest as if to say,who me?“I didn’t eat any cookies,” he insisted, denial lacing his tone.
Holly put her hand on her hip. “Santa, I watched you eat three before you came over here.”
Santa patted his fake giant belly. “I do have to maintain my figure, and those were some excellent sugar cookies. I especially enjoyed the candy cane ones. The peppermint was a nice touch. Very tasty.”
Holly grinned up at her mom. “Maybe I’ll see you again before Christmas, Santa,” she said, running and hugging him again for barely a second before jogging back to Mel.
“I’d like that, Holly. Just tell my head elf you’re Holly Hadley and you have an update for Santa. She’ll get you right through the line.”
“Holly Murano,” she corrected him, her voice oddly unsure when she spoke.
Santa gave himself a forehead slap. “I’m sorry, Holly Murano, of course. I know Mason and I got all confused.”
“You know Mason, too?” she paused and then did a forehead slap herself. “You know everyone.”
He pointed at her again with a twinkle in his eye. “I do, and Mason always wanted a baseball glove every year until one year he asked me for running shoes. I was really confused that year.”
“That’s because he loves to run!” she laughed and clapped excitedly. It was then that a little bit of happy peeked through the sadness for the first time in too long. “He’s a great runner, he runs around town all the time.”
“Well, I’m glad he still runs. He asked me for running shoes for years, up until last year. Last year, he had a different wi—”
Santa paused and waved his hand. “Never mind. Anyway, have a Merry Christmas!” he called, his jingle bells jangling on his sleeve.
“Santa, wait,” Holly called, running down the stairs. “What did Da—Mason wish for last year?”
“I’m not sure I’m supposed to say,” he said, leaning down close. “It’s kind of an in-confidence thing.”
Holly nodded thoughtfully. “Like, did he come to sit on your lap?”
Santa threw his head back and laughed a few ho-ho-hos. “No, he’s a little too big for that. He’d break my legs!”
Holly giggled and slapped her own leg in pure amusement. “You’re right. He’s really big,” she said, her hands stretching tall. “He can carry me. How do you talk then?”
“Email,” Santa said without hesitation. “The really special ones who truly believe in my magic, they have my email. I can tell you last year he sent me a picture of a woman and a girl and he wished for them to be his.”
“Me and Mom?” she asked, her hands folded in the praying pose.
He winked at her. “You do look a lot like that little girl in the picture,” he answered vaguely.
“I guess he got his wish then because Mom is going to marry him in six days!”
Santa did a thumbs up and gave her a high five. “I know Mason must be over the moon happy about that. I don’t know for sure because he hasn’t emailed me this year.”
“He hasn’t?”
Santa shook his head slowly. “I think maybe he’s a little sad, too.”
“Why do you think that?” she asked, her head cocked again.
“I saw him in the diner, that one that looks like a train car.”
