Page 26 of Under the Mistletoe
There was a toy car on the coffee table, but other than that, there wasn’t even a pillow out of place.
“Tyce, I asked you to put the car away when you were done with it.” Heather pointed to the orange Matchbox car.
The boy hopped up, dropped it in its box, then returned to his place on the couch. Logan shot her a look. But Devin had been in this line of work for a while, and she’d seen just about everything. Being neat freaks wasn’t the worst thing.
“I have a little bag for each of the kids, inviting them to all the Christmas events.” Devin set the small colorful bags on the coffee table. “Our first one is Sunday.”
Tyce ran over and found his bag, pulled it to the floor, and knelt in front of it. He tossed the envelope aside and grabbed a blue ball and rainbow mini Slinky from inside. All the colors a strong contrast to the space.
Devin squatted down to his level and tapped the discarded envelope. “That you will want to keep secret. It has the name of another child in the area. You’re going to be his Secret Santa.”
“I’m going to be Santa?” His face wrinkled.
“It means you buy a gift for him. And someone else will buy a gift for you.”
“I don’t have any money.” He shrugged and tried to hand it back.
“That’s why I’ve set up a special store next to Donny’s Diner where you can pick out a gift for free. It’s called Santa’s Workshop.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
“It doesn’t open until tomorrow, but it’ll be open every day from four to six for whoever wants to shop. Then you can wrap it there and leave it for us to deliver or bring it to one of the events.”
“Why’s it called Santa’s Workshop?” His face lit up. “Is Santa going to be there?”
“Nope. But two of his elves will be.” Elves named Jess and Janie. She’d nearly cried when the two had agreed to take charge of the whole store. All Devin had to do was place the orders for the toys.
His brow wrinkled. “Does everyone get a present?”
“Yup.”
The little boy dropped the ball back in his bag with the envelope but kept hold of the Slinky. “Whose name do you have?”
“I can’t have one. I’m in charge. But if I did, I couldn’t tell you. Secret. Remember?” Devin held her finger up to her lips and then stood.
“I don’t think it’s fair that you don’t get gifts.” The little boy stretched the mini Slinky and then collapsed it again. “I love gifts.”
“Gifts are fun, aren’t they?” Devin glanced at Easton and Alani, who were watching from the couch, but she kept talking to Tyce. “What is your most favorite Christmas gift?”
“My rabbit. He sleeps with me every night.” He stretched the Slinky the length of his arms again. “What about you?”
“Every year I got three books for Christmas. A biography, a travel book, and a science book.”
“Is that what you asked for?” Tyce’s face twisted in disgust.
“One year, I asked for silly plastic charm bracelets like all my friends were getting. But my parents—and, oh, of course, Santa—believed I needed something more practical.”
All three kids’ faces wrinkled. And Tyce held out his Slinky. “I think you need this more than me.”
Devin laughed it off, but the moment pinched her heart. She always told herself her parents’ practical nature was a good thing, but there were times it hadn’t felt that way. “I’m grown up and able to buy whatever I want for myself now. I don’t need gifts.”
“Everyone needs gifts,” Tyce mumbled as he walked back toward the couch. He was right about that, which was the very reason she’d set up this Secret Santa to begin with. Tyce shrugged and gave his Slinky another pull. “Maybe we’ll get a baby Jesus?”
Devin frowned and looked to Heather, who pointed to the Nativity sans baby Jesus.
Devin glanced around the impeccably clean room. “I’m sure He’s around here somewhere. Just keep looking. Did you check under the couch?”
Tyce shrugged and went back to stretching his toy.
