Page 44 of Courting the Krampus
I’m still scouring my brain for words when Natalie speaks. “I think this might be the most magical place I’ve seen in my life. Can we please come in?” Her tone is one of awe, her words holding no snark. There’s a beautiful honesty in them, almost an innocent wonder as she strains her neck to see more over Tinker’s shoulder.
“Of course.” Tinker’s eyes crinkle in delight. “Follow me.” The old male holds out his elbow for Natalie and she easily slips her hand into the crook of his gentlemanly arm. It somehow works despite their height difference, the sight making me wish I can imprint it on my mind.
Jasper quirks a brow at me and sticks his arms out too. I gladly hook my arm through his and we follow them inside.
The entire room is warm, both in temperature and in the reception we get from everyone. Raising their heads from their workbenches, the elves smile, nodding greetings at us before returning to their work, but I sense half of their attention remains trained on us. Their collective humming picks back up and I smile when I realize the song they’ve unwittingly chosen reflects the Christmas tattoos across my body.
We follow Tinker to the far end of the room, my eyes flitting from one corner to the next, trying to take in every detail I can see.
Exposed wooden beams run along the length of the room. Clusters of red, green, and gold ornaments are strung from the rafters with tiny twinkling lights artfully draped between them.
In one corner is a fireplace keeping the large workshop cozy, nutcrackers standing guard on either side.
Each station has four elves working together on a specific toy. Every team seems to be responsible for a different design. Saws, hammers, chisels, wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, spanners, and a host of tools I can’t name are neatly arranged against the backboard of each workbench.
Along the eastern wall is a wider variety of similar tools, organized by size and type. The western wall has shelves for the different designs currently being built and displays each toy’s blueprint next to it. My eyes hop from one toy to the next, not being able to catalog them fast enough.
Tinker comes to a stop in front of the tall wall at the end of the room and my mouth gapes open as I study the samples of toys.
“These are the original toys that Nick made. He designs a prototype and sends it to us for our input. The elves select which toy they’d like to work on, then they try to perfect the design during the first half of the year. Once Nick approves the final design, we place it on the western wall, and focus on multiplying it according to the estimated number of requests Santa will receive for the coming Christmas.”
I stare up at the sheer variety of designs Nick has completed. How does he manage it all? And this is only one of the villages. I’m glad he has the elves to help him because this looks like it takes a staggering amount of time to come up with.
There’s a wooden teddy bear, a rocking horse, toy train, tractor, dinosaur, doll house, stacking rings, a complete stable with animals. Even a little kitchen.
Natalie takes out her leather-bound sketchbook and says, “Is it okay if I draw some of this? It’s so pretty and I don’t want to forget one detail of this sight.”
“Of course,” Tinker replies graciously. “Make yourself at home. Take your time to look around. I’ll be at my bench over there if you have any questions.”
Natalie opens the sketchbook and flips through it for a blank page. I swear I see something that resembles me, and step closer at the same time Jasper does. He puts a finger between two pages to halt her movement.
“Can I see that?” Jasper is nearly breathless with the question. My heart starts to beat rapidly, like a runaway sleigh is dragging it across a frozen lake as I wait for her answer.
Natalie’s eyes dart between us and a shy blush pinkens her face and neck. “Yeah, but don’t judge them too harshly, okay?”
“Never,” Jasper says and places a chaste kiss on her forehead before gently prying the book from her hands.
I step closer and wrap an arm around Natalie’s waist, peering down at the most exquisite drawing. She captured me so accurately, but in a way I’ve never seen myself before. I’m in the sleigh, holding the reins in one hand while looking at something—orsomeone—not visible in the picture. But the emotion on my face is one of pure adoration, of love and devotion.
She saw and drew my feelings for Jasper before I had even verbalized the words to him.
“You’re so talented,” I breathe against her ear, squeezing her closer to me.
Jasper’s eyes brim with tears as he pages through her sketchbook, revealing a few scenes from her time in the Caribbean, but mostly details of the North Pole.
She drew the snowcapped trees, the reindeer, the sleigh, three hot chocolate mugs in front of the fire, our feet tangled together on the bed, and then there’s the sketch of Jasper.
A shaky breath shudders out of him and he blinks up at the rafters as emotion overwhelms him. A tear rolls down his cheek and I quickly thumb it away before it can fall on the book.
“We need to frame this one,” I say after a moment of silently staring at the image. I can feel Natalie’s love for Jasper in this single image. The way she views him speaks louder than any words she can say.
It’s Jasper with his arms casually crossed over his chest, and a mischievous smirk pulling up the corners of his mouth. She was able to capture the sparkle in his caramel eyes and the majesty of his curved horns. The way she juxtaposed his playfulness with his softness has my heart melting for both of them.
“I know it’s not very professional, but—”
I put my finger over her mouth, halting her speech. “Don’t you dare say a negative thing right now. I’m in love with these drawings and I can’t wait to see more.”
Natalie pulls her lips into her mouth, her chest inflating on a big breath, before she says softly, “It’s my memory book. I’m not good with fancy words and descriptions, so the images replace what I can’t say.”
