Page 51 of Clued in to Love
“Santa does like a selfie.” Santa snapped once and caught the eye of an elf. “Come closer. My elf will take another snap for you.”
Marissa squeezed next to William.
“Closer, you two, closer. Pretend like you like each other. We can’t have matching scowls for our Santa selfie, right?”
William put his arm around Marissa’s shoulder, which made her spine stiffen. She forced a smile. Once the elf had taken their picture, she quickly ducked out of William’s grasp.
They both waited, expecting Santa to say more.
“Do you have a clue for us?” Marissa asked.
Santa touched the tip of his nose with his glove. “Check with my elf, but before you do, let me give you some advice.”
“Okay.” Marissa paid close attention, figuring that whatever “advice” he would give was probably their clue.
“I’m paraphrasing here, but there’s a saying that goes, ‘You can tell a lot about a person based on how they handle tangled Christmas lights.’”
“That one is attributed to Maya Angelou,” William replied instantly.
“That’s right. Well done. Very impressive.” Santa motioned to his elf. “Happy holidays.”
“How did you know Maya Angelou said that?” Marissa asked, unable to contain her surprise.
Two families in front of them waited for their pictures to be processed.
“I love her work. She’s one of the reasons I majored in English and decided to get my teaching degree.”
William Graff never failed to surprise her. He loved Maya Angelou?
“Santa’s not quite right on this one, though. He got the basic gist, but the actual quote is, ‘You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas lights.’ And while Ms. Angelou gets credit for the quote, there’s a big debate in the writing community whether she actually said those wise words.”
Marissa didn’t have to fake a smile. “Regardless it’s a great quote.”
“In case you were wondering, tangled Christmas lights don’t faze me.”
“Does anything faze you?”
“Only women who judge me based on my family name.” He gave her a challenging stare.
Marissa was saved from responding because the elf handed them their picture. She moved closer to him to get a better look. “Do you see anything?”
He held the picture for her.
They looked good together. Marissa tried not to focus on William’s arm around her shoulder or how his smile lit his eyes. No wonder Santa thought they were a couple. Even in the photo, she could see the spark between them.
What she didn’t see was anything that resembled a clue. In the background of the photo was fake cotton and felt snow, Santa’s ornate gold chair, his red bag with a matching gold string, and a mural of downtown Bend.
“Do you think the clue is hidden in the mural?” Marissa asked.
William flipped the photo over to see if anything was on the other side. There wasn’t. “I’m starting to feel less smart at the moment. Unless we’re missing something obvious. I don’t see a bundle of tangled Christmas lights, do you?”
Marissa studied the picture again. Santa was grinning and waving with his right hand. It wasn’t as if he was pointing to something or had a sign with a clue pinned to his deep red coat.
“It’s not like we can search behind him to get a better look at the mural. We’d be in everyone’s Santa pics.”
“Unless the hint about Santa selfies and paparazzi means we’re supposed to photobomb people.” William sounded incredulous as he pondered the idea.
“Photobombing a kid’s picture with Santa seems pretty low. I can’t imagine the organizers would have us do that.” She pausedfor a minute. “Do you think we need a magnifying glass? Could the clue be in tiny print on the mural? If you think about it, the clue on the ice sculpture was subtle.”
