Page 51 of The Santa Rules
“But you want him to be?”
“Yes, I want him to be, but he’s working through a lot. One minute he’s hot for me, and the next minute it’s like he’s reminded of all his responsibilities and he’s pushing me away again.”
“Oh, that one is definitely hot for you.” She looks at herwatch. “Shoot, I gotta scoot before the second-graders return. Text me the details, and I’ll gather the girls.”
Several hours later, after a finger-painting incident, a meltdown over a Capri-Sun straw, and way too many runny noses walking around my room looking for tissues, my room is empty and I’m ready to head home. A familiar face appears in the window of my door, and I motion for Hardy to come in.
“Hey, I’m gonna be up here building for a bit. I wasn’t sure if you were planning anything off my Santa student list tonight, but I should probably knock some of this out.”
“Is Avery with the sitter?”
“She is.”
“Tell Maggie she has the night off. I’m going to take her Christmas shopping.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he says, rubbing his neck.
“I know, but I want to. Besides, you’re not my only Santa student. She wants to make Christmas special for you too.”
His responding smile fills me with warmth. He walks over and hands me a wad of cash from his wallet. “Here, so she can get what she wants. But no pets. And please keep the glitter to a minimum.”
“No pets. But no promises on the glitter.”
——————
A few hours later, we’ve filled up on greasy diner food and milkshakes and have stopped at three local shops. Avery’s shopping list isn’t long, just Hardy, a few friends, and her favorite teacher. Isaac has been a huge help, guiding her toward items for me and watching her when I was told to leave the store so they could shop. When they walk out of Bookish Wonderland, Avery is grinning ear to ear while Isaac shakes his head as he hands me back my change from the cash I gave him.
“Alright, who’s left on your list?” I ask as Avery taps a finger to her chin.
“Ummm…Daddy, and my friend Penny,” she says.
“I thought you got some stuff for your dad?” Isaac asks.
“For his stocking. I have to get his tree gift,” she explains like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“Well, Santa’s Workshop is almost here, and you can probably get the remaining items there,” I assure her.
“Oh yeah!” Avery says.
“What about you?” I look at Isaac.
“I’m good. Hardy and I are working on something for you.”
“That’s not ominous sounding.” My heart skips a beat at the thought of the two of them, each with very different skill sets, working together to make me something. I wish Isaac’s dad would spend this kind of quality time with him.
“You’ll like it,” Isaac assures me.
We pile in the car and head to my house to have a wrapping party. I’m not sure what time Hardy’s going to be done, so we wrap all of his gifts first and set them aside as we finish wrapping the rest.
There are scraps of paper, pieces of ribbon, and glitter all over my kitchen, yet I couldn’t be happier. Avery is having the best time, and even Isaac has stuck around helping her wrap while trying to avoid her every time she threatens to cover him in glitter. I think this is the longest I’ve seen him not be on his computer in months. He’s always been good with my students, but he seems to really get along with Avery.
We’re almost finished wrapping when Hardy shows up.
“Sorry it took me so long,” he says as he walks in the kitchen.
“There’s nothing to apologize for. We got a lot accomplished. How’d it go at the school?” I ask, getting up from the table to stand next to him.
“Good. I think everything is nearly built. It’s not to code oranything, so we’ll have to make sure people don’t lean on it, but it’ll be a good backdrop to set the mood. Now we just need to paint it.”
