Page 11 of Jingl
“And what do I owe for them?” Juniper hands back my phone.
“Uh, what? Jack Winters pays for everything.” I pull out the credit card Jack entrusted me with for just such occasions and hand it over. I’ve been in charge of the Christmas costumes for the last five years, and he trusts me not to go overboard.
“But your time?”
“Is tracked and invoiced. No worries.” I grab my bag of fabric and we head out. “I’ll have the costumes ready for the first day. We can do fittings before the shift starts and adjust on the go if we need to.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. Everything else is on-the-job training.” I lift the bag and grin. “Now I have an evening of fun to work on.”
“You really mean that, don’t you?”
“Absolutely. I have a whole area of the kitchen Mom lets me use for costumes.” I drop my gaze. “Yeah, so I still live at home.”
“We’re more alike than you know.”
“It’s just easier, ya know? Mom said I can stay home and save money while I go to college, so I took her up on the offer. It works out well. I never really cared about the whole living on campus experience. This way I always have food and a place to sleep. Sounds like a win-win to me. Obviously, there are other perks, too.”
“Hopefully, you don’t have to sleep on the couch,” Juniper mumbles.
“No, I still have my bedroom, and I’m grateful for it. I think part of it is that Mom isn’t ready to let me go. It’s been just us my entire life. I appreciate the free room and board and food and work space and, well, everything.”
“Sounds like you two get along.”
I smile up at him. He’s a lot taller than me. “We really do. She lets me have my space and always knocks before coming into my room. I do the same for her. She’s awesome.”
We’re at the parking lot now and go our separate ways. I think he’s going to do just fine as soon as he calms down. Hopefully, the costumes will help ease him into the job because I can’t wait to get him all settled in.
I pull my phone from my pocket to start my playlist. A text from Trace pops up and I choke at the sad face he’s making in the selfie he sent with the caption that there’s still so much to do. It feels like an eternity, but he’s almost home. I send him a selfie of me smiling with my bag of goodies. Then it’s off to the old theater to meet the concert director. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such good things, but I’m thankful.
Chapter 6
Trace-Twoweekslater
I may have lied a tiny bit. Shae isalwaysso busy and even more so now with the concert practice in full swing, and college classes, and the elf gig. I didn’t want him to worry about anything, so I got moved in and didn’t say anything. Traveling during Thanksgiving weekend was terrifying, but we got it done. My family came along to help and right now I’m treating my niblings to Santa for being such good kids. It’s the start of the second week of Shae’s elf job so hopefully things are running smoothly.
Santa’s Village sprawls out in front of me. The fake snow is dusted with silver glitter, giving it an ethereal look. Professional lighting bears down on Frostdale Mall’s Santa and the crying child in his lap. I catch the strobes pop out of the corner of my eye. The child wails louder. But I’m not paying attention to anything in line.
My eyes are glued to Shae, the blond elf wielding an honest-to-goodness glittery pink keytar. I still remember when he got it a few years ago. He was so proud he called me up and played me a few songs. I’ve always loved how passionate he is with his music and the fact he can share that with his elf job is just the best because he looks like he’s having a blast.
I can’t decide if his costume is ridiculous or genius. Red tights under hunter green short pants that fit his form beautifully. A matching shirt has red ruffles at the cuffs and throat. There’s a black belt with a silver buckle around his waist. The Santa hat upon his head is also deep green, but the white of the puff ball at the end and the fake fur wrapped around his head has sparkling silver glitter. The apples of his cheeks shimmer. And I detect gloss over his lips. He’s very fae looking, or rather elfin, in his features to begin with. All the glitz just adds to it.
With every move of his feet, which is often, he jingles because of the small silver bells attached to his laces. All the elves wear different costumes, from bright red to more muted colors, yet they seem to match perfectly.
Shae hasn’t noticed us yet. We’re still way in the back of the line. The kids haven’t detected Shae and I haven’t said anything because I want to see the chaos that erupts once everyone notices each other.
I drop my gaze to the tiny hands in mine. Porter is on my left, Kenzie to my right. Wendy’s four-year-old twins. I want to surprise her and my parents with Christmas pictures. Porter squirms. I thought I had a good enough grip on him, but he gets away.
Shit. Porter darts right to the man I’ve been ogling the entire time we’ve been in line. When Shae notices the small child running towards him, he throws his keytar around to his back and squats to meet Porter at his eye level. There’s a hint of recognition. Porter figures it out first and squeals.
“Shae!” His chubby little arms go around Shae’s neck. Poor Shae looks so confused. He’s only ever met the niblings on screen and the two seconds before Porter threw himself around him wasn’t enough time to figure it out.
Kenzie squeals next to me and rushes over to Shae, too.
“Shae! Shae! Shae!” They chant and bounce in front of him.
When he realizes who they are, his eyes shoot to the line and right at me. I swear his breath hitches.
