Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

Nick

Saturday

T he sun shines high in the sky as the Mapleville Merrymakers play their island Christmas original "All I Want for Christmas Is a Cider Donut." The line for Merry's frozen hot chocolate (spiked) snakes around the bandstand. Her sisters and cousins pass out free frozen hot chocolate (not spiked) to the kids waiting in line to visit Santa. This line stretches the length of the green and spills out to the street in front of the chapel, where I'm told Marley and Griselda are entertaining the back of the queue with a live dramatic reading of A Christmas Carol .

Beside me, Noelle smiles at the children and passes out candy canes. She's got to be the first Mrs. Claus in Mistletoe Mountain history to sport a black eye, but she pulls it off .

A little girl with a mess of dark curly hair and big eyes approaches. She clutches a note.

"Ho, ho, ho," I chortle. "Do you want to sit on Santa's lap or stand?" Usually they want to sit, but I always ask first.

She nods, and I hoist her up onto my lap. She shoves the note into my hands.

"Thank you. Hey, I know you. You're Angelica."

Another nod.

"Should I read your note now or later?"

"Later," she whispers.

I add the note to the pile to my right. "So, tell Santa what you want for Christmas in July."

The rule is no material objects. We save those for December to give the parents a break. The July requests are always creative and usually hilarious.

She looks up at me. "I want to you to bring my friend Enzo a friend."

"Enzo from the millworks?"

"Yes, he's a baker. He's really nice."

"And Enzo needs a friend, does he?"

She nods her head.

"What kind of friend?"

"A friend like you have." She points at Noelle, who gives her a smile.

"A girlfriend?"

That gets a frown. "I'm not sure if it should be a girl or a boy. Someone to love."

"Got it. Anything else?"

She shakes her head .

"Okay, get a candy cane from my friend, and enjoy the rest of the festival."

"Thanks, Santa!"

She hops down off, takes the candy cane from Noelle, and runs off in the general direction of the playground. Holly steps up and hands us each a bottle of water, then announces to the crowd that there's going to be a five-minute break for the Clauses to rehydrate.

"Just six more hours today. Then we do it all over again tomorrow. How are you holding up?" I ask Noelle.

She plants a kiss on my ear. "Aside from my aching feet, fine. I'm not sure why Mrs. Claus has to stand but you get to sit."

"Tradition."

"Hmm. This one might need an update."

"Wasn't she cute, asking for a friend for Enzo?"

"Yeah, cute." Noelle looks thoughtful. "Enzo Marino? The baker?"

"Right."

She jerks her chin toward Merry's dessert truck. "They'd be a sweet match."

I groan at the pun, then chuckle. "Already matchmaking?"

"It must be the dress," she tells me.

I eye the dress in question. "Can't wait to get you out of it, Mrs. Claus," I tell her in a low, throaty voice.

She blushes, then leans down to whisper in my ear, "And I can't wait to see which boxers you're wearing today, Santa."

"Merry Christmas in July, Noe."

"The merriest, Nick."