13. Merry

Chapter 13

Merry

There were so many scary things in the big wide world, but with Hernan at my side and his dragon protecting me, my internal threat level had dropped from ten plus plus plus to about one. Or maybe two. I didn’t want to appear too confident.

The meeting was held in a huge room in the council building. This place needed sprucing up. It was so bad and boring, all browns and more browns, with a touch of white and cream. Ewww!

Hernan introduced me, and after everyone had stared at me and few whispered behind their hands to the person next to them, everyone ignored me as Hernan started the meeting.

This was nothing like the gatherings at the North Pole. Everyone spoke over one another, and they shuffled papers and argued about how little time they had and that people hadn’t answered their calls.

Wow! How did humans and shifters get anything done?

Hernan attempted to corral the committee members into groups, with one being food, the other entertainment, the third goods to be sold, and the last games. Gods, this festival would be a disaster if someone who knew what they were doing didn’t step in.

But after glancing around, there was no one. Hernan couldn’t do it all. Besides, he had a business to run, and I was sitting idle, twiddling my thumbs.

I gingerly raised my hand, but no one noticed and they continued talking, their voices getting louder until the room was filled with rage. None of them seemed to enjoy what they were doing.

I cleared my throat and got Hernan’s attention. “May I make a suggestion?”

Heads swiveled in my direction, and Hernan nodded. I stood, my knees knocking together, and strode to the whiteboard.

“I have some ideas for the festival, and as I have some downtime, I can take on some of the organization.” Taking a deep breath, I looked to Hernan for support, and he nodded. “If that’s okay with everyone.”

After writing the four groups on the board, I gave examples of activities.

“Everyone loves snow globes.” I hoped they did here. That was a popular request for kids when they wrote to Santa after a bike or a puppy!

I rushed on. “We can have a booth where people make them. It’s fun, and they’re a great gift.”

“I love that idea,” a woman said and scribbled on her tablet.

Continuing on, I listed tree decorating and gingerbread house contests, bringing in a professional ice sculptor, making candy cane cotton candy, and ice-fishing games.

Everyone on the committee had their heads down, making notes.

“I can email you the details and more.”

The committee members sighed and stopped writing or tapping their tablets and phones.

That was the easy part. I couldn’t just toss out ideas. We needed lists of who would do what and by when. While everyone took a hot cocoa break, I created a spreadsheet on Hernan’s computer. Before the meeting ended, people would have to sign up for tasks and commit to completing their part of the project.

After getting their emails, I added them to the doc and stood back. I drank my cocoa while people studied their devices.

Hernan sidled over to me. “You’re amazing,” he mouthed.

I wished he’d shout it to the world, but some in the room were shifters, and with their supersonic hearing, they’d pick up every word.

“Thanks.” I puffed out my chest, proud of my achievement.

“You’re a star, Merry,” an older gentleman said as he shook my hand.

“Let’s give three cheers for Merry because we could never have done this without him,” the woman sitting near Hernan added.

Wow! I’d been an organizer in Christmas Village. It was a high-pressure job and involved planning for months which presents would be given to which kids and positioning them on Santa #1’s sleigh.

“Who sent you to us, Merry?” a man asked. “Was it the wind?”

“You’ve really added the Merry to our Christmas,” another person noted.

As a Merry joke it wasn’t original, but I didn’t roll my eyes or protest that my name shouldn’t be made fun of.

“He came because of me.” Hernan took my hand and kissed it, and everyone sighed and clutched their chest. “I’ve been very good this year, and Merry was a gift from Santa himself. An early Christmas present.”

“That’s so romantic. Young love is enchanting,” the older man said, tears glinting in his eyes. “I miss it because I’ve been alone since… since, well…” He wiped his eyes with a monogrammed handkerchief. “But seeing you two together has given me hope that there’s another someone out there for me.”

I almost burst into tears. Being alone when you wanted someone in your life was similar to a knife being plunged into your heart.

But I was pulled back from thinking of people alone and pining for a partner and ran over in my head what Hernan had said. Santa sent me. The committee members assumed he was making a joke, but he must have suspected how I arrived here. Did he wish it and was that how I found myself in his workshop? How did he know?

There was another undertone to his statement. He was saying we were supposed to be together, and for a shifter, that was a mate. In a roundabout way, he confirmed I had come to the right place and my Christmas wish had been answered.

Which Santa had received my message, I would never know unless we got to return to the North Pole. I hoped my friends weren’t saddened by my disappearance and if they wanted a mate, they’d find them too somewhere, somehow.

I tucked my hand into Hernan’s back pocket. It fit perfectly, and we shared a glance. The committee members nudged one another and gathered their belongings.

“We’ve overstayed our welcome.” They waved and bustled out. We were alone.

Hernan took my hand. “Shall we go home?”