Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Christmas Eve

Dean

I think I breathe for the first time when Echo holds me to his heart. When I called her earlier, Gloria assured me she could pull this off, but I wasn’t convinced. I should have known better.

“Have fun, Santa,” she calls from the car.

We both wave at her. I mouth, “Thank you,” and her smile lights up the square.

She drives me nuts, but Gloria really is the angel on top of the tree.

Then she’s gone, and Echo grins at me, his eyes twinkling brighter than the Christmas lights on the tree. “I thought you’d handed in your Santa suit forever.”

I give him a sheepish grin. “I did. Then I turned around and drove back to my brother’s to ask if I could borrow it one more time. JoBeth handed it over without a word, although she insists I clean it again.”

“Good idea,” he says. “You don’t want a suit as crusty as Randy’s was.” He shudders in my arms.

“JoBeth’s suit isn’t that bad,” I protest, pulling back a little to look down at it.

Echo strokes my arms up and down. “It’s very soft. It’s like cuddling a cloud. And it fits you like a dream. It could be made for you.”

“I think it was.” Although JoBeth will never admit it.

“So why did you get the Santa suit back?” he asks.

I let out a long breath. “I want to show you that I don’t hate Christmas anymore.”

“I know that. You told me this morning. We’re sharing our Christmas together.”

I shake my head. “It’s not just that. Well, it is, but not only that.”

Echo chuckles. “Dean, honey, maybe it’s because I’m tired, but you’re gonna need to explain that to me.”

Another deep breath. “We’ve had a weird month.”

“I don’t know. I liked it.” He nibbles on my earlobe. It must be fuzzy because of the beard but he seems to like it.

“Me too. But every other year I’ve hidden from anything related to Christmas.”

His amusement fades, and I think he’s finally understanding I’m trying to tell him something serious.

“You know this was the town, right? They’re the ones who set this whole thing up.”

I snort. “Of course I do. Between my brother and Gloria, I stood no chance.”

“Santa?” I feel a tug on the bottom of the jacket.

I look down to see Tommy Doyle, his bottom lip wobbling. He’s seven years old and one of my elementary school kids. I read with him most weeks. I kneel to smile at him. He looks a little scared. “Hi, Tommy. Is everything all right?”

“I played hide and go seek with a kitten, and lost my mommy and my brother, and I know I have to be a big, brave boy but it’s, dark and I’m scared, and she told me to come to the tree if I got lost,” he wails.

He flings himself at me and I hold him, feeling him shake, because what else can I do? I look up at Echo. “His mom likes Lucian’s flower shop.” I point in the right direction. “I’ll stay here with Tommy. Can you run over there and see if she’s there. Her name is Toni. I’d go, but Tommy is…”

Echo nods. “I’m not sure about running, but I’ll find his mom. Hey, Tommy, will you look after Santa for me while I’m gone? Make sure no one tries to take him.”

Tommy nods, sniffling and wiping the tears away with the back of his glove. “I’ll watch him, Mister Echo. He’s safe with me, I promise.”

I’m not going to cry, I’m not, I swear, as Echo and Tommy promise to look after me.

As he limps away, I look down at my new charge. “You know Mister Echo, Tommy?”

Tommy gives me a wan smile. “He makes me a strawberry and banana smoothie when we have chicken wings.”

“That sounds yummy.”

Then he throws me for a loop with his next words.

“I promise not to tell anyone you’re the real Santa, Mister Dean.”

“Thank you,” I say solemnly. We stare at each other for a moment, and I see his lip wobble. I’m not sure what to do with him as I haven’t got a book in my hand.

“Hey, Tommy, have I told you the story of Santa who got lost on Christmas night as he delivered presents, and the kind man who found him?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know that one.”

I point to the bottom light on the tree. “We’ll pretend these lights are the pages. It all started when one of his reindeer sneezed…”

“Which one?”

I frantically think of the names of Santa’s reindeer. “Comet. It was Comet who sneezed and…”

“Why does she sneeze? Santa’s reindeer are girl reindeers. Did you know that?”

“I didn’t,” I tell him, “and she sneezed because she had a cold.”

“Poor Comet. Does she need medicine? Mommy has medicine in the cabinet, but we’re not allowed to touch it unless she says so. She says it’s dangerous for small children. Is it dangerous for reindeer?”

I tap my chin, pretending to think about it. “I don’t know about human medicine, but Santa would know what to give to his reindeer, don’t you think?”

He thinks about it for a long moment. “I think so.” He stares at me, his eyes going wide, his mouth open. “That means you know how to give medicine to reindeer?”

I nodded and leaned forward as if I was about to tell him a big secret. He leans forward to listen. “You have to promise not to tell anyone.”

“I promise. Pinky swear.”

We awkwardly do a pinky swear with our gloves on. Then I whisper, “It’s magic medicine.”

“I knew it! Connor told me I was wrong, but I said Santa and his reindeer are magic.

Please to whoever is listening that this kid doesn’t lose his innocence too soon. We need more kids like Tommy.

I suck in a breath. “So Comet was poorly, and she sneezed, just at the wrong moment, and the sleigh went twisty and turny, spinning around and around,” I did the hand movements to show him, “until?—”

“Thomas Patrick Doyle, how dare you scare me like this. You’ve taken ten years off my life.”

I turn to see Toni Doyle running across the street, dragging another boy with her, and Echo awkwardly trying to keep up.

“Mommy,” Tommy yells, and I’m forgotten as he bolts across the square toward his mom.

I stand, groaning a little as my now cold and tired leg muscles remember how to work.

Tommy leaps into her arms and she staggers a little under the weight, but she keeps her footing, sweeping him into her arms, scolding him and loving on him at the same time. Her other boy clings to her legs as if he’s afraid of getting lost.

Echo limps over to me. “Found her.”

I smirk at him. “So I see.”

“She hadn’t even realized he was lost. She thought he was playing with his brother who was staring in a shop window, looking at computer games.”

“I’m guessing the two boys are gonna be grounded for life?”

“I would assume so,” Echo says.

“How’s your ankle? You were limping.”

“I twisted it on the way there. I’ll be fine. It just needs kisses and attention from my boyfriend,” he assures me.

I flinch at the cough from Toni. Echo shuffles to my side and presses a discreet hand to my back, trying to give me comfort.

“Thank you, Dean.”

Tommy starts this frantic waving in front of her face and nearly knocks his mother out in the process.

“What are you doing?” she asks, pushing his hands away before he actually does clock her in the face.

“Not Mister Dean,” he mutters. “Santa. This is Santa. He just pretends to be Dean.”

His brother, JoJo, older than him by maybe four years, opens his mouth. I raise my eyebrow. He shuts it again.

Toni watches the exchange with amusement. “You’re gonna have to teach me how to do that.”

“Magic,” I say smugly.

Her lips twitch. “It must be. Well, Santa , thanks for looking after my boy. We’d better be getting home now.”

“Don’t yell at him too much.”

“Oh, I’ve done the yelling,” she says, her tone ominous. “Now it’s the grounding.”

“Mo-om,” Tommy whines. “It’s Christmas.”

At JoJo’s smug snort, his mom turns on him and he takes a hasty—and sensible—step backward.

“You’re both grounded. You were supposed to be looking after him. If it hadn’t been for Santa and Mister Echo…” She clamps her lips together and there is the slightest chin wobble.

“He’s fine, Toni. He did what you told him to do and ran to the tree.”

“And found Santa.” There’s a hint of tears in her voice but she’s trying to make light of it. “Anyway…” she sucks in a breath, “we have to go. Thank you both.”

“But Santa is telling me a story about Comet and her cold,” Tommy wails but his mom has clearly had enough and drags them both away.

“He can tell you that story another time.”

“But he won’t be Santa then.”

Echo raises his eyebrows. “A story about a reindeer with a cold?”

“It was about Santa getting lost when his reindeer sneezes and a wonderful man saves him,” I say ruefully. “We kinda got distracted.”

“I know the feeling.” Echo steps closer to me. “Now where were we?”

I have to think. What were we talking about before Tommy interrupted us? “Something to do with the town setting me up.”

“Us,” he corrects. “They want you to be happy and me to be your happiness.” Now he’s in my space. “Can I be your happiness, Santa Dean?”

“I can’t think of anything I want more,” I whisper, focusing on his mouth, ready to claim his lips.

This is why I wanted him here. To tell him I loved him under the starlight and lights of the tree.

“Echo, I lo?—”

“Evening, Echo, evening, Santa. Shouldn’t you be off delivering presents right about now?”

I sigh and lean my forehead against Echo’s. Three fucking words. That’s all I want to say. I paste on a smile and turn to face Sheriff Morgan and Deputy Ben dressed up in thick winter coats and brightly colored, homemade knitted hats. I wonder if Ben made the hats as he’s part of the knitting group. “Sheriff. Deputy.”

Both men grin at us. No, not grinning, they are smirking. As is Barkasaurus. Seriously, Barky is looking more like the sheriff as time goes on, or is it the other way around? It’s all that fluffy hair. It looks just like the sheriff’s beard.

“Why have you got Barky?” I ask.

Echo has a real snit about Ben, so I know he’s not going to volunteer a conversation.

“Geraldine has a cold,” Ben says. “I volunteered us for a play date to give Geraldine the chance to stay indoors.

“It wasn’t my choice,” the sheriff assures us, pulling a face.

I don’t bother to hide my smile as I ask, “Is that why you’ve got the leash?”

“You see!” Ben throws his hands up. “It doesn’t matter what JD says, he’s always the first one to grab the leash. And Barky sleeps with him, not me.”

“That’s because you thrash about at night and I sleep in one spot,” the sheriff points out. “Of course he’s going to sleep with me. Barky needs his peace and quiet.”

I stare at JD, sure I was mishearing this conversation. “He sleeps in your bed?”

He grimaces. “Also not my choice.”

Ben chokes as he glares at his husband. “Excuse me. You lying liar of Liarsville. I am not the one who picks up Barky every time he whines and cuddles him to make him happy.”

The sheriff sticks his nose in the air. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I have to be the bad cop,” Ben confides. “Me!”

“Guys,” I say, to attract their attention. “Much as I appreciate your company…”

“He’s telling us to get lost,” Ben hisses loudly behind his hand.

“Well spotted,” I say. “I’ve been trying to talk to Echo for the past thirty minutes.”

“You’re the one who chose to do this in public,” Ben points out.

I scowl at him but he just shrugs.

“We saw the drama with Tommy,” JD says. “We were about to get involved when he came over to you. We watched from the sidelines in case you needed us, but you handled it very well, Santa Dean.” He gives a nod like it’s a benediction.

I feel a real mixture of emotions. Like I could have done with some official help, but also relief and happiness that he trusts me to take care of a lost child. Plus a weird feeling that they’ve all been waiting for me to do this. To step up and be part of the community.

“I told JD that you knew Tommy from school, and he trusted you,” Ben says. “He might have been scared if we interfered.”

“I think he picked me because of the Santa suit,” I admit ruefully. “He only realized who I was later.”

“How did you know his mom would be in the flower store?” the sheriff asks.

“She adores flowers. It’s like her hobby. Lucian has been holding Christmas wreath-making classes for anyone who’s interested.”

I’d seen the classes but had been too nervous to sign up for them. I smile at Echo. Maybe I could find the courage if he did it again.

JD wraps an arm around Ben’s shoulders. “Come on, sweetie, let’s leave Santa to claim his love.”

Our gruff sheriff being all lovey and gooey is discombobulating for the town. But Ben melts into him and they wander away with Barky. I have a feeling they’ll have joint custody as Geraldine gets older and it will be the sheriff loving on the dog no matter what he says.

“Are we alone yet?” Echo stage whispers.

Ben flips him the bird but keeps on walking.

I glance around, but I can’t see anyone hovering or lurking near the square. I turn to Echo. “I think we’re alone now.”

“About time. Now what were you trying to say to me?”

“You know what I wanted to say.”

“I need your words, Dean. Say it out loud.”

I lick my lips nervously. “Echo, I love you. I want to be with you forever.”

“I can’t promise you forever,” he whispers, caressing my cheek above the beard.

I stiffen, my heart crushed, pulling away from his touch. “What do you want then? Just a hookup until you find the next guy?”

But Echo reels me back into his arms before I have the chance to run away. “Listen to me,” he insists. “Losing Marty was a harsh lesson for a young boy. You discovered that we don’t know how long forever is.”

I blink back sudden tears. He’s right. I’d thought Marty would be my forever.

“But I promise you as long as I’m by your side, I’ll love you with all my heart.”

“But you just said…”

“I said we don’t know how long forever is, but you have my heart. And you can’t push me away. I’m right here, next to you. I have your back, Dean. I’m your friend as well as your love.”

His declaration takes my breath away. He won’t make false promises. He gives me what I needed to hear. Did he mean it?

“Stop it,” he scolds me gently. ‘I can see what you’re thinking.”

“You read minds now?”

“Only yours, sweetheart.”

He kisses me, chasing away my fears and worries. Even though I’m scared of the future, of loss for a second time, I know if it happened, I’d live. I survived the worst pain once; I can do it again. But in the meantime, I lean into his kiss and let him show me just how much he loves me, and I return it.

“Look, Daddy, Santa is kissing a man under the fairy tree.”

Once upon a time I would have run at the sound of the little girl’s excited shout. I think the whole world heard her. But I stay in Echo’s arms, and we laugh softly against each other’s mouth.

“Aw, that’s nice, Katie. His husband must have decided to join him from the North Pole.”

“Santa doesn’t have a husband,” Katie declares, still at full volume.

“Honey, our Santa can be with whoever makes him happy.”

I know who that is, and I want the ground to open and swallow us whole, but Echo puts his forehead on my shoulder, shaking with laughter. “I fucking love Collier’s Creek,” he mutters. “We’re never living anywhere else.”

I think about that for a moment as snowflakes start falling from the night sky. Once upon a time I wanted to run from this small town where everyone knows my business and get lost in the anonymity of the big city. Now here I am, wearing a Santa suit under the Christmas tree in the Market Square, in the arms of another small-town boy who loves me.

“We’re home,” I agree, and Echo kisses me again.

THE END

Message from Sue.

Thank you for reading Santa of the Creek. Turn the page for the rest of the Collier’s Creek Christmas goodies.

Have you read Sheriff of the Creek ?

A grumpy, small-town sheriff loves his dispatcher with the heart of sunshine. And no one is ever going to find out, especially the man he loves. Then danger rolls into town. Will the sheriff step up and protect his love?

Sheriff JD Morgan loves his job as the sheriff of Collier’s Creek. It may be a small town, but he loves the place and its people. His roots run deep, and he can’t see himself living anywhere else.

He’s a little grumpy as he settles into middle-age, but that’s okay. He has two passions in life. One secret, one not. Everyone knows about his addiction to coffee, but no one knows he has a secret crush on his young dispatcher, Ben. JD fully intends to keep it that way. He’s too old for the kid.

Ben has two ambitions in life. The first is to become a deputy sheriff somewhere far from Collier’s Creek, and the second…that one’s proving more difficult. He makes it his mission to make his sheriff smile every morning as he hands him coffee. JD is his, make no mistake about it. The sheriff just doesn’t know it yet.

Then trouble rolls into town on the back of a Harley and JD discovers Ben has been hiding a secret past. A husband who wants Ben back and won’t take no for an answer.

JD is crushed. Ben is terrified.

Will they handle the unexpected husband problem together or will JD leave Ben to face danger alone?

Find out in the small-town romance, the Sheriff of Collier’s Creek.

Sheriff of Collier’s Creek is the third book in the multi-author series. Each book is stand-alone, but if you enjoy swoon-worthy romance set in a small town, then stay a while. You’ll fall in love with the men of Collier’s Creek.