Chapter 45

FORTY-FIVE

EMERALD FALLS

Mazie watched her mama crawl into the corner of the alley, her stomach somersaulting. It wasn't night yet, but her eyes were droopy with sleep. Her cheekbones were sharp and jutted out, her skin a yellowish color, her hands shaking as she tugged her blanket around her.

Hating to see her mama's hair so ratty, she tried to finger comb the dry strands but Mama shoved her hand away. Blinking back tears, Mazie walked to the edge of the alley to watch the people in town. Fathers and mothers holding hands and laughing. Two boys racing to make a snowman. Their father pitching in.

Her heart gave a pang. Sometimes she wished she'd had a daddy. If she did, he'd help her mama now. And maybe he'd help her build a snowman, too.

She'd never seen anything as pretty as this place. Other kids sipped hot chocolate and ran toward the ice cream truck and a family of three dashed onto the ice-skating rink. Carolers sang from a stage near Santa's workshop.

Mazie glanced back at her mama. She was already snoring away, her thin coat and blanket dragged up over her face.

Her stomach growled. Mazie snuck through the crowd pausing to inhale the aromas from the food trucks. A gray-haired woman stood handing out samples of tacos near the taco stand, and Mazie darted her way. The woman handed her a mini taco, and Mazie gobbled it down. An odd smile twitched in the woman's eyes as she looked Mazie over.

Shame burned Mazie's cheeks. The woman knew. She must have seen her with her mama.

Wanting to escape, she started to turn away, but the woman touched her shoulder gently then handed her two more tacos. "We're shutting down soon," she said softly. "These won't be good tomorrow."

Mazie felt her eyes grow moist, but she whispered thanks, grabbed the tacos then darted through the crowd. She slipped behind the stage and forced herself to eat slowly to make the second taco last then wrapped the last one in a napkin to take back to her mama. When she finished, she licked her fingers then darted a look toward Santa's workshop. The line was starting to dwindle so she eased her way toward it and fell in line behind a little girl about four with long golden curls.

Self-conscious, Mazie smoothed the strands of her shaggy auburn hair, working the tangles out with her fingers.

A mother and baby moved toward Santa, but the baby started screaming and the mother laughed and decided to do without a photo. The blond girl went next, skipping up to sit in Santa's lap.

Santa looked down at the child with a smile. "Ho, ho, ho. What do you want Santa to bring you?"

The girl rattled off a list of toys, ending with a doll house. One of the elves handed her a candy cane as she hopped down and the elf motioned it was Mazie's turn. Suddenly she wished she hadn't gotten in line, but the elf nudged her arm and she walked over to Santa.

He patted his lap, and she crawled onto it, feeling jumpy. He gave her a strange look as if he was looking inside her head, and she moved to get down.

But he rubbed her back and smiled at her. "Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas. What's your name, honey?"

"Mazie," she whispered.

He tugged at his thick white beard. "So what would you like Santa to bring you?"

Mazie felt the sting of people watching her, and cupped her hand around her mouth, then whispered, "My mama to get well. And for us to have a place to live."

Beneath his bushy white eyebrows, his eyes narrowed. "You don't have a place to live?"

She shook her head. "But don't tell anybody or the police will take me away."

She didn't wait for him to say anything else. She jumped off his lap, grabbed the candy cane from the elf, then ran back through the crowd to check on her mama.