guilty for confusing them, but once she could get them sprinkled with green forget-me dust it wouldn’t matter. The last twenty four hours would feel like a dream to them. This time she wouldn’t trust Rapz though, she’d snag some of the good stuff on the way down to the departure area.
* * *
Ben followed Carol and the children through the door and out into a corridor. She turned right and strode down the hall. His head throbbed and his shoulder smarted but it was nothing compared to the ache in his heart. He loved Carol. The moment she’d kissed him, he’d known that he would love her forever. But what could be wrong with her? Had a childhood trauma during the holidays scarred her for life?
Whatever it was, they’d get to the bottom of it. Together.
“Look out,” Hillary called out. “A pile of presents is coming through.”
Duly warned, Ben joined the others as they flattened themselves against the wall. An old-fashioned push cart piled seven feet high with brightly wrapped gift boxes sailed past them. The three elves pushing it all called out cheery greetings to Carol. How did they know her name?
The further along the apparently endless corridor that they went, the more bizarre the situation became. How many little people could possibly work in the same place? Ben knew he hadn’t ever spent much time at the mall but it couldn’t be this large. The hallway widened with each step they took until it became downright cavernous.
“Hey, Carol,” a man with dark hair, about Ben’s own age, approached them, a huge smile on his face. “Oh, have I missed you. I knew you’d make it back in time.”
The stranger threw his arms around Carol and, to Ben’s annoyance, she willingly accepted his embrace. Who the heck was this?
Carol pulled back, rather reluctantly Ben thought, and linked her arm through the man’s. “Nick, I’d like you to meet my friends. This is Hillary Hanson and her brother Patrick. And this is…this is Ben.”
“Ah, Ben, nice to finally meet you,” Nick said. He reached out shake Ben’s hand and then the children’s. “I’ve heard a great deal about you three.”
“Funny, Carol never mentioned you once,” Ben replied.
“Never mentioned her charming, intelligent brother?” Nick shook his head in mock bewilderment, which caused the children to laugh.
“Is your last name Kane too?” Patrick asked.
It wasn’t lost on Ben that Nick and Carol exchanged a quick conspiratorial glance.
“You can call me St. Nick,” Nick said, earning grins from the children.
Ben managed not to roll his eyes, but just barely. St. Nick? And his poor Carol, she thought the bearded retiree was her father and this joker was her brother? Not likely. Not unless they were all members of some sort of Christmas themed circus.
Like a light bulb switching on in a dark broom closet, Ben’s mind suddenly flooded with understanding. He got it. He knew what was going on, he knew where they were. And he knew what Carol was involved in. This whole set up reminded him of a backstage tour of an ice capades show he’d been on when he was around eight years old. The flurry of activity, the costumes, the props, and Santa and the elves staying in character, it was all a part of some traveling Christmas show.
But why hadn’t Carol just said so? There was no shame in theater. Sure it was a little odd but weren’t most creative types at least a tiny bit eccentric? His heart warmed knowing that the woman he loved wasn’t crazy.
“So, when’s show time?” he interrupted Carol and Nick’s conversation.
They both turned to stare at him.
“I get it, I know where we are.” He smiled just a bit triumphantly. “Live theater, and done on an impressive scale I have to say. I’d love to know what the budget for something like this runs.”
“The holidays are priceless,” Nick said. “None of this is about money.”
“Yeah, right, Christmas isn’t about money,” Ben scoffed.
“Not now, Daddy,”
* * *
Ben followed Carol and the children through the door and out into a corridor. She turned right and strode down the hall. His head throbbed and his shoulder smarted but it was nothing compared to the ache in his heart. He loved Carol. The moment she’d kissed him, he’d known that he would love her forever. But what could be wrong with her? Had a childhood trauma during the holidays scarred her for life?
Whatever it was, they’d get to the bottom of it. Together.
“Look out,” Hillary called out. “A pile of presents is coming through.”
Duly warned, Ben joined the others as they flattened themselves against the wall. An old-fashioned push cart piled seven feet high with brightly wrapped gift boxes sailed past them. The three elves pushing it all called out cheery greetings to Carol. How did they know her name?
The further along the apparently endless corridor that they went, the more bizarre the situation became. How many little people could possibly work in the same place? Ben knew he hadn’t ever spent much time at the mall but it couldn’t be this large. The hallway widened with each step they took until it became downright cavernous.
“Hey, Carol,” a man with dark hair, about Ben’s own age, approached them, a huge smile on his face. “Oh, have I missed you. I knew you’d make it back in time.”
The stranger threw his arms around Carol and, to Ben’s annoyance, she willingly accepted his embrace. Who the heck was this?
Carol pulled back, rather reluctantly Ben thought, and linked her arm through the man’s. “Nick, I’d like you to meet my friends. This is Hillary Hanson and her brother Patrick. And this is…this is Ben.”
“Ah, Ben, nice to finally meet you,” Nick said. He reached out shake Ben’s hand and then the children’s. “I’ve heard a great deal about you three.”
“Funny, Carol never mentioned you once,” Ben replied.
“Never mentioned her charming, intelligent brother?” Nick shook his head in mock bewilderment, which caused the children to laugh.
“Is your last name Kane too?” Patrick asked.
It wasn’t lost on Ben that Nick and Carol exchanged a quick conspiratorial glance.
“You can call me St. Nick,” Nick said, earning grins from the children.
Ben managed not to roll his eyes, but just barely. St. Nick? And his poor Carol, she thought the bearded retiree was her father and this joker was her brother? Not likely. Not unless they were all members of some sort of Christmas themed circus.
Like a light bulb switching on in a dark broom closet, Ben’s mind suddenly flooded with understanding. He got it. He knew what was going on, he knew where they were. And he knew what Carol was involved in. This whole set up reminded him of a backstage tour of an ice capades show he’d been on when he was around eight years old. The flurry of activity, the costumes, the props, and Santa and the elves staying in character, it was all a part of some traveling Christmas show.
But why hadn’t Carol just said so? There was no shame in theater. Sure it was a little odd but weren’t most creative types at least a tiny bit eccentric? His heart warmed knowing that the woman he loved wasn’t crazy.
“So, when’s show time?” he interrupted Carol and Nick’s conversation.
They both turned to stare at him.
“I get it, I know where we are.” He smiled just a bit triumphantly. “Live theater, and done on an impressive scale I have to say. I’d love to know what the budget for something like this runs.”
“The holidays are priceless,” Nick said. “None of this is about money.”
“Yeah, right, Christmas isn’t about money,” Ben scoffed.
“Not now, Daddy,”
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