by Krista Lakes
Molly chuckled and shook her head at him. “You're hilarious,” she called up to him.
“You know it.” He grinned at her, the lights changing the colors on his face. “Will you hold the ladder for me to come down?”
Molly hurried around to the side of the house to hold the ladder steady. Nicholas didn't really need it as he was steadier on the thing than she was, but she didn't mind.
He hopped off the last step, and suddenly Molly realized just how close they were. She could smell the soft scent of his soap. He smelled amazing. Like a winter's morning.
“Would you two like a few more slices of cake? For the road?” Mrs. Brownstone asked coming around the side of the house. “I can put them on one plate, if you two were planning to share.”
“No, thanks. I just came from Hannah’s place.” Molly ignored Mrs. Brownstone’s comment about she and Nicholas sharing the cake. “I think I’ve had my fill of sweets for the day.”
“I’ll take another slice, actually. If you don’t mind?” Nicholas asked, still holding onto the ladder. “I'm feeling like some cake tonight.”
“Of course, I don’t mind,” Mrs. Brownstone said, smiling at him. “Just give me one minute. I’ll have it wrapped up for you in a jiffy.”
Mrs. Brownstone headed back inside with Mr. Brownstone not too far behind her.
Molly stared up at him, still breathing in the scent of him. “You’re taking another slice of cake?”
“It was good,” he said simply. “What’s so wrong with wanting more of a good thing?”
Molly took a step back to look at him better. “Just doesn’t seem like you.”
“How can you say it doesn’t seem like me when you don’t know me at all?” Nicholas asked while he lowered the ladder to the ground. “First impressions aren’t everything. In fact, first impressions are usually dead wrong.”
“I guess so...” Molly’s words trailed off. She watched, chewing on her bottom lip as he carefully picked up the ladder and headed into the garage to put it away.
Nicholas Kerstman was going to eat a second slice of cake.
The same man who’d turned down the offer of a candy cane just a day before.
Molly wondered if she was somehow already getting to him, her love of Christmas rubbing off on him in some small way.
She smiled to herself as she considered the possibility that maybe, just maybe, she’d be able to save Christmas Wishes after all.
Chapter 11
Nicholas
Nicholas still wore the ridiculous Santa hat and the equally ridiculous Christmas lights necklace as he lounged on his living room couch with a book pressed close to his face. The fireplace in his rented lodge cabin crackled with fake gas flames, but the effect was still soothing. He'd rented the small cabin instead of staying at his parents overly Christmas decorated house.
Reading had always been one of his favorite pastimes, but with the nature of his work, he never had any time to ever get around to it. Today, for the first time in what felt like forever, he didn't have anything pressing to do. He didn't have really anything to do until he received word from Luke about a potential offer for Christmas Wishes.
He’d already faxed and scanned and emailed all of the relevant financial documents back to his office in Manhattan, and Luke had confirmed receipt of them within seconds of Nicholas sending them off.
So now, all Nicholas had to do was wait.
He turned another page in the book, finding himself lost in a world that was not his own. It was wonderful to escape for a few moments, and he promised himself that he would do this more often. He'd forgotten the simple pleasure of reading. The pages turned quickly under his fingers until he reached a new chapter where a certain character named Molly appeared.
And then, Nicholas’ concentration was shot.
His mind went to the only Molly he’d ever known.
Molly Carmichael.
The woman was so... optimistic.
And ludicrous. And preposterous.
And imaginative. And sweet.
And hilarious. And thoughtful.
And...
Nicholas snapped his book shut. He needed a distraction, so he reached for what was left of his cake.
While he chewed through his dessert, his mind went back to the first time Molly had offered him a candy cane right out of her pocket.
Nicholas wished he could go back to that moment in time. He then wished he could go back even further than that, to the very first moment he met her. He wished he could have made a better first impression. He wished that he could have come across as charming rather than rude.
He didn’t know if Molly had forgiven him or not for his unfortunate comments about her Head Elf title, but he found himself worrying about it more and more with each passing day.
Did he want Molly Carmichael to like him?
Nicholas shook his head and set down the cake.
No. He told himself. That couldn’t be right.
That was so childish. Despite her beautiful smile and long legs, he didn't need her to like him. He needed to sell this store. The last thing he needed was any kind of romantic entanglement in this town.
Nicholas mentally kicked himself before picking up his book again, this time skipping right over the Molly-centric chapter.
A few minutes later, his phone rang, distracting him yet again. He reached to answer it, not bothering to check the Caller ID. Nicholas knew that if someone had his personal phone number, then they must be someone important to him.
“This is Nicholas Kerstman.”
“I got an offer! I got an offer!” Luke’s voice cracked with excitement on the other end of the line. He quickly cleared his throat. “Mr. Kerstman, sir, I got an offer for Christmas Wishes!”
“Wait, already?” Nicholas set the book down, his mind snapping quickly back into business mode. “They already looked over the financials?”
“Yes! And they love the seasonal Christmas concept. Combined with the year-round website, of course,” Luke informed him. “They were even thinking of expanding the offerings to Halloween, Easter and Summer. You know, all the big concepts.”
“All the big concepts...” Nicholas cringed, something inside of him uncomfortable with the thought of changing Christmas Wishes into an all-seasons shop. “Well, I guess that would be fine, as long as the price is right...”
“Trust me, sir. The price is right!” Luke said. Nicholas imagined him jumping up and down with excitement. “They said they wanted to see the shop in person in three days. Would that work for you, sir?”
“Three days?” Nicholas navigated to the calendar app on his phone. “Luke, that’s Christmas Eve.”
“Is that going to be a problem, sir?” Luke asked, suddenly sounding nervous. “It’s just that working Christmas Eve has never been a problem for you before. I already told the investors we could make it work.”
Nicholas hesitated to respond...
Wait.
A potential deal was on the table and he was hesitating?
Nicholas winced at his own stupidity. Business waited for no man.
“No, you did good, Luke. We can make it work,” he said. “You should come, too. These guys like to see who they’ve been in contact with over the phone. Looks like the old ways of face-to-face business are coming back in style.”
“Of course, sir,” Luke replied. “I’ll see you Christmas Eve, sir.”
“I’ll see you Christmas Eve,” Nicholas said with a smile.
He set the phone down and put the book away. Now he had work to do.
* * *
Nicholas slept fitfully. He tossed and turned, unable to find a comfortable spot in the bed.
It was going to be the worst Christmas ever.
If he made it that long. His parents were going to kill him and it wasn't even the first day of winter break.
Nicholas sat on the front step of his aunt's house, head in hands, and sure that his short fifteen years of life were about to come to an e
nd. He already knew his parents were going to be furious. He could already hear their voices in his head. His mother would worry about his future and his father would look grim. They would be disappointed. They would lecture and yell.
Christmas would be ruined. And all because he tried to help save Christmas.
And so, instead of going home to face them he'd run straight from the school directly to Aunt Georgia's house. It was only a few blocks from the school and there were plenty of days he went there instead of home.
Aunt Georgia's house, with it's bright colors and fresh cookies, always felt more like home than home to Nicholas. The front door was locked, so Nicholas sat on the front step and waited anxiously for his aunt to come home.
Aunt Georgia's car pulled into the driveway. Uncle Chris was driving and it looked like Aunt Georgia was napping. The brakes squealed softly as the car came to a stop and Uncle Chris tapped Aunt Georgia's shoulder and then pointed to Nicholas. His aunt frowned and opened the car door.
Uncle Chris had to help her out of the car. She leaned on him heavily, looking like just the few steps up the driveway were the equivalent of running a marathon. Her face was gaunt with hollow cheeks, but her green eyes were bright with a smile just for Nicholas.
“Nicholas, it's so good to see you,” Aunt Georgia said with a gentle smile. “What are you doing here?”
Uncle Chris was practically carrying her thin body up to the front porch, but she waved him off when she got close to Nicholas. She adjusted the thin blanket over her shoulders as she sat on the cold cement step next to her nephew.
Uncle Chris frowned for a moment until Aunt Georgia looked up at him.”The cold isn't going to knock me dead in the next five minutes,” she told her husband. “Go on in and get some cocoa started. I'll have Nicholas bring me inside in just a moment. He won't let me freeze out here.”
Uncle Chris sighed and nodded. There was a hurt in him that Nicholas didn't recognize. Normally, Uncle Chris was the happiest person he knew- a perfect match for the joy and light that was in Aunt Georgia. But recently, that easy joy had faded from Uncle Chris and had been replaced with a sadness for something that hadn't happened yet.
Nicholas knew that Aunt Georgia's cancer wasn't getting better. No one thought to tell him what was going on, all of the adults saying that it wasn't something he needed to worry about just yet. But Nicholas knew. The battle wasn't going well. It was easy to see the thinness in his aunt. The worried looks. The constant doctor appointments that never left anyone smiling.
His favorite aunt was withering away.
The two of them sat there on the porch, snow all around Aunt Georgia's yard. She had all her Christmas decorations up and the lights were just starting to turn on with the dusk. The trees slowly came alive with color and sparkle. Red, green, white, and blue lights all began to twinkle and glow against the snow.
“Best thing I did was to put those on a timer,” she murmured softly. She started to shiver despite the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Nicholas felt a fresh wave of guilt wash over him.
“Let's get you inside,” he said, rising to his feet. She grabbed his arm and pulled him down.
“Just a minute more,” she told him. “Just until all the lights turn on. I don't want to miss the magic.”
Nicholas frowned slightly, but sat back down. He wrapped his arm around her, trying to share what little warmth he had. Aunt Georgia chuckled and pulled him into her, putting the blanket over both of them.
“Look at the lights, Nicholas. Aren't they pretty?” she whispered.
All the neighborhood lights were starting to flicker to life. The entire neighborhood was blossoming with Christmas color.
“It's beautiful, Aunt Georgia,” he replied. It really was. He'd never really seen the lights all turn on like this. It always seemed as if they were off one moment and then magically on the next. The effect of seeing them all come to life was like catching a glimpse of Santa coming down the chimney.
“My Christmas wish for you, Nicholas, is that you find happiness,” she said softly, gazing out at the lights. “That you find someone that makes you feel this kind of magic all the time.”
“Sure, Aunt Georgia.” Nicholas shrugged. He wondered if Sarah Jones in his English class counted.
“Okay, that's what I wanted to see,” she said after a while. The lights all twinkled in the crisp snow but without the sun's light, the porch had grown far too cold for just the blanket over their shoulders. “Bring me inside and tell me how you got that amazing shiner.”
Nicholas' hand quickly went to his eye and he winced at the throbbing that was already starting to set in. His mother was going to freak out. He offered his arm to Aunt Georgia and was surprised to find that he was able to hoist her up without hardly any effort. Either he was getting stronger or she was getting lighter. Nicholas wished that he spent more time in the weight room at school so that he could pretend it was him that was changing.
He brought her inside and helped her settle into her chair by the fire. Uncle Chris already had the fire going and a warm blanket ready for her. She sighed with exhaustion once she sat down, looking like the short walk from the porch to the living room was too much for her body to handle. Nicholas took his usual spot on the couch next to Aunt Georgia's chair.
Uncle Chris came out and handed them each a cup of hot cocoa, as well as a bag of peas for Nicholas' eye.
“Emma called,” Uncle Chris announced, tucking the blanket a little tighter around Aunt Georgia.
“Tell her that Nicholas is safe with me and will be staying for dinner,” Aunt Georgia replied.
“I already did,” Uncle Chris replied, leaning over and kissing the top of Aunt Georgia's head. Aunt Georgia beamed up at him, looking at him like he was the light of her world.
Nicholas looked away, not because of the kiss, but because it felt like he was intruding on something private between the two of them. Uncle Chris kissed her forehead once more before heading to his office.
“Now, tell me about that black eye.” Aunt Georgia sipped at her cocoa. “I'm assuming it's why you're hiding out here?”
Nicholas nodded, peering into the depths of his hot chocolate with the one good eye that wasn't under a bag of peas.
“And?”
Nicholas sighed. “I got in a fight.”
Aunt Georgia blew on her hot chocolate without drinking it. “Somehow, I think there's more to the story.”
“I was walking past the elementary school and saw this freshman I know there. He's a total jerk. He was telling the little kids Santa isn't real,” Nicholas replied. “I didn't want him to ruin Christmas for those kids.”
He could still feel the hot anger coursing through him as he'd hit the playground bully.
He'd tried to be an adult, but it hadn't worked. There was a fight. The parents of the younger children broke it up. The other kid ran off with a bloody nose, but the first graders still believed in the magic of Santa Claus. Nicholas knew they'd find out eventually, but they didn't need to learn it that way.
Aunt Georgia nodded thoughtfully before setting her mug on the small table.
“You know how I feel about physical violence,” she said. Her face was stern but it softened quickly. “However, I think you did the right thing. No one should get the magic of Christmas spoiled with less than a week to go. I think you're still on the nice list.”
Nicholas felt the fear woosh out of him. His parents disappointment he could manage. The idea that Aunt Georgia wouldn't agree with what he'd done had terrified him. He'd almost gone home, but Aunt Georgia's house was the place he felt safest.
Nicholas loved his parents, but they were busy people. His mother was a professor and his father a busy market analyst. They were wonderful people that he adored, well, as much as a teenager could adore their parents. Aunt Georgia always had time for him.
He loved the way she made him feel around the holidays: special. As an average student with all the regular growing pains of a teenage boy, Ni
cholas often felt like he didn't belong. It didn't help that his parents kept moving him around the world. He didn't have a place that truly felt like home.
Aunt Georgia always made him believe that he belonged with her. She made him feel like the most special person in the world. He looked forward to winter break every year because it meant he got to stay with Aunt Georgia. He got to go home.
The fact that she was sick weighed heavy on Nicholas. He wished there was something he could do that would make his aunt feel better. It was his one Christmas wish that she would get better. He was even considering a trip to the local mall to ask Santa, even though he knew it was just some guy in a suit. It still might help.
She was so weak this year that Uncle Chris and Nicholas had put up all the outdoor lights while she watched from inside. There was only one Christmas tree decorated in the house instead of the usual three. No snowmen decorated her front yard this year, and the sledding was on hold indefinitely.
He couldn't imagine Christmas without her. It wouldn't be Christmas. It would just be an excuse for presents and candy.
“You're eating with us tonight,” Aunt Georgia told him. She smiled at him weakly and patted his hand. “I don't want you fretting about your parents. What would you like best?”
“Hamburgers?” Nicholas replied hopefully.
“You hear that, Chris? The boy wants hamburgers,” Aunt Georgia called toward the office. Uncle Chris poked his head out.
“I thought you wanted just some soup?” asked Uncle Chris.
“I did, but my favorite nephew wants hamburgers. So hamburgers is what I want,” Aunt Georgia told him.
Uncle Chris came out of his office and crossed the living room. He kissed the top of her head.
“If it makes you happy, we'll have hamburgers.”
Aunt Georgia winked at Nicholas. “It does.”
Uncle Chris shook his head with a soft smile and then picked up his jacket. He searched his pocket for his keys, and headed out to get hamburgers for the three of them.
