Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
A Note from Caroline:
The Return of Kris Kringle ©2014
by Caroline Mickelson.
Published by Bon Accord Press
Cover design by Sabrina Mickelson-Begic
Formatting by Sweet 'N Spicy Designs
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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The Return of Kris Kringle
Caroline Mickelson
For Aunt Kelli and Uncle Bill ~
My first readers and two of my favorite people
Chapter One
“What if Santa Claus doesn’t like salads, Mom?”
Kris Kringle glanced in the rear view mirror. There was just enough moonlight for her to see that her six year old daughter Noelle was wide awake. Still. “Of course he likes salad, sweetie. Why wouldn’t he?”
“Everyone knows Santa likes Christmas cookies. Have you ever heard of anyone leaving him a glass of milk and a chilled Caesar Salad on Christmas Eve? I don’t think so.”
Kris smiled. “I guess we’ll just have to ask him when we see him.”
“Okay, but even if he prefers cookies you’re going to make a vegetarian lasagna the first night you cook, aren’t you?”
“As a matter of fact, I am.” Kris reached for the heater and cranked it up to high. “We’ve still got a couple of hours until we get there so why don’t you sleep?”
Noelle shook her head emphatically. “I’m not tired. Besides, I’m afraid if I fall asleep that I’ll wake up and you’ll tell me this was all a dream.”
“It’s no dream, baby. We’re moving to the North Pole.” It was nothing Kris ever thought she’d say, or ever have to do, but reality had dealt her enough rough blows that going home suddenly didn’t seem like such a bad idea. “Go to sleep. I promise I’ll wake you up when we get there.”
“Is Santa sending a sleigh for us?”
Kris shook her head and a wry smile tugged at her lips. She’d been gone a long time but some things she hadn’t forgotten. “I don’t think so, Noelle. Santa doesn’t like the reindeer to fly this close to Christmas. He always says they need to save up their strength for Christmas Eve. But he knows we’re coming and he promised to send someone to pick us up.”
Her daughter yawned and leaned her head back against the seat. “Is there anyone my age there to play with?”
“Are you kidding? There are hundreds of elves who are all going to want to be your new best friend.”
Noelle giggled.
“My cousin Carol has two children,” Kris continued. “Hillary is about your age and Patrick is a bit younger. And remember I told you that my cousin Nick and his wife Holly just had a baby boy?”
“We won’t be lonely anymore, Mom.”
It was more of a statement than a question, and it tore at Kris’ heart. “You’re right. We won’t be. Now close your eyes and count to one hundred, okay baby?”
Noelle yawned. “It’s just hard to believe we’re going to actually live at the North Pole.” Her eyelids fluttered shut.
Kris sighed. It was hard to believe. But, after reviewing her options a dozen times a day for months straight, she always came right back to the inescapable fact that the best place she could raise Noelle was the North Pole. Which meant moving home.
Noelle would be happy, she told herself. Healthier too, which was another huge benefit to moving to the North Pole. Or so she hoped. Her daughter had been plagued with persistent food allergies from the time she’d been placed with Kris. Noelle had been Kris’ first, and only, foster care placement. Fostering, not adoption, had been her plan but from the time she’d first held a two-year old Noelle in her arms, Kris had known she wanted to adopt the girl. It was by far the best decision she’d ever made.
She glanced back over her shoulder. Her daughter’s eyelids were getting heavy.
Kris had plenty of happy memories growing up in Christmas Central. She couldn’t have had a better uncle and aunt than Santa and Mrs. Claus. They’d loved her just as much as they did their own two children. But they’d understood when she’d turned eighteen and wanted to go below to strike out on her own. Fortunately they’d seemed to understand just as much when she’d written last month to ask if she and Noelle could come back. Home. Come back home. It still felt so odd to say.
A flurry of snowflakes swirled around the car. It was like driving through the middle of a shaken snow globe. The sound of Noelle’s even breathing in the back seat meant her daughter was fast asleep. Finally. Kris reached for the map on the seat next to her. She’d given up using the rental car’s GPS well over a hundred miles ago. The automated female voice’s constant repetition of dire warnings for driving too far north had begun to grate on her nerves.
She scanned the map. Maybe fifty miles stood between her past and future. Or was it future and her past? Kris sighed. She’d come full circle in eight years. She reached over and switched on the radio. Just as she expected, all she could find this far north was a single station that only played Christmas music. She left it on, if only to have a break from the sound of her inner voice second guessing her decision to move home.
She hadn’t been back to the North Pole once in the last eight years. It was hard to imagine that much had changed. Had the menus there improved at all? Kris doubted it. Christmas Central was a place deeply rooted in tradition. Tradition and carbohydrates. But that was all about to change. Santa and Mrs. Claus were in for a gastronomic revolution. Fried chicken and dumplings were out, arugula salads with pine nuts and goat cheese were on their way in. Artichoke hearts sautéed in olive oil could easily replace French fries. The possibilities were endless.
The first thing she was going to do, Kris decided, was to deep six the deep fryer. This action might well set off a protest from the elves but what had to be done, had to be done. She wasn’t going to fail this time. Her restaurant had gone under, her bank account had been emptied to pay off her share of the business loans from the restaurant, and everything she owned was now packed in four suitcases. But if it was the last thing she did, Kris was going to bring her love of healthy food to the North Pole.
She passed the rest of the journey making mental lists of supplies she’d need to order. Her mind raced with possible menu plans. The
thought of cooking soothed Kris, but it also helped her keep her mind off of her recent heartbreak. Building a new life at the North Pole meant that she was never going back below. It also meant she was never going to see Kyle Masterson again. The thought made her heart ache. She blinked away the tears that threatened to spill. She had to look forward. Move on. Without Kyle.
She was so lost in thought that she almost missed the enormous red and white striped Christmas Central sign with a gigantic green arrow underneath it. Just in time she swerved to make the turn. After about a hundred feet, her headlights picked up the outline of half a dozen elves and several sleds hitched to dog teams. Noelle was going to love that, she adored dogs but they’d never been able to have one in their tiny apartment.
As Kris parked the car, a smile stretched across her face. It was the first time she’d genuinely felt hopeful in months. Maybe moving back home was going to work out after all.
* * *
“Welcome to the North Pole, young man.”
“Thank you, Mr. Claus.” Kyle Masterson smiled as he reached out to shake Santa’s white gloved hand. He hadn’t been called a young man in years. Not that thirty-five was old, of course, but it was a ways past ‘young man’. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you and Mrs. Claus offering me this opportunity.”
Santa waved toward a wing backed chair, motioning for Kyle to take a seat. “Based on the sample meal you cooked for us, I can assure you that you are more than welcome here.” He settled into his chair and propped his black stocking feet on the ottoman. His blue eyes twinkled with merriment. “You have a way with fried calamari, Kyle. I enjoyed it immensely.”
“Thank you, Mr. Claus.” Kyle stared at the flames dancing in the fireplace. He wasn’t sure quite how upfront he should be with Santa about his intentions. “I suppose, Mr. Claus, that you would know if I were being less than honest with you about something?”
“Call me Santa, please.” He tipped his head forward and looked at Kyle over the rim of his gold spectacles. “And yes, your assumption is quite correct. A fib of any magnitude will land you squarely on the top of my naughty list.”
“Right, I thought as much.” Kyle liked knowing where he stood with Santa. It was more than he could say for his relationship with Kris, the last six months had felt like he was tap dancing on quick sand. “Well, to be quite frank Santa, I don’t think your niece is going to be happy to see me here. In fact, I venture to say she’s going to be downright unhappy about it.”
“Go on.”
“The truth is that I’m in love with Kris.”
Santa beamed. “Splendid news. That ought to make your working here together all the easier.”
Kyle smiled. “Yes, well, you would think so, wouldn’t you? However, it’s a bit complicated.”
Santa reached for a mug of steaming cocoa. “Perhaps I’d better hear the whole story now if you don’t mind. The countdown to Christmas starts soon and once we’re in the home stretch my mind will be quite occupied with operational details.” He took a sip from his mug. “So, you and my niece are in love?”
Kyle weighed his words carefully before speaking. “Well, that’s how I feel,” he replied. “And there was a time where I thought Kris shared my feelings. In fact, I was sure of it.”
Santa nodded. “How sure?”
“Sure enough to buy her an engagement ring and propose marriage.”
“Ah, I’d say that was quite sure. I take it my niece didn’t say yes, or I’d have heard the happy news by now.”
Kyle stared into the fireplace for a long moment. “Kris did accept, Sir. For all of about twenty minutes I was the happiest man on the planet.”
“Good heavens, what happened in such a short amount of time to upset the apple cart?” Santa prompted him.
“I told Kris the truth.”
“A wise choice under any circumstance.”
Kyle glanced at Santa. “Yes, well, I thought so. But Kris didn’t take my confession the way I’d hoped she would.”
“Confession? That sounds ominous. What did you do that required confessing?”
“I come from a privileged background. Private school, trust funds, that sort of thing, but it wasn’t anything I ever talked about after I decided to become a chef.” Kyle leaned forward. “And Kris is the last person to be impressed with the trappings of wealth.”
Santa’s smile was fond. “That’s certainly true enough. In fact, I dare say she’d have been quite put off by all of that.”
“Oh, she was. Trust me. But it wasn’t just the fact I came from money that bothered her, it was what I’d done with it.”
“Go on.”
Kyle wished he didn’t have to. He’d been beyond naïve to think that Kris would be pleased when he’d paid off all of their shared debt. Her reaction had been anything but pleased. Betrayed was more like it. “Let’s just say it didn’t sit well with Kris when she found out that our restaurant was in the black.”
“She gave you back the ring, I take it.”
Kyle nodded. “I’m afraid so. Not only that, she insisted on repaying half of the debt we’d incurred. And then she packed up, moved, and didn’t even tell me where she was going. All she left was a legal document transferring total ownership of our restaurant to my name. But I don’t want any of it without her. I want a life with Kris and Noelle, not a restaurant.”
Santa was quiet for a moment. The crackling wood in the fireplace was the only sound in the room. “So you’ve come to the North Pole to convince Kris that she wants you back.”
“That’s my hope, Sir. Can I ask how Kris took the news when you told her that I was coming?”
“Well, as for that, I decided that it would be better to surprise her.”
“She doesn’t know?” The small flicker of hope that this arrangement would work out was instantly snuffed out. “May I ask why you didn’t you tell her?”
Santa cocked his head thoughtfully. “I considered doing so but I wanted to meet you first.” His blue twinkled merrily.
Under Santa’s scrutiny, Kyle suddenly felt like a teenage boy arriving to pick up his date on prom night. “The whole situation is complicated, Sir.”
Santa laughed. “I fly around the world in a single night. I think I can manage to keep up.” Santa put his cocoa mug down and put his boots back on. “So now, in addition to keeping us all well fed during the Christmas rush, you’ll work to convince my niece that she can’t live without you.”
Kyle stood and stared directly into Santa’s blue eyes. “That’s going to take a fair bit of faith, if not magic.”
Santa smiled encouragingly. “That’s exactly how my reindeer and I fly around the world in one night, my boy. Faith and magic. It’s a winning combination.” He motioned for Kyle to follow him. “Come along, I’ll show you around before Kris and Noelle arrive.”
Kyle was filled with a profound sense of gratitude. “Thank you for your support, Santa. Are you and Mrs. Claus absolutely certain that you really need me here to help Kris?”
“We do. There are hundreds of busy elves who are quite hungry at the end of the day. Now, tell me this, do you have any peppermint fudge recipes?”
“Fudge happens to be a specialty of mine.” Kyle hesitated. “Santa, I have to be honest. I’m not the least bit confident that Kris is going to like the idea of my working with her here.”
“Don’t worry about my niece’s reaction. I’m sure she’ll be delighted. Once she gets used to the idea.”
Faith and magic, Kyle repeated to himself as he followed Santa down the main corridor of Christmas Central. He was going to need quite a bit of both to convince Kris Kringle that he was the man she couldn’t live without.
Chapter Two
Christmas Central was every bit as enchanting as Kris remembered. To her delight, and relief, Noelle appeared to think so as well. Her daughter had been wide eyed and full of questions from the moment she’d seen the welcoming committee of elves waiting for them. The ride through the frozen tundra h
ad been Noelle’s first time on a dog sled. Judging by her delighted laughter, she’d enjoyed it. But Noelle’s laughter had given way to stunned silence as they’d entered the gates of Christmas Central. Hallways teaming with cheery but busy elves and stacks of gaily wrapped presents had both overwhelmed and delighted the girl.
Getting Noelle to settle down the night before had taken an hour longer than usual. In fact, Kris ended up resorting to a blatant bribe that Noelle could visit the reindeer the next morning if she would just go to sleep. Negotiation and bribery weren’t Kris’ normal parenting tactics but some situations called for extraordinary measures.
And the North Pole was extraordinary. As Kris made her way from their cottage to the main building she marveled at how few things had appeared to change. The cottages were as cozy and sweet as she remembered, the large toy workshops were as enormous as she’d thought they were, and all the buildings were painted in bright, cheery shades of red, green and white. Despite the cold, warmth filled Kris’ heart. Maybe moving back had been the right thing to do after all.
Despite the early hour, Kris was surprised to see so many elves already at work. But what had she expected? It was mid-December and Christmas Central was poised to become a crazy busy place. She glanced at her watch. It wasn’t even seven o’clock yet. Perfect timing, she might as well jump into the fray and offer to help with breakfast. She headed for the kitchen but when she pushed open the brightly painted double doors, she wasn’t prepared for the sight that met her eyes.
Order ruled where chaos used to reign. Gleaning stainless steel counters held neat rows of trays. As she got closer, Kris noted that on each tray was a pre-made meal neatly wrapped in cellophane. A small station with napkins and silverware was set up at the end of the counter. The arrangement would certainly make for a streamlined meal service. Kris looked around the large kitchen. A quiet commercial kitchen just before meal time wasn’t normal. Where was the food prep elf team?
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