Sweet Tea and Sass

by Tegan Maher

  Bob laughed. "I know exactly what you're thinking. I'm from Tennessee, possibly the most snowy-Christmasy place on the planet. It took me three or four years to get used to hanging the lights on the house wearing shorts. It just didn't feel like Christmas, but now I'm used to it. As soon as Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas Spirit hits."

  He realized what he said. "Wow, I didn't really think this whole hat thing was such a big deal until I just said that." A worried frown creased his furry brow. "What happens if we don't get it back?"

  "That's not an option," I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "We'll find it."

  "You two go on and take a walk on the beach if you want to. Enjoy your vacation," Bob said, though he still looked worried. "I'm here, and Kris and Carol are still sitting over there. The elf has to go past us to get back to the resort if he's still down here."

  I cast a glance at the white-sand beach and couldn't resist. "Okay, but just a short one,” I said. "We'll be back in just a bit."

  CHAPTER TEN

  Digging my toes into the sand helped relieve some of the anxiety over the hat, but not much. Still, we managed to relax some, and even swam for a bit. I about pulled a Jesus and walked on water when something bumped against my leg. A kid popped her head up several feet from me and wiped the water from her face. She was probably twelve, and absolutely beautiful.

  "I am so sorry," she said, her brown eyes huge. "I just wanted to meet Destiny's cousin, but the current caught me when I came by you."

  She flipped over on her back and it was hard not to stare at her golden fin glistening just under the water. "My name's Joni. That's my mom and dad over there at the water bar. We live near here, and it's one of our favorite places. Destiny's awesome and I adore Tempest. Have you tried the cheeseburger yet?"

  I smiled, both amused by her enthusiasm and relieved I wasn't about to be eaten by a shark. I'd never been a fan of swimming out past my hips because I respected the fact that I wasn't anywhere near the top of the food chain in that environment. When she'd brushed against me, I'd thought I was a goner, and it would have been my own fault for swimming out past my self-imposed safety line.

  "We just did," I said. "It was delicious. The fries, too. I'm Cori and this is Alex."

  Alex gave her his best dimpled smile. "Hey Joni. Nice to meet you."

  The young mermaid blushed to the roots of her mahogany hair, and I hid my smile. I couldn't blame her; those dimples still had that effect on me sometimes, too.

  "This is a great place," I said. "We haven't seen much of it yet, but what we've seen so far is incredible."

  “If you've seen the tiki, the pool, and the beach, you've seen the best parts,” she said. “Oh, and Destiny's cottage. It's cool, too. She has a hammock. I can swing in it for hours."

  I gave her a quizzical look, wondering how on earth she knew how cool Destiny's cottage was and how she swung in the hammock. She must have understood, because she grinned. "Never met a mermaid, before, huh? Or know much about us?"

  "No," I said, giving her an apologetic glance. "Honestly, you're my first, and I don't know much about mermaids at all, other than you live in the ocean."

  "You can walk on land?" Alex asked, enthralled.

  Joni nodded. "We can. At least for short periods. We can trade our fins for legs, but to be honest, it feels a little weird and takes some getting used to. The only reason I'm even allowed to do it is because Mom and Dad trust Destiny. I hang out with her sometimes if they have something to do and don't have a sitter. Merparents are probably a little stricter than human parents. There are some pretty scary things in the ocean that it's harder to hide from."

  Yeah, I could totally commiserate with her parents, considering my own personal beach policy. I didn't have kids, but I couldn't imagine leaving them alone in the ocean even if they couldn't drown.

  "How long can you stay on land?" Alex asked. "As long as you want?"

  She shook her head. "No. A day or so is about as long as we can go before our gills start to dry out. Besides, I can't imagine being out of the sea that long."

  I wasn't sure what to say to that until I thought about being away from Castle's Bluff for too long. I know it wasn't an accurate comparison, but then considered how foreign the Enchanted Coast environment was to me. Suddenly, I understood exactly what she was saying. Nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there. Though I would appreciate it for more than a day, at least if we found the hat and saved Christmas.

  "How long have you been swimming along here today?" I asked.

  "I don't know,” she replied, running her fingers through hair that had to have been waist long. "A good two or three hours, anyway. Why?"

  "Did you by chance see an elf go by?"

  She crinkled her brow. "You mean an elf, like the ones at the North Pole? Or a regular elf?"

  "Is there a difference?" Alex asked, looking as confused as I felt.

  In true pre-teen fashion, she rolled her eyes. "Of course there's a difference. Santa's elves are much shorter than regular elves, and they have pink cheeks and longer ears. Regular elves look more like humans. I thought I thought I saw a North Pole elf walking on the beach earlier. I didn't see where he went, though." She narrowed her eyes. "Though to be fair, I'm starting to wonder if Santa and his elves are even real. I've never actually seen one that I know of—I only know the difference because that's what Mom and Dad say."

  Oh, no. That was not a good sign. "When did you start wondering if elves really existed?" I asked, trying to keep my tone neutral, but worried she was losing her Christmas Spirit because the hat wasn't with Santa.

  "I don't know," Joni replied, then puckered her lips and pushed them to the side, thinking. "I was excited for Christmas when we got here, especially when I saw all the lights and decorations. But now I'm wondering what the big deal is, anyway. We don't do many gifts in our household. We usually go volunteer for a couple hours on Christmas Eve at the storm shelter." She shook her head. "So many people have lost their homes because of all the recent changes in the weather. It seems like the sea floor is changing daily. But really, what's the big deal about Christmas Eve? We can do that any time, and there are always plenty of volunteers this time of year."

  I looked at Alex, who was worrying his lip with his teeth. "Joni, you have to stay in the spirit. Those people count on you, and it's a good thing you're doing. Plus you have your family and friends, too, I'm sure."

  "Yeah," she told him with a shrug, "but I have them all year."

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward shore. "Nice to meet you, Joni, but we have something we have to do," he called over his shoulder.

  "Okay," she called back. "It was nice to meet you."

  "You too," I said, rushing to keep up with Alex. I was a strong swimmer, but he was giving Michael Phelps a run for his money.

  When we got to shore, he tossed me a towel.

  "What are we going to do?" I asked.

  "Find that hat," he answered, gathering our things and stuffing them into the bag.

  "And how are we going to do that?" I asked.

  He glanced at me as I toweled off and shook his head. "Why are we waiting for somebody to spot this guy?"

  Then what he was saying sank in. We were werewolves. We had two of the best noses on the planet, yet we were waiting for somebody to spot the guy we were looking for. And we already knew what to smell for—peppermint and cocoa.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Chaos and Tempest must have seen us running back toward the tiki, because they beat us there.

  "What's up?" Tempest asked as we thrust our bag at Bob.

  "Can you hold that back there for us?" I asked him. "We're going to see if we can track this elf."

  Chaos slapped her forehead. "Duh. Of course. C'mon, Tempest, we're going hunting."

  There were very few things Chaos got excited about, but she loved it when I shifted. She always ran along beside me, and when she got tired, she'd just climb aboard like I was a pony. Though
to be fair, she had decent stamina and could outrun me if we were in brush, at least when she was in shape.

  For the sake of convenience, I'd left my clothes in the bag and wore only my bathing suit. Regardless of what some fairy tales say, your clothes don't just disappear into some great ethereal dry cleaners, waiting pressed and folded for us to shift back fully clothed. Nope. If I wanted my new fifty-dollar suit to stay in one piece—or two as the case may be—I had to shuck it off before I changed.

  "Sure thing," Bob said, pulling it toward him. "I'll tuck it in the office in the back."

  Colin popped back around the corner right as he took it. "How's it goin'? Are you all enjoying yourselves at least a little?"

  "Not so much," I said, "though we did have an idea. I can't believe it didn't occur to me right away."

  "What's that?" he asked.

  I explained, and he shook his head. "I'm not sure Blake would approve. He usually asks us to take it over to the south beach if we want to shift. He doesn't want to scare anybody or risk a lawsuit."

  "You're kidding, right?" Alex said, disbelief written on his face. “In a place filled with vampires, trolls, and gorgons who hide snakes that can turn people to stone under turbans?”

  "Nope," Colin said. "Not kidding a bit. I shifted for a beach run one night and he about had a fit."

  I smirked at him. "Yeah, but were you by chance taking his ex-girlfriend out for a romantic seaside date and decided to flex your muscles?"

  His cheeks pinked. "Maybe. But he's not like that."

  "Well," I said, "This is a case where I think it's better to ask forgiveness rather than permission. I didn't see anything in the resort rules, so I'm going to assume it's okay until I’m told differently."

  Alex drew his brows down. "Did we really get a resort rulebook?"

  "Nope," I replied, smiling. "So I guess he's leaving us to the honor system. And I feel honor-bound to do what I can to save the Spirit of Christmas."

  Colin huffed out a breath. "Then wait up. I'm coming too. Three of us can search faster."

  We went a little way down the beach looking for a place to change. Unlike most beaches I'd been to, they'd somehow managed to get a massive forest to grow a couple hundred yards back from the beach. It was perfect for changing—and probably for hiding, too—and each of us picked a tree. Werewolves, or any shifter for that matter, didn't tend to have a ton of modesty, but we each picked our own clump of trees. I figured "I saw your Uncle Colin naked the first day we met" wouldn't be the best way to start a story to any future kids, assuming he made it that far with Destiny.

  We'd decided on a plan while we walked, so as soon as I changed, I took off at a trot in the direction we'd decided I'd search. Chaos and Tempest stayed beside me, their noses in the air.

  It was probably ten degrees cooler in the forest than it was on the beach, and I wondered if it was planned that way or was just a happy coincidence. I have to admit, the forest was a little freaky. It was like an entirely different environment plopped down on a beach resort. The more I thought about it, the neater it was though. I felt more at home, so it was a nice touch for those of us who weren't used to beaches and sand.

  The sound of canned Christmas music drifted toward me, so I figured we were close to skimming the tree line nearest the resort. The music put a little pep in my step and I sang along to it in my head.

  After a few hundred yards, Chaos stopped, then sniffed harder, turning a bit to the west.

  "Do you smell that?" she asked.

  The wind shifted and Tempest and I caught the scent at the same time. Peppermint and cocoa. I gave a little howl, the sign we'd agreed on, and followed the trail. Within just a couple minutes, the guys joined us, their noses in the air. The scent grew stronger the farther we went, and I was sure we were almost on top of him when it just stopped. Gone. We traveled in circles, but couldn't find it to save our souls. Or rather, the Spirit of Christmas.

  Frustrated, I growled. As a witch, I was telepathic and so was Alex. He, Chaos, and I had been working on communication skills for when Alex and I were in wolf form. Again, not a skill that comes naturally to every werewolf despite common human myth.

  Where did he go? I asked.

  Alex put his nose in the air again. No clue. It just stops.

  "It's probably some kind of elf magic," Chaos said out loud.

  Colin nodded, then motioned toward the direction we'd just come from.

  "Colin says maybe we should spread out from here and work our way back the way we just came,” Tempest said. “Maybe the elf turned around here but veered off somewhere else."

  That was a much better explanation that thinking he just disappeared, because that way we still had a chance to catch him. I nodded back. Tell him that works for me. I hope he's right.

  Hoping didn't do me any good, because we didn't pick up any sort of side trail on the way back. When we made it to where I'd first picked it up, we followed it until it took a hard right on the beach back toward the resort. Our search had been for nothing.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  We shifted back and met on the beach. Destiny was waiting for us at the tiki, along with some guy I'd never met before but assumed was Blake. She made the introductions.

  "So where were you guys?" he asked. "What do you think of the resort? I mean, I know you didn't get off to a great start, but we'll get this solved and you can get back to your vacation."

  I glanced at Colin, who just shrugged. "We shifted to see if we could catch a trail on the beach," I said.

  Blake pressed his lips together. "I may as well just open that forest up to shifting.” He turned to Alex and me. “We ... suggest ... that guests shift down on the south beach. Mostly just to prevent accidental mooning, but the search was a great idea. Did you have any luck?" I noticed he didn't make much eye contact with Colin and wondered what was up there. I made a mental note to ask Destiny about it later.

  "Not really," Alex said. "We caught the trail, but it dead ended."

  A ruckus erupted from behind me, and I turned to see a tall woman wearing a turban practically yelling at Kris.

  "Three years in a row, my Susie's asked for a Barbie Dreamhouse, Corvette and Ken included. Do you bring it? No!" She crossed her arms and leaned over, narrowing her eyes at an uncomfortable-looking Kris. "It's because we're gorgons, isn't it? I'd heard you didn't like us because you don't like snakes."

  She reached for her turban and Destiny jerked me around so I was facing the tiki again.

  "What'd you do that for?" I asked, scowling and rubbing my arm where she'd dug her nails in.

  My cousin put her hand up near my eyes to block me from seeing what was going on. "If she whips that turban off and makes eye contact with you, we'll be hangin' tinsel and lights off you for every Christmas from here on out. It'll turn you to stone."

  Oh, well when she put it that way ...

  I kept my eyes averted because no matter how good the scene was, being a statue would suck.

  Carol's voice boomed. "You listen to me, Meredith Rowe, and you listen good. It has nothing to do with what species you are, and shame on you for even suggesting it does. It has everything to do with the fact that your kid's been a spoiled rotten little brat for three years running! Why, the last two years, she's been the first kid on the planet to end up on the naughty list. And she doesn't ever do anything to redeem herself, either."

  "You can turn back around," Chaos hissed. "You don't want to miss this."

  I did, and was surprised to see just how much sass Mrs. Claus had. She was standing facing he woman across the table, her hands on it so she could get right up in Meredith's face. Kris held a hand up. "Ladies, we can work something out."

  "No, Kris, we can't," Carol said, never taking her eyes off the woman in front of her. The gorgon's face was so red I was afraid she was gonna spontaneously combust, but Carol didn't back down. "If you pull that turban off, I swear to you, neither one of you will ever get another Christmas gift from us, and I'll curse
you so that any Christmas light you try to hang goes out as soon as you touch it. And your Christmas cookies will always burn."

  Ouch. That woman pulled out all the stops when she got a mood on. I liked it.

  Meredith opened and closed her mouth a few times, then turned and stomped away.

  Carol gave a high-pitched hmph and sat back down, arms crossed. We hustled over to her table.

  "Wow, Mrs. C," Destiny said, "You have some serious stones for backing down a gorgon like that."

  One side of her mouth tilted up in a smile. "Not really," she said. "We're immune to gorgon serpents. Otherwise, Kris would have been turned to stone long ago. Gorgon kids are every bit as excited to catch him in the act as all kids are, and he's gotten busted a few times over the years. There are some clever kids out there."

  Kris frowned. "Every single time I've ever been caught, it's been toward the end of the night. I get tired."

  Carol snorted. "You mean every single time you've been caught, it's been after you finished up with Ireland."

  I couldn't help asking even though it seemed like an inside thing. "Why Ireland?"

  She turned to me and smiled. "What do you leave for Santa on Christmas eve?"

  I shrugged. "Milk and cookies, and carrots for the reindeer. Why?"

  "Every country has their traditions," she said. "In Ireland, it happens to be mince pie and a bottle of Guinness, or it used to be. Now they've tamed it down and mostly skip the beer in lieu of something non-alcoholic, though some folks in the rural parts still hold to tradition. I had to switch his route so that Ireland was last because he cut it too close on the timing a few times."