by Liz Schulte
“Dinner’s ready,” Candy said.
At the table, the three kids and Mickey were already sitting. I joined them at the head of the table and Candy sat on the other end. We ate, and Mickey entertained the kids with stories. A quarter after seven, there was a knock on the door: my Christmas tree was being delivered. Everyone oohed and awed as the man brought it in.
“Santa can’t find us if we don’t have a tree, now can he?” I asked.
We made popcorn and threaded it onto a string. The kids and Mickey made decorations out of paper. By 8:00 p.m. the tree was decorated and festive. Candy and Mickey left, and I tucked the kids into bed, letting Rupert take my room.
Bea hugged me tight. “Mommy will be back tomorrow, won’t she?”
“I don’t know, princess,” I told her. “I hope so.”
She nodded and closed her eyes. I tucked Otis in beside her and ruffled his hair. “What did you ask Santa for?”
“Books,” he said. “Books of my very own.”
I flipped off the light and closed the door. I stuck my head into my room to check on Rupert. He wasn’t in bed at all. He was pacing the room. “What’s eating you, kid?”
He looked over at me. “You aren’t going to stay, are you?”
“What makes you say that?”
“I heard you talking to Candy. You don’t want us either.” His lips were pursed, but his eyes were watery.
“You got the wrong end of the stick. I want nothing more than to keep the three of you, but you aren’t mine to keep.”
He looked down, chewing on his thumb nail. “We could be.” He glanced back up at me. “We would be really good and no trouble at all. I swear.”
“You like it here?” I asked him.
He nodded.
“Then you will always have a home here, no matter what happens in your life.”
Rupert threw his arms around me and hugged me tight. “Good night, kid,” I said, but the words were heavy with goodbye.
I closed the door, my heart twisting. What I was doing was definitely the best for everyone involved, but I hated the idea of hurting them more. I sat the presents under the tree and went over all the details of my plan one last time.
The sun was just peaking over the horizon, and I checked the mirror one more time to make sure I had it right.
“Dad?” Rupert’s voice came from behind me. I turned around just as he flung himself at me. I picked him up and held him tight. “But you’re—”
I shook my head. “I faked my death. My work was getting to dangerous, so I had to get out. I never dreamed your mom would send you away. I came back as soon as Baker let me know.”
Rupert’s smile was so big it nearly split his face in half. He glanced around the room. “Where is Baker?”
“He had to go away on business, but he sends his love and tells me we can stay here as long as we want. Do you want to stay, son?”
Rupert wiped a tear and nodded vigorously. One by one, the others came out to similar scenes. Later Candy showed up and was given the same story, but I invited her to stay. She eyed me several times during the day, making me think maybe she had caught on, but she never did, not for the next thirty years of her life.
****
“You were married?” Olivia said, her jaw dropping open.
I shook my head. “Bobby Connelly was married. Baker McGovern left.”
She shook her head still clearly bewildered. “But it was you.”
“Of course. Bobby died. Keep up, angel.”
“I didn’t know you had a family.” Her eyes glistened at me.
“Bobby had the family. I just had the illusion, but regardless it made me love Christmas in a way I hadn’t for a very long time.”
“How did you get back in this life? You know, like why did you join up with Holden?”
I smiled though my throat felt a little tight. “Well, when the time came for Bobby Connelly to die again, Baker McGovern came back. And this,” I gestured vaguely, “was all I’ve ever been good at.”
She picked out another ornament from the box. “Where are they now? Your kids?”
“You have to let go of the past identities. Can’t hang on to them forever.”
“But you are Baker McGovern for a second time?”
I flung some tinsel on the tree. “Some are harder to let go than others.”
She nodded. “Especially when letting go means losing your family.”
Of course the guardian would understand. They tried to make Olivia let go of her family, but she clung to it, and now we were here trimming a Christmas tree. It was funny how things worked out. “You hit the nail on the head.”
She was still gnawing on something—she just had that look in her eye like she was solving a puzzle as she hung the last ornament on the tree. “Exactly how many identities have you had?”
I kissed her on top of the head. Holden was one lucky devil to have her. “More than my share.” When I thought she might say something else, I cut her off. “Merry Christmas, angel.”
Many authors claim to have known their calling from a young age. Liz Schulte, however, didn’t always want to be an author. In fact, she had no clue. Liz wanted to be a veterinarian, then she wanted to be a lawyer, then she wanted to be a criminal profiler. In a valiant effort to keep from becoming Walter Mitty, Liz put pen to paper and began writing her first novel. It was at that moment she realized this is what she was meant to do. As a scribe she could be all of those things and so much more.
When Liz isn’t writing or on social networks she is inflicting movie quotes and trivia on people, reading, traveling, and hanging out with friends and family. Liz is a Midwest girl through and through, though she would be perfectly happy never having to shovel her driveway again. She has a love for all things spooky, supernatural, and snarky. Her favorite authors range from Edgar Allen Poe to Joseph Heller to Jane Austen to Jim Butcher and everything in between.
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BOOKS BY LIZ SCHULTE
Fantasy
Secrets (Guardian Series Book 1)
Choices (Guardian Series Book 2)
Consequences (Guardian Series Book 3)
Easy Bake Coven (Easy Bake Coven Series Book 1)
Hungry, Hungry, Hoodoo (Easy Bake Coven Series Book 2)
Pickup Styx (Easy Bake Coven Series Book 3)
Tiddly Jinx (Easy Bake Coven Book 4) – Coming February 2014
Ember (The Jinn Trilogy) – Coming December 2013
Mysteries
Dark Corners (Ella Reynolds Series Book 1)
Dark Passing (Ella Reynolds Series Book 2)
Dark Obsession (Ella Reynolds Series Book 3 Coming 2014)
The Ninth Floor
Dead Inside (Coming 2014)
Anthologies
Cupid Painted Blind (Sweet Little Lies – a Femi short story)
Once Upon a Midnight Dreary (The Visitor)
Eternal Summer (Dark Remnants – An Ella Reynolds Short Story)
