“No thank you, Nick. It’s something I need to do.”
Why did she look so stricken? Ben wanted to reach out to her, to pull her close and reassure her but this wasn’t the place or the time. They’d have to wait until after the show was over and they were home, but what could that be, a matter of a few hours?
“Nice to meet you all,” Nick said, and with a quick kiss for Carol and a wave to the children, he was swept up in to yet another wave of gift carrying elves all heading down the hallway.
Carol didn’t meet Ben’s eye or say a word as they wound through the seemingly never-ending corridor. Ben marveled at the sheer size of the cast as well as the size of the set. Once he got home he wanted to google this production company to see what he could learn, there had to be some serious clout behind a show this size. Obviously no expense had been spared. Even the air smelled like evergreens. Amazing.
They stopped outside a wooden door with a brass plate that read ‘Christmas Magic’. He did as she asked and waited while Carol slipped through the door to what he assumed was the box office.
“This is going to be some kind of show,” he said to his children.
“Daddy, what are you talking about?” Hillary demanded. “We’re at the North Pole.”
“Are we?” He might as well play along. “What do you think Patrick?”
His son didn’t miss a beat. “We’ve ridden in a sleigh, we’ve seen Santa, met the elves and got to see Santa’s workshop. Yeah, we’re so at the North Pole.”
With a sad smile, Carol rejoined them. “Thanks for waiting, we’re almost there.” She took ahold of both children’s hands and continued on the way. Ben followed, thinking that all the craziness aside, it felt so right to see Carol with his children. He knew she’d love them as her own. A new mother and a happy family, this was the perfect Christmas present for his children. For him too.
True to her word they arrived in front of a door marked ‘Departures’ a few moments later. He followed as Carol pushed the double doors open. The smell of livestock assailed his senses, immediately followed by a blast of air colder than he’d ever felt.
“Let’s get you into your jackets,” Carol said as she took them off the rack and handed them out.
Ben took his from her. “Thank you,” and then wishing he could bring a smile to her face, he teased her, “We must be VIP’s to have our jackets ready and waiting.”
“Daddy, what’s a VIP?” Patrick asked.
Carol, her eyes moist with tears, bent down to kiss Patrick’s cheek. “Very important person.” She gave Hillary a kiss as well and then hugged them both. “And you will always be very important to me.” She straightened and wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye before letting out a low whistle.
Within seconds a sleigh with eight animals harnessed to it pulled up in front of them. His children clapped and danced in place. He didn’t share their excitement. He stared at the animals and at the wizened elf actor who sat in the driver’s seat. “What are these animals, Carol? Caribou?”
“Reindeer, Daddy, aren’t you silly that you don’t know that. Come on.” Patrick ran to the sleigh and climbed in. His sister was only a step behind them.
“They’re safe, Ben.”
He wasn’t so sure. “Just sit down and don’t move. I’ll be right there.” The sight of his children in the sleigh triggered his memory, at least partially. “They took a ride already, didn’t they? This is where I fell?”
“Yes, they took a ride but you didn’t fall here. You were…never mind. It doesn’t matter anymore.” She wiped away another tear.
Watching her cry hurt his heart. He reached out to pull her close and hold her in his arms. It felt so right. He kissed the top of her head and, when she looked up, he leaned his forehead against hers for a long moment. “I love you.”
Her next words were not what he hoped to hear. “You’d better go. It’s time.” She pulled away from him and smiled through her tears.
“I don’t want to go.” He didn’t. Despite the fact he didn’t know exactly where he was, he wanted to be with her. “Let’s go home. There has to be some understudy who can play your part. You should be with us tonight.”
She shook her head. “I want to be with you but I need to be here.” She waved her hand in the direction of the sleigh. “Please, Ben, it’s time for you to go.”
Reluctantly he climbed in and pulled Patrick onto his lap. “We’ll see you right after the show.” He started to tell her to break a leg but stopped when she pulled a silver velvet pouch from her pocket and opened it. Why was she reaching into it? “Wait, Carol, what is that?”
She took a handful of green glitter and tossed it toward them. He watched as it swirled up and around the sleigh before it fell like snowflakes all over them.
Just as the sleigh started to pull away, he heard her softly answer his question. “It’s all a part of the show.”
Chapter Thirteen
“I like traveling by sleigh better than this stinky old airplane.”
“Eat your peanuts, Patrick.” Ben leaned back against the head rest and closed his eyes. They were three hours out from LAX and still hours away from landing in Maui. That wasn’t even counting the several hours they’d spent in flight just to reach Los Angeles. On top of that, Christmas Eve had been a sad state of affairs at their home, Christmas Day itself had been even worse. The person who first said that misery loved company had really known what they were talking about.
“Another thing I liked better about traveling by sleigh is the fresh air,” Patrick groused. “This plane is stuffy and the window won’t open.”
Ben counted to ten. Twice. He turned to his daughter, who sat in the middle seat. “Hillary, can you please play another game of tic tac toe with your brother?”
“I’d like to Daddy, but I’m too worried about the new puppy that we left at home,” Hillary said. “You remember the one, the stuffed puppy that isn’t real? The one that doesn’t play, the one I have to pretend to take care of?” She stared straight ahead, as if the back of the seat in front of her fascinated her. Her arms folded over her chest was an obvious signal that she had exactly zero interest in continuing their conversation.
“Hillary, you know that stuffed dog was a place holder until we get the chance to get a real dog.”
She spared him a sideways glance. “If you really believed in Santa Claus then he would have brought us a real dog.”
“I do believe in Santa Claus.” He did. He was crazy. Insane. Certifiable was the only word for it. He did believe in Santa, he did believe the North Pole existed, hell, he’d actually been there. But once the sleigh had dropped them off at home he’d had no idea how to reach Carol to tell her so.
He’d been heartbroken until he’d heard from his kids that Carol’s family vacationed in Maui every year right after Christmas. Then he’d taken time off of work, thrown a handful of summer clothes in a suitcase, and spent a fortune on last minute plane tickets. All on the slim hope that he could find Carol and convince her that he could make her happy.
Ben shifted in his seat and stuck his leg out into the aisle in a futile effort to get comfortable. He was miserable, but it wasn’t jet lag that was responsible for his misery. He missed Carol. He loved her. And he could only pray she felt the same way. A niggling voice in his head demanded to know why she’d sent them away from the North Pole if she cared about them? He could only hope it was because she didn’t think he believed. But he did believe. In Santa, in the North Pole, in the whole nine yards. Love did crazy things to a man’s mind. That much he would never doubt again.
He patted the jewelers box in his chest pocket again for reassurance. Hillary and Patrick thought they remembered the name of Santa’s condo development. That was all he had to go on once they landed. It wasn’t much information but it was a start. If need be, he’d comb the island until they found the Claus family because there wasn’t a chance he was ringing in the New Year without the woman he loved.
***
Carol pulled a yellow sun dress from the closet, wadded it into a ball and shoved it into her suitcase. She threw in a pair of sandals and topped it off with her swimsuit before zipping it up and dropping it by the door.
“Are you sure you have to go, sweetheart?”
“Oh, Mom, I don’t know.” Carol sank onto the bed and buried her face in her hands.
“Honey, don’t cry.” Her mother sat next to her and pulled Carol into a comforting hug. “Have a little faith.”
Carol pulled back and wiped the tears from her face. “How? Ben doesn’t believe in Santa, the North Pole, or Christmas. Not any of it.” She took a deep shuddering breath. “So there is no way we can make this work.”
“No way?”
Carol shook her head. “None. It would never work. We come from two different worlds and there is no middle ground.”
“You’re right.” Mrs. Claus stood and smoothed out the wrinkles on the bedspread. “Maybe it’s for the best. Granted, I haven’t yet met this young man but if he doesn’t have a big enough heart to-”
“Mother!” Carol frowned. “Ben is a kind and loving man.”
“I’m sure he is dear,” Mrs. Claus replied, her voice steady and matter of fact. “But the fact remains that he is a father to two young children and, from what you’ve told me, he did everything he could to ruin their Christmas.”
“That’s not fair,” Carol protested. “Ben is a wonderful father. He loves Hillary and Patrick. And he didn’t try to ruin their Christmas. Just the opposite actually, he was trying to protect them from being hurt or disappointed any more than they already have been.”
“So why did he struggle to believe that you were your father’s daughter? If he really cared about you then why didn’t he just instantly accept the whole situation?”
Carol fought against a rush of frustration and anger. “I am shocked you are being so cold hearted, Mother. Do you have any idea how much of a stretch it would be for any man to just automatically believe that Santa was real, that the North Pole existed, and that reindeer really fly? You are judging Ben way too harshly.”
“Yes, you are.”
Carol opened her mouth but quickly closed it. “What did you just say?”
Her mother smiled. “I agree with everything you just said. You’re right, it is unfair to blame the poor man because he needed time to adjust to the fact that not only is Santa real, but that he’d fallen in love with Santa’s daughter.”
Carol stared at her mother for a long moment before a slow smile spread across her face. “Oh, you’re good, Mom.”
“Thank you. I’ve had years of practice on your father.” She winked. “I only wanted to point out that Ben isn’t the only man who is slow to come around. Men aren’t encouraged to believe in things like Santa Claus and Christmas magic. Before they’re even teenagers, young men are expected to become pragmatic and tough minded. So, can’t you understand that he’d need time to process all of this?”
Her mother’s words gave Carol’s heart hope. It made so much sense. She’d been so rigid in her way of thinking that she hadn’t seen Ben’s side of things. But as quickly as her hopes rose, they were dashed again by another thought.
“But, Mom, I sprinkled forget-me dust on Ben and the children when they left the North Pole. I really poured it on thick too.” Carol felt her eyes fill with tears. “Ben and the kids won’t remember me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”
She eyed her mother, afraid to hope. “What do you mean?”
Mrs. Claus smiled. “Forget-me dust is magical and wonderful but it has a little drawback.”
“Drawback?”
“It doesn’t work on loved ones. And that means…,” Mrs. Claus let her voice trail off.
“That Ben hasn’t forgotten me.” Carol felt as if this loop hole was the most precious gift she’d ever received. “I mean, if he cares about me that is. So if I go to see him, and if he recognizes me, that means he loves me.”
Carol’s mother hugged her close. “That’s exactly right. So, now what are you going to do?”
“I’m going back to the mainland.”
“Let’s go see your father about booking a flight.” Carol’s mother opened the door and ushered her daughter out. “It would be so much easier to send for a sleigh, wouldn’t it?”
Carol shook her head. “Dad would never go for it. He’d call it reindeer abuse if we asked any time before February.”
***
The taxi swung into the Mele Kalikimaka Cove Condominium driveway and stopped in front of the main double doors. The driver alighted, took the bags from the trunk and opened the cab door. Hillary and Patrick jumped out, Ben only a step behind them. He handed the driver two twenties and couldn’t resist asking once more if this was the only development on Maui with the word Christmas in its name.
“Yes, sir,” the driver said, slipping the fare into the chest pocket of his brightly patterned Hawaiian shirt. “I’ve lived here all my life and don’t know of any other place that fits the bill. Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaiian for Merry Christmas so this loosely translates to Merry Christmas Cove.” His expression was puzzled. “You want me to wait for you just in case you’ve got the wrong place?”
“No, thank you,” Ben said. “This has to be it.” He glanced down at Hillary and Patrick’s tired but suddenly eager faces. If he couldn’t find Carol it would break their little hearts as much as his. Nothing like a little pressure.
“We’re in the right place, Daddy.” Hillary said, her voice sounding much more assured than he felt. “Just look at the building.”
Ben looked up. He’d never seen a set of condos that were so pristinely white. The windows were all arch shaped. The awning over the front door was red and all of the wooden flower planters were painted a bright green. “I think you might be right, Hillary.”
“What do we do now?” Patrick asked. “Knock on every door?”
Ben shook his head. That would take too long. He surveyed the building again. It looked as if almost all the units had their windows open to take advantage of the blissful island breeze.
The idea that he could be only minutes away from seeing Carol again helped him shed his last inhibition. He lifted one hand and cupped it around his mouth, all the better for his voice to carry. “Santa,” he yelled. “Santa Claus. I know you’re here. I need to see you.”
A few curtains wavered but he couldn’t tell if the breeze was moving them or if curious condo owners were peeking out to see who the shouting lunatic was. He waited until a middle aged couple in swim suits walked by before trying again. “Santa, send down your daughter.” He paused for only a moment. “I love her.”
***
“Carol, you’d better hurry down there before that young man of yours blows my cover.” Santa slipped his arm around his wife’s shoulder, their delighted smiles indicating their approval. “And for the love of Christmas, say yes to whatever he asks so we can get some quiet.”
With a grateful grin, Carol headed out the door and ran down the stairway as quickly as she could. It felt like her heart gave her feet wings. Ben was here. He remembered her. He loved her!
She pushed open the lobby door and looked around. Joy filled her heart when she saw three suitcases, two children, and the one man she’d love forever.
Their eyes met and for one perfect moment the rest of the world ceased to exist. Carol wasn’t sure if she went to Ben, or if he came to her, but suddenly he was holding her close and that was all she cared about.
“You came.” She pulled back to smile up at him.
“We did,” Ben said, standing back just far enough to allow Hillary and Patrick to hug her. “We have something to ask you.”
Carol’s eyes grew moist with tears of joy. “You’ve come all this way,” she said. “So ask me.”
She watched as Ben nodded to the children and then all three spoke in unison, “Will you marry us?”
Carol nodded, momentarily unable to speak. Te
ars of happiness slipped down her cheeks. She bent and hugged the children tightly, loving the feeling of their arms around her neck, their little faces pressed to hers. “Yes, I will.” She glanced up at Ben and saw her own joy reflected in his eyes. “Now, do you two want to run upstairs and tell my parents the good news?” At their eager nods she said, “They’re in Unit 200. Up the stairs and the first door on the right.”
As soon as she saw they were safely in the building she turned back to Ben. Her fiancé. The wonder of it filled her heart.
“Marry me?” he asked, his voice was thick with emotion. He pulled a black velvet box out of his pocket and opened it. “Please?”
Carol gasped. Nestled in the velvet was a gold band with a brilliant diamond flanked by an emerald on one side and a ruby on the other. “It’s beautiful,” she finally managed to say. “They’re Christmas colors.”
He nodded and slipped the ring out of the box and onto her finger. It was a perfect fit. She held her hand up and marveled at how perfect her world suddenly had become. She looked up at him. “Ben, but what about, you know, the whole holiday and my family thing?”
He smiled. “I’m fine with it, Carol. We’ll work it out. I mean, everyone has in-laws to get used to, right?”
She laughed.
He leaned down and kissed her. When at last she pulled back, he took her hands in his and held them up against his chest, over his heart. “I believe, Carol. In Christmas, in your father, in magic, in it all.”
“What happened?” She slipped her arms around his neck and looked up at him. “What made you change your mind?”
He cocked his head, pretending to think. “It could have been a couple of things. One, I met the most incredible woman in the world who stole my heart, or it could have been flying over rooftops in a sleigh pulled by reindeer. I think we can safely say that either would make a believer out of any man.”
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