Christmas Magic

by Lucy McConnell

  A few hands went up. Kids bounced on their toes.

  “Right. In the spirit of Jack Frost and his magical pranks, I’m going to cut this snowman right in half.”

  “Noooo!” yelled a small girl. Her big eyes were full of horror.

  “Hmmm.” He tapped his lips. “What if I promise to put it back together when I’m done—by Christmas magic?” He set off a smoking snap that crackled and fizzed all around him.

  The crowd was silent. He hadn’t really expected an answer. Even the girl seemed curious instead of fearful.

  As he circled the snowman, more to show that there weren’t any wires aiding him in his illusion, he pictured Harmony inside, getting ready for him to push the top two snowballs out of place with his invisible force field. He picked up a cookie sheet that was wide enough to fit between the two pieces, waved it in the air, smacked it to show it was solid, and then carefully positioned it to slide between the two bottom pieces. With a smile for the crowd and a pause to build suspense, he shoved the cookie sheet in place. Several gasps rose from the group.

  He wiggled his fingers, stretched out his arms, planted his feet and said, “Count down with me. Three. Two. One!” Hopefully, Harmony could hear the crowd. She’d been unable to hear just him counting in the apartment, and there was a lot more background noise here. He grunted, and the top two snowballs began to slide away from him. He kept pushing the air like a mime, working the crowd with his exaggeration.

  When the two balls were out of place, levitating to the side of the biggest snowball, he threw his hands in the air and took a bow. Applause surrounded them. Harmony had done amazing, even pausing on the right beats. They were both counting from the crowd yelling “one” so that when he pulled his arms back to mime “getting a better grip,” she stopped moving. Frosty had been cut in half. He walked to the other side and waved his hands under the suspended pieces. Then he went around and waved them over the bottom piece to show that there was nothing but magic holding them up.

  “All right. Let’s put this snowman back together!” He pulled and pulled in the air, but nothing moved. He wiggled his fingers. “I think I’m a little low on Christmas spirit. Does anyone have some they can share?”

  The little girl raised her hand. “Me! Me!”

  He pointed his finger around the semicircle and then landed on her. “Come on up.”

  She bounded forward and stood in front of him.

  He turned her around. “What’s your name?”

  “Kenni.”

  “Well, Kenni, do you think you have enough Christmas magic in you to put my snowman back together?”

  She lifted her shoulders and made a face.

  “Here’s what I need you to do,” Breck said, adding drama to his tone. “I need you to close your eyes real tight.” She squeezed them so hard, her whole face got in on the action. “And now I need you to think of Santa Claus and flying reindeer and elves and mistletoe.”

  Mistletoe? He wouldn’t mind getting caught under the mistletoe with a certain magician’s assistant.

  “Okay. I got it.” Kenni’s squeaky excited voice brought him back to the illusion.

  “Okay, count to three with me, really loud, and we’re going to pull together. Ready?”

  She nodded so big, the pom-pom on her head bounced back and forth. They counted, and then they pulled together. He turned, as if pulling a rope over his shoulder, and leaned into it. Kenni used the hand-over-hand method, and the snowman slid back into place. When they were done, he gave Kenni a high five.

  He stared at his palm. “Kenni! I can feel that Christmas magic in my hand. You’re just full of it today.”

  She giggled.

  He looked at the snowman. “In fact, there’s so much that I think I can do this.” He snapped his fingers, and the head slid to the side in one second. He snapped again, and the hat lifted several inches in the air. He had to keep the count going in his head. This part of the act was choreographed precisely.

  The crowd clapped. He made his fingers into the inch sign and snapped his finger and thumb together, and the hat landed in place. He flicked his wrist, and the head went back on the body. “Thanks so much, Kenni!” He patted her on the back as the crowd clapped like crazy. “Thank you!” He did his normal end-of-routine plug for his channel and then bowed once more.

  Several children approached, their moms wanting pictures with him and Frosty. He managed to work it so his sign was in the frame too. He caught some people snapping pics of it. Hopefully, they’d look him up.

  He kept thinking about Harmony inside the snowman. She couldn’t be that warm—all she’d worn was a pair of leggings and a long-sleeved shirt. He’d given her a hand warmer to keep in there, but it was 35 degrees today. She had to be freezing. He needed to get in there and warm her up.

  It took ten minutes for the crowd to disperse before he could rehang the curtains. Once he was safely inside and sure no one would run over to peek, he knocked twice on the base and released the latch to let her out.

  She unfolded from the bottom, a huge grin on her beautiful face. “How’d it go?”

  Her ears and nose were red with cold, and her first question was about the show. This woman was more than he could have ever hoped for in an assistant. In fact, she was more than he’d ever thought he’d find in a woman. “Perfect. You did amazing.”

  “Eee!” She threw her arms around his neck. His pulse picked up speed, and the world shrank to the two of them inside the red velvet curtains. “I knew you could do it.”

  Her confidence set him over the edge. He couldn’t hold back the dire need to kiss her any longer. He framed her face with his hands and went for it.

  It wasn’t until his warm lips felt her cold ones that he realized what he’d done. By then his eyes were closed and his hands were on her lower back, pulling her body flush with his.

  For a moment, time stood still. Sound died away. Their breath mingled in the space around them. And then she tilted her head and her lips began to move against his, and he was lost in the pure magic that flowed through his veins. It was all sorts of smoke and sparkles and trapdoors and thrills.

  She suddenly pulled back, her eyes full of questions and doubts. “I’m so sorry.”

  “What for?”

  She peeled herself off of him, leaving behind a body print he’d feel for the rest of his life. “I shouldn’t lead you on. I’m leaving town. I—it’s unfair to you to allow you to think that I can give something I’m not able to give.” Her fingers went to her lips, and he wondered if they tingled like his. Her words said one thing, but her kiss had said something completely different. Her kiss told him to hold tight, to pour himself into her and she would give right back and more. She was absolutely amazing, and she was telling him to let her go.

  He nodded. “I understand.” He puffed out a breath of air, obscuring the vision of her for just a moment—enough time that he managed to pull himself together. Now that was the true magic trick of the day, because kissing Harmony had unraveled his very heart.

  Chapter Ten

  December 17

  Harmony

  The next evening, Harmony found herself in Breck’s apartment for practice once again. She had looked forward to it all day. Ambia, her boss, had even mentioned that her aura was beginning to clear. Strangely enough, she could feel the dark cloud evaporating from her life. The more time she spent with Breck, the lighter she felt.

  “It’s so beautiful.” Harmony traced the sequined bodice, feeling the tiny bumps and beautiful details. “Where did you get this?”

  “A thrift shop.” Breck’s eyes twinkled like Old Saint Nick’s before he dashed up the chimney and out of sight with a merry Ho Ho Ho. “Watch this.” He lifted the voluminous skirt and clicked something together, and the dress was transformed into a snowman.

  “How?” she demanded. Happiness bubbled inside of her. She was beginning to get lost in this magical world of Breck’s where cards appeared out of thin air and dresses became snowma
n costumes. “Looking at it now, you’d never guess there was a gown inside of it.”

  “That’s the whole point. And our next trick.”

  “I get to wear this!” She clapped her hands and squealed. “I’ll feel just like a winter princess.”

  “You are a princess.” He smiled so genuinely that it took her breath away.

  In the silent lift of his cheeks and the stretching of his lips, he said so many words—phrases she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear, but her heart grabbed on to them like a woman thirsty for nourishment. He truly saw her as beautiful, worthy, strong, and regal—all the things she’d wished her ex had been able to see when they were married, and the very things she had a hard time seeing in herself lately. They were all right there in Breck’s smile.

  “Can I try it on?”

  He nodded and began unfastening the back.

  She stripped down to a tank top and leggings. “You know, the dress code for this job is pretty lax,” she teased as she folded her sweater and set it aside. She glanced over to find him studiously working on the zipper. She went to help him and he jerked his hands away, hurrying to the counter, where he picked up a deck of cards and began shuffling.

  She paused. He’d said he understood why she couldn’t kiss him, shouldn’t give in to the attraction pulsing between them. And he respected those boundaries—to the point that basic interactions were almost painful.

  She managed to lower the zipper and step in, but there was no way she’d be able to zip it back up. Her elbows didn’t bend that way, no matter how much she contorted. “Um … a little help?”

  His head came up and his neck flushed red. He walked over, slowly, his eyes on the zipper. “I’m not sure. I mean, how …?”

  She flapped her arms once. “You’re going to have to touch me.”

  “Okay, but—” He was strained and unsure and completely adorable. Where Sam had been suave and swept her off her feet, Breck was kind and thoughtful and careful about her feelings and her needs and just … her. Which succeeded in melting her knees.

  She twisted and grabbed both of his hands between her own. His skin was warm, and she had to fight the urge to press his palms to her cheeks like he’d done just before kissing her. “Don’t worry. We can do this. One kiss doesn’t mean you have to walk on eggshells around me.”

  He breathed out. “You sure?”

  “I’m sure.” She turned back around, presenting him with the stiff zipper. He made short work of it. Then, to her delight, he began arranging the dress and checking the wires that hung down the sides. It was the wires that gave the bell skirt its shape. The hem of the underskirt was already gathered together, forming a ball. “So, I don’t think the thrift store near me carries magic props like this. Where did you really get it?”

  He kept his hands busy but cocked his head as he answered. “I really did get it at a thrift shop. But I may have altered it.” His grin turned mischievous.

  “What a brain you have. I couldn’t come up with this stuff if my life depended on it.” She wanted to sway in the dress, to feel the fabric brush against her legs, to twirl and watch it puff out. But she held still so he could work. “How’s the last video doing?”

  “Not as great as the card one. I realized that even though you were on film the whole time, no one saw your face. As cute as my little helper was, she just isn’t getting the clicks you did.” He stood, doing a last check and tug. “That’s why I thought up the ‘melting snowman into princess’ illusion. I have a story to go with it too; we’ll have to act it out.”

  She beamed. “I can’t wait to see the crowd when you pull this one off.”

  He laughed, brushing her hair over her shoulder. “I have the easy part.”

  Even though she’d given him permission to be close, she wasn’t ready for the way his nearness made her tremble. “I guess that means I’m the one doing all the work—typical.” She gave him a playful shove, creating some much-needed distance between them.

  He smiled but stayed away, retrieving the deck of Christmas playing cards. “What do you mean?” He fanned them out and lifted them her direction, she picked a card without him having to ask. Six of hearts. Why was it always hearts with this guy? During their practice sessions, he’d do tricks as if it were second nature. She’d pick a card, put it back in the deck, and he’d shuffle and arrange in different ways and always come out with her card. Not once during the hours and hours they’d spent together had she picked a spade or a diamond.

  “I was just kidding—it was a slam against my ex, meaning I was the one doing all the work in the relationship while he was the one working on seducing our real estate agent.”

  He shuffled the deck and cut it for her to place the card inside. “Ouch!”

  “I know.” She grew quiet as she watched him set out five sets of cards, each one laid out like a fan. He started shuffling the cards let tin his hand again as she continued talking. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m the type of girl men can’t be faithful to. Maybe I’m too boring to be a wife.”

  Cards flew in every direction as he lost control of the deck. His mouth hung open. “Do you really think that?”

  She’d seen him do a show, and he was quite convincing when he hammed it up, but this wasn’t like that. His confusion was real, his disbelief believable.

  “Yeah. I mean, not all the time, but I wonder about it. I’m not that interesting.” She lifted a shoulder as if it were no big deal—even though it was. Even though she’d cried many times over the idea that no one would want her. “I mean, I could have tried harder to be more interesting for my ex, ya know? Dressed sexier, had highlights put in my hair, spent more time at the gym, joined a kayaking club. Something!” Her voice had gone up several octaves, and she clamped her hand over her mouth briefly. Her crazy was starting to show through. Her grandma would tell her to put on another coat of lipstick, lift her chin, and stuff those thoughts into her purse, because a lady doesn’t let her crazy show in public. And she certainly doesn’t let her man see her instabilities if she expects to keep him.

  Breck’s not my man, she reminded herself. She wasn’t out to impress him or lead him to the altar. Therefore, she didn’t need to curb her not completely rational thoughts or dress to impress him. Heck, she was in a tank top and faded leggings with Rudolph faces splattered across them. If she was trying to grab his attention and hang on to it, she was doing a horrible job.

  Except … He was listening to her, really listening—using his eyes and everything. One of her behavior class professors in college had said you could tell when people are listening to you because they used their eyes.

  She moistened her lips, her thoughts jumping back to where she’d left the conversation train, her voice thoughtful instead of high-pitched. Just knowing he heard her made it easier to express her deepest fears. “Are all guys into extreme sporting women who can rock climb and skydive? Is this a requirement for a healthy relationship?” Because Sam had made her feel like it was. And when she didn’t accept his invitation to throw herself out of an airplane with him, he’d asked someone else to go. “Do I have to change who I am to be loved?”

  Breck reached for a card in one of the fanned piles. The others were all over the place, but he had his eye on that one in particular. “You’re perfect just the way you are, Harmony. If he couldn’t see that, then he was—is—a fool.” He flipped over the card, revealing the joker.

  She stared at it for a moment. How did he know where that card was? It wasn’t the card she’d picked. That wasn’t the trick, and yet it fit into their conversation perfectly.

  As if reading her bewildered face, Breck reached for the card on the farthest fan, left side. He picked it up, holding it in front of him so she couldn’t see what card he’d selected. “And just because I know where the cards are doesn’t mean the deck is boring.” He set the card in front of her. It was the six of hearts. Her card.

  “You really are magical.” She breathed the words. How else could she explain t
he way her heart was mending, stitching itself back together at his words—as if he’d cast a spell?

  He smiled softly. “It’s Christmas. There’s magic in the air.”

  She grinned, leaning over the table, needing and wanting to be inside the circle of his arms once again. Why had she ever told him she couldn’t kiss him again? The answer didn’t seem all that important anymore.

  He brushed his fingers down her cheek and across her jaw, drawing out her desire bit by bit until she was bursting with it. Their lips touched once, twice, and the third time they didn’t separate. He tasted of gingersnaps and hot chocolate and safety and excitement and magical Christmas memories waiting be unwrapped.

  She folded her arms behind his neck, never wanting to let go. He pulled her up with him, and then was on her side of the table, his body flush and strong. They finally pulled apart, her lips wonderfully swollen. Being brave, she locked eyes with him, bracing herself for rejection or distance or even a cool disinterest. What she found was a blazing fire of desire burning just for her. She couldn’t help it; she threw herself at him, knocking him into the chair and falling into his lap, where she captured his face and kissed him again and again—until her energy was spent and she laid her head against his chest.

  He ran his hand down her hair and hugged her to his chest. “You,” he rasped, “are anything but boring.”

  She laughed, pure joy coursing through her. “You think?”

  He nuzzled her neck, making her giggle. “I know.”

  She glowed so much she could light up the tree in the town square all by herself. Her phone rang.

  “Do you need to get that?”

  She stuck out her lower lip. “I probably should. Only, like, seven people have my number.” Her old phone was on Sam’s account, and he’d shut it down before he left for Barbados. Sam got most of their friends in the divorce, but she always felt like she’d gotten the cream of the crop.