She thought about the responsibility, the weight of Santa who would deliver all of the trees and presents personally to each family. He would be at the Festival, interacting with the children, posing for pictures, and giving each of them a small, velvet bag of chocolates with a candy cane attached to the outside. She remembered years of attending the Forest Festival as a little girl, always excited to see Santa after she passed the rows of decorated Christmas trees.
One year, she recognized her aunt’s neighbor as the one who played Santa, but it hadn’t lessened her enjoyment of the experience. She studied Troy. He’d been selfless through the whole last week, working in stride with her to get this entire thing off the ground enough to have approval to keep going.
She poked him in the abs, and smiled. “This isn’t exactly a bowl full of jelly, but I think you’d be perfect for the job.”
“Then I’ll do it,” he said.
“You don’t know what you’re signing up for,” she said.
“I’m helping you. That’s what’s important.”
Her breath caught, and she was unable to form the words she wanted to express her gratitude. Maybe things had been weird between them an hour ago, but now, there was none of that. He was just back to helping her, and she knew she needed the help. “Thank you, Troy. You’ve really been such a … good friend.”
“The Forest Festival is important. I’m here to help make it as good as I can.”
“That means a lot,” she said.
“So what do I need to know about being Santa?”
“First things first, we need to find you a Santa suit that fits as soon as possible.”
His eyes widened. “You mean an actual Santa suit?”
She nodded. “Last year’s suit went missing. I guess I didn’t think about it until now. Maybe if we reserve it now we can get it here in plenty of time. I bet we could find one online.”
“This would be the popular season,” he said.
She pulled out her phone, doing a few quick searches. “The first two websites are a bust. I bet I could find one though.”
“Maybe I’ll look in New York City when I’m there next.”
“Probably a good idea, then you’ll know what fits you. Looks like some of these online sites won’t ship for another ten weeks. That’s definitely longer than we have.”
“I’ll find a suit,” he said confidently. “So, besides the suit, what else do I have to do?”
“You basically get to do everything. You’d open up the entire weekend of the Festival, pose for pictures, regular Santa stuff, of course.”
“Of course.”
“Then my favorite part of the whole Festival is that after the silent auction is over, Santa delivers all of the gifts himself.”
Troy’s eyes widened. “Really?”
Hailey nodded. “I told you it was a big job. Smaller things that are bought can easily be handed to each person, but the trees and their accompanying gifts all get wrapped up by volunteers, and then Santa helps deliver everything, with the help of his elves, of course.”
“People will be in elf costumes for this?”
Hailey shrugged. “A few people will, especially if they already own their costumes, but mostly it will be people in elf hats. The delivery process can take anywhere from one to four days, just depending on how many donations we have and how far out they are. Of course, we can always make the deliveries, or have someone else dress up as Santa too, to help the process move along. I remember one year my aunt used five Santas to get all of the work done. It was pretty incredible.”
“This sounds doable,” he said.
“If you’re sure?”
“Count me in. I just need to go find a suit.”
Chapter 10
Troy dropped Hailey off at her aunt’s house and headed toward his hotel. They’d spent the afternoon walking around the town. They’d seen the events center, and while Hailey had asked for his opinion, he was sure that she’d already made up her mind. He wasn’t sure how large this Festival would be, but from the sound of it, it would be well-attended.
The events center looked like a big, red barn from the outside, but on the inside, everything was furnished and heated. The main room seemed to have plenty of space to hold enough trees. Several other smaller rooms branched off, giving enough space for storage. The second level had a walkway around the entire perimeter of the lower floor, allowing patrons to see the trees from a bird’s eye view.
He phoned his assistant, Cara, hoping she’d forgive him for calling on a Saturday evening.
“Good evening, Mr. Rasmussen,” she said. “How can I help you?”
“You’re on a date, aren’t you?” he asked. She rarely called him by his last name unless she was being social with friends. He felt bad for interrupting. There were a few muffled words and then static. Dropped call? “Cara, are you there?”
“I’m here, just moving out into the lobby. One moment.” Her voice came out a little clearer, though it was very quiet.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your evening. You know you can always let it go to voicemail,” he said, wishing he’d just sent her an email about the Santa suit instead of calling to tell her about it.
She laughed. “If I let it go to voicemail, how would I be able to get out of this awful evening? This date is not going well. Your timing was impeccable. Now what can I do for you? Please tell me it’s something urgent that I need to rush out and solve right now, because I really don’t want to finish this evening.”
“Is it really that bad?” Troy asked.
“I’m downplaying it right now, it’s worse. I need something urgent. Give me your hardest task first. I’m ready for it.”
“I need a Santa suit,” Troy said.
Cara laughed, then abruptly stopped. “Wait. You’re serious?”
“Serious.”
She sighed. “Well that just won’t do.”
“Why not?”
“First, it’s not urgent enough. Second, you’re probably calling because it’s something you need for your charity competition, and I can’t help with that.” She groaned.
Troy’s mind raced. “No, we can make this work. And it is urgent. Hailey has entrusted me to be the Santa of the whole Forest Festival.”
“Really?” Cara sounded astonished. “That’s a huge compliment to you. I remember that being one of the best parts of the whole event. Wow. She must really like you.”
“That’s the next problem I’m needing solved. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“Ooh, I want the details on that too. But back to your Santa suit, I just don’t think I can help.”
Troy needed Cara’s help. There had to be a way. “What if I wanted to purchase the Santa suit for me personally, instead of just renting it for the Forest Festival?”
“I might question your sanity.”
“Here me out. I’ve already given the $10,000 I can donate, and hopefully next week we’re going to earmark it for what they need. I don’t want to pull from my donation to rent a suit for me.”
“What if you are Santa at our company Christmas party this year? Is that something you’d be up for?”
Troy squirmed. “I suppose I could,” he said.
“That’s good because I don’t want to stretch the rules. But technically, if you already owned a suit, you could use it to help with your volunteering efforts without it being a problem.”
“So I’m basically buying the suit to be the Santa at our company Christmas party?” he asked.
“Exactly. I’ll make sure I can get it in time to use at the Forest Festival.”
“You’re a genius, Cara,” he said.
“Thank you for the compliment, but this hair-brained plan of lunacy is all yours.”
“You’ll help me find a Santa suit?”
“I’m sure I can make the arrangements for that. Now help me, and tell me that you need me to work on this tonight as soon as possible, so I can get out of the rest of my date.”
Troy obliged. �
��Drop everything you’re working on. I’d like you to work on this now so I can get the suit as soon as possible.”
Cara sighed loudly. “Thank you, Troy. I owe you one.”
“You can always use me as an excuse if your date is really going that bad. There’s always something urgent I need checked on.”
“You’re the best,” she said, her voice sounding brighter.
“Thanks. I better let you go and cancel your date.”
“Not so fast. You can’t insinuate that you like someone and then say that that’s a problem, and expect me to forget that detail, just because you hide it behind a Christmas outfit question.”
Troy ran a hand across his face. “I’m not sure there’s really anything to even say at this point. Hailey Waters is fun to work with, and I love spending time with her. The Forest Festival project wouldn’t be nearly as fun without her …”
“So far, I’m getting the idea of why you like her, and I’m not seeing where there’s a problem.”
“Her ex is rich.”
“How rich?”
“Millionaire status—maybe multi-millionaire. From the way he puffs it up, you’d think he owned everything he looked at.”
“New money, then?” she clarified.
“New enough, I suppose. But I don’t hold when people earn their money against them.”
“Fair enough. So, her ex didn’t have money before, but now he does, so now she’s interested in him?” she guessed.
“No. She’s definitely not interested in him. She looked panicked when she was talking to him. I kissed her because I had a mistletoe decoration in my hand. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but, she made comments afterward about wealth. She doesn’t like it. She works for billionaires, and so I don’t know what to do with the information. She doesn’t know who I am, and I think as long as that’s the case, things could be great between us.”
“Eventually you’d want her to know who you really are, more than just some random person who’s come to save the annual Christmas charity event.”
“Hence the problem. The moment she finds out, I’ll be in the same position as her ex.”
Cara blew out another breath. “I see. That is difficult. What did you say her name was again?”
“Hailey Waters. She owns an event business in the Seattle area.”
“I’ll see what I can find out, and let you know.”
“There’s nothing to find out. There’s definitely chemistry between us, but the moment she knows who I am—”
“Maybe she’ll see past the wealth. You don’t know if that’s the only reason why she doesn’t like her ex.”
“Fair point.”
“Looks like I have two urgent tasks. I better let my date know it’s going to be a long night of work ahead for me.”
Troy shook his head, wondering if she was really playing up how bad her evening was going just so he wouldn’t feel bad about interrupting it. “It’s urgent, but get to it when it makes sense to you. If you decide that you’d like to cancel on your date, you can always put in an order on the company card.”
She laughed. “You know I will. Thanks for calling, Troy.”
“Thanks for always helping me solve my problems.”
“That’s my job,” she said, and then hung up.
Chapter 11
Hailey’s mind blurred through the entire day. Troy had dropped her off an hour ago at her aunt’s house. He’d been sweet, saving her in front of her ex, and volunteering to be Santa. He’d been the perfect gentleman. And he’d promised he’d help with the Forest Festival preparation. The task was more than enjoyable with him helping.
Butterflies swarmed in her stomach as she remembered their mistletoe kiss from earlier. She shook her head. He’d barely brushed his lips across hers. It was hardly enough of a kiss to be swooning over.
She went through her aunt’s house, switching gears. She needed something to take her mind off of Troy. Thinking about him in any way besides a friend who was helping her out was pointless. The large Victorian home had been cleaned out of much of the excess furniture and sold in an estate sale back in June when she’d been here for the funeral. It was now sparsely furnished, almost ready for showings with a realtor. She bit her lip.
They’d saved the tradition of the Forest Festival, thanks to Troy again. Committing to such a big project when she lived on the opposite end of the country felt like lunacy, but there was a piece of her that couldn’t just leave the project to someone else, no. She’d see it through. But what to do about the house? Now would be a much better time to try and sell than in December, but it was nice to have a place that she could stay while she was working on the Forest Festival. She’d figure out what when to list it another day.
She willed herself to focus on something else, anything else. Nothing came. She got ready for bed, but the monotonous tasks of brushing her teeth and washing her face did nothing to help her focus. She still couldn’t think straight. She needed a plan—she was an expert when it came to planning, but as she curled up in bed, no inspiration came to her. Her thoughts still mulled around Troy.
When she tried to focus on the Forest Festival, the only thing that could come to mind was Troy. She pushed the pillows beneath her head, readjusting her position, hoping that would somehow help her focus on the event. She knew how to push past the distracting pieces in a situation so she could focus on the purpose and needs of the event. She’d built an incredibly successful business doing just that.
Maybe it was because she was too close to the … project. Maybe the legacy of this tradition was what was weighing on her, and so the mental discipline was something she’d have to really focus on. Perhaps that was why she was getting distracted, because this was so big and so personal. Thoughts of Troy persisted. She rationalized that that was natural considering he was working with her so closely.
She tried to think of the Forest Festival like she would any other big event, separated from the people—person—who was helping her. But as her mind drifted toward sleep the only thought that came through the swirls of information was how much she’d wished they’d kissed for real. And for longer.
* * *
Hailey woke up to her phone buzzing. It was not her alarm. She swiped at the screen, trying to send the call to voicemail, but gasped when she saw the caller on the phone. “Hi Troy,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as tired as she felt.
“Hailey, I’m sorry to wake you, I just received great news.”
She yawned. “It’s okay. I was getting up soon.” She pulled the phone away from her ear for a moment to look at the time. It was not even 6:00 AM. Mornings felt like she was still on Seattle time. She blinked, trying to focus as he spoke rapidly.
“I just secured us another sponsor,” he said.
“That’s great,” she said.
He gave her the figure and the details, but it all seemed to blur together. Once he’d finished telling her all about it so rapidly that her head felt like it was spinning he said, “I’m going to let you get back to sleep. I’m sorry again to wake you. I couldn’t wait to share the good news.”
“Thank you, Troy. It means a lot to me that you’re doing so much.” In the back of her brain she still wondered why he was helping. He had no connections to Red Oaks, other than a coworker who’d come to the Forest Festival—something like that. Her brain was too fuzzy to remember the details.
“I’m happy to help,” he said.
“Why do you want to help again?” she asked. Maybe in a few hours she’d have the ability to filter such questions, but right now curiosity took over.
There was a longer pause, and her eyes felt heavy as she waited for the answer. Finally he said, “Service merit badge, remember?”
“Oh, right. You must really want that badge, Boy Scout.”
“I do, and it was either this or knitting scarves for the homeless shelter. Trust me I tried, but they didn’t like the scarves I was making. The stitches were uneven.”
“Wow.” She stifled another yawn, not wanting to miss the banter, but feeling sleep wanting to push at her eyelids.
“I think this is more fun,” he said.
“We are all about fun here.” She rubbed her forehead. “Seriously though, why?”
“At first, I only wanted to help in the Festival, but now it’s more … I care about you, and this Festival and seeing that this special town has one more chance to feel the magic of the Festival makes it even more important.”
Her eyes flew open as butterflies filled her stomach, seeming to eat away at where heartache had been only the night before. She wished she could see his face right now, to read the sincerity in his eyes. He admitted he’d cared about her. “You do?”
“Of course I do.”
Hailey wasn’t quite sure what to say. Questions from yesterday and his acting weird seemed to fall into place. The awkwardness of a kiss that maybe could have been more on both sides, not just hers, if it had lasted longer came into her mental view.
Troy cleared his throat. “Hailey? Are you still there?”
She wanted to answer. Sleep and tiredness had all but fled from her, but she was tongue-tied. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out.
“I wish I could tell you everything about how I feel,” he said. “Sweet dreams, Hailey.”
The call ended, and giddiness ran through her. Troy’s last admission when he thought she’d fallen back asleep rang through her as she stared at the ceiling for the next hour before she got out of bed.
* * *
Hailey met Troy for breakfast at The Pancake Tower. She never ate out this much when she was at home in Seattle. Maybe it was time to do some grocery shopping, though she wasn’t sure if she wanted to stock up with food if she was going to list her aunt’s house soon. That was still a decision she needed to make. It was convenient to be there, but if the price was right, wouldn’t it be better to sell it now?
She and Troy chatted about the food, and the weather. Snow was forecasted for later in the week. They avoided the conversation they’d had over the phone this morning, and she was sure he hadn’t meant for her to actually hear the last sentence he’d said.
The Billionaire’s Christmas Miracle: The Billionaires’ Christmas Gifts Romance Page 9
