Robyn

by Lucy McConnell

  “The reindeer?” He stumbled after her. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Yeah, I am. He’s a male I can always count on.” She threw the words at him like snowballs.

  “Robyn.” He bowed over as if she’d hit him right in the gut. Good. Because he’d shredded her heart. He deserved to ache for her like she would for him.

  Her mean thoughts weren’t very Kringle-like, but she didn’t even care. For once, she let her feelings overrule his need. Hot, angry tears threatened. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing them fall! She flipped around, her cute wrap spinning out like a billowing skirt, all dramatic-like. The vision of herself leaving was stunning. Let him remember this moment and wish he’d taken her in his arms and begged her to stay.

  “I’m supposed to protect you,” he called after her.

  Ha! He’d done a horrible job of that! She was emotionally bruised and battered. “I don’t need your protection.” She hurried away, needing space. The farther she got from him, the worse she felt. Every cell in her body said that Gabe was the one she was meant to find. Her soul cried out for her to run back to him, but her pride wouldn’t let her beg a man to love her.

  And she was grateful for that. She couldn’t change him or his heart any more than she could rewrite the Naughty and Nice List.

  Later that night, she curled up on the sofa in the family room at the North Pole, her sisters piled around her like a litter of puppies. There were large pots around the room to catch drips from the ceiling. The carpet had been rolled up and stashed against the wall to keep it from molding. There were slippery puddles in the hallway and a tarp over the rockers to protect the wood.

  She’d met up with her parents as they were saying goodbye to the last child in the park. Tears flowed the moment she’d made eye contact with her mom. They’d flown over the safe house on their way home and seen Gabe’s truck parked out front. The front porch light was on. Dad wanted to pop down the chimney and give him a good shaking, but Mom insisted they get Robyn home, where her sisters could cheer her up.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be cheerful again.” She sniffed.

  Ginger rubbed her arm. “He doesn’t know what he’s missing.”

  Robyn trembled. She’d started shaking after landing on the sleigh’s padded seat and hadn’t stopped. “I didn’t ever tell him who I was. Maybe if I had …” Her thoughts trailed off.

  “If you had, he would have thought you were a nutcase.” Stella handed her a cup of orange cocoa. “Liquid coping skills.” She lifted it to Robyn’s lips, encouraging her to take a sip.

  Robyn blew across the top before she tasted it. The orange flavor played with the dark cocoa. “It’s delicious.” The liquid quivered in the mug, and she grasped it with both hands. “You guys are so great—working so hard to help me feel better. You’ve put off your own last-minute Christmas preparations for me. I’m sorry I’m not getting better faster.” She swiped away an errant tear. On top of aching over Gabe, she now felt guilt for pulling the attention toward herself.

  Frost was behind her, brushing Robyn’s hair out with long, soothing strokes. “Don’t think one moment about work.”

  “It’s 17 days until Christmas Eve,” observed Lux.

  Stella, Frost, and Ginger glared at her in unison. If Robyn was in a better mood, the moment would have made her laugh.

  Lux lifted her rectangular glasses higher on her nose. “I’m not trying to be a downer here, but maybe if we talk about moving on, then it will help Robyn forget about that guy whose name I don’t want to say out loud. Being proactive is healthy, and a body in motion stays in motion.”

  “What does that have to do with Robyn getting over Gabe?” Stella poked Lux’s shoulder.

  “If she stalls here, in this breakup, then she loses momentum. She’s got to push forward.”

  Robyn sat up, making Ginger, who had been leaning on her, fall into the cushions. “She’s right. I can’t sit around. Children are counting on Christmas—on Santa. There’s so much more at stake than my silly heart.”

  Ginger patted her hair, making sure she hadn’t ruined her cute braid when she’d fallen into the couch. “Your heart isn’t silly to us.”

  “In the grand scheme of things, it’s tiny.” Robyn made an inch sign with her fingers.

  Lux shook her head. Stella gave a might frown.

  “You guys. I don’t have the luxury of wallowing in my broken heart. I’ve got to get back to finding a husband. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find a guy who’s even better than Gabe.” Her voice cracked, and she had to swallow three times to hold down the tears. She struggled to get off the couch. “I’m going back down to the show Monday morning and see who they have picked out for me.”

  Stella stood too. “I’m coming with you.”

  Robyn touched her arm. “Thank you, but I’m doing this alone. You’re already behind, and I don’t want one child to go without a toy because of me.” The thought made her skin feel heavy.

  Lux hopped up. “I’ll go. Quik can manage the conductor for a day without me—I think.” Her eyes glazed over like she was doing calculus in her head. A moment later, she perked back up. “Yeah, he should be okay for eight-point-three-seven hours.”

  “Thanks.” She squeezed Lux’s hand. “I sincerely misunderstood the difficulties of finding a husband. It’s good to have support.”

  “Of course.” Ginger stepped in and hugged her. “We’d do anything for you, Robyn.”

  She felt the sincerity of Ginger’s words sweep through the circle and knew that they would put themselves and Christmas in danger for her. She vowed never to let that happen. If life had taught her anything, it was that the members of her family were the only ones she could count on. Whoever she ended up marrying wouldn’t have to live up to that standard. She already had everything she needed in this room.

  Chapter 19

  Robyn

  Robyn hadn’t considered the issues that would pop up having Lux on-site as they filmed. She should have thought twice before accepting her offer, but she didn’t, and her sister had done a number on the sound system, the generators, and the portable lights. The crew absolutely loved her, and she was a star for the day. But she was so busy making anything and everything electrical run better that she didn’t hang out by Robyn all that much.

  So when Gabe arrived, spitting mad, she didn’t have a human shield to hide behind.

  “Robyn,” he ground out.

  “Gabe,” she answered flippantly.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “Where did you go? I’ve been trying to find you all weekend.”

  A cookie crumb of hope landed on her heart. Had he regretted his actions and wanted to reconcile? “You were?”

  “I didn’t know you were here until my boss called and told me.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I got chewed out for leaving you unprotected.”

  The hope crumb dissolved. He wasn’t upset because he wanted her back; he was mad because he’d gotten in trouble. Well, that was just too bad for him. “I went home with my parents, and I’ll be staying there from here on out. I won’t need your protection, so you can go on back to your Grinchy house and forget about me.”

  She turned to leave, but he stepped in front of her, blocking the path with his wonderfully shaped shoulders. Her breath sped up, and her body flushed with an awareness of him.

  “I don’t quit a job because it gets tough.”

  She jumped back, needing the distance to clear her mind. “I thought I was more to you than a job.”

  He opened his mouth and slammed it shut again.

  She forced her emotions down her throat and headed toward the producer. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say to him, but she needed to talk about something, anything that could take her mind of the way Gabe affected her.

  Jerry caught sight of her and motioned her to hurry. “Good, just the woman I wanted to see. Are you ready to meet your next husband candidate?” He rubbed his palms together. Whoever he had picked out
today brought him a lot of hope.

  She took hold of it like a lifeline. “Yes!” she said much too loudly. They were going to try the date set up again, this time at a Mexican restaurant with bright-colored table runners, poinsettias on every flat surface, and sequined sombreros on the walls.

  She’d been briefed by Gary that she wasn’t supposed to eat any of the food—it had been prepared by a specialist to look good on camera and wasn’t edible. Which was so strange to her. Food could look and taste wonderful—why would anyone have to add paper towels under the salad to make it look good? She was, however, supposed to move it around on her plates and place bites on her fork.

  Jerry eyed her a moment, probably wondering if she was stable. News of her disappearing act must have spread through the crew, because there was a serious case of Don’t Disturb Robyn going around. She’d been treated with kid gloves all morning. “If you’ll take a seat at the table, Brad will stand here behind you and introduce your date on camera.”

  Brad had already filmed the intro, with a short interview of her and the mystery man separately. They hadn’t done that before. Each week, the format of the show changed slightly. The viewers ate it up—feeling as though they were on the journey with Robyn. The changes reminded them of their own dating experience; no two evenings out were ever the same.

  Candy, the makeup specialist, ran in and dabbed at Robyn’s face with a soft brush. She did that between each take. By the time they were done filming the interview, Robyn had a quarter inch of powder on her forehead. In the episodes she’d seen, the makeup worked and she looked flawless, so she wasn’t worried. Candy knew what she was doing.

  The cue was given for Brad to start. He smiled like a used car salesman and jumped right in. “So far, Robyn, you’ve met men who were not honest, those who were already in love with someone else and in denial, and a man who didn’t share your goals and dreams. We wanted to try something new tonight.”

  “All right.” She smiled as best she could. The muscles in her cheeks felt rusty and uncooperative. She added the man who decided he didn’t want her to that list.

  Lux waved at her from behind camera two. She’d put aside her compulsive need to rewire, reprogram, and rework the set to support Robyn during filming.

  Brian continued, “We wanted to give an old love a second chance.”

  Robyn cocked her head, trying to figure out where this was going. An old love? She didn’t have an old love—except Elmer. But she wouldn’t call what they’d had love. It was something, but it wasn’t love.

  “Robyn, this is your second chance with Elmer Claw.” Brad swept his arm to the side.

  Stunned at hearing Elmer’s name spoken by the television host, she followed his gesture to the side door, where Elmer appeared, wearing a sheepish grin.

  She half stood, wondering what the protocol was for greeting a man on national television who dumped you three years ago. “I. I.” Words flew out of her head like startled turtledoves. She half expected feathers to land at her feet.

  What Bad List karma was this? Bringing both men who’d decided they didn’t want her into the same room?

  “Robyn.” Elmer was suddenly at her side, giving her an awkward hug that neither of them seemed to know what to do with. Her body was still halfway in the chair and under the table. She twisted but couldn’t reach around him. As soon as he stepped back, her eyes darted to Gabe. He stared straight ahead, his face unreadable.

  Her heart cried out to him, Notice me! If he loved her at all, then he’d hate another man’s arms around her. Yet he didn’t move so much as a muscle.

  “Sit. Sit,” directed Brad.

  Robyn did as she was told, landing hard in her seat. The jolt made her feel clumsy, and she tried to pull herself together. Elmer sat next to her, slightly turned toward her so the cameras could see them both and they could still talk. He was a natural in front of the camera—which annoyed her.

  “You look amazing, Robyn.” Elmer picked up her limp hand and pressed a kiss to the back. His need to appear charming came through loud and clear. She’d felt it many times before, thought it adorable that he tried so hard to impress others. She wasn’t so sure it was cute anymore.

  “Th-thank you.” She clamped her lips shut; they were as clumsy as her rear end had been a moment before.

  “Robyn, what’s going through your head right now?” asked Brad as he took a seat on the other side of her.

  “I’m speechless, really.” Her brain kicked into gear, and she raced through the possibilities of how this had come about. How on earth had they gotten Elmer’s name? An image of the dating profile Stella filled out for her flashed in her head. She mentally shook her fists at her sister.

  Brad laughed easily.

  “Cut!” called a loud voice. Chelsea stepped forward. “Can we do that again? Robyn, I loved the surprise, but I’d like to capture your natural grace this time. Less surprise, more of a welcome? Can you do that?”

  She glanced at Gabe again. He was a statue. Her resolve to be graceful doubled. “Yes, I believe I can.”

  “That’s a girl.” Elmer stood up and tugged on the ends of his black suit. He looked like a mortician.

  “Give us a few minutes to reset at one.” Chelsea headed back to her seat. Brad stood up, and Candy rushed in to dab at him.

  Lux approached, her phone in her hand. “Stella’s on the line.”

  “I see your sisters are still within arm’s reach.” Elmer nodded to Lux.

  Robyn stared at him. Had that been one of the reasons he’d broken up with her? Because she was close to her sisters? He cocked his head toward the phone.

  Robyn rounded on Lux. “Did you do this?” she demanded quietly so as not to make a scene. The last thing she needed was the crew of Thirty-Minute Match to give up on finding her a husband. So far, she’d ruined every one of their efforts—unintentionally, of course.

  “No way!” Stella roared through the phone. “Elmer Bexley Claw, I despise you.”

  “Stella!” Robyn yanked the phone out of Lux’s hands and hit the button to take it off of speakerphone. “Talk nice.”

  “I’m not feeling Nice List right now. If I was there—”

  “Well, you’re not,” Robyn said quickly. “Focus on the toys. I got this.”

  Lux leaned over the phone. “Me too!” She flipped on Elmer and poked him in the chest. “How dare you break up with Robyn. She’s the best thing that ever happened to you.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” He held his hands up. “I’ve spent the last three years trying to find her. When I saw the show, I called in hoping they would let me talk to her.”

  Lux dropped her arm and screwed up her lips. “You did?”

  “Yes.” He looked past Lux to Robyn, his muddy brown eyes pleading. “I’ve missed you so much.”

  Gabe grunted. Robyn thrilled with victory. That’s right, big guy, this man has pined over me for years. He realized what he lost. What’s your problem?

  She squared her shoulders. “I think we can try this out today. I’m game if you are.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled softly, remembering how much he’d liked it when she’d batted her lashes.

  The whole room seemed to let out a breath of relief. Glancing around, she saw the lights on above the cameras. Their whole exchange had been caught on film.

  “We’re trending!” called Gary.

  Robyn’s heart froze. They couldn’t expose the whole Kringle family on national television! And Stella’s comment wasn’t very Santa-like. If the world knew Santa’s family was in chaos, that Christmas hung by a thread—things could go South Pole quickly all over the world. Christmas Magic was about more than the toys and the candy. It was about hope and peace and goodwill toward men and women and children. A surge of it filled the earth on Christmas Eve, and it was enough to last the whole year long. Without even knowing it, people drew upon the holidays for strength. They got along better because they knew they’d be together at Christmas. “What
’s trending?” she asked through gritted teeth.

  Chelsea shrugged. “We put up a teaser from your interviews.”

  Okay, that wasn’t so bad. At least they weren’t streaming live. Good globs of gumdrops—she needed to pay better attention to what was going on around her and keep her emotions under control.

  “Places!” someone called out. Robyn couldn’t see much of the crew past the lights shining in her eyes. Strangely, Gabe was always within sight. She wished he’d show some sort of feelings—that she could get a read on him, or even a flash of a need. But he was a stone wall.

  She shoved the bone-deep aching for him aside and steeled herself to welcome Elmer with style.

  Chapter 20

  Gabe

  Gabe did his best to keep his growling to a minimum. Thankfully, no one on the crew paid that much attention to security. They’d all been taught to leave the men in black alone and let them work—that distracting the security guard was a bad idea for everyone involved. Which was fine with him. The fewer people he had to pretend to be happy for, the better.

  While Robyn’s ex was schmoozing away on camera, Gabe sidled up to her sister. A mint chocolate scent filled his nose and soothed him; at the same time, it woke up his brain. It was like a drug in smell form. Not at all the same as Robyn’s scent of deep vanilla that drew him in and sent come-hither-ness coursing through his veins.

  Talking with Robyn earlier hadn’t gone well. He’d been so worried when she didn’t come home that night. Nick had found a letter on the fireplace mantel from Stella explaining that they were going home, but he had no idea where home was or how to protect her there.

  Not to mention he missed her.

  He couldn’t think about that right now. She was in danger, and he had to talk to someone who could talk rationally about her safety.