McDonald_NoELFngWay_GEN_Dec2015 (3 page)

He laughed when Nicky smacked his forehead dramatically.

“You said we weren’t supposed to break our balls. I’m so confused.”

His mother’s discreet snicker from across the room had Dash closing his eyes and wondering how bad a parent he was being in enjoying his son’s innocent jokes.

Cupid started to worry when she saw most of the Breckinridge Mall crowd had gone home for the day by the time she and Nicky got there. He walked beside her, head up with determination. The original letter to Santa was clutched in his hand.

It had taken a good ten minutes to convince him to leave the copies at home. Ten more were now hidden in his room in a place Nicky was sure his father would never look. Sneaky kid was probably right. Dash wouldn’t bother to look in the drawer with his summer clothes.

There were several elves milling about the receiving area when they arrived, but she saw no other children in a line… and unfortunately, no Santa either.

“Where is he?” Nicky demanded.

Cupid shook her head, looking around. “I don’t know, Nicky. The sign said he would be here for another twenty minutes. Let’s ask an elf. They’ll know.”

Nicky trotted along beside her as they headed to the friendliest looking of Santa’s three assistants. As they drew closer, Cupid realized she actually knew the one with curly dark hair.

Her smile of recognition must have been contagious because Nicky perked up too.

“Vixen?”

Vixen spun around at hearing her name and smiled. “Cupid—how wonderful to see you again.”

Luckily, she had enough sense to zip her lip before confessing how hard it had been to see Cupid’s good-looking son up close and personal again. Damn Dasher Sleigh—he was just as attractive as ever. Of course, confronted with his beautiful mother, the man’s good looks were totally explainable. He definitely favored her.

She adjusted her elf hat and swore silently in her head. No matter how much Dash’s sexy blue-eyed gaze sucked her in, there could be no forgiveness for what he’d done to her. She had given herself to enough jerks in her life and wanted to believe she had managed to outgrow the urge.

Vixen fought back a sigh over running into both son and mother in the same week. She believed in synchronicity and that nothing was an accident. Thinking about Dash, which she’d been doing constantly since she saw him again, was always going to hurt. Distance was the answer, but the universe seemed determined to torture her lately.

When her gaze fell to the floor, it fell on a miniature version of her nemesis. Drat and double drat. Dash’s replica had seven kinds of hurt shining out of his eyes. He was obviously very disappointed by Santa’s absence.

Giving in to her heart, Vixen went down on one knee to make direct eye contact. The bells on her costume jingled loudly as she got down on his level. His eyes took in all her swinging bells as he turned a hopeful gaze in her direction.

“Hello. My name is Vixen. I’m an elf.”

She smiled when he nodded fiercely.

“I know. I can tell by what you’re wearing. Where’s Santa?”

Vixen glanced up at Cupid… Grandma Cupid, she realized. The older woman smiled back at her serenely and said nothing. With no rescue from dealing with this in sight, Vixen looked back at Dasher Sleigh’s son.

“What’s your name?” Vixen asked, stalling while she considered what to say.

You just couldn’t miss how much the boy looked like his father. Same dark hair. Same dark eyes. Same studious gaze that looked at you and missed nothing. She had to fight back a long-suffering sigh at her urge to hug the boy to her chest.

“My name is Nicholas Dasher Sleigh. I’m Number 3,” he said.

Vixen giggled. She couldn’t help herself. Little charming dude. “Wow. That’s a pretty big name for such a small guy. I hope you grow into your name, Nicholas Dasher Sleigh Number 3.”

“Most people just call me Nicky. You can do that if you want,” he said politely.

Vixen nodded. “Thank you, Nicky. I’m afraid I have bad news. You just missed Santa. He had to return to the North Pole earlier than he thought. I think he might have had an emergency with Mrs. Claus or something. I didn’t get all the details. Can I help you in some way?”

Nicky hung his head and let out a breath. “No. I had a letter to give to him.”

“A letter for Santa? Whoa dude. I can so help you with that,” Vixen exclaimed, smiling as brightly as she could. “You see, I’m a senior elf. I’m allowed to collect Santa’s mail and deliver it to him. It’s like—well, it’s like my
job
.”

“Are you sure?” Nicky demanded. “This is a very important letter. I’m only asking for one thing for Christmas.”

Like the worst of reforming grinches, Vixen felt her heart grow several sizes inside her chest. The miserable bastard who had used and abused her affection in college had somehow managed to produce this amazing child who was only asking for one thing for Christmas.

How unfair was that?

Now she would have to get over herself. Damn it. Sometimes it sucked being an adult. Hating Dash had been easy.

“It’s very nice of you to only ask for one thing, Nicky. Now I feel like it’s my solemn duty to help you. I would be honored to carry your letter to Santa.”

Vixen almost sighed again when he looked unsure. She seriously wanted to hug him for being such a good person. Maybe he could set an example for his wicked father.

“Will you promise to see that the
right
Santa gets this letter? Mima Cupid says he has a lot of helpers who dress up like him and go to the malls so kids don’t get disappointed. I need the
real
Santa to see this wish.”

Vixen nodded. “Yes. I promise to make sure he gets it. And I think your Mima Cupid is a very wise person. You’re smart to listen to her.”

Vixen straightened on her knee and held out her hand. A mangled, folded paper slid into it slowly. “Thank you, Nicholas Dasher Sleigh Number 3. I swear on my Elf’s honor to see that the real Santa gets this letter.”

She looked up to see Cupid fanning her flushing face. “Hot flash, Mima Cupid?”

“No. Just some intense guilt over my wicked thoughts. Happens a lot at my age,” Cupid declared.

“Okay then,” Vixen said too loudly as she tried to cover her rising discomfort.

She stood and assumed what she hoped was a very purpose-filled pose.

“Getting a Mima involved makes this even more serious. I better pack up my things and get going. Those North Pole transports aren’t very patient. I wouldn’t want to be late getting this very important letter to the man in red.”

Nicky’s relieved giggle brought a natural smile to her face. She shoved his letter inside her shirt and tucked it under her bra strap discreetly.

“Good-bye, Nicky. I hope your Christmas wish comes true.”

“Thank you. Bye, Vixen,” Nicky said, nodding vigorously.

“Yes. Thank you for everything, Vixen. You’ve been a great elf,” Cupid declared, guiding her grandson away.

***

By the time Nicky and Cupid had disappeared from sight, Vixen had finished packing up her costume display. Christmas was one of her busiest seasons and appearing in person was the best marketing she did. It was hard to resist a friendly Santa or elf at Christmas time.

Sighing, she pulled Nicky’s letter from her top. She supposed the proper thing would be to give the letter to Dash. Curious to see what one thing the boy had chosen, she unfolded the paper gently.

As she read his hard-crafted note, tears burned her eyes. She had forgotten about Dash’s wife dying. She might not have reacted so poorly to him staring at her legs if she’d remembered he’d been technically free to do so.

What the hell was it about the Sleigh men that reached right past her careful defenses? And now worse… what was Dash’s child going to do when Christmas morning came and there was no Mom? She could envision the boy’s disappointment and the resulting tear fest as Dash tried to reason with him.

“Dash, I might hate your good-looking guts, but I would certainly not want to trade problems with you right now. You’re going to need a Christmas miracle to get out of this one.”

Shaking her head, Vixen gathered her things and counted her blessings as she headed home.

***

Glad to be out of the cold, Dash unwound his scarf and hung it over his coat on the rack just inside his front door.

“Dad—you’re home,” Nicky shouted with excitement, running down the hall.

Smiling Dash bent and scooped up his son for a hug. Coming home to his child never got old. He loved every minute of it. “Did you get to see Santa today?”

Nicky squirmed in his arms so Dash let him down. Without getting an answer—something not all that unusual with Nicky—Dash followed his son to the living room.

“How was the open house?” Cupid asked.

“Not much of a crowd this year, but it seemed to go well. I liked being able to leave and not having to do cleanup. I’m liking this non-owner thing more and more.”

Dash grinned when his mother laughed. “Did you two get to see Santa at the mall?” he asked.

Cupid stood. “I think I’m going to make some more hot chocolate. Nothing says we can’t have it twice in one day.”

“And lots of marshmallows,” Nicky yelled, lining up his cars in a circle around the tree.

Cupid nodded, even though her grandson wasn’t looking at her. “Yes. Lots of marshmallows.”

Dash put a hand on her arm. “Mom? Did something happen at the mall?”

Cupid patted it and then gently pushed it off. “Nothing major. Santa wasn’t there. We saw an elf instead. It all worked out.”

“Oh—okay,” Dash said, instantly thinking about Vixen in her sexy elf outfit. “Well, so long as it worked out.”

“Yes,” Cupid declared. She glanced at Nicky, whose car noises were drowning out their adult conversation. She lowered her voice just in case. “Funny thing… the elf we ran into was Blix’s niece… the one with the costume store.”

Dash blinked. He turned his head and looked at his son who still seemed to be breathing normally. At least Vixen hadn’t attempted to kill his only child. “Was she friendly to you guys?”

Cupid laughed and tilted her head. “What kind of question is that, Dash? Of course, Vixen was friendly. She took Nicky’s letter and promised it to deliver to Santa personally. I just wish I had been there to see her face when she read it. I know she did—anyone would. He was being his most earnest self about it.”

“Sure. Should I be concerned? What’s in the letter?” Dash asked. “A giant list of every superhero toy on the market these days?

Cupid snorted. She wasn’t revealing what Nicky had asked for until she found out what Vixen did with the note. Maybe she was secretly hoping it would put Blix’s soft-hearted niece in Dash’s line of vision. Was that wrong of her? The woman was great.

“You’re looking awfully guilty, Mom.”

“No. I look like a woman who’s craving hot chocolate.” Cupid’s mind spun with her reluctance to confess the truth.

She suspected Vixen would feel it necessary to warn to Dash of his son’s heart-wrenching request. The minute she saw Vixen drop to one knee to get on Nicky’s level, she had started hoping a spark or two might fly when she and Dash met. It had cost her a red face in front of the woman, but had also warmed her heart with hope.

With a twinkle in her eyes, Cupid made a V with two fingers and straddled her nose. “Sorry, Dad. But I can’t tell you what’s on his list. Mima’s honor. I’m sure you understand.”

“You’ve been watching re-runs of
Bewitched
again, haven’t you?” Dash teased.

“Maybe,” Cupid said, turning from her son and heading to the kitchen. “It’s a fun show.”

“Well, don’t be thinking you’re Endora or Clara. No one would buy that. You don’t look that old. People often think you’re my sister.”

“Hmm… male flattery. Are you campaigning for more marshmallows too, Dasher? If so, it’s working,” Cupid declared.

Dash laughed as his mother walked away.

“Hey Mom,” he called, grinning when she huffed, stopped, and turned back. “Blix is coming by for dinner. He said he misses you. I figure it must be true because I told him I was ordering pizza and he said he was still coming. I thought he hated it. Have you ever seen him eat pizza?”

Cupid smiled. “Not that I can recall. He doesn’t think it's really food. It will be good to see him again. It’s been a few months.”

“Just good to see him… or
really, really good
to see him? I’m only asking because I think Blixem House is sweet on you,” Dash declared. He grinned as she sighed. “Come on. He’s always offering to help us. Hasn’t his interest ever sparked your curiosity?”

Cupid rolled her eyes before glaring at her son. “All good looking men spark my curiosity. I imagine that will be true until I’m dead. Why? Are you matchmaking?”

Dash snickered. “No. Just… warning you I guess. He’s dropped so many hints now I can’t ignore them any longer.”

Cupid dropped her arms and grinned as she headed to the kitchen. “Thank you for the warning, darling.”

Dash shook his head when he turned away and saw Nicky had stopped playing with his cars.

“What would happen if Mima Cupid married Uncle Blix?” he asked.

Dash shrugged. “They’d probably live in your Mima’s house.”

“Would he be my grandfather?”

Dash nodded. “Yes. He would.”

“Then I approve,” Nicky declared.

“Be sure and tell your Mima that. I’m sure she needs to hear it. But if you want to keep getting extra marshmallows in your hot chocolate,
don’t
tell her in front of Uncle Blix.”

Dash rolled his eyes as his son nodded and returned to his makeshift racetrack. The next question caught him by surprise, as most of Nicky’s questions did.

“Do you know any elfs, Dad?”

“It’s
elves
when there’s more than one… and yes, I know a few,” Dash answered, as he dropped into his favorite chair.

“Do you know one named Vixen?”

Dash narrowed his gaze on his normally unrepentant eavesdropper. Nicky was nearly as arrogant about his sins as he had been most of his life, and usually just fessed up to his crimes.

“Why do you ask, Son? Did you hear my conversation with Mima?”