Brayden took a seat at the bar and opened beers for the three of them. Justin took his and waited to see what his brothers wanted.
“What are you bringing for Thanksgiving?” Brayden asked as he took a swallow.
“Seriously? You ventured out in the storm for that?” Justin wiped his forehead, surprised to find it clammy. Damn, what the hell was going on with him?
His brothers shared a look.
“What?” he growled.
“Nothing,” Tyler said in is smooth cop voice, the kind that he would use with a wounded crime victim.
“Sure. Tell me what’s up.”
“We’re just worried about you,” Brayden said as he set down his beer.
“Why? I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not,” Tyler said.
Justin let out a breath and closed his eyes. “I’ve just been a little tired and then weird. It’s odd, but I’m fine.”
“You’re not turning into a ghost, are you?” Brayden asked. He didn’t crack a smile when he asked.
Considering their brother, Matt, had been a ghost for the past ten years, that question had been a serious one. Add in the fact that their soon-to-be sister-in-law was a witch and the supernatural presence in their town could be a reason to worry.
He hadn’t faded into the darkness, and he didn’t cast spells. So, he knew it wasn’t that.
“No, I’m all corporeal. But, thanks for caring,” he said dryly.
“We’re just worried about you,” Tyler said.
Justin nodded, feeling oddly touched. But, these were his macho brothers, so he couldn’t actually let them know. “Ah, thanks, buddy. Let’s go watch that new tear-jerker, hold hands, and I’ll get you a tampon.”
“Fuck you.” Tyler sneered then winked. “If anything, Matt may need one. Have you seen how lovey-dovey, starry-eyed whipped he is?”
Justin snorted. “So eloquent. But, yeah, Jordan makes him happy. Whatever.”
“Yeah, but does he have to be smiling all the damn time?” Tyler asked as he munched on a cookie.
Must not rip cookie from his hand
.
“It’s because he’s getting laid,” Brayden interjected and took a bite of a cookie.
God, are they going to eat all of them
?
“More than I can say for the three of us,” Justin said.
“Hey, speak for yourself,” Tyler said, his palm out. “I got laid this week. More than I can say about the two of you.”
“You’re a pig,” Bray said, a distant look on his face.
“No, I have sex with women who don’t like commitments. I don’t have sex every day, so back off.”
“If you’re so testy about it, maybe you should start thinking about settling down,” Justin said. “What about Abby? Jordan’s friend? She’s nice, and I think Jordan wants to bring her into the family.”
Tyler looked confused for a moment then frowned. “Abby? No, not so much. But thanks.”
“Hey, she’s nice. What the fuck is your problem?”
“She’s the settling-down type, and I don’t want to settle down. Plus, she’s, you know, Abby.”
Brayden turned toward their brother, anger on his face. “Now what is that supposed to mean?”
Tyler looked at them both and blinked. “She’s just not my type.”
“Oh, you mean she isn’t a bimbo?” Justin asked
“Well, that’s just not nice. And why are you ganging up on me? Why don’t
you
settle down with Abby?”
Justin sighed.
Because Abby doesn’t have a crush on me, dumbass.
But, he couldn’t say that. Fuck, his brother was a careless bastard when it came to Abby, and he had no idea why.
But, that same idiot of a brother was right about one thing; Justin needed to get laid. He might not be as much of a ladies’ man as Tyler, but he still needed a woman.
His brothers said their goodbyes, and Justin was left alone in his empty home, thinking about women—and whether he should make another batch of cookies. He patted his eight-pack. He would have thought he’d have Santa’s bowlful of jelly by now, but, no, he hadn’t gained a pound from the dozens of cookies he’d inhaled in the past month.
Weird.
Justin sat in his armchair and watched the snowfall outside his window accumulating in large drifts. His phone beeped, and he looked down at the texts from each of his brothers saying they’d made it home. He must have been looking pretty bad if they had worried enough about him to venture out in the snow.
The holidays were coming, and he needed to get ready. Even though he didn’t enjoy Christmas as much as he had in years past, he still loved giving gifts. He knew what he wanted to get each of his family members, including Jordan; not something they’d necessarily need, but something that would spark a memory or bring a smile to their faces.
Thinking about Jordan made him remember that, other than his brothers and her, he really was alone. Maybe he needed a girlfriend.
Just the thought of hooking up with anyone in Holiday made him shake his head. There were only two women, other than Jordan, in town that even sparked his interest, and those two didn’t really spark it as much as make him feel as if they were family. Allison, the waitress at the town diner, was beautiful and had a great personality, but Brayden was in love with her, even if Brayden didn’t know it. And Abby was like a kid sister who, yes, may be hot, but there was no interest there. God, he hated his small town sometimes.
His phone rang, startling him out of his thoughts. “Hello?”
“Hi! Justin?” a perky, unfamiliar voice asked.
“Uh, yeah. Who’s this?
“Oh, I’m Rina Brewer; you’re trainer. We’re going to need to meet soon.”
Justin blinked and looked at his phone.
Out of Range
.
Uh, huh.
“Who are you again? What does this concern?”
“Oh!” She giggled. Actually fucking giggled. But, it sounded sweet and not annoying like giggling usually did. Okay, enough of the beer for him. “It concerns Santa, of course. He needs you.”
Justin coughed. “Funny. I don’t know you who are, but really, come up with better jokes next time. Though you do sound pretty, I’m hanging up now.”
He pressed
End
as the high-pitched voice yelled at him to stop. Whatever.
He rolled his neck and stretched. His skin felt tight, achy. Something was coming. What the hell?
Chapter 2
“Oh, my God, did I actually just giggle?” Rina Brewer put down the phone and held her head in her hands. “I sounded like a freaking bimbo.” She traced the edges of her pointy ears and scowled. “I hate being an elf. I have to be perky, happy, and I always have the irresistible urge to giggle like a schoolgirl. And, now I'm talking to myself. This just tops the cake of my insanity.”
Oh, yes, she sure sounded like one of Santa’s elves. She just needed the pointy shoes and the pointy hat to match her pointy, pointy ears. Who had ever heard of a depressed elf?
No, she had a job to do. She couldn't stand around acting like a neurotic person while there was a soon-to-be executive out there who had no idea what he was doing.
She looked down at the phone and gave a little growl. How dare he hang up on her? Who did he think he was? He was just Justin Cooper, not anyone special.
Not that you’ve ever seen him. After all, you’ve been stuck at the North Pole all your life, so quit being a second-class elf
.
Rina rubbed her forehead and sighed. She really needed to get off the pity train; it was unattractive. She picked up the phone and was just about to dial Justin's number again when it hit her: Oh, God, he didn't know. He had absolutely no idea who he was and what lay on his shoulders.
Holy peppermint balls! Someone had really dropped the ball on this one. How could they not tell him he was going to be one of Santa's executives? It was only one of the most important jobs at the North Pole, if not the world. And, no one had told him. When she’d called him up to talk about the upcoming holiday season and what job he had to do, she assumed he'd known that Holiday, Montana, was the Mecca of holiday paranormals, and he was Santa’s charge.
How could he not know? Hadn’t he been feeling the symptoms?
She paced around her tiny office in the basement of Santa’s workshop and tried to come up with a plan. Her job was only to call up the executives and let them know the game plan. It wasn’t her job to train them or let them in on the whole secret.
What if it could be? What if she could be his assistant?
Only male elves were allowed to be the trainers. That's the way it always had been, and that's the way it always would be. However, what if she could help?
She smiled and clapped her hands together, giggling. No, she had to stop that. She flexed her wrists and shook her head. She had to be professional, soothing. She couldn't be the giggling fool that seemed to be trapped in her like a wild menace.
A plan formed as she quickly donned her puffy, green coat and left her office, climbing up the stairs to the ground floor of the workshop. She opened the door to step outside, the strong wind hitting her face like an assault of the cold kind. Even though all elves had naturally rosy cheeks, she had a feeling she was even more red than usual. She walked to her little home at the end of the street, tucked in the back of the neighborhood. She smiled. She loved her little home.
As soon as she got inside, she ignored the fruitcakes stacked on the table, gifts from her too-kind neighbors, and quickly packed a bag that would last her a week. She needed to have a plan in place before meeting with Justin. She tucked wayward blonde curls back into her bun. She hated the corkscrew blonde curls; they were the bane of her existence, so she made sure they were always bound tightly against her head. Rina couldn't leave right away because she needed to make sure she at least had an inkling of what her plans were, but she also couldn't leave work right away either. Though she wasn’t needed at work until after the holidays because she was only the girl who dealt with the leftover tasks, and her job lasted all year up until Santa’s busiest day of the year.
Two days later, she scrawled a note, telling everyone she would be out of town for a few days, being sure to include a drawing of a giggling elf just so people would know she wasn't being abducted or anything and left it on her door in case the neighbors were worrying. Even though they probably wouldn't miss her too much. Wow, maybe she really did need to leave the North Pole.
Yes, this would work. She would train Justin and show him the New World and what Santa required of him. And then she'd show the whole North Pole exactly what she could do. What all women could do.
It wasn't that female elves were held down and needed to rise up. Far from it. It was their species’ way of life. Elves were inherently happy, perky creatures. They did the jobs that they did because they loved them. They didn't feel like they were being forced to do something.
But, Rina had always been a little different. Just like that little elf, Hermey, in that animated
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
children's program. Unlike the animated elf in the movie, Rina didn't long to be a dentist; she wanted to be an assistant executive or a toymaker. Anything other than the female elf who filed old Christmas lists from children.
Rina made her way across town and headed toward the snow globe depository. The only way to travel, unless you had a sleigh with a reindeer, was through the magic of a snow globe. She walked in, inhaling the spicy scent of gingerbread cookies, and shook off the snow that had accumulated on her shoulders. She nodded at the older elf behind the counter and worked her way through the shelves and shelves of snow globes until she found the one she wanted, an average-sized globe with a chocolate brown base and a depiction of an old-time town, complete with the general store. She hefted her bag on her shoulder and traced the name of the town with her finger. Holiday, Montana. She couldn't wait.
With a look over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching, even though the magic in the store would know she had gone, she held the globe in both hands, shook it twice, closed her eyes, and let the snow globe take her to its destination.
Her new adventure.
She felt the magic swirl and the snow dance across her cheeks as it pulled her through space and time until she landed firmly on her feet in a small room that wasn't where she had been before. She blinked and took in a deep breath.
This was it; she’d done it.
“Oh, fruitcake, what have I done? I'm going to get in so much trouble, and Santa is going to freak out, and I'm never going to be able to live like a normal elf again.” She took a couple more deep breaths. Her chest started to hurt, and she felt lightheaded. She'd never been impulsive before, no, she'd always done what she was told and put up with it to keep everyone else happy. Oh, Rudolph’s nose. What had she done?
She set the snow globe down on the empty shelf in the almost-bare room and tried to catch her breath. She closed her eyes and counted to ten. When she opened them, she felt a little bit better, but she still couldn't believe she'd just left home like that. She looked down at the snow globe and frowned. Instead of it saying
Holiday
, it said
North Pole
and had Santa's workshop inside the globe.
“Huh, I never noticed that. Maybe I should leave home more often. At least once before I decided to make the biggest decision of my life. No, Rina, don't freak out; you can do this. You’ll show Justin what he needs to do, and everything will be okay. Everything
has
to be okay. Now, where am I?”
With a bright smile that took a little too much effort for an elf, she left the room and walked down the stairs, hoping she wasn't in a random apartment and about to be arrested. That's all she needed, to come down to the southlands for the first time in her life and end up in jail. No, she should quit worrying. She was an elf; she was happy.
Sure.
Rina made her way to a lobby of some sort and smiled. She surveyed the scene. Based on the decorations, she surmised she was at an inn. This was great. She should have known better than to doubt the magic of the snow globe. Each snow globe went directly to a place owned by the North Pole. That way she wouldn't show up in someone's living room.