Jingle Spells (23 page)

But it did make him curious about his elusive lover. Why didn't they ever go back to her place? He didn't even know where she lived. Hell, she could be married for all he knew. And what were all those calls and texts about that sent her scuttling off from his bedroom each day? Yesterday was a security problem and today, some emergency. What kind of emergency could she run into at an ornament manufacturing company? Nick couldn't come up with much. He knew one thing, though.

He couldn't wait for 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.

 

Belle reappeared in her office half a heartbeat after she vanished from Nick's neighborhood. She was dizzy for only a moment and didn't spill a precious drop of her double-shot latte with peppermint. As the details of her office came into focus around her, she took a deep breath.
Apparating
was not her favorite form of travel, even if it was the most efficient. She enjoyed the occasional brisk walk through the cold winter air. It helped clear her mind. But time was not on her side today.

Once she got her bearings, she slipped out of her coat and dumped it and her purse onto her desk. She picked up her tablet and walked over to the mirror on the back of her office door. Whenever she came back from Nick's, she had to make sure her appearance didn't give any signs of what she'd been up to. A quick glance confirmed that her golden-blond hair was still neatly slicked back into a low ponytail. Her makeup looked fine, although she could use more lipstick. Her clothes looked just as neat and professional as they had when she left the office. All was well.

Then she frowned. Leaning into the mirror she focused on a dark smudge just below her ear. She rubbed at it with her finger, but it didn't disappear. Then she realized what it was. Nick had given her a hickey. Of all the things… Belle groaned and dug in her purse for some concealer. She blotted the mark with the makeup, and then readjusted her scarf to cover it. Her brothers could not see that. Santa emergency or not, they'd be all in her business.

That done, she could finally go in search of Dash to find out what the
holly
was going on with Kris Kringle.

It wasn't hard to find them. She only had to follow the loud voices down the Hall of Santas to Cole's office. All three of her brothers were there, frowns lining their faces. Sitting in the corner was Dash's ex-wife, Noelle. By some weird twist of fate, they were dating again, but she didn't look blissfully in love today. Not that she ever did. Noelle was an intense person. She'd left Evergreen to join the CIA, returning earlier this year to fill in for her ailing father as the head of security.

Today, Noelle appeared even more unapproachable. Her dark brown hair was slicked back into a severe bun. Her normally bright blue eyes were tired and bloodshot with gray circles beneath them. She looked as if she had been up all night. And not in a good way.

“Belle, you're here. Good. Sit down,” Cole said, gesturing to the empty chair in the office.

The three brothers all turned to Noelle, mostly ignoring their sister. “Okay, now that Belle is here, start from the beginning.”

Noelle took a deep breath. “Late last night, I ran into Merry in the hallway. She had luggage with her, but I was too distracted to think about what that meant. Dash and I had a fight, and I was considering leaving Gingerbread. Merry talked me out of it, and then she left. I ran back to apologize to Dash. It wasn't until this morning when we found the Corvette was missing that I realized I had caught her midflight and didn't know it.”

“Merry is gone?”

The four other heads in the room turned to look at Belle. Apparently, she was behind the curve. “Dash only told me that Kris was gone,” she explained.

“They're both gone,” Noelle clarified. “They took off last night in the Corvette. We have no way of knowing if they're ever coming back.”

Belle's jaw dropped open. This was a Code Red if she'd ever seen one. Santa was MIA. It was no wonder she was summoned back. The minute any employee issue arose, it fell into her territory to work on the problem, be it an elf strike or inappropriate wizardry in the workplace.

“We have to replace him immediately,” Cole decreed.

“Wait a minute,” Belle argued. “We don't know he's gone for certain. He might have just needed some air to clear his head. We know they've been having marital troubles. A couple days away together might be what they need to come back and rededicate themselves to the job.”

“Yes, but all of their troubles have revolved around his role as Santa,” Ethan argued. “He would sacrifice that for Merry and the sake of their marriage. He's not coming back. I can feel it. His Christmas spirit has fizzled out.”

“But what if Kris does come back? Once the new Santa puts on his suit, the magick is severed, and Kris can never be Santa again. This is a huge step to take, and we can't go back. Did they leave a note? Anything to let us know what their plans are?”

“There was no note,” Dash said. “But Kris left this behind.” He held up the holly pin that Kris always wore on his lapel. The shiny brooch had three solid-gold holly leaves and a cluster of diamond-and-ruby berries in the center that were more than one carat each. It was handed down from Santa to Santa, an antique so priceless, any collector would kill to have it.
If
they knew it existed. “It was on his desk. That's a pretty clear sign to me that he's done.”

“Belle, you need to find a new Santa. It's only a week until Christmas. Six days, if you consider Christmas begins in the Pacific twenty hours before Gingerbread. We can't waste any time.”

Belle eyed her oldest brother as she twisted her lips in thought. Kris had been Santa for twenty years, almost her whole life. He was the only Santa she remembered. Choosing a new Santa was a monumental task, and one that only happened every other generation.

The role of Santa was always filled by a human, and he was selected by the Winter Clan's magickal means. Even if the person wanted to be Santa, and sometimes they didn't, it wasn't easy. She tapped at her tablet and pulled up the checklist that would need to be completed before a new Santa could drive off in the sleigh. The assimilation of a human into Gingerbread alone could take nearly a month if all went well.

“It's impossible,” she said, shaking her head. “We'd do better to send out a team to look for Kris and bring him back. If we can convince him to do one more Christmas, we'll have a whole year to get his replacement ready.”

“What if he won't come back? Or we can't find him? Are you willing to risk Christmas, Belle? Because if we don't get someone on that sleigh in less than a week, Christmas won't happen. If he comes back, great, but I'd rather have too many Santas than too few.”

Six Days until Christmas Eve

B
elle had been dismissed from the meeting so she could immediately get to work. But she wasn't as convinced as Cole was that they needed to select a new Santa right away. If she could get a Santa ready in seven days, six wasn't much more of a hardship, and it bought her a day to try another tactic. Instead, she'd pegged two of her assistants, Ginger and Holly, for a special assignment.

Kris didn't know that Dash had put a GPS tracking system on the Corvette last week. It hadn't been intended to stalk Kris, but to track his Christmas flight and ensure they could recover the car if it was stolen. Kris had demanded that Dash enchant the convertible so he could fly it on Christmas instead of the sleigh. If by some chance Noelle's cloaking device failed and a human got into the car, they couldn't risk it accidentally flying through the air with them trapped inside.

None of the brothers had mentioned tracking Kris, but that was because they'd given up on him. Belle hadn't, at least not yet. She hoped that Kris and Merry were coming back. It wasn't like them to leave everyone in a lurch like this. But like Ethan, she knew in her heart that Kris had lost the joy of his work. She understood how he felt, but that said, if Ginger and Holly could find him, Belle wasn't above coercing him into one last trip around the world. Then she would happily replace him if that was what he really wanted.

Right now, the GPS was showing the Corvette was in Arizona and continuing south. She wouldn't be surprised if they were headed to Mexico or even South America and its warmer climate. Ginger and Holly were gone in search of them by midafternoon.

Belle had hoped to hear from them soon. Like that evening. But it was the following morning, and there was no word from her assistants yet. She needed to take a two-pronged approach and start the new Santa process, as well.

She made her way down the hallway to Santa's office. Belle rarely came into this room at Evergreen. If all went well, there wasn't any reason to. It was normally Santa's retreat, the place where he could work and think without constant interruption.

With a swipe of her security card, the heavy golden doors swung open, allowing her inside. The large space was filled with wondrous antiques and magickal artifacts from years of Christmases past. Large shelves along one wall housed a massive collection of leather-bound books. Some were first editions of beloved Christmas tales like
A Christmas Carol
and
A Visit from St. Nicholas
, but most were the naughty and nice archives from back before they went digital. Another wall was lined with all the gifts children had left him over the years. Milk and cookies were the American standard, but on the occasion that a child left Santa a drawing or a coffee mug, it was always brought back and kept here.

Santas, as a general rule, were very sentimental. They couldn't throw away anything a child gave them, be it a popsicle stick reindeer they made in school or a flashlight to help him see in the dark.

Belle continued through the office, stepping around several large burgundy velvet bags overflowing with mail. She frowned at the sight. Kris had not been reading his mail from the children like he was supposed to. He'd been too busy jogging and juicing lately to do his job. She would have to get Taryn to send down someone to log the gift requests in the system since she was the new head of the IT department.

At the back of the room was another door. Belle swiped her card to open it, revealing the most secret and sacred of rooms at Evergreen Industries. In tall, lighted, glass cabinets were Santa's clothes from Christmases past. The uniform had changed over the years, and when an outfit was retired, it was displayed here as a revered museum piece. She stopped to admire one of her favorites. The old Father Christmas style included a long, dark green, velvet, hooded cloak lined in soft, white fur. It was hand-embroidered with a holly pattern; the gold thread and tiny gemstone berries made it sparkle in the light. It was beautiful. Much more festive and true to the spirit of Christmas in Belle's eyes.

Beside it was the original red-and-white suit from the early 1900s. It wasn't their decision to go with the style, but once popular culture set an expectation of what Santa wore, they had to follow along. A newer design was beyond it, modernized by the Coca-Cola styling of the thirties and forties.

A rack just beyond the cases held several replicas of the current Santa suit. It was still red and white, but the style was more modern, and they had made some technological advances to it over the years.

On the far wall was Belle's destination. The delicately carved curio cabinet was the home to the most sacred of the Winter clan's heirlooms. The side panels were inset with stained glass depicting falling snowflakes in blue, white and silver. The front was clear glass with a doorknob made of one gigantic sapphire.

Belle grasped the knob and opened the door. There were four shelves inside holding a variety of treasures. The wand of the Winter clan's founding mother was there. The heavy, leather-bound copy of the original naughty and nice list was there. As was the snow globe.

The large glass sphere was nestled in a sterling-silver base. All around the bottom were intricate Christmas scenes of the past. Silver reindeer antlers curled around the glass globe like talons keeping it in place. Inside was only snow. No snowman figurines, no quaint villages. Just snow.

This was what she had come for. She grasped the snow globe with two hands, surprised at how heavy it was. This was how the next Santa was chosen. An enchantment was placed on the snow globe hundreds of years earlier. It had the power to see into the hearts and minds of every person on the planet. It would choose, with over 99 percent accuracy, the perfect new Santa. With just a shake, the face of the chosen replacement would appear.

This was the first time Belle had needed to use it. Nervously, Belle gave the snow globe a good jostle, then held it steady to watch. The snow danced furiously inside, a mini blizzard swirling and sparkling with the faint blue magickal glow. When the flakes settled, a man's face slowly appeared. It was clear as day. The dark hair, the chocolate-brown eyes, the mischievous smile.

It was Nick.

No, Belle argued with herself. There had to be something wrong with this thing. Nick was about as far from Santa material as they came. He was too young, for one thing. Santas were usually in their forties at least, and Nick was barely thirty if she remembered correctly. Nick was sexy and hard-bodied, not cheerful and soft. He was career driven and health conscious. She'd never seen him so much as put a packet of sugar in his coffee, much less eat ten thousand sugar cookies in one night.

And frankly, she didn't get the touchy-feely vibe from him. She'd never seen Nick around kids, but she imagined he'd hold one at arm's length with suspicion in his eyes.

Belle frowned. Somehow, the snow globe had made a mistake. She gave it another shake, erasing Nick's image with a flurry of snow. She waited, her heart pounding in her chest as the next image slowly formed.

Nick's smiling face continued to stare back at her from inside the globe.

Her heart dropped into her stomach with a nauseating ache. This couldn't be right. At least, she didn't want it to be right. Maybe he was secretly soft-hearted and good with children. Maybe he secretly adored cookies, but stayed away to keep in shape. Belle didn't know as much about Nick as she thought. And that had been by design on both their parts. Their secret rendezvous were supposed to be easy, casual fun. A little stress relief in their crazy, busy lives.

And now she would lose him, like everything else, to the holiday machine.

Belle loved Christmas. And she loved her work and her life in Gingerbread. But sometimes…she needed to get away from all of it. She wanted to spend time with someone who didn't curse with Christmas slang and thought elves were make-believe.

Her mornings with Nick were her escape. The time she spent with him kept her sane. He was her daily dose of normal in a world of magick and merriment. And with one shake of a snow globe, she'd lost it all.

A chirp sounded at her hip. She placed the snow globe back in the cabinet and shut the door before looking at the screen of her phone. It was her fifteen-minute reminder of her standing coffee break appointment.

Belle sighed and put the phone back in her pocket. Nick was going to get a little more than a cup of coffee and some lovin' today.

 

Belle was late.

Nick sat at a corner table, nursing his grande black-drip coffee. He checked his cell phone again, but there were no texts saying she was running behind. Belle was punctual to a fault. It made him wonder if yesterday's emergency was just a rouse to leave. He'd never been with a woman so emotionally disconnected from sex. Was this her not-so-subtle way of brushing him off?

He got his answer when the front door opened and Belle blew into the coffee shop. She turned to him and gave a short wave before ordering her coffee. Nick got up from the table and waited for her at the counter where the barista would leave her drink when it was ready.

There was something odd about Belle today. He picked up on it almost immediately. Her smile wasn't as bright, her green eyes were wary. Perhaps the emergency was real and more serious than he thought. She seemed to be carrying a heavy burden on her shoulders.

“Hey, Nick,” she said with a weak smile as she approached.

“Decaf non-fat grande latte.” Her cup was passed across the counter to her. She slid it into the cardboard sleeve and popped a lid on the top.

Decaf? Belle never ordered decaf. Something was definitely going on, but he didn't want to ask her with so many other people around. “Are you ready to go?” he asked. They usually didn't loiter long.

She nodded, and he held the door for her to step outside. They walked quietly down the block, sipping their coffee. She wanted to tell him something. He could tell. Perhaps she was about to break it off.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, once they were clear of the street traffic and on the quiet road to his subdivision.

“Wrong? No. But we do need to talk about something today. It's kind of important.”

Nick's heart stopped. The breath was sucked from his chest in an instant as his brain pieced together the clues. Decaf coffee. Tired. Nervous mood. Important discussions. Belle never wanted to talk about anything.

“Are you pregnant?” he choked.

Belle's eyes grew wide at his question. “Pregnant?” she repeated, her voice sharp with surprise. “Of course not. Why would you think something like that?”

Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was as though he'd been jerked back from a cliff, and his whole life was about to change if he fell. She wasn't pregnant. Great. He wasn't opposed to children, but he wasn't exactly in that place right now. Especially if it meant having them with a woman he really knew nothing about. “I'm sorry,” he said. “You were acting nervous, drinking decaf, wanting to talk…you never want to talk, Belle.”

She smiled and shook her head. “I'm sorry I scared you. I am definitely not pregnant. I was up early, and I've already had one cup too much caffeine to deal with everything going on. My nerves are on edge. But I do have a uh…
business proposition
to discuss with you.”

Business proposition? “Do you need a house built?”

“Not exactly.” Belle paused at his doorstep, and he unlocked the door to go inside. “Let's sit down.”

For the first time, they didn't head down the hallway to his bedroom, but turned right to the living room and kitchen. Belle sat down on his brown leather sofa and tucked one leg beneath her. Nick followed suit, sitting on the other end of the couch and turning to face her while he sipped his coffee.

“So what's going on, Belle?”

“That emergency yesterday was kind of a big deal where I work,” she began.

“How bad of an emergency can you have at an ornament factory? Someone lose a hand or something?”

“No, but still very bad. We lost a very important member of our staff unexpectedly.” Belle reached into her coat and pulled out a small silver flask. She sat it on the coffee table.

“Are we drinking? It's a little early.”

“No. That's just my back-up plan.”

Nick frowned. “Back-up plan?”

“Nick, I need to tell you a secret. It's a big secret that only a few people in the whole world know about. I have deliberately kept it from you for your own good, but I've been given no choice. I have to tell you the truth.”

“You're a spy?” he joked.

“No, I'm a witch. And you are going to be the next Santa Claus.”

Nick was glad he didn't have a mouthful of coffee or he would've made a mess of Belle's cream-colored blouse. He was on the verge of laughing at her joke when he realized her expression was deadly serious. “So, will the Easter Bunny be joining us later?”

“No. Spring isn't my territory,” she retorted without missing a beat. “We're from the Winter clan. My family is responsible for Christmas. We use our magickal powers to make Santa and his reindeer fly, deliver toys around the world in a single night and spread holiday cheer.”

Nick was beginning to think he liked Belle better when she didn't say much. Now that she was talking, he was sad to realize she was batshit crazy. “Did you skip some important medication today?”

Belle's lips tightened into a firm line. “I have to show you, don't I? You're not going to believe it until you see it.”

“See what, Belle? Are you going to use your magic wand to make me into Santa Claus?”

“Something like that.” Belle stood up. Reaching inside her purse, she pulled out a long, thin piece of wood, like a conductor's baton. She tapped it a few times against the palm of her hand, sending a few tiny, sparkling snowflakes out of the tip.

“What the hell?” Nick stood up and took a step back.