And no matter what, she deserved this promotion. I couldn’t force her to take it, but I would step down from my duties on the expansion if it meant her getting the job she’d so earned.
I cleared my throat and, in a deep voice, called out the name written on the presents. “Is there a Benjamin out there?”
A little boy, couldn’t have been more than five years old, raised his hand. “That’s me.”
“Well, come on up here, Benjamin. I’ve got some special presents for you!”
He seemed wary of me at first, edging closer and closer until he finally took the three presents that were nearly taller than him. “Go ahead, Benjamin. Open them,” I urged.
He only hesitated another moment before tearing into the first two gifts—the jeans and socks. He gave a relieved sigh and hugged them to his chest. I pushed the third gift toward him. “You forgot one.”
“This is all I asked for. The other one must be meant for someone else.”
“Nope,” a small, sweet voice said from behind me. My breath lodged in my throat. I swear if I could have choked on oxygen, I would have in that moment.
“Avery,” I whispered. She moved in front of the chair with Kringle at her side. The velvet red skirt swept the floor and the bodice of the Mrs. Claus dress was still gaping, even though she had stuffed the pillow beneath her dress again this morning.
And she looked as gorgeous as I’d ever seen her.
She exhaled and pushed the overly large sleeves up to her elbows, bending down to Benjamin’s level. She pointed to his name scrawled across the wrapping paper in her cursive. While I might be better at bows, she had me beat at handwriting. “See? Right here, what does that spell?”
“B-e-n-j… Benjamin!” he cried with a hop.
“That’s right. This one is yours, too.”
He opened it, tearing the paper off the box in strips. “Whoa!” he exclaimed, holding the box up. “It’s RoboBear!” He hugged it to his chest. “Thank you, Santa!” He launched himself into my lap, giving me a big hug, crushing the RoboBear box between our bodies.
I lowered him back to the floor, giving him a quick pat on top of his head as he went charging back into the crowd of kids toward his friends.
I stood up from where I’d been sitting. “Excuse me, kiddos! Santa needs a glass of milk and a cookie break! I’ll be right back!” I walked toward the back room where I could safely tug the beard down without being seen. Avery followed me, Kringle obediently at her heels, as always.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Avery started.
“Interrupt?” I shook my head. “Avery, this whole thing wouldn’t be possible without you.”
“What are you talking about? This wasn’t my idea. I’d always wished we could bring Santa here, but—”
“You inspired this. There was no reason StoryBook wasn’t doing more for our communities. You showed me that. I tried to tell you last night, this is what you should do with your life, too. I want you to run our charity division.”
She smiled, unshed tears shining in her eyes. “I’d be honored.”
I took her hands, but immediately thought better of it, dropping them just as quickly.
She bent, reaching for my hands and squeezed them. “Don’t let go,” she whispered. “I know I don’t want to.”
“What you heard last night between Mallery and me, that wasn’t about you—”
“I know, I know. Mallery told me. I was just so twisted up. Wearing the catering outfit. Then hearing you guys combined with what Helena had said—”
My blood ran so cold, I would have bled ice had someone cut me. “Helena? What did she do?”
“Nothing.”
“Avery,” I warned.
She sighed and squeezed my hands. “She got in my head. I let her get into my head. I’m sorry.”
I cupped her jaw and pulled her in for a kiss. “I’m sorry, too. I wanted last night to be perfect and it ended up a colossal mess.”
She grinned against my mouth. “So, you’re moving to Maple Grove?”
“If Maple Grove will have me.” Her smile faded until it dropped completely. “What’s wrong?” I asked, dread filling my gut. I had thought we’d gotten past the fight—the misunderstanding. What had I missed?
“I don’t want to be the one to tell you…” She pulled a gift bag from the tote bag hanging around her shoulder, then opened it for me to see. “But you lost the bet.”
I reached inside the gift bag and pulled out… the snow globe. That damned snow globe. “No!” I laughed. “I sold this to Ed yesterday!”
She scrunched her nose. “Yep… and he gifted it to me. So, it’s back in the store again. The terms of the bet… sell it to Ed and get it out of my store.”
I held up my finger to argue, but quickly dropped it to my thigh. “Oh, damn. I lost. Even when I won… I lost.”
“Did you, though? Keep digging in that gift bag.”
I reached in once more until my fingers brushed a velvety leaf. I grinned and pulled the mistletoe out from the bottom of the bag. “I take it back. I won the lottery.”
Then, I leaned in and kissed my Christmas elf…
My Mrs. Claus…
My Avery…
… beneath the mistletoe.
Thank you for reading Sleighing You! If you’re looking for more Christmas romance to read, check out my book, Holiday Intercepted!
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And don’t forget to grab Meeting You, the Prequel to the Maple Grove Small Town Romance series for FREE! Fire up your kindle and find out why readers love this best-selling series!
Looking for more Maple Grove?
* * *
Here’s the reading order!
* * *
Meeting You (Prequel and FREE!)
* * *
Capturing You (Maple Grove #1)
* * *
Healing You (Maple Grove #2)
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Sweet on You (Maple Grove #3)
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Remembering You (Maple Grove #4)
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Or get the Maple Grove Box Set of Capturing You, Healing You, and Sweet on You for only $6.99… which basically gives you one book for FREE!
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Maple Grove Novellas:
Holiday Intercepted
Bewitching You
Grateful for You
Your Next Laugh Out Loud Comedy is Right Around the Corner…
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Grab your copy of Beefcakes today!!
Things are about to get sticky...
I might as well permanently add the label "Ex" to my name. I'm an Ex-Mr. Universe. Ex-Mr. Olympus. An Ex-Hollywood Stuntman. But no one from my small hometown cares anything about that. They only care that I'm the ex-boyfriend to the beloved Mayor's daughter, Elaina Dyker.
And now, ten years later, I'm back, helping my siblings run my mother's bakery while she takes on chemo. What should have been a routine cupcake delivery turns into utter chaos when the bachelorette party thinks I'm a stripper. And what's worse? Elaina is the maid of honor.