Drew sucked in a breath. “I suppose the only people who actually know these are game controllers that are missing—long story—are the Landrys, right?”
“I think Piper and Paige have been dealing with most of this. I don't even know if everyone down there knows what they are. Hang on a second.”
Drew heard the sound of Oliver's squeaky office chair and then the door opening. “Hey babe, who have you been talking to about the game controllers down in Autre?”
“Paige. Why? Who’s on the phone?” Drew heard Piper's voice ask.
“Drew. There’s some issue they need some help with.”
The next thing Drew heard was Piper's voice on the phone. “Drew? What's going on?”
“It's a long story. But I need to replace the fifty controllers.”
“Are they broken? Did they not make it in time?”
“No. It's not that. I can't really get into the details.”
Piper paused for just a moment, but, like a true friend, she simply said, “Okay. What can we do?”
“Let's just give them some money to replace the toys,” Ollie said.
“Yeah, we can totally do that. Do you want me to just send you money to your bank account?”
Drew smiled and shook his head. It was kind of amazing having friends who were millionaires and could just come up with this kind of money, but it was also amazing to have friends who were wonderful people and who were willing to do things like this. Then he sighed. “I don't know if we have time to actually go buy fifty more gifts.”
“You're totally right,” Piper said. “I know you all have a lot of activities and things going on. How about I buy the toys and ship them down to you. I can do that overnight so they’re there tomorrow. Do you need them to be wrapped?”
Drew’s grin grew. Not only did he have rich friends who were generous, wonderful people, but one of them happened to be one of the most organized humans he'd ever met. Piper could get anything done.
“Piper, that would be amazing.”
“Consider it done. I'll have everything shipped to you at Paige's house.”
“Uh, ship them to the petting zoo. You guys are really the best.”
“We’ll do anything for you, Drew. And now I can't wait to have Ollie tell me all about this girl you’ve fallen in love with.”
Drew let out a short laugh. “You weren't in the room when he said that.”
“But that's what this is, right?”
“I'd like to think that I would try to be helping these people do this amazing Santa's Village even if I hadn’t met Rory.”
“You are a great guy. You probably would be helping them with this even if it weren't for this girl. But you're also very resourceful and the fact that you didn't want to mess around with other potential solutions and just called in a favor like this means something.”
“Taking the easy way out and calling my millionaire friends means something?” Drew asked.
“It does. You're not the type to take the easy way out. But this is obviously something that matters a lot, that you need to know is done right. And exactly on time. So you're willing to put aside the idea that you shouldn't just throw money at all the problems and actually get on the phone and ask someone else to get involved.”
“I do want this to be perfect for her. She's done all the hard work, she's put the time in, and the heart in. It’s not her fault it’s falling apart. So yeah, I guess in this case I'm okay with using my resources to fix it easily for her.”
He could hear the smile in Piper's voice when she said, “I hope she realizes what a good guy you are.”
Drew rolled his eyes, but he was starting to understand that being a good guy, especially for Rory Robins, was exactly what he wanted to be.
“I think she does.”
“I'm going to miss you,” Piper told him.
“Miss me?”
“When you eventually moved to Louisiana.”
His heart kicked hard against his rib cage. “Did I say I was moving to Louisiana?”
“No. But you’re exactly the type of guy to turn your life upside down when you finally fall in love.”
Drew thought about that. For about four seconds. Then realized that Piper was absolutely right. “You know what? I'm gonna miss you too.”
They disconnected and Drew felt amazing. He’d just fixed the final piece of this whole Santa's Village situation for Rory.
They had the gifts replaced, the village was completely put together, and as he spoke, Sawyer was sitting on Santa's big chair with little kids in his lap telling him all their hopes and dreams.
Drew watched as a little girl beamed up at Sawyer.
“Hello, Sophia,” Sawyer greeted her. “What would you like to talk about today?”
Drew smiled and shook his head. Sawyer really was taking this seriously. He wasn't asking the kids if they had been good or what they wanted for Christmas. He was inviting them to have a conversation. They could ask him anything or just chat about whatever was on their minds. It was very interesting how many of the kids actually just wanted to talk.
“I want to know what my best friend wants for Christmas,” Sophia told Sawyer.
Oh, that was cute. Honestly, all of these kids had been cute. Drew had been hanging around making sure that the reindeer were mostly behaving themselves. And that the kids were behaving themselves around the animals.
Donna, Jim, Lucy, and Ethel were used to people, including children, but it didn't hurt to have someone the reindeer knew and trusted nearby, and someone that knew them in case any interventions were needed. He rotated between the animals, petting them, talking soothingly to them, and offering them treats as the kids came by.
“What does your friend like?” Sawyer asked.
“Grass. And being outside. And when I pet his nose. And when we talk and tell stories.”
Sawyer nodded. “Is your best friend an animal?”
“He's an alpaca.”
Drew perked up at that. Jordan had told him about a little girl who’d bonded with the orphaned alpaca that had come from Drew's farm to live here in Louisiana. Apparently, the little girl had lost her father to cancer and she and the alpaca had developed a unique bond that had helped her come out of her shell and start talking about her feelings again.
“Well, I mostly hang out with reindeer,” Santa Sawyer told her. “But I know that reindeer and alpacas can be very good friends and my reindeer have been spending a lot of time with the alpacas here while we've been visiting. Maybe we should ask one of the reindeer if they know something special that Chewpaca would like for Christmas.”
Sophia's eyes rounded and Drew could only assume it was in delight over Santa knowing which of the alpacas was her friend.
“Drew, do you think that Donna would know what Chewpaca might like for Christmas?” Sawyer called to him.
The reindeer he was standing next to was Ethel, not Donna. But Drew nodded. He was a Reindeer Wrangler, after all. His name tag even said so.
“I’ll ask her,” Drew told him. He leaned over. “Hey Donna”—There was no need to call Santa out on not knowing his own reindeer—“any idea what Chewie might like for Christmas?”