‘He doesn’t now. He used to, but since he bought the place last year, the only kind of dashing he’s interested in is the “dashing through the snow” kind.’
‘You know we should be mad at him for this little charade, right?’
‘Yeah.’ He grins so widely that his smile shows over the top of his scarf. His legs make easier work of the snow than mine, so he comes to stand next to me and his arm slides around my waist. He tugs down both our scarves and lowers his mouth to mine.
‘But somehow I’m not,’ he murmurs against my lips.
It makes me laugh into the kiss, and when we pull back, I wrap my arms around him and hug him for a moment.
‘Are we going to tell him about this little development?’
‘I think not, for now.’ I tilt my head until I can catch his eyes. ‘I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.’
‘We should do the sensible thing and head back …’ Tav says, sounding as reluctant as I feel about the idea.
My younger self would think it was criminal to ignore the miles of untouched snow all around us. ‘Do you want to build a snowman?’
‘I thought you’d never ask!’
I bend over to grab a handful of snow and lob it at him. ‘If you can’t be a big kid at Christmas, when can you?’
‘I’m glad you’re coming round to my way of thinking.’ He tilts his head to the side. ‘Too many people absorbed the lie that when you grow up you have to stop liking fun things and start liking adult things, but the happiest people are those who embrace things they love without shame.’
Between us we build up a huge base, dragging in snow with our hands and piling it on, and then we roll a snowball for the head, lift it between us and rest it on the flat top of the body, and I feel like I’m playing a winter scene in Animal Crossing, and the snowman’s about to come to life and offer me furniture. We keep packing snow on until the snowman is almost as tall as me, find broken branches for his arms, stones for his eyes, mouth, and buttons, and poke a twig in to make his nose. Tav pulls his hat off and places it on the snowman’s head.
We finish by standing on either side of the snowman and planting a kiss on his cheeks and I snap a photo of the moment. I can instantly picture it in a frame on Dad’s mantelpiece.
Mr Bean and Pedro Pascal look on uninterestedly, clearly wondering if we’ve both lost the plot. Maybe it says something about your life when a reindeer has to question your sanity, but none of it matters because I can’t remember the last time I had this much uninhibited fun, laughed so much, and felt like I wouldn’t be judged for it, not even by a reindeer.
With a few stops for leg stretches and rests for the reindeer, it’s well after 5 p.m. by the time we get back and the North Pole Forest is closed to visitors for the night. Lights are glowing from inside Santa’s House as we climb out of the sleighs, leave some food for the reindeer, and go inside to give Dad a piece of our minds about inventing fictionally injured reindeer and sending us out on wild goose chases.
‘It’s not funny, Perce,’ Tav says as soon as he sees Dad standing behind the front desk inside the door. ‘There could’ve been—’
‘Oh good, I’m glad you’re back.’ Dad’s face lights up when he sees us. ‘I’ve got some wonderful news! There’s been an offer on the North Pole Forest … and I’ve accepted it.’
Chapter 15
Dear Santa,
Can you take a selfie so I can prove to my friends that you’re real? I’ll leave my phone beside the cookies and milk.
From,
Dean
The door shuts behind me with a loud slam, making us all jump as the horror of what he’s saying seeps in.
‘No!’ I’m so shocked that I almost shout the word. ‘You can’t have.’
‘You send us away for one night and sell the place while our backs are turned?’ Tav says.
‘No, of course not. I received the offer days ago and I’ve been mulling it over.’
‘And you didn’t think to mention it?’ He folds his arms.
‘I am the owner, am I not?’
I can see it stings Tav. ‘Yes, but I didn’t think you’d make a monumental decision like this without at least informing me. It’s always been a partnership. We’ve never not discussed things before, especially something as big as this.’
‘There has to be a mistake.’ I step closer to stand next to Tav. ‘He’s winding us up to see how we’ll react or something.’
I search Dad’s face for some hint that he is winding us up, but he blinks seriously back at me.
‘You can’t be for real? It’s not even on the market! It hasn’t been valued. I never got around to getting in touch with an estate agent.’
‘It’s a good offer,’ Dad says. ‘It’ll save us all the bother of estate agents and their extortionate fees.’
‘But … but …’ I stutter for words. Three weeks ago, I’d have been overjoyed about this, but now, it makes dread settle over me like a blanket and my face has still got pins and needles from coming in from the cold so I can’t feel if there are tears rolling down it, but I’m pretty sure there are.
‘I don’t believe you.’ Tav sounds hopeful rather than convinced. ‘I don’t believe you’d do something like that without talking it over with us.’
Dad winds his fingers through his curly beard. ‘They wanted a quick turnaround. They were going to drop their price if I kept them waiting.’
‘New owners who resort to blackmail and ultimatums to get their dirty hands in!’ Tav smacks his forehead. ‘Great! That’s exactly the type of people we want to hand over to.’
‘What are they going to do with the place?’ Fear makes my voice come out choked and hoarse.
‘They’ve given me their strongest assurances that they’ll do everything they can to keep it the way it is.’
Tav scoffs. ‘That sounds like a line trotted out by the most underhanded of property developers.’
‘And you have faith in their “strongest assurances’, do you?’ My heart is pounding at a million miles per hour and I can barely hear over the throbbing sound of blood rushing to my head. This was the last thing I expected.
Three weeks ago, I expected a battle with Dad to get him to sell up and I didn’t think he ever would, and now he’s done it without a second thought, and it feels like the worst thing in the world.
‘They seemed like decent people who are disillusioned with life and fed up with dead-end jobs and never making a connection with anyone. I liked them.’
‘Did you check them out? Google them? Do due diligence? You can’t hand this place over to any Tom, Dick, Harry, or Clive,’ I snap. My dad is far too trusting. He could’ve been taken in by anyone.
‘Who is it?’ Tav asks.
‘They’ve asked for their names to be kept out of it for the time being, but you can trust my judgement.’
‘You’ve just sent us on a two-day journey to look for an injured reindeer that never existed! I’m beginning to doubt whether I can trust you on anything!’ Tav sounds like he’s barely holding his emotions in check.
I step closer to Dad. ‘What about Tav?’
‘The reindeer sanctuary isn’t included in the offer. That’s his property, not mine. This doesn’t change anything for Tav. He can stay here and continue his good work.’
‘All alone?’
‘He’s a big lad – he can take care of himself. He lived out here alone for a long time before I came along and he will for a long time to come.’
I feel like a snowball has hit me square in the chest and coldness is gradually seeping out from the point of impact. I cannot bear the thought of Tav being alone again, withdrawing again, going back to being hard and independent and not letting anyone in. ‘And where will you go?’
‘Back to the UK with you, of course.’
‘Is that what you want?’
‘It’s what’s sensible. You were right, Sasha. Not once in my life have I done the sensible thing, so I’ve got to start somewhere.�
��
‘But not with this. Of all the things you choose to be sensible about …’
Dad does a “ho ho ho” at what is quite possibly the worst timing ever.
‘But we have all these ideas.’ I reach out to touch Tav’s arm but he steps away and it makes the stone in my stomach grow into a whole peach. He must blame me entirely. ‘All this stuff we want to implement. The social media stuff. What about the bookings? I thought you were glad about more visitors coming?’
‘Yes, Santa’s very pleased.’
‘What about all the stuff we’ve been doing? The letters? Nils and Anja coming back to work? There’s so much more to do. You can’t back out on it now.’
‘It was word of the letters spreading on social media that attracted the new buyers. They love the idea, and the added bonus of so much exposure lately made it a much more attractive prospect to purchase.’
I groan out loud. This is, literally, all my fault.
‘I let Tav down last year, Sash,’ Dad says. ‘I blazed in and saved the North Pole Forest from the brink of going under with my grand plans to restore it, and then my silly heart started giving me gip. Tav deserves to see this place go to someone young and enthusiastic, not a sentimental old codger like me. It’s what we all want.’
I glance at Tav. He won’t meet my eyes, but I can see the hurt in every taut line of his face and the worry lines that crease his forehead. My mind is flooded by images of how much damage a new owner could do, someone who doesn’t understand what it means, who doesn’t care about the small things that matter to Tav, someone chasing profit rather than magic.
‘From reading the room, I’d say neither of you are too happy about this.’ Dad clears his throat and looks at me. ‘I thought you’d be ecstatic. Didn’t you want me to sell?’
‘No!’ I sigh. ‘Yes, at first, but now? No. Maybe. I don’t know. I know it would be the sensible thing, but …’ I look over at Tav, who still doesn’t lift his eyes from the floor. ‘The sensible thing has seemed like the less attractive option lately.’
‘I’ve never done what you wanted. It’s about time I did. I know you were worried about broaching the subject with me so I wanted to save you the trouble. I thought you’d be proud of your daft old dad taking the initiative for once.’
‘I can’t believe this.’ Tav shakes his head. ‘You sell without even talking it over and you won’t tell me their identity. There’s no reason to hide who they are unless they’re up to something. I thought we were friends, Percy. You know what this place means to me.’
‘No, I don’t, Tav. You’ve never told me.’
‘Well, I’ve told Sasha. I’m sure she’ll be happy to pass the info on. This is all about her. Her demands. Her control. Her ultimatum in exchange for coming here. Let her tell you. It doesn’t matter now. It’s too late.’
‘Tav …’ I start, reaching a hand out towards him.
‘Don’t,’ he barks as he brushes past me. ‘You came here saying you wanted to make it more attractive to buyers, and you’ve succeeded. You’ve even roped me into helping you, and you’ve got exactly what you wanted. It’s gone. You can swan off back to England and never have to worry about it again. I knew this wouldn’t end well. Trusting people never does. I’m going to take the reindeer back to their stables. Don’t follow me.’
The whole house shakes with the force of the door slamming behind him, and I stand there staring at the wreath on it clanging back and forth like a pendulum swinging from side to side, watching it for so long that I don’t blink until it finally stops.
‘Why are you crying? I’m doing what you wanted me to.’
‘Exactly. Wanted. Things have changed, Dad. You’re blinder than I thought if you can’t see that.’
‘It’s nice you’re so worried about Tav, but I assure you he’ll be fine. He might be standoffish at first but he’ll soon get to know the new owners and become fast friends.’
‘It’s not about that. God, do you have any idea what it takes for him to trust someone? He trusted you. I think he was starting to trust me as well, and now he feels like you’ve betrayed him. Because of me. I thought we could save this place. I built his hopes up. I made him believe me when he was trying to protect himself because he knew something like this would happen. I don’t think we can ever come back from this.’
‘Sasha …’
‘Don’t!’ I snap and stalk out the door, slamming it shut behind me too.
I’m hoping Tav will still be out there, waiting like he was the other day, but I know full well he’ll be long gone, along with the reindeer and their sleighs.
I make it as far as the steps down from the porch before I collapse onto them, my shoulders heaving with sobs – the shuddery, snotty, gasping kind that make you glad there’s no one around to hear the awful noises you’re making because they’d definitely think there was an injured hyena in the vicinity.
The North Pole Forest is eerily silent tonight, and my tears fall onto the snow and turn to ice. It feels like an earthquake has just happened and the tectonic plates are still shifting under my feet and leaving the world shaking.
I try to be reasonable. This is what I wanted. I shouldn’t care this much about a place I’d never even heard of last month. The more I keep repeating that in my head, the harder I cry. I love it here. In the space of a few weeks, I’ve gone from not wanting to come here to not wanting to leave. And when I think of Tav …
I bury my face in my hands and let the tears fall. I don’t know how long I sit there before the sound of hooves on snow reaches my ears, and I look up to see a reindeer plodding up the road towards me.
‘Hello, darling.’ I recognise Rudolph Number Three-slash-Clive by his singular antler. He moseys over and I have to duck to avoid the antler as his furry nose twitches up and down my coat until he reaches my pocket. He’s found the lichen I still had from earlier, and he waits expectantly for me to give it to him. I pull it out to hold on my open palm and laugh through the tears as his fuzzy lips tickle over my hand.
‘This is all my fault,’ I say to him, stroking his side as he chews. ‘If I hadn’t come here insisting my dad sell up, this wouldn’t be happening.’
Rudolph carries on chewing.
‘And now Tav hates me. He let me in, he shared parts of himself with me that he’s never even told my dad and he’s known him for years.’ I’m so upset that it doesn’t even matter that I’m talking to a reindeer. ‘I really believed we could save this place. With the letters and the social media aspect … But Tav’s right. We’ve got people talking so much that it’s attracted the wrong kind of attention. I’ve inadvertently done what I set out to do before I realised I didn’t want to do it anymore.’
I pat his side when he drops the lichen on the ground and lowers his head to pick it up.
‘Typical Dad. Always doing the right thing at the wrong time.’
I’m torn between my head and heart. My head is trying to be sensible and say this is a good thing in the long run, because every reason I wanted my dad to sell in the first place is still valid. But my heart … Oh, my heart. My chest physically hurts at the thought of leaving, and of how much I’ve hurt Tav. Images of my dad’s happy face when he’s wearing the Santa suit fill my head. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen my dad happy, truly happy, since before my mum died. How can it ever be the sensible thing to walk away from something that makes him so happy?
‘Maybe it’ll all be okay,’ I say to Rudolph. ‘Tav’s upset now, but maybe these new owners will do exactly what they say they will. Maybe they’re completely genuine and they’ll love it as much as we do, and they’ll respect Tav and value his input, and they’ll have even more ideas than us, and it’ll be the best thing that ever happened.’
The reindeer looks at me doubtfully.
‘Yeah, I know, I don’t believe it either.’ I sniff so hard that I’m glad there’s only a reindeer to hear me.
He gives a huff and walks away.
I watch him disappe
ar down the path through the trees towards Tav’s cabin.
‘Just another thing that’s gone wrong,’ I say to the empty street.
I should’ve left well alone. I never should have come here.
Chapter 16
Dear Santa,
Can you ride a unicorn instead of a reindeer? And will you knock on my window to wake me up because I’ve always wanted to see a unicorn.
From,
Charlotte
A couple of days have passed and Tav’s avoided me, but today … today, we have to work together, and he can’t get out it.
The North Pole Forest is busy. It’s literally brimming with people. They’re everywhere as I step out of Santa’s House – admiring the lights and decorations, and queuing up to get in for a tour with Anja, who’s standing outside in her elf costume and trying to organise the biggest tour group yet.
Despite everything that’s happened between us, I still smile when I see Tav coming towards me. ‘Hi.’
He grunts and marches straight past.
‘Tav, I didn’t want this.’
‘Believe me, none of us wanted this.’ He turns around to face me. ‘And yet, none of it would be happening without you.’
‘I didn’t know Dad was going to do that.’
‘He only did it to please you.’ He sighs and his eyes flick to mine and then swivel away. ‘Let’s get on with the task at hand, all right? We started it so we’ll finish it.’
He sounds so down. There’s no emotion on his face, no joy in his voice, no mention of nisse, no cheeky glint in his eyes. Even his jumper is plain and not festively patterned.
I’ve been so focused on studying him that I don’t realise I haven’t responded until he holds his phone up. ‘I’m going up to the cabin to meet Osvald, you stay here and intercept Freya. Text me when you’ve got her, as planned.’
I give him a sarcastic salute because he sounds so cold and hard, almost military in his approach to having to do one tiny job with me.
He stalks away, heading up the hill towards the cabins, and I stand there staring after him.
The Post Box at the North Pole: The perfect cosy and uplifting Christmas romance to curl up with in 2021! Page 26