by Elle Rush
The hats were the least of Rudy’s concerns. “You’re not really quitting, are you? We need you. The party is in a month. What about Santa?”
“Yeah, sorry. I wasn’t able to find one.”
“Then you ask for help and pitch in somewhere else. You can’t just walk out.”
“Actually, I can. Good luck.”
Then there was nothing. Who did that? Who disappointed a neighbourhood full of children right before a Christmas party? Even worse, not only had Warren left them shorthanded for present wrapping, he hadn’t managed to do the most important task he’d been assigned. “This is a disaster.”
“What is?”
He hadn’t heard Kris sneak up behind him. “Warren quit.”
“Quit what?”
“The committee.”
“He can’t do that.” Her hands fluttered as she raised them to her throat. “We need him. He can quit later. After the party.”
“That’s not all.”
“It gets worse?” she asked.
“He didn’t arrange for Santa’s visit.” That had always been the best part of the party when he was a kid. Little Rudy had walked around for a week with his chest puffed out after Santa called his name and said he had heard that Rudy had been a good boy. St. Nick telling him to continue the good work was the primary reason his parents had such a well-behaved boy for the month of December.
Forget about the kids, the parents would be devastated at the news.
He should be thankful for the utterly disappointed look on Kris’s face. It would be good practice for facing all the kids. “Santa’s not coming? What are we going to do?” Kris whispered. He hated the tears in her voice.
He was going to fix it. If anybody had connections for the Big Man in Red, it would be somebody at North Pole Unlimited. “I’ll take care of it. I’ll call my head office. I’m sure they know somebody who knows somebody who can get a hold of the guest of honour.”
“But it’s so late in the season! Finding a hole in a schedule will be impossible. I mean, getting elves to help hand out the gifts isn’t a problem. But Santa.” She shook her head in defeat.
Kris was right. But he faked confidence he didn’t have. “It’s the holidays. It’s the time for Christmas miracles. Don’t worry. I’ve got this. This party isn’t happening without Santa.”
A quiet, high-pitched gasp froze them to their spots. Kris’s eyes went wide, and Rudy was sure his matched as he replayed the conversation in his head, trying to think if he’d forever ruined Christmas for some youngster because he hadn’t thought about being overheard. They turned around slowly.
“You know somebody who knows Santa? And he’s coming to our party?” A little boy, too young for school, with straight black hair and dark brown eyes gazed at them.
“You bet, little man. He’ll be here to deliver the presents,” Rudy promised. He crossed his heart with his finger.
Behind the child, Jennifer watched with a huge grin on her face. “Nice save,” she mouthed.
“Thanks,” he replied silently.
Jennifer crouched beside the little boy. “I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be in Kinder-gym, Lee.”
“But, Mom, Santa!”
“The grown-ups are dealing with Santa. Your job is to do your best at gymnastics and have fun at the party.” She held up four fingers and the little boy copied her.
“Four more Saturdays and then we can have a party?”
“Then we can have a fantastic party.” Jennifer took his hand. “I’ll be back once I return him to class,” she said over her shoulder as she herded her son down the hall.
“Take your time. We’ll get back to work,” Kris said. She pulled Rudy out of the hall and closed the door firmly behind him. Then locked it. “That was terrifying.”
He tugged his sweaty t-shirt away from his chest. “I thought we blew it for a second.”
“You’d better come through now, Rudy. Your reputation is on the line.”
Didn’t he know it.
Chapter 7
Kris
Totally Iced hit a lull at half past three. Seizing the moment, Kris turned the sign to “Closed” and locked the front door. “It’s Friday, and we worked like dogs this week. Enjoy a little head-start to your weekend.” It wasn’t hard to convince Marie to leave early, which gave Kris more time to prepare for her date.
It had taken some serious planning, but she knew what she wanted to do. A friend in Toronto had told her about a similar evening and Kris looked forward to trying it. She was still learning her way around Calgary, so she double checked her GPS to make sure her route for the evening was programmed correctly.
She picked Rudy up at his warehouse. “I’m ready,” he said as he climbed into the passenger seat. “Where are we going? You wouldn’t say.”
Kris revved the engine. “Everywhere,” she said, using the most mysterious voice she could.
When Rudy said it would be easy for her to find things to do, she started looking in earnest. There was always an event back home; she didn’t know why she thought Calgary would be any different. Once she started searching, a whole new world opened to her. Tonight, she intended to share what she’d learned, and see how much of it Rudy already knew.
“Have you heard of a progressive dinner?” she asked.
“It’s when couples go from house to house for each course.”
“Right. We’re doing that, but we’re hitting different places for the appetizers, entrees, and desserts.” She’d plotted out a course to cover as much of the city as she could. To make sure she included restaurants Rudy would like, she’d enlisted Tucker for help. If Rudy could recruit her assistant, she figured turnabout was fair play.
Their first stop was a vegetarian restaurant that reviews said had the best baked potato soup in the province. Rudy opted for minestrone. They both unzipped their coats in the car as she pulled out of the parking lot.
“Great soup. What’s next?”
“Jingle Bell Way. It’s only a slight detour.” Kris was shocked to learn how seriously Calgarians took their outdoor Christmas decorating. Entire streets got together to plan; some of them even piped carols over exterior speakers. Visitors were encouraged to drive slowly down the street to view the displays and enjoy the music.
The people on the west side of the city had organized a breathtaking display. Although she only opened the windows a crack because of the cold, the faint music was more than enough to set the tone.
The LED lights weren’t blindingly bright, but the way they reflected off the white snow seemed to double their effect. Some houses were all white, some all blue. One had bulbs that changed colours in time with the songs. They were all gorgeous.
Kris stopped the car to let a bunch of sightseers cross the street in front of her. “Hey, check it out!” The house on the corner had an inflatable poutine truck, with one elf working and one elf standing beside it enjoying a tray of fries, cheese curds, and gravy.
“That jumpstarted my Christmas spirit,” Rudy said once they were back on the road. “I’m not sure if I should tell my mom to take a drive through there, though. It might give her ideas, and I’ll be the one up on the ladder.”
The next restaurant was only a few blocks away, so Kris parked before contributing to the conversation. “I’m glad my aunt only has lawn decorations. All we have to do is anchor them and run an extension cord. Although, she does own a dozen of them. She has a thing for cartoon characters in Santa hats. I think I’ve convinced her to go a more traditional route for the bakery, but she’s recruited some friends, and I’m scared. They’re decorating the place on Sunday. I’ll have to wait and see what they did when I arrive on Monday.”
Part of her looked forward to it; the other half was a little afraid. Her aunt was obsessed with garland. Kris pictured it on every window, every display case, and around the cash register. Luckily, Vivian kept it out of the back room for sanitary reasons.
“What is this place?” Rudy asked. She’d pull
ed in behind a building, denying him a chance to see the sign above the door.
“Italian. Marie recommended it. Specifically, she told me to get the lasagna or the ravioli. I’ll look at the menu, but I admit I’ve been craving pasta all day.”
“Me, too,” Rudy said. Then he chuckled. “Now I know why Tucker raved about the spaghetti and Bolognese sauce he had for lunch. To get the idea into my head.”
Kris whistled innocently.
“Is there something you’d like to share?”
Unlike him, she didn’t intend to get busted for using his assistant as an informant. “I’ll share whatever I order with you,” she said.
He pulled the brim of her toque over her eyes. “Come on. The soup has worn off and I’m starving.”
Kris took Marie’s advice and ordered the ravioli. It was butternut squash, not meat, and came with a tomato sauce heavy on the basil. She loved it. Rudy got a piece of lasagna so big he couldn’t finish it.
“Please tell me we are spending the rest of our evening on the sofa. I can’t move. The garlic bread…” Rudy adjusted the collar of his coat to block the slight breeze that had come up.
She nodded in understanding. The garlic bread had been sublime. “Sorry to disappoint you, but sofas are not on the schedule. We’ll have to hurry as it is.” She hustled them back to the car. Although she had reservations for the restaurant where they were having dessert, they had one stop to make first.
“Where are we going?”
“I know you enjoy music, what with the Arrowhead concert you don’t have a date for, so I thought you’d enjoy some Christmas carols.”
Marie’s younger sister was still in high school. Her band was holding a fundraising concert, and Kris had purchased two tickets to be supportive. She and Rudy wouldn’t be able to stay for the whole thing, but according to the program, the event was broken into three acts. They slipped into their seats during the second intermission.
Kris leaned closer when Rudy wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Did you know I played in my high school band? Trumpet,” he whispered.
She turned her head to stare at him. “No way! I did to. I still play.” She’d begun to look for somewhere to play while she was in Calgary but finding a community band was proving to be impossible.
The kids were alright. They did a spectacular version of “Little Drummer Boy” with the school chorus. They snuck out the door as the last notes sounded. “We have just enough time to make our reservation,” Kris said.
Rudy waited till they were in the car. “Trumpet, huh? What else don’t I know about you?”
Kris thought for a moment. “I was part of a running group back home, but that’s more of a spring-summer-fall thing. Especially here. Treadmills aren’t the same. And the hills! We don’t have hills in Toronto that are out to kill you.”
He laughed at her, and she deserved it, but he didn’t comment further on her lament for flat land. “Do you do marathons?”
She shook her head. “No, I save my competitive streak for dodgeball. Running is to get me outside and moving after being in a kitchen all day. How about you? What do you do for fun?”
“Dodgeball. Skiing, now that I’m back in Calgary. Cross-country and downhill, but more cross-country out of the city. I also take a lot of trips. I travel for work, but whenever I have vacation days, I try to get away. Usually somewhere warm,” he added with a laugh.
“I can understand that.” She’d managed a handful of trips to Jamaica to visit family since she’d graduated high school. She was lucky she only had to cover the plane fare since she always had a place to stay. She’d do it more often if she could.
She pulled into a strip mall off the northwest Crow Child Trail. There was a vacuum store, an investment office, and a dessert café that served the best pie in the city. Kris was confident in her baking skills, but when it came to somebody who spent all day, every day making pie, she didn’t try to compete. “Are you ready for dessert?”
Rudy’s stomach rumbled in response. “Do they have rhubarb?”
“They have it all.”
The whole night had been wonderful, right down to Rudy asking for his ice cream on the side and then offering her the bowl, because he didn’t want to “take away from the perfection of the pie.” If Kris had any regrets for the evening, it was that she hadn’t seen Rudy in this light while they’d known each other in Toronto.
“I’m sorry we have to end so early. My work days start at four o’clock in the morning.” Nine at night for her was the equivalent for most people staying out till midnight.
“I don’t mind at all. How could I, when we have such a good time together?”
They set down their forks in a comfortable silence. They had learned a lot about each other, and she was in no hurry for the night to be over. From the smile on his face, neither was Rudy. Finally, he spoke. “Are we on for a third date? Because I have an idea.”
“I’m game if you are.”
Chapter 8
Rudy
Santa Claus was a mysterious man indeed. He not only stayed out of sight on Christmas Eve, he was hard to find the other three-hundred-and-sixty-four days of the year too. Case in point, Rudy was on his second page of actors for hire who wore the infamous red suit in December, and none of them wanted anything to do with him.
“Sorry, buddy,” his most recent St. Nick said. “I’m booked a year in advance. I have a couple dates left next November, but my schedule is full between now and New Year’s.”
“Thanks anyway.” Rudy hit the “end call” button with more force than was necessary as his last chance disappeared into thin air.
He was stuck. Painfully stuck, since he was the one who’d promised—no, guaranteed—Santa would make an appearance at the party. There had to be something he hadn’t thought of. At this point he was willing to fly somebody in from Vancouver. He would have said Edmonton, but he’d already called all those holly, jolly impersonators as well.
I suppose I could do it myself. The thought came unbidden into his brain. It had to be easier to buy or rent a Santa suit than it was to find somebody to fill it. Or, if he had his own suit, he could hire somebody to wear it.
He hadn’t begun his search for costume rental companies before he was interrupted by a phone call.
“Rudy, this is John Tinder in December. Why haven’t you responded to my email?”
Rudy gulped. The senior manager of mergers and acquisitions had a reputation of not suffering fools lightly. “Mr. Tinder, my email isn’t open. Yet,” he added as he clicked the icon.
Rudy had to read it twice. “Totally Iced agreed to participate in the 12 Sales of Christmas promotion. When did that happen?” He’d promised not to push Kris on business matters after making the initial overture, but surely, she would have mentioned going ahead with the contract.
“Yesterday. I need you to get to the bakery and get the paperwork signed today. The timing is already tight on this, and we need to have them locked in.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll head right over.” He warned Tucker he’d be gone for the rest of the morning and hustled out the door with the papers hot off the printer.
They were definitely warmer than the reception he got at Totally Iced. He’d debated stopping for flowers and went with the impulse. Rudy burst through the door, bouquet in one hand, contract in the other, and congratulated Kris on taking the plunge.
To which she replied, “Are you crazy?”
“What? I was told—head office told me—Totally Iced was on board.”
“Well, we’re not. I spoke to my aunt like I said I would but she didn’t say anything about coming a decision. You promised me no pressure.” The friendly look in her eyes from when she first spotted him had burned off in the fire he saw now. She was not pleased with him.
“It’s not my fault,” Rudy protested.
“I told you Marie and I couldn’t possibly handle this order on such short notice.” The bell over the front door jingled but neither of them loo
ked up. “Who said we were going to do this? I’d like to talk to them.”
“I did.” Their attention turned to the woman standing at the front door. Vivian Singleton, holding a briefcase, frowned at her niece and smiled at him. “Mr. Gillespie, we’d be pleased to sign that contract.”
“Excuse me?” they both said to the newcomer at the same time.
“Mr. John Tinder at North Pole Unlimited contacted me. We discussed renewing our contract and the new promotion, and I said we would participate.”
“Aunt Vivian!”
“Perhaps I should excuse myself from this conversation,” Rudy offered. He didn’t want to step into the middle of a family spat.
“That’s not necessary, Rudy.”
He handed the contract to Vivian. “Please don’t shoot the messenger,” he said.
Vivian set her briefcase on the floor. “I’m sorry you found out like this, Kris. I was on my way over to discuss it with you. First of all, I saw my doctor yesterday. He said I can come back to work part-time.”
“That’s wonderful!”
It was. Rudy knew how worried Kris had been about her aunt, even while she said all the comforting phrases about her recovery. He was glad, too. He liked Vivian.
“Obviously, I can’t return to the manager position yet, even if you do let me sit at your desk when I come to visit.”
“It’s still your desk. I’m just here temporarily.”
“That’s another thing. If I come back part-time, and I bring in a couple other part-time people to concentrate strictly on the North Pole Unlimited order, I know we can knock it out by the end of the month.”
From the look on Kris’s face, Rudy knew she thought her aunt’s plans were optimistic at best. But it wasn’t his place to say anything. His job was to return to the office with a signed contract or face the wrath of Mr. Tinder. Or worse, Jilly Lewis.
Kris made her argument anyway. “But we still have to hire people and order supplies. All of that takes time we don’t have.”
“I’ve already made some calls. I had student applications on file. My two top picks will be starting with me tomorrow.”