A warm smile spread across Kyle’s face. “Kris.”
“Splendid, you two know each other.” Santa rose to his feet. “This couldn’t have worked out better.”
Kris couldn’t take her eyes from her former boyfriend. Her former friend. Her former business partner. Her former love. The very same man who broke her heart. She sat in stunned silence and watched as her family introduced themselves to Kyle as if he were a visiting celebrity.
When Kyle made his way over to her, Kris stood. But before she could string together four coherent words, he leaned down and kissed her cheek.
“I missed you,” he whispered so that only she could hear.
To her horror, her traitorous heart wanted to return the sentiment but she kept her lips firmly pressed together and simply stared up at him. Kyle looked good. Tanned and relaxed, his hazel eyes sparkled with amusement. Their breakup obviously hadn’t kept him out of the gym because he looked every bit as fit and gorgeous as he always did. He wore a navy blue Nordic print sweater with jeans and boots. His aftershave alluded to a slight hint of pine. Kris’ quickened pulse registered pleasure at seeing him, something she’d rather die than admit.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded in a low voice.
Kyle leaned in closer to her. “Why are we whispering?”
Nick laughed. Kris shot him an annoyed look. She normally loved her cousin’s infectious sense of good humor. But at the moment, not so much.
“Let’s all sit,” Mrs. Claus said. “I’m sure you two have much to catch up on but that will have to wait.” She gave Kris a telling look which said ‘behave’.
Kris suddenly felt about eight years old again. She frowned at Kyle. He winked in response.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Kyle said as he slipped into the only empty chair at the table. “I’m sorry I was late but I wanted to help Rapz and Merri set up dinner in the kitchen. Are you sure I shouldn’t help them serve?”
“No, no, you cooked. That’s quite enough work for one night,” Carol assured him.
Kris plopped into her seat. So Kyle was the reason she hadn’t been allowed to make dinner tonight. Unbelievable. How on earth had he found her here? A better question, how on earth had he wrangled a job out of her uncle? She glanced at Santa. Her uncle looked overly pleased with himself. She took another sip of water. Fine. Let Santa enjoy himself for the one night this farce was going to last.
“What’s for dinner, Kyle?” Nick asked. With his free hand he shook out his napkin and laid it across his lap. “I’m half-starved.”
Kris rolled her eyes. Her cousin may be half-starved but the other half of him was just plain old full of it.
“Nothing fancy, I took a gamble that you all like barbeque. I made glazed country ribs, corn on the cob, cowboy beans, buttered biscuits, and tangy slaw.”
“Bingo!” Santa grinned. “We’ve hit the jackpot.”
“Let’s hope you still say that after you try it,” Kyle replied. “Desert is a double fudge cake with vanilla bean ice cream.”
Kris watched as her family applauded Kyle’s recitation of a menu that was laden with sugar and loaded with fat. “No green salad?”
“I thought the cabbage and shredded carrots in the slaw were a suitable substitute.” Kyle seemed unperturbed by her challenge. “Don’t you remember that we worked on that recipe together?”
A petty part of Kris desperately wanted to deny any such memory but getting a lie past Santa Claus was not an easy task. She was saved from having to respond when Rapz and Merri bustled in from the kitchen with steaming platters.
“Oh, this smells so good. I’m glad I’m eating for two.” Carol heaped a large serving of coleslaw on her plate before handing the serving dish to her father. “Now, Kyle, tell us how you and Kris first met.”
Kris met Kyle’s gaze head on. She wondered if he even remembered. She did as if it were yesterday. They’d been the first two people in line at the grand opening of a new restaurant. While they’d waited for the doors to open, they’d introduced themselves and started chatting. As if it were yesterday, Kris could recall the feeling of utter shock, and delight, that a man so handsome and attractive also shared her passion for food. She glanced down at her plate. Bubba’s BBQ hadn’t lasted long in their neighborhood, but meeting Kyle had been the start of something incredibly special. Or so she’d thought.
“Do you want to tell them, Kris, or should I?”
Kris looked up and felt that old familiar catch of her breath when she looked into Kyle’s eyes. She took a quick sip of water and then a deep breath, hoping her voice would sound normal. It wouldn’t do at all to let him see how much his presence affected her. “By all means, go ahead.”
Kyle smiled at her and then turned to the others. “There was a new restaurant opening in the neighborhood we both lived in…”
Kris sat back and listened, all the while desperately trying to resist the lure of Kyle’s voice. It was deep, rich and, to her, irresistible. Just get through dinner, she told herself, because when he was done talking, and their delicious but decadent meal was over, she was going to send Kyle Masterson packing.
Chapter Four
“If you’re sure you don’t want to join us for cake and hot cocoa, then you two kids go off and have some fun.”
Kris looked up at Kyle to see if Santa referring to them as kids bothered him. But he only seemed amused. She sighed. Dinner had been a hit. Correction. Kyle had been a hit at dinner. Carol and Mrs. Claus were somewhere between charmed and smitten, and it was just as easy to see that Saint Nick and Santa liked Kyle too. Great. Add Noelle to the mix and it would be her entire family on Team Kyle.
“I’m far too full for cake,” Kyle told her aunt and uncle. “But if you don’t mind, I would love to have your niece show me around.” He looked down at her. “Why don’t we check out the kitchen, Kris? Maybe work on some menus and even prep what we can for tomorrow’s breakfast? I’d love for it to be as well received as this morning’s was.”
“That was you?” Indignation shot through Kris like a hot arrow. “I don’t believe it.”
“Believe it.” Rapz handed Kris her coat. “Those mashed potatoes dipped in coconut were a great way to start the day. You should definitely let your beau handle breakfast from now on.”
“He’s not my beau,” Kris protested as she shrugged into her coat. “Mashed potatoes rolled in coconut? What were you thinking, Kyle?”
Kyle’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Ah, so you do want to talk menus.”
“I most emphatically do not.” As she turned to leave, Merri reached up and tapped her sleeve. Kris bent down so she could better hear the elf.
“The way this guy can cook, you’d be smart to try and snare him.” Merri winked at her. “That handsome and a talented chef? You can’t ask for more, honey.”
Oh, yes she could. She could ask for him to get the heck out of Dodge on the very first sleigh departing at daybreak. As they crunched along the snowy path that led back to the main Christmas Central buildings, Kris refused to answer Kyle’s questions with more than a one word answer, nor would she look at him. Until he stopped walking, put his hands on her shoulders, and gently turned her toward him.
“I know you’re caught off guard to find that I’m here, Kris.” His warm breath made little clouds in the cold night air. “But aren’t you even a little pleased to see me?”
She was. That was probably the part that bothered her the most. It was also the part they weren’t going to talk about. “Kyle, what are you doing at the North Pole?”
“I was worried about you. And I missed you and Noelle.” Kyle’s expression was earnest. “I know you said you needed space, Kris, and I tried to give it to you but I didn’t know that meant that you were going to run away.”
She moved back out of his reach. “I didn’t run away. I came home. There’s a big difference.”
He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. “Is there?”
She looked away. This conv
ersation was so Kyle. He knew her better than anyone else. Their connection had always been strong but right now she cursed his ability to know what she was struggling with. “How did you find us?”
He had the good grace to look sheepish. “Noelle told me.”
“Of course she did.” Kris should have seen that coming. Noelle adored Kyle and Kyle adored her daughter just as much. “And you believed her? Just like that?”
“I’ll admit to being a bit surprised but yeah, when I put two and two together it started to make sense. In all our years together you never said much about where you were from, never admitted to having a family and you went by the name Kristine Kringleson. Mostly though, Noelle just seemed so sure that you were coming up here that I had to believe her.”
“When did you talk to her?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t. She wrote me a letter, about a month ago.”
Kris thought back. She remembered Noelle asking for a stamp, saying she was mailing something to a friend. She hadn’t thought to ask which friend. Knowing how fond Noelle was of Kyle, Kris could easily believe her daughter would write him a letter. However, in Kris’ experience, most adults only thought about Santa Claus in a superficial way. “And you believed her just like that?”
“I did. She’s an honest kid.” Kyle looked around. “Which was a good call, she was right.”
“But how did you actually get here? It’s not like a train just runs through the North Pole.”
“Like the Polar Express? That would have been nice.” Kyle laughed. “I did what everyone else does. I wrote to Santa.”
Kris stared. “You’re joking.”
“Nope. Imagine my surprise when Santa wrote back and informed me that any friend of Kris’ was welcome here anytime. He was good enough to send directions. I have to say, Kris, your uncle is an amazing guy.”
This she had to agree with. “He is. But he doesn’t always see the fine line between being helpful and overstepping.”
Kyle stomped his feet on the hard snow. “I’m freezing out here. Can’t we talk somewhere warmer?”
A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Kris’ lips. She’d forgotten just how cold the arctic air was after being away so long. Kyle’s jacket was woefully inadequate. If they didn’t head in soon, Kyle’s eyelashes were bound to freeze. “Follow me.”
They tromped through the snow until they reached the main Christmas Central building. Once inside, she hesitated. They needed somewhere quiet to talk, a place where there wouldn’t be hundreds of curious elves watching them. Perhaps Santa wouldn’t mind if they used his office.
“Is it always so hectic?” Kyle asked her as they made their way down the main corridor.
Kris motioned for him to stand aside as two towering carts laden with presents trundled past them. “Not always, but it’s close enough to Christmas that we all work in shifts around the clock until after the twenty-sixth.”
“I see. So how do you want to split up our shifts?”
“Kyle Masterson, we are not splitting anything. Not ever again.” She pushed open the wide oak double doors that led into Santa’s office. A few small lamps were on but the atmosphere was too cozy and intimate for her comfort. She switched on the overhead lights. “You’re going back down below.”
“For supplies?” He unzipped his jacket and laid it neatly over a chair. “I’d be happy to. Let’s work on a list.”
“No. You’re going home. To stay. Permanently.”
He shook his head. “Not without you.”
Kris shrugged out of her coat and threw it onto a nearby sofa. She motioned to two wingback chairs by the fireplace. “You might as well warm up. If you catch yourself a cold, I’ll never get rid of you.”
“You certainly know how to make a guy feel welcome.” Kyle’s grinned softened his words. “I’m here, Kris. Let me stay through the holidays and help you. I’m amazed at the size of this place. There are a lot of mouths to feed and I imagine that it’s an all hands on deck situation.”
Kris hesitated. That certainly was true enough. Quite honestly, she’d had several moments since her arrival where she’d felt overwhelmed. But depending on Kyle as her partner was precisely what led to her heartbreak in the first place. Not again. “You can’t stay, Kyle.”
He took a few small logs from the brass bin and tossed them onto the fire before he sat opposite her. He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped in front of him. “Kris, please don’t send me away. It’s not what either of us wants.”
Kris looked down at her hands. She couldn’t continue to look into Kyle’s sincere, caring eyes and still send him away. That much self control she didn’t have. “I came home to build my own life here, Kyle. I want a home for Noelle and myself, a place where we belong, where we’re surrounded by family.”
“I want that too, Kris. I thought that’s what we were working toward.”
Tears pricked the back of her eyes. “I thought so too. Until I found out what you were hiding.”
The snap and crackle of the juniper logs in the fireplace was the only sound for several long moments. It was taking everything Kris had to not give into her heart’s desire and tell Kyle what he wanted to hear. But this was the time to be strong. To focus on what she needed, not what she wanted.
Kyle stood, and instead of tending to the fire as she thought he meant to, he knelt down in front of her chair. He reached for her hands and took them in his. “Kris, we spent so many years together and we were happy. We can be again. Just give me another chance.”
But before she could answer, the double doors to Santa’s office flew open and two dozen female elves filed into the office.
“Here he is, ladies.” Merri waved an arm in Kyle’s direction as if she’d just conjured him up from thin air. “This is the man I told you about. He’s not only a dreamboat, he’s a master chef.”
The cadre of lady elves let out a collective dreamy sigh of pleasure and appreciation.
“Coming through, move aside, hey, watch my toes.” A male elf pushed his way through the crowd until he stood next to Merri. It was Rapz. “Well, I got here just in time.” He frowned at Merri. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Introducing the elfettes to Mr. Masterson.”
Rapz shook his head. “Well, your timing couldn’t be worse.”
Kris met Kyle’s bewildered glance. She shrugged her shoulders. Whatever Rapz meant by that was a mystery to her.
Merri returned Rapz’s frown with one of her own. “What are you talking about?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Rapz climbed up unto a chair and faced the assembled group of elves. He gestured dramatically toward Kris and Kyle. “Kyle is on bended knee. He was just about to propose marriage to our Kris.” He grinned at Kris. “Three cheers for a Christmas wedding!”
The room tilted on its axis and it took Kris several moments to shake off her shock and find her voice. “No, no, that’s not right,” she cried. But her protests were in vain. No one could hear her above the cheers that Rapz was leading.
She allowed Kyle to draw her to her feet. “Do something,” she mouthed. “Please.”
His expression amused, he nodded. He put two fingers to his lips and let out an ear splitting whistle that commanded an immediate silence from the assembled elves. “Okay, let’s straighten this out. Kris and I aren’t engaged.” He cast her a quick sideways glance that she took to clearly mean ‘yet’. “We were just catching up on old times. Nothing more.”
“What’s the matter with marrying our Kris?” one elf called out. The question was immediately seconded by another elf. “Yeah, isn’t she your type?”
Kyle held out his hands. “Whoa, let’s not get carried away. I’d love to marry Kris.”
All eyes turned to Kris. Her cheeks grew warm, and it wasn’t from the heat that the fire place was throwing off. She struggled to find a way to stop the conversation.
Kyle placed a hand on her shoulder. “What I meant was,” he said to the elve
s, “when I’ve earned Kris’ trust and proven to her that I’m the right man for her, then, and only then, will I ask her to marry me. The last thing I want is for her to feel pressure, from any of us.”
Rapz hopped down from the chair he’d been standing on. “You heard the man, get back to work. No sense in standing around gawking and gossiping. Let’s move.” He ushered the elves from the office. His hand on the doorknob, he turned back to face them. “I swear, the way some people gossip.” With a dramatic roll of the eyes, he slipped out of Santa’s office and closed the door behind him.
Kris glanced up at Kyle. Once again, he’d come to her rescue with a strong, steady response. She’d almost forgotten how nice it felt to have his unwavering support. “Thank you. I owe you.”
Kyle grinned. “I’m going to collect while the offer is fresh. I want fourteen days, Kris. That’s it. Just let me stay and help until after Christmas. Work with me, spend time with me, as a coworker and as a friend. That’s all I ask. If you still want me to go at the end of two weeks, I will.”
Kris bit her lip. Her first instinct was to flat out refuse but she could use the help in the kitchen. Even more, she could use the time to prove to both Kyle and to herself that she was really and truly over him. Fourteen days and then she could have the clean break they needed.
“Two weeks, Kyle,” she agreed. “And not a day more.”
Chapter Five
After a night of tossing and turning, Kris was relieved to get into the kitchen early the next morning. She’d kissed a still sleeping Noelle and left a quick note telling her daughter to come to the kitchen once she was awake and dressed.
The one thing that hadn’t kept Kris awake the night before was worry about how Noelle was settling in at the North Pole. Noelle had chattered away happily from the moment Kris picked her up from the pizza party until her head hit the pillow. Her eyes had shone with absolute delight when she talked about her day. She loved the reindeer. She loved Santa and Mrs. Claus. She loved having new cousins to play with. Most of all, she told her mother, she loved the elves. Kris smiled as she made her way down to the main kitchen. Perhaps having the elves for companionship would keep Noelle from asking for a brother or sister.
The Return of Kris Kringle: A Christmas Romantic Comedy Page 3