Dear Santa

by Nancy Naigle

  Thanks,

  Cole

  Geoff drove over to the pier and ate an early lunch at Garvy’s at a window table. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken time to sit and enjoy the view over lunch.

  Three local fishermen bragged about their daily hauls at the counter across the way.

  Geoff took a last bite of the fresh-caught rockfish. He wondered if this fish had been caught by one of those loud fishermen at the counter.

  “Here’s your to-go order,” the waitress said. “I sure hope your mom is feeling better soon.”

  “She’s feeling pretty good. Giving those nurses a run for their money, I hear.”

  The waitress laughed. “No doubt. That’s a good sign.” She tore the check from her pad and laid it down on the table. “Garvy said the fish for your momma is on the house.”

  “He didn’t have to do that.”

  She smiled. “You know how he is. He loves his customers like family. This is his way of letting her know he cares.”

  “Thank you. I’ll let her know.” He placed a twenty on the table, and headed for the hospital.

  When he walked into his mother’s room, she was sleeping. He laid his jacket over the chair, then placed the lunch bag on her bedside table with the book from her house.

  Rather than take a chance on waking her, he walked down the hall to get a bottle of water from the vending machine in the waiting area.

  Families huddled together in the waiting room looking tired and worried. The mood was contagious. His dipped immediately. He swiped his card on the vending machine and pressed the button for the four-dollar bottle of water. He noticed a woman crying in the corner of the room. She looked so alone. He turned back to the machine and bought another water.

  On his way out, he stopped and handed the woman one of the bottles of water. “Here. Maybe this will help.”

  She looked up with red-rimmed eyes.

  It almost hurt him to look at them.

  “Thank you,” she said, accepting the small token.

  He laid a hand on her shoulder, wishing for the right words to offer comfort. Nothing came to him, though.

  He walked out of the room thinking he needed to be counting his blessings.

  When he walked back into his mother’s room she was awake.

  “I saw your jacket. Wondered if I’d slept right through your visit.”

  “No way.” He lifted the bottle of water and took a sip. “You need your rest. I’d have waited.”

  “All I’ve done is rest for days now. This is getting old.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” His mom hated sitting still. “It hasn’t been that long. Just relax.”

  “You’re right. I should be grateful I feel well enough to complain.”

  “That’s more like it.” He pulled the chair over. “I have a question for you.”

  She muted the television. “I’m a captive audience. Fire away.”

  “Do you ever regret not taking more time for yourself? I mean, we haven’t vacationed in years. We used to when I was a kid. Good vacations.”

  She didn’t hesitate. “A week ago I’d have said no. No regrets. At all. I love spending my time continuing to improve the store and meeting our customers. I like feeling like I’m making a difference in our employees’ lives. It’s satisfying.”

  “We do. Our staff always comes first. I’m proud of that.”

  “As a single mom starting out I know firsthand how important it is to have a place to work where you feel secure, and to be a part of something good.”

  “I’m glad you taught me that,” he said, and he meant it.

  “But…” She shifted the covers on her lap. “Don’t thank me for that. That came with a price, and I do have regrets now. Life suddenly feels very fragile. It can be taken from us at any time. With no notice,” she said. Her voice sounded strangely soft. Hesitant.

  “Don’t say that.”

  “But it’s true. We really need to keep our priorities straight, and that doesn’t just mean business. There’s so much more. Community. Friends. Family. And you asked about vacations. Yes, absolutely vacations. This country is gorgeous. I should have continued our vacation adventures. Those were fun, and boy, did I appreciate how beautiful our country is when we traveled across it.”

  “There’s a lot to see.”

  “There is. We need to find balance. I’ve done a poor job of that, son. I was not a good example. I’m sorry.”

  Had she and Virgil been discussing this? “Don’t ever apologize to me, Mom. You’ve given me a wonderful life.”

  She patted his hand. “I’m very proud of you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I don’t say that enough. And Virgil’s right. I’ve tainted your image of family. Of love. Seriously, how many men in their early thirties these days have never been married?”

  Looking for a way to lighten the mood, he said, “That sounds like a Family Feud poll. I have no idea what the answer is, but on the bright side, it’s good to be a man who has never been divorced.”

  “Now, that’s true.” His mother laughed. A good hearty laugh. “That makes me proud too.”

  He relaxed a little. “Do you know how good it makes me feel to see you smile? To hear you laugh?”

  “I’m sorry I scared you. Scared me too, truth be told, but I’m going to be okay.”

  “You promise?”

  “I do. For now. I’ll follow the doctor’s orders. I don’t plan to die anytime soon.”

  “Good, but can I say something?”

  “I’m sure you will no matter what I say.” Her eyes twinkled mischievously.

  “I just wanted to say that it makes perfect sense to me that you wanted to come back here. Even be buried here, since this is where you met your one true love.”

  “Your father,” she added.

  “Yeah, that takes more getting used to. I just wanted to say that it doesn’t really matter why you didn’t tell me. That’s behind us, but I do understand why you wanted to spend more time here in Pleasant Sands.”

  “Thank you, son.”

  “I’m interested in learning more about the town. Maybe even my father, down the road.” In an odd way, even though she’d withheld important information from him, he felt an even stronger connection to her right now.

  “Thank you for understanding.”

  “No more secrets,” he said.

  She raised her hand. “I promise.”

  He’d be happy when she was finally cleared to go home. “Good, and I’ll cover those Dear Santa letters as long as you need me to. The top priority is getting you well. Then, a vacation.”

  “Sounds like a deal.”

  “Lunch is on Garvy today. I brought you your favorite.”

  “The rockfish?”

  He nodded.

  “Thank goodness. A real meal. They could use a better chef at this place.”

  “Oh!” He tugged the store reports out of his jacket pocket. “I almost forgot. I brought you these, and this book was on your patio.”

  “Thank you. Oh goodness, the weather did a number on those pages, didn’t it?” She fanned the pages. “Still readable. No problem. Thanks for rescuing it for me.”

  “You’re welcome.” Geoff turned to leave, then stopped. “One other thing. If you’d lost Christmas Galore, if sales dropped and you were forced to close, what would you have done with your life?”

  “Is the store in some kind of trouble?” Her lips pulled into a tight line, creases forming across her forehead.

  “No. Not at all.” He rushed to explain. “Things are great. You saw the reports. It’s just hypothetical.”

  She glanced down at the numbers again, looking relieved. “In that case, after I had a complete and utter breakdown, because losing it would be like losing me.… After that…” She raised a finger to her lips. “Gosh, that’s not something I ever even considered. I guess I’d have worked in a boutique shop on a beach somewhere. I like people. I love the beach. At least working for som
eone else we’d have had more time to do other things besides just work.”

  He nodded. That’s what he’d thought.

  “Now, don’t ever make me think about that again. That’s just not nice.”

  “I promise.” He blew her a kiss. “Be kind to the nurses. Be a patient patient.”

  “I’m trying,” she said, raising her hand in a wave.

  Geoff walked out of his mother’s room to the elevator.

  “Excuse me,” a woman’s voice came from behind him. “Sir?”

  He turned to see the woman from the waiting area. The one he’d given the bottle of water to. “Hi. Yes?”

  “I just wanted to thank you. For the water.” She walked closer. “No. Not the water, really, but for taking a moment to notice. I appreciate your kindness. That was really nice of you.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “I just wanted to let you know that I intend to pay that forward.”

  “I’m glad it helped.”

  She nodded, then turned and walked away.

  Taking a moment. That’s honestly all it was. But how many moments had he really ever taken for others? Selfless acts of kindness: underrated. For sure. He’d do better with that going forward.

  On the way home he passed the shopping center near his house. The last time he’d been there he’d been having lunch with Virgil and rescued Angela from the locked bathroom.

  That had been a peculiar incident. If he could just stay out of her path things would be a lot easier.

  Back at the office, the response to the last Dear Santa letter Anita C. Miracle had written came to him.

  He ran up the stairs to his office and pulled up the Dear Santa portal. He had to hunt around for a minute to remember where he’d seen that letter since it wasn’t part of the queue. A moment of panic struck. Had he lost it? He should’ve forwarded it to his personal email.

  Finally, he clicked on the dashboard and saw the lonely number 1 with a hyperlink over the folder RESPONSES REQUIRING FOLLOW-UP.

  He let out a long breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

  What was Anita like? Would his advice even matter? Couldn’t hurt.

  He drafted the note start to finish without even a pause. Just stream of consciousness, sharing his thoughts with someone he’d never meet.

  Dear Anita,

  You might be surprised to find that this note is not a product of a fancy autoresponder, although they certainly do exist. To further prove it, I’m taking this letter off of the Dear Santa email to a personal one.

  I’m sorry to hear that your business is struggling. If something happened to my family business, I would feel the same way. I’m sorry you’re going through that.

  Keep believing, and don’t be surprised if there is snow in Pleasant Sands this Christmas. Maybe even a bucket of shells under your tree on Christmas morning.

  Embrace the magic of the season.

  Merry Christmas,

  from the guy formerly known as Santa

  He reread the letter, then changed the email from the portal address to one he used for personal correspondence, and hit send before he chickened out.

  No sooner had he hit that button, a whistle came from his phone.

  He jumped and grabbed his phone. It was just a text from Chandler.

  “Hey, Chandler,” Geoff said when Chandler answered on the first ring.

  “I’ve called you, like, four times.”

  “Sorry. I forgot to turn the ringer back on my phone when I left the hospital this afternoon. What’s up?”

  “I wondered what was going on. You had me worried. It’s not like you to not answer.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Where are you? Did you forget? Tonight is the Pleasant Sands Merchant Group meeting.”

  Geoff jumped from his chair, closing his laptop and shoving it into his briefcase all in one motion. “Sorry. I haven’t even looked at my calendar today. I completely forgot.”

  “You need to be here,” Chandler said. “It’s their holiday celebration. It’ll look bad for Christmas Galore if you can’t even be bothered to make it to the Christmas party. I’m suave, and quite entertaining, but they want you.”

  “Yeah, that wouldn’t be good. Cover me. I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Is this the meeting at the miniature golf place across from the pier?”

  “Yes. It’s casual. Ditch the suit and look like a neighbor.”

  That irritated Geoff. “Why do you always think you have to give me fashion advice?”

  “Because you look like a suit.”

  “I wear suits. So sue me.” He looked at his jacket hung neatly over the chair.

  “Golf shirt. Something casual for outside,” Chandler said.

  “I’m coming.” He would have to hurry if he wanted to get home to change clothes. He’d completely forgotten about the meeting being tonight.

  He got home and changed in record time, then broke the speed limit getting back over to the meeting.

  The parking lot of Animal Kingdom Mini-Golf was crawling with people, several that he recognized. He was glad he’d taken Chandler’s advice. He definitely would’ve been overdressed in a button-down.

  Geoff walked across the lot straight to Garvy. “Good to see you again. Lunch was great, and thank you again for calling me after Mom’s mishap.” Little did Garvy know that had he not called, Geoff may not have known about it.

  “Scared me to death.” Garvy blanched at the faux pas. “Sorry, didn’t mean that the way it came out.”

  “No worries. I know what you meant. She scared me too.”

  Garvy dragged his hand through his thinning hair. “How is she?”

  “Good.” But he really wasn’t sure. “She’s in good hands over at the hospital. They’re keeping an eye on her.” Admitting she’d been at risk was something he couldn’t give any power. That was too real. And he still wondered if he was getting the whole story. “She’s ready to come home.”

  “Let us know if we can do anything,” Garvy said.

  “We will. Thank you.” Nice of him, but really, what was he going to do? Mom’s condition wasn’t something that could be cured with food. Her voice echoed in his mind: Kindness cures everything.

  If only.

  “Geoff. Hey. You’re here,” Chandler called from near the door.

  “Excuse me,” Geoff said to Garvy, thankful for a reason to get off the topic of Mom’s health. He met Chandler near the door and they went inside.

  “Grab a plate,” Chandler said. “Food’s amazing. Most everyone is playing golf right now, and mingling.”

  Chandler handed Geoff a plate then took one for himself and heaped a mound of macaroni and cheese right in the middle. “This stuff is my kryptonite. I’ve already had two helpings. And the tomato pie? Who ever heard of tomato pie? Must be a Southern thing. It’s my new favorite dish.”

  Geoff bypassed the cheesy side dish and chose instead a few steamed shrimp, and a slice of mahi-mahi with peppers in three colors that looked a little like confetti had been tossed over it.

  “That’s all you’re having?”

  “It’s enough.”

  Geoff followed Chandler out to a table littered with a few empty beer bottles. “Want a beer?” Chandler asked.

  “I’m good.” He looked at the food on his plate, not really hungry, but after the first bite it was so tasty he regretted not piling up his plate too.

  A woman across the way with her back to him looked totally out of place in heels and dress slacks. He should introduce her to Chandler. She could’ve used the fashion advice memo from him too. Or maybe he should keep her for himself. Good to know there was someone else that felt the same way he did about attire.

  He popped the last shrimp in his mouth.

  The woman turned, and he almost choked.

  “Whoa there, boss.” Chandler gave him an exuberant whomp on the back.

  Geoff swallowed, and took a sip of water.

  “You okay?”

  Geoff n
odded. “Come on. Let’s putt.” He walked over to the counter and selected a putter. Chandler’s chair screeched as he pushed away from the table and raced to catch up.

  With a red golf ball bearing the Pleasant Sands town logo on it in his hand, Geoff headed for the first mat, bouncing it as he walked.

  Of all the women in this town, just his luck he’d be attracted to this one.

  Chapter Nineteen

  DID YOU KNOW?

  Kite Peak Park, one of Pleasant Sands’ most visited attractions, is just 426 acres in area, but features the second tallest active sand dune system in the Eastern United States, second only to Jockey’s Ridge State Park.

  Angela stood at the one of the tall four-topper tables that had been set up around the arcade at Animal Kingdom Mini-Golf. Scott Marshall had offered up his location for the annual holiday party of the Pleasant Sands Merchant Group this year and it really had worked out nicely, especially since the weather had cooperated.

  Marie sipped a glass of wine, her third since Angela had gotten there. Angela had a strict no-drinking policy at business-related events. Although considering the fate of her business, this was only a borderline business event for her. She felt like a big fat fraud here tonight, knowing the store was closing. She lifted a highball glass of tonic with a lime to her lips. Never hurt to look the part, and she didn’t need a drink to have fun.

  Marie waved to someone across the way, then leaned in toward Angela. “I’m glad you decided to come tonight. Just because Heart of Christmas is closing, which, by the way, you are going to have to announce eventually, you’ll always be a part of this business community. You know that, right?”

  “I’m sad that I have to close, but I’ve decided I’m just going to trust that everything will be all right.”

  “I’m proud of you, sis.” Marie raised her glass of wine toward Angela, then took another sip.

  “Thank you.” She looked around at the people in the room. Most of them were retailers. Owners of stores, restaurants, hotels and gift shops. “Don’t you think it’s funny that we’re having a holiday mixer night during peak retail hours? You’d think the Merchant Group would know better than to book this the week after Thanksgiving. We’re busy. Everyone’s probably exhausted after one of the biggest weeks of the year.”