Page 11

10

Grant

I stomped the ice off my boots as I walked up the porch steps.

Sugar and Velvet sat together waiting for me.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

Sugar shrugged. “My shoulders were hurting,” he mumbled.

“I’ve got Tylenol.” I led Sugar and Velvet inside.

“Before we go, we have time for some lunch, right?” Sugar asked.

“You tell me. You set up the appointments to look at two studios, right?”

Sugar nodded. His head was down. His entire posture defeated, depressed. “We have some time.”

He said he had wanted lunch, but he barely ate any. I knew how he felt. Everything that went into my own mouth tasted like sawdust.

I tried to be light and upbeat. Inside, I was dragging. It was that damned spell. It had Sugar believing in things he didn’t want. And it had me believing right along with him because I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

While he was changing into his freshly washed red suit, I packed a bag for him. I filled an extra backpack with another sweat outfit, along with shorts and a t-shirt. I put in his toothbrush and toothpaste, and one towel and one washcloth. I took the bag into the kitchen and filled it the rest of the way with a pack of cookies, chips, some ramen, and his leftover sandwich he didn’t eat from lunch.

Then I realized he might need bedding. I added the sheet from the couch he’d used one and a half nights. Then I took one of the folded, heavy blankets and one pillow and added them to the pile.

When I handed him the pack at the front door, he looked up at me with big eyes. “What’s that?”

“Your stuff. And some little extras.”

He blinked and took a deep breath.

“You can also keep my extra coat, scarf, cap and mittens.”

“Thank you.” His voice was small.

For this trip, Velvet had to stay home. Sugar spent a long time kneeling on the floor petting her and saying his goodbyes.

His feet dragged as we went into the garage and got into my truck.

Driving to Pawtree on the freshly cleared road took less time than I’d allotted. I drove around town pointing out various landmarks to Sugar. I drove by the steakhouse. The grocery. The little theater. The diner. The ice cream shop. The two coffee houses. The corner bar. Everything looked pretty all frosted in white.

The center of town had a little park with fancy benches and a giant gazebo in the center for festivals during the summer. “That’s pretty, isn’t it?” I asked.

No reply.

We pulled up to the first complex where he had an appointment to tour a studio. The place looked nice enough.

“Come with me?” Sugar asked. Was that his voice shaking?

“Sure thing.”

We walked through a double set of glass doors and met the landlord in his office.

He took us to the second floor and down a long hall.

Sugar was lagging behind me, head down.

The room was small, as expected, the kitchen and living room practically jammed together. The place was empty, no furniture, no bed.

I turned to Sugar.

“I thought you said this one was furnished.”

The landlord overheard. “We have one of those. It’s $500 more. I’ll need first and last.”

Sugar shot me a worried look. We both knew that would add up to almost all the money he had.

“I can help pay,” I said.

“If you two would like to stay here and discuss it, I’ll go grab the keys to the furnished place.”

When he left, Sugar crossed his arms and looked up at me, his face imploring. “I don’t want you to pay. I can take this one.”

It was so bare and sparse. Cold. I hated it. I hated his father right now, too. Whatever he was, a powerful mage or a Santa, I didn’t care. I no longer lived at the North Pole. I didn’t have to respect the Santas or any other magical beings.

“If you take this one, we’ll go shopping right away. I’ll pay. You don’t even have dishes. Or toilet paper.”

There was so much he would need that I’d forgotten to pack for him. I could have done more for him. I wanted to do more.

Sugar stared at the kitchen with its empty cupboards and tiny fridge. At least the fridge looked fairly new.

He looked small even in the little studio, with nothing to call his own, or to make the place his own. He had not taken off his mittens, but I could still see his hands were shaking.

“I’m supposed to do everything myself. Make it work. That’s the deal.”

“Everyone has help at some point. From family. From friends.”

“He sent me here alone. It’s what he demanded.”

“To make your way, yes. But that includes meeting people.”

“Yeah, for that stupid dating part.” Now his voice trembled.

I wanted to go to him, put my arms around him. I didn’t move. “Sugar, you are allowed to accept help.”

“You helped me, Grant. So much. I’m so grateful. But I don’t think that’s what he had in mind when he cast the spell. I’m supposed to be here. Supposed to suffer.”

“Did he say that?”

“I don’t know,” he mumbled. When he looked up again, his eyes were shiny. “You left the North Pole. You came here. You made it. You have your own place, a job, and you know so much.”

“Who said I didn’t have help along the way? Who said I did everything overnight?”

“You didn’t, but I have no time. I have so much to do and not enough time. It’s not fair.”

I watched him begin to really lose it.

Now was the time. I reached out. “Sugar?—”

“I don’t know what to do.”

The tears came then, freely flowing, and the cute elf I’d rescued, and who’d bounced back to become so helpful and eager and efficient to learn everything he could, began to crumble before me.

I moved my arms around him as he slumped forward into my chest. His held-back sobs broke my heart. This wasn’t the Sugar who had cleaned my house when I wasn’t looking, and who fixed lunch and did the dishes. This wasn’t the Sugar who had learned snowshoeing and how to chop firewood with fervor and enthusiasm, and who had listened to me talk endlessly about the land, the forest, the seasons.

I held him tight and patted his back. His entire body shook. Instinctively, one hand cupped the back of his head where the golden hair was soft as silk against my palm.

“It’ll be all right.” I spoke in a whisper against the top of his head. “I promise.”

“Please.” He squeaked out the word.

“You’re all right. You have my word.”

“Please,” he said again. “I don’t want to go.”

“You don’t have to.”

Words muffled against my shirt. “I don’t want to go.”

“I’ve got you.”

He pulled back. His face was pink and wet, his bangs sticking up. “I’m sorry for being such a baby, but I don’t want to leave you and Velvet.” More tears fell.

“It’s okay. You can stay with us. Remember? I invited you.”

He blinked away more tears. “I know, but—” He glanced about the studio.

“You know.” I took a deep breath. “Velvet and I have grown to love you even in this short a time. We don’t want you to go, either.”

“Love me?”

I pressed my lips tight, scrambling to find the right words. “It sounds strange maybe since I did tell you I’m a loner, but I want you to stay. I was glad when the blizzard came.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “I was glad when you came into my bed. It almost felt like I’d been expecting you. Like you belonged.”

“I felt like I belonged. I did.” His breaths had slowed again, though he still sniffled. “Like—like you’re everything I can’t have. Or I’m not supposed to have.”

I smiled to hear this. I had thought maybe he felt as I did. But now I was sure.

“This is all solved if you just come home with me.”

“But the spell. My fathe?—”

I couldn’t wait any longer. Damn the spell. I leaned in and kissed him. Right on the lips.

Sugar froze for about one second before I felt his mouth move as he attempted to kiss me back. Had no one ever kissed this elf before?

I wrapped my arms tighter around him. We were still in our coats. It was hard to get closer. But it was a good kiss. A great kiss. The best ever. My whole body felt it and responded.

When we needed to breathe, I pulled back and kissed his cute elf nose, then his forehead and cheeks and again, his nose. I brought my hand between us and put my fingers under his chin, lifting his face to mine.

“Come home with me. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll make it right if I have to go to the North Pole myself.”

“Grant.” He looked flushed and slightly confused. “That was—you are—” He gulped in a couple of heavy breaths. “Yes, I want to come home with you.”

“Besides, what if the spell dropped you at my place for a reason?” I asked.

“I want that to be true.”

I kissed him again, more a peck this time. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”

“I want to stay.” He inhaled deeply. “My life feels good when I’m with you. I want to stay with you.”

“Then let’s go home. And we’ll figure it all out from there.”

Once again, Sugar glanced about the bare, empty studio. “It doesn’t feel right.” He sounded almost drunk.

I nearly panicked. “What? Coming with me?”

“No. This place. This apartment. It’s all wrong.”

Just then, the landlord returned. “Got the keys.”

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “We’ve changed our minds. Sorry to waste your time.”

My arm around Sugar’s shoulders, we walked together back to my truck. When we got in, I sat for a few seconds to gather myself.

Sugar fastened his seatbelt, staring straight ahead.

“Okay.” I breathed out. “We’re doing this.”

“I want to. I want to be with you.” His voice came out low and sweet.

“No second thoughts?”

He shook his head. His eyes were shiny again, but this time from happiness. “Most people date before they move in together, right?” he asked.

I chuckled. “Maybe. But maybe also not everyone.”

“We could go on dates around your yard. With Velvet. Like snowshoeing again.”

“You liked that?”

“So much.” Again, the breathy tone.

“We can do that.”

“And I’ll work. I’ll chop wood and do the dishes and wash the windows.”

“Hold on. You’re moving fast.”

He went on as if not interrupted. “And you can teach me about the land. What you know. It’s how I want to live my life.”

“It’s what I want, too,” I replied.

I started up the truck. We made a stop at the store for groceries. Then I had an idea.

“Let’s start the date thing now.”

“What do you mean?”

I pulled into the pizza parlor parking lot. “I’m taking you on a date. Here.”

Sugar looked up at the restaurant. “Really?”

“Yep. It’s cold enough that the milk and eggs and butter will be fine.”

“And the ice cream,” Sugar added helpfully.

“And that, too.”

“Oh boy. Pizza! Can we have mushrooms on it? And onions?

“Sure.”

“Can I have root beer?”

“Of course. That goes very well with pizza.”

He got a funny look on his face. “But what about Velvet?”

“She’s fine. We’ll be home soon enough.”

“Grant?”

“Yes.”

“Do people only kiss after a date? Or before, too?”

Without a word, I leaned over to him and kissed him hard. He pushed into it eagerly.

When I was finished tasting his sweet elf lips, my skin growing warmer and warmer, I replied, “Both.”