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6

Grant

T he road beyond my driveway was the only main artery into Pawtree, and beyond, to the bigger cities. It was always one of the first to be plowed. Which meant Sugar’s new winter boots had been delivered the next day.

He put them on immediately.

“They fit perfectly.” He stood up and clomped around the front room. “Thank you, Grant. I’ll be sure to pay you back. I promise.”

“No need.” Did this mean he would want to leave now? And why did my heart burn a little at that thought?

That afternoon, Sugar felt well enough to go for a walk. Velvet was ecstatic and turned circles at the front door, impatient for us to get a move on.

Out in the forest, the snowdrifts slowly melting after the clouds had blown away, everything smelled fresh and pure. The autumn air was cold but almost divine. It quickened me. Making the blood flow. My inner beast wanted to run through the trees and paw at the ground for tidbits of lichen.

Velvet ran ahead of us, tail up and ears back. She loped through the snow with majestic grace.

Sugar came up behind me.

“How are those boots feeling?” I asked.

“Really good. I love them.”

“We won’t go very far,” I promised.

“It’s okay. I like feeling my legs moving. I never want to experience being trapped as a figurine ever again.”

I took him on a little side route and pointed out the hole in the snow under the big fir. The sides had frozen and were mixed with brown dirt. “That’s where Velvet found you.”

Sugar looked down, then up and all around. “However the magic took me, I came through these trees and landed here.”

“Seems so.”

“I remember falling. I remember it felt soft but cold. I turned into my elf self again. I could feel the ice and cold and see the trees. But then everything went dark.” He turned in a circle, arms out. “But why here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe the magic called me to y—” He stopped, swallowing hard as he looked at me. “To Pawtree.”

I knew he had been about to say “you.” Meaning me. The magic had sent him to me.

I wished that was true. But magic couldn’t predict the future. Or find people their mates. Could it? The only magic I knew that was powerful was the magic of the Santa consortium. It was how the myth had grown in human culture, and in carols. He sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows when you’re awake. The Santas had magic we shifters and elves and rare mages could never understand.

But Sugar’s father couldn’t be a Santa. The Santas were leaders and loners. Practically immortal. They took on the role of father to their reindeer teams and elf assistants but had no children of their own. There was no way Sugar’s father was a Santa. Unless?—

He told me he’d been adopted.

My mind reeled. If Sugar landing in my forest was part of Santa magic, this meant much more than a random spell gone wrong.

I said nothing of my revelation. As curious as I was, it wasn’t my place to pry.

After about a half an hour of heavy walking through melting snowdrifts, I led all three of us back home. We cozied up by the fire, had cocoa and popcorn and watched a movie.

I could get used to days off like this.

Sugar fell asleep with his head back on the couch. I must have dozed off, too, because we both woke at the same time with our knees touching. Sugar’s head had fallen onto my shoulder.

He jerked upward.

“Nice nap?” I asked.

He blushed sweetly.

I jumped up. “Time to feed Velvet and make us some dinner.”

Sugar went to his hands and knees on the rug to build up the fire.

As I prepared our meal, my mind kept flashing on everything Sugar. His laughter rang through the forest like a bell. Every smile he’d shown me today now that he was feeling better were like frozen snapshots in my mind. It seemed like a light inside him came on every time let himself enjoy something, despite the pall of the spell that still lay over him.

We ate spaghetti in front of the TV.

“Sno used to make me spaghetti if he knew I was sad or mad.”

“It is definitely comfort food.”

“Yours is delicious. It almost tastes just like his.”

“I’m glad you like my cooking. I don’t do anything fancy.”

“I love it. Which brings me around to another subject.”

My heart fell because I knew what he was about to say.

“I should be leaving. Tomorrow. I have so much to do before Christmas.”

“The spell deadline.”

He nodded. “It’s already November. I don’t have a lot of time. I have to get a job. And I have to start dating or whatever I can do to get a boyfriend.”

“A mate.”

“Huh?”

“You said the spell said find your mate.”

He scratched at the back of his head. “Can falling in love happen fast?”

I stared at him. He drew me in. A light I’d needed I didn’t know I’d been missing. And now he had to go.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I’ve never been in love.”

“But surely there have been, um, people?”

“Sure. I’ve dated. More when I was younger.”

“How old are you?” he asked.

“Only thirty-five.”

“That’s young for a shifter.”

“I know.” I smiled. “I have time.”

He frowned. “I don’t have any time. The spell’s not fair at all.”

“No. It’s not.”

He gifted me with a half-smile. “Thank you for understanding. It’s not fair. But I have to go tomorrow.”

“I’ll drive you into Pawtree whenever you want. It’s a start. But you’ll have nowhere to stay, and the weather will only get colder.”

He frowned. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. It’s like I’m stuck. Do you think I could use your computer?”

“Sure.”

After we did the dishes, I set him up at my desk with my laptop. Velvet and I went to the couch to watch more TV.

When Sugar approached me about twenty minutes later, he was holding one of his I.D. cards in his hand.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” I asked.

“Yes. I remembered my account number and with my I.D. I could access the bank system in Santa’s Village. My account came up and I could see it was working. It didn’t have as much in it as I expected. I’d worked nine weeks at the toy factory. My paychecks went in there. I’d spent some on my lunch breaks, but I still have the rest of that. About four thousand. But I’d been getting a nice allowance from my father for years and never spent it all. I’d been putting that in the account and all of that is gone. But there is four grand. Can I rent some place with that?”

I dismissed the way my body reacted. As if completely let down. I’d known Sugar for two days. He needed to get out into the world and find himself. The spell was making him do it right now, but every kid at nineteen should have that experience. I had no right to my feelings of wanting to keep him here, safe and warm.

I held my voice steady as I spoke. “Yes. I think you can.”

“Can I keep using your computer to see if there is anything for rent in Pawtree?”

“Go ahead. Use it for whatever you need.”

When he was gone, Velvet let out a frustrated humph sound.

“Yeah, I know. It’d be nice if he stayed longer,” I told her.

She curled up next to me on the couch and put her chin on my thigh.

The next morning, Sugar came out of his room wearing his freshly washed red pants and blazer with his white sweater underneath. He looked great, but I cringed. In Pawtree he’d stand out.

He had a piece of notebook paper in his hand.

“There are two studio apartments I want to check out.”

“We need to look into getting you some other clothes,” I said.

He nodded. “I also need a cell phone.”

That four grand of his wasn’t going to last. Of course I wanted to offer to help out, but I didn’t know if the spell would allow it.

We’d already had breakfast so all three of us, Velvet included, headed to the garage.

Velvet sat in the backseat, eager to go.

The snow had mostly melted from my driveway, which had kept me from the hard work of shoveling. Soon, we were on the highway, drifts on either side, making our way to town. As we drove and the tree line of firs thinned, we could see the sky. It was a dark gray. Black on the horizon.

I’d been stupid. I’d forgotten to check the weather. It had been so nice on our walk yesterday; I had taken for granted those clear blue autumn skies.

I switched on the radio. There was some static before I tuned to the weather station.

“… blizzard warning for Pawtree and surrounding county until noon tomorrow. Expected to hit some time after two p.m.”

“Well, shit. That I didn’t see coming.”

Sugar leaned forward and looked up. “There’s no wind.”

“But the sky is black on the horizon if you look between the trees.”

The road curved. More tree cover hid the sky from view, then cleared again.

“Yeah, I see. I know what an incoming blizzard looks like.” Sugar sounded glum.

“We won’t have time to get everything done today. If we’re in Pawtree when it hits, we won’t make it home.”

“I know we have to turn back,” Sugar said. “But you’ve already put up with me for so long.”

“It’s not like that. I enjoy your company. You, me and Velvet can hole up until it passes. There’s a corner market about a mile from here. We’ll stop and get snacks and a few groceries, okay?”

“Do we have a choice?” Sugar smiled when he said that, but I could hear the disappointment in his words.

A few minutes later we were inside the store. He seemed happier when I loaded three different kinds of cookies in our cart, along with other necessities like milk for the cocoa. Even though the blizzard might last a day or two, we managed to fill up the cart, including a big bag of treats for Velvet.

Once we got home and took the groceries in, I wasn’t done. “I’ve got a good store of firewood, but I think I’ll chop some extra.”

Sugar followed me outside, watching as I set the log upright on the block.

“Ever chopped wood before?”

“No.”

“I’ll show you.” I got a few logs done, then handed him the axe. “Now you try.”

He hefted it up. “It’s heavier than it looks.”

“You get used to it.”

His first swing made the log, still intact, go shooting off to the side.

“You don’t have to use brute strength. Let the weight of the axe fall and follow it down.”

He tried again, failing. His hair fell into his eyes. He let the axe head rest on the ground.

“It takes practice, that’s all. Don’t give up.” I gave him a few more pointers on how to stand and swing.

By his fifth try, Sugar buried the axe partway in the wood, but it didn’t split.

“Try again.”

With the log partially split, he sank it all the way through this time.

“You got it!”

He looked at me sheepishly. “Yeah, but I’m not very good at this.”

“You got one split. Just keep trying. That’s all. Keep going until it works.”

He kept trying, but he didn’t seem happy.

“Did you think you’d be perfect first try?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“No one is. Chopping wood is hard and takes skill. But skills are learned. Keep going.”

It was slow work, but we got a lot done. And Sugar was finally feeling better about himself.

“Look at all you accomplished.” I pointed at the woodpile.

“I did all that?”

“I did the first few, but you did the rest.”

Together, we brought the firewood to the porch and stocked up my bin to overflowing. There was more wood stacked against the front wall. We were set for much longer than one blizzard. I hadn’t really needed more but doing that activity together had been fun. Plus, Sugar needed to build some self-esteem. He was capable of a lot more than he thought of himself.

As he went inside, the wind had kicked up, chasing itself around the eaves, getting strong enough to pick up and rearrange the snow on the ground.

“I’ll build up the fire. You can have the first shower,” I said.

“Is it too early for dinner? I’m starved.”

“Well, we sort of skipped lunch. Let’s do dinner early.”

“Thanks, Grant.”

I looked up at him. “For what? You just chopped a bunch of wood for me. I got to watch.”

“I mean, for everything. Really. I’m so grateful. And I really like it here. Thank you so much for letting me stay.” He turned and headed for the bathroom.

My chest and stomach filled with warmth as I watched him go.