Page 155 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

“I have to say,”

Lisa commented, looking Wyn over from head to toe.

“you do make one fine elf.”

Wyn sighed and fiddled with her hair in the bathroom mirror, making contact with Lisa behind her in the reflection. Her cheeks were big red circles and her eyeliner was over the top but she had to admit, the elf look wasn’t half bad. All she had to do now was get her hat in place and figure out how to make the pointy ears stick.

“Let’s just hope I’m a convincing elf. You know, kids and parents can be picky. At least that’s what they said in Elf Orientation this morning.”

Lisa shrugged.

“I’m sure you will be fine. Have you met Santa yet?”

“Briefly.”

She pulled the elf hat with the curlicue top over her head and attempted to bobby pin it into place.

“He was there when I interviewed, and then later at the orientation. Well, one of them. There are three Santas and three elves and we take shifts. Hopefully the kids aren’t repeat customers and realize the differences.”

“Kids notice everything.”

“Kids are a pain.”

“You’ll be a great mom one day.”

Wyn snorted and ignored the statement.

“This damn swirly thing and the jingle bell are going to be the bane of my existence.”

She swatted the pointy end of the hat out of the way.

Lisa laughed.

“Do you get to keep the outfit if you get fired?”

Whirling back to face her, Wyn said.

“I am not getting fired. I will keep this job.”

“You said that yesterday before you went for the nanny interview.”

“Interview. Ha! That was a fiasco and disaster waiting to happen.”

She looked into the mirror again, gave the hat one final adjustment, added another bobby pin, and glanced at Lisa.

“You should have seen those kids. Little heathens, that’s what they were.”

“But he was cute?”

Wyn grimaced and caught Lisa’s eye.

“Cute? Who?”

“The dad.”

She faced her roommate.

“What? Why would you say that and what does it matter? He’s off limits. He’s…”

She bit her lip. Oh hell, she might was well tell her.

“Lisa, he was Rob Black. The new casting director at Actor’s. No way could I stay there. Besides, those children…”

“But he was cute.”

Wyn rolled her eyes.

“Well, of course he was attractive! He’s Rob Black! Don’t you ever read the celebrity news?”

Shrugging, Lisa responded with.

“No, not really. Not my thing, Wyn. So is that why you left?”

“In a nutshell? Yes! How could I work for the man who dismissed me so off-handedly just a few days before? Hell, if he ever found out who I was, and that I wasn’t really a nanny but actually an actor, he’d only assume that I was there to get closer to him to get roll in the play. No way could I stay.”

“And he’s cute.”

“Of course he’s cute!”

“But you weren’t attracted to him.”

“Geez, Lisa. I was only there an hour. Maybe a little more. How can one develop an attraction for someone so quickly? Ridiculous.”

She glanced to her makeup on the sink. Where was Lisa going with this.

“Why are you asking me that, anyway? You’ve asked like three times already.”

Lisa grinned.

“Because you were babbling in your sleep last night about a cute guy with a high, tight butt.”

Horrified, Wyn turned toward her friend.

“I did not.”

Lisa shrugged.

“Well, you can deny it if you want but you were talking in your sleep and I could hear you.”

“I had a nightmare,”

Wyn said quickly, turning back to the mirror.

“Had nothing to do with his cute tight ass.”

“Ha! So he is cute and you were attracted to him!”

Wyn didn’t respond but pretended to touch up her eyeliner.

“I need to finish up here and get downtown.”

“Whatever you say, Elfie. I believe you.”

Wyn glanced back to Lisa.

“You say that with sarcasm.”

“As intended.”

She smiled.

“So I hear they’ve moved Santa to the Harbor Falls Downtown Mall this year?”

“Yes. Eliza Kelly and her new marketing committee have really been working hard. Bringing in business to downtown is important, so it feels good, in a way, to be contributing.”

Lisa turned away gave her a wave.

“Well, this job should turn out better than the last. Look, I have to get to Dee’s so I’ll check in with you later. Have a good time with Santa. Oh, and all of those snotty-nosed kids…”

Lisa left and Wyn sank into a sitting position on the side of the tub. The past twenty-four hours was a whirlwind and she wasn’t quite sure what to think about any of it.

Truth is, the first thing she thought about when she woke this morning was the damn dream she’d had—which was not really a nightmare at all, but rather a pleasant dream of the kids and Rob and all of them in that house. It was a mish-mash of events and activities, although none of them, to her remembrance, included Rob’s high and tight butt.

Then, once she was more fully awake, she thought about little Mia. Poor little girl in the midst of all of that testosterone. She had wondered the rest of the day yesterday whether Rob had gotten her properly cleaned up and fed. And the boys? Had he reined them in enough to get them settled and fed? Little Justin’s face caught her unaware and she had to giggle at his reaction when she called him mustard.

And what about Ham and Cheese, er Chaz? They were terrors but cute.

She bet, behind all that naughtiness, they missed their mom a little bit. Wait. Rob wasn’t married but the kids surely had a mom, right? And what about their real dad? This was all too confusing. Especially with Christmas coming, maybe that’s why they were acting up.

No Wyn. Stop thinking about it.

She blew out a breath, stood, and stared at her elfiness in the mirror. Not her problem. None of it. Those kids were not her responsibility and she shouldn’t even think about them.

She needed to put yesterday out of her mind and get to the Downtown Mall in thirty minutes.

****

“But Nana said she was going to take us,”

Chaz wailed.

Rob glanced in the rearview mirror of his brother’s SUV and caught eyes with the child.

“But Nana obviously forgot with all that was going on and now she’s away on her vacation and we don’t have time to do that today, Chaz.”

The boy wrinkled his nose and his upper lip. “No fair!”

he yelled.

Ham interrupted.

“Nana did say she would take us, Uncle Rob. She promised and even told Mommy and Daddy that she would make sure we saw him.”

Rob looked to his right at Ham, the generally more logical of the twins.

“I understand that Ham.”

He turned onto North Main and searched for a parking spot.

“For crying out loud is everyone shopping today?”

All he needed was socks and underwear for the kids. He didn’t know where all of theirs had disappeared to. Maybe they were all at Nana’s. He shook his head at that thought. His mother was in a darned hurry to get out of town and on that cruise. Could he blame her? She was no more used to taking care of four children than he was.

“So are we going, Uncle Rob? Nana said…”

“Ham, we don’t have time. Your school Christmas play is in one hour and right now, neither of you have on underwear or socks under your reindeer pants and I’ll be damned if I’m letting you get up on that stage going commando.”

“Commando?”

Chaz laughed.

“What is commando?”

Ham looked at his younger twin in the back seat.

“Naked under your pants, dummy.”

“Oh! I like commando!”

Rob whispered to himself.

“I bet you do.”

He circled the downtown mall and spotted a potential open spot at the corner of Main and Maple. Someone was leaving. He headed that way.

“So look guys, we’re only after underwear and socks and then we’re going straight to the school.

“Stwaight to da school,”

Justin mimicked.

“That’s right.”

Mia gasped a baby giggle in response. Rob glanced at her in the baby car seat and smiled. That little girl sure did have his heart. What a twist his life had become. Driving his brother’s SUV with kids in tow down small town streets sure was a lot different from cruising his sports car down a California highway.

The parking spot opened up and Rob quickly pulled in.

Turned out, that was the easiest part of accessing the mall. With two eight-year-olds walking beside him, Justin holding onto his right hand, and Mia cradled in his left arm, they headed toward the old downtown buildings and entered.

When he was a kid, he had always liked coming downtown at Christmastime. Harbor Falls played up Christmas right and the shop owners still showcased Christmas displays that drew in customers from miles around. He remembered coming to the old Miles’ Department Store when he was younger to see Santa. His mom always outdid herself at Christmas. Tree, gifts, the whole nine yards. Miles’ Department store was long gone but he was impressed with how the downtown merchants had banded together to keep the shopping area vibrant. The new Harbor Falls Downtown Mall was a conglomeration of three older, side-by-side buildings, now converted into a two-story connected mall with all kinds of shops. He just hoped one of them had underwear.

Rob glanced to the kids. Would they remember this Christmas as anything special with their parents away? Somehow, he had to make sure they had the best Christmas ever this year.

Inside the main entrance, Rob’s head spun with the craziness of the season. Bell ringers. Christmas carols. Flashing lights. He put his head down and made his way through the throng of people. Perfume sprayers. Animated Christmas decorations. Pushing people. He stopped briefly and took stock. One, two, three, four children, all still with him. Good.

He glanced to a sales clerk.

“Where can I find a children’s shop?”

“What do you need specifically? There is a toyshop here on the first floor. Clothing on the second.”

She pointed to his left.

“Shoes on three. The escalator is over there. If you need baby things…”

“Clothing. Boys.”

Rob nodded.

“I think that will do us.”

Chaz pulled at his jacket sleeve.

“Let’s look at the toys first, Uncle Rob. Santa might be there.”

“No, Chaz. Clothing.”

He looked to the woman again.

“Which direction again?”

Chaz kept pulling on his jacket.

She pointed.

“To your left. Up one floor and around the corner. There is a shop called Piccadilly and it should work for you.”

Rob grimaced. Piccadilly.

“They have boy’s underwear there?”

The woman nodded and smiled.

“I’m sure they do.”

“Great.”

He looked at his crew.

“Follow me.”

He led his charges toward the escalator. All the while, Chaz yanked on his jacket.

“But Uncle Rob. He’s right here in the mall. I’m sure of it. Can’t we just see him real quick?”

Rob stopped short of the escalator.

“No Chaz! We don’t have time. We have to find you underwear and…”

Justin let go of Rob’s hand and ran. “Santa!”

“Ah hells bells. Get him Ham!”

The older twin took off after the three-year-old who was running lickety-split toward the North Pole display. Chaz chased Ham. And Rob followed them all as fast as he could with Mia wobbling about in his arms. All five of them ran straight toward a big red Santa chair—complete with the bearded old elf—strategically situated in front of the toy store.

Justin jumped up and down.

“See! See! It’s Santa! It’s Santaaaa!”

Chaz whirled in front of Rob.

“I told you so! I told you so! It won’t take long, Uncle Rob. There isn’t even a line. He just opened up! Let’s go see him now before…”

But Rob wasn’t paying much attention to the boy. Or Santa. The lovely elf standing beside the jolly old elf had caught his attention.

He squinted.

“Miss Wyn?”

Chaz turned and dropped his jaw.

“Miss Wyn is an elf! Wow! I thought she was a nanny!”

Rob forgot about underwear and approached Santa’s elf.

“Miss Wyn, is that you?”

She cleared her throat and glanced off.

“I’m on duty. I can’t talk now.”

“You can talk if we’re customers, right?”

She stared. “Maybe.”

“Get in line, boys. We’re going to go see Santa.”

“Yay!”

The children chimed.

“C’mon up here.”

Santa motioned to Justin.

Rob glanced to the smallest boy and then to his brothers.

“Go with him. I’m talking to the elf.”

“I have to do my job,”

she said.

“I need to help Santa with the boys.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Miss Wyn rolled her eyes. She helped Justin up onto Santa’s lap.

“Santa wants to know everything you want for Christmas. Can you tell him Justin?”

Rob watched his nephew beam.

“Yes! I want a…”

He chattered on.

Rob turned his attention to Miss Wyn.

“You really have a way with children.”

She shook her head.

“No. No I don’t. This is just a job.”

“You’re good with these kids. I’ve seen how you are. I wouldn’t have hired your otherwise.”

Miss Wyn avoided looking at him.

“They are good kids.”

“They’re little monsters.”

He chuckled.

Miss Wyn looked back to him sharply and laughed.

“Well, yes.”

Rob paused for a moment. They watched Justin slide off Santa’s lap and Chaz take his place. Ham grasped Justin’s hand and they watched while Chaz rattled off his list. Then he turned back to the elf.

“Please come back. We need you. I need you. No, we need…”

She held his gaze for a moment and put up a hand.

“No. I have another job.”

“This? I’ll double your salary. Please?”

She hesitated.

“No. I’m not the right person.”

“You are exactly the right person.”

“Your kids are a handful.”

“You saw them on a bad day. Really, they are sweet kids. I know it wasn’t a good scene yesterday but please, give us a second chance?”

She shook her head.

“No. I don’t think so. You don’t understand….”

At that moment, Mia reached out, grasped a tendril of Miss Wyn’s long hair, and tugged. She gave the elf a soggy, slobbery smile and gooed a couple of times. Rob watched Miss Wyn’s hardened face soften a little as she looked into Mia’s smiling face. The baby turned in Rob’s arms and reached for Wyn.

The elf hesitated only slightly then took Mia. He watched her arms fold around the baby and hug her tight. Wyn whispered something against Mia’s forehead then turned to Rob.

“I’ll watch her while you stay with the boys and Santa.”

Rob smiled and she grinned back.

“What time do you get off work?”

“Eight o’clock.”

“Should I pick you up here or at your place?”

Miss Wyn sighed.

“I can be at your place around nine.”