Page 47 of Run, Run Rudolph (Fairy Godmothers and Other Fiascos #2)

~ Tamara ~

O nce Justin confirmed that it was okay for us to be in his store as long as I baked him one of my chocolate cakes, Stacy and the new officer let us go. But not before watching Haden send payment to Justin. Once again, Haden refused to let me pay.

It was charming, but a bit old-fashioned. Since it was my fiasco, I thought it was unfair that he was the one paying for everything. A small part of me wondered if, deep down, he still saw me as tiny Tamara, in need of rescue.

His remarks about my wishing our way out of our scrape with the police had made me a little grumpy, too.

We both knew Justin wasn’t going to send us to jail.

And while Haden didn’t understand the complications and cost that came with having a fairy godmother, I was too tired to take it all in stride.

Especially since a part of me worried that I was falling too fast, too hard, and by daybreak, I’d somehow be without him in my life.

Like this magical night with him was just that—magic.

And magic was dangerous. If I wished this messy night away, what else would I be wishing away? Haden and our kisses? Because if I hadn’t hit Rudolph, there would be no Haden in my barn, and then no kissing. We’d still be avoiding each other like before tonight.

And even if I wished tonight’s mess away, with a plan to woo Haden tomorrow, since I now understood he had feelings for me, would I even remember come morning?

Neither of us knew how we got to the hardware store, and yet Haden’s truck had been waiting for us outside.

Was that a bit of magic that had placed the vehicle there, or had we driven here without memory of it, thanks to the magical weaving of time to make my wish happen?

Too many questions, too many risks.

Haden drove us away from the store, and down the alley, the truck bouncing and jiggling in the dark gulley between buildings as we went from one snowy pothole to the next.

From above, a blip of red—a glowing cigarette—burned above the insurance agency. Lady MacBeth. Would she remember tonight? How long would it take for the juicy story of Haden and me being busted by the police to circulate?

On the bright side, it might distract people from trying to solve whose stag party we’d been shopping for. In a small town like Eagle Ridge, everyone knew everyone. And the topic of marriage? Well, that would get everyone talking.

Haden’s truck pushed through the deep snow on the unplowed country roads. As we drew closer to my farm—as well as the fight I’d wished us away from—a feeling of dread settled in the pit of my gut.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go back,” I said. When I’d made my wish, what else had been set in motion? What consequences might we face if we returned? And how would Mrs. Claus feel about us slipping from her grasp?

Haden took his foot off the gas pedal, and I felt the truck slow as it got bogged down in the fresh snow.

“You want me to pull a U-ey at the correction line?”

I bit my bottom lip, debating if I wanted him to turn us around at the upcoming T-intersection. A feeling of responsibility crept into my brain, refusing to release its prisoner.

“No. It doesn’t feel right to bail on the reindeer or Santa. Or that poor fixer elf.”

“I guess if things go south, you can always wish us out of there again,” Haden said hesitantly. I could hear the trace of thrill in his voice, like when he’d first met Rudolph. He was loving all this magic stuff. Maybe a little too much.

Again, my brain prodded me with the thought that the magic of tonight might be playing a role in his sudden romantic interest in me. What if he found the everyday, sit-at-home-and-read-a-book version of Tamara boring like his brother had?

“Wishes are a last resort,” I said sternly. “There are always consequences.” I nodded firmly, my decision made. “We’ll go check things out, but keep your keys at the ready in case we have to get out fast.”

“Okay.”

Haden turned down my driveway, and the wind let up as the trees lining the gravel trail protected us. The storm was dying.

As we moved toward the barn, I caught sight of a faint red glow. Something was burning. The original sleigh? It looked like it had burned down to embers, occasionally letting out a burst of flame, as if fighting against its untimely murder.

“I guess we have some North Pole relationships to save on top of a holiday,” I muttered, the small fire bringing my attention back to our present task—to save Christmas.

“Is this what it’s like having kids?” Haden asked.

“I think there are significantly fewer crises.”

“Thank goodness. Having a family isn’t something I’m ready to give up on yet.”

“You want a family?” I asked.

“Of course.” He said it nonchalantly as he parked near a drift that hadn’t been there yesterday morning, and we hopped out with our stash of goggles.

Haden wanted a hobby farm and kids? And he wasn’t freaking out over this magical business, and didn’t like big loud parties, either. Was it possible he was truly perfect?

“Where’s the broken sleigh?” I asked, stopping in front of the barn.

“Do you think they fixed everything and left?” Haden asked.

“That would be nice.”

“Hey.” Haden caught my hand, his expression dark and serious. “Whatever we meet in there, be careful, okay?”

“You, too.”

He pulled me closer, giving me a very lovely, deep kiss that made my whole body sing and sigh.

Kissing Haden, I felt so light I could fly.

If there was a way to bottle this feeling, there wouldn’t be a problem with the added weight, or a lack of aerodynamics, with a poorly repaired sleigh.

I’d just sprinkle some of this over it, and the reindeer would be off.

Haden released me, then opened the barn door, nearly dropping his stack of goggles at the sight of utter chaos that greeted us.

Santa was shouting at Mrs. Claus, and she was wagging her finger at him like she planned to divorce the man if he didn’t come around to her way of thinking.

The reindeer were cowering in a cluster near the back corner of the barn, kicking and braying.

The broken sleigh had been brought inside and was resting close to us, not looking any better than it had an hour ago.

Hugo was standing between the married couple, his neck swivelling from side to side as he tracked each participant in the argument. He looked close to crying.

We hesitated on the threshold. There was no sign of Estelle.

“Um, we have night vision goggles for the reindeer,” I said quietly.

Nobody noticed us.

I ventured over the threshold, but Haden grabbed the elbow of my coat, holding me back from going further. “Maybe we should let them be.”

I’d stopped just inside the doorway, and Sparkles, the timid fixer elf, appeared beside us, arms raised to take the boxes.

I shifted half of my load of goggles into her arms, holding on to the rest.

“How is fixing the sleigh going?” I whispered.

“Not good. And Santa is mad that Mrs. C. burned our backup plan.”

“How’s he doing?”

“Getting better.”

“And Rudolph?”

“Getting better.”

“Where’s Estelle?”

Sparkles shook her head.

I gasped. “Dead?”

“Banished.”

“What does that mean?”

“Mrs. C. made her leave. But she can come back any time you make a wish. And Estelle can banish Mrs. Claus if she goes after a client while she’s granting wishes.” Her voice went so small, I could barely hear her when she added, “But that would cause a really big banishment fight.”

“Oh, boy.”

I’d once wondered what it might be like to have two men fight over me, as it had sounded a bit thrilling to be wanted that badly. This kind of battle though? With Mrs. Claus wanting to punish me, and Estelle wanting to save me? It was spine-chilling.

Still, I wasn’t conceited enough to think they were merely fighting over me. I knew there were a lot of periphery issues in play—ones I didn’t want to think about right now.

I turned back to Haden, unsure of what we should do. Run and hide? Try to help with the sleigh? Wade into the argument and play peacekeeper?

“Let’s see if we can get these goggles to fit the reindeer,” Haden said, as though reading my mind.

He drew me behind the broken sleigh, crouching down so we’d be out of sight of the fighting couple.

Then we began unboxing the goggles, trying to sort out how we’d fit them on the reindeer, while Sparkles went back to her impossible repair job on the sleigh.

We caught snippets of the argument going on near the stalls. “I was only nineteen.” And “You’re always like this.”

It didn’t sound as if they were arguing about tonight’s mess, and it made me feel helpless. Bringing Mrs. Claus had only made things worse.

Their fighting also reminded me of my parents, before they split temporarily, and of Kade, during our final days as a couple. Only we’d been screaming things such as “You’ve changed” and “You haven’t.”

Either way, in my experience, fights like this had a good chance of being deal-breakers. And that didn’t say much for the state of Christmas.

Haden and I had fallen asleep against the sleigh, unable to successfully lure one of the reindeer past the fighting couple, and over to us for a night-vision goggle fitting.

Now, something was wiggling my foot, disturbing my sleep. I grunted, pulling my foot closer as I snuggled further into Haden’s wonderful embrace and wide chest. He was prefect for snuggling, and as comforting as my Oma’s rice pudding Christmas dessert.

“Tamara!” hissed a voice.

“More sleep,” I muttered. The rhythmic thud of Haden’s heart under my ear made me feel as though everything was, and always would be, okay.

Someone hauled on my foot and I shifted upright, grumpy and dazed. Estelle was crouched beside us behind the sleigh, her short red hair tucked behind her ears.

“Shh. Sorry,” I whispered to Haden, settling him again with a pat on his chest. I extracted myself from his arms with difficulty, because he kept drawing me back in.

There was nowhere else I’d rather be, but apparently I had to talk to my fairy godmother about the stupid magical world and its growing issues.

“What?” I asked, crawling over to the other end of the sleigh. The barn was quiet, still warm. When I poked my head up over the sleigh’s side, I could see the Christmas tree winking, but was unable to spy anyone other than a few reindeer resting in the straw.

I took a better look at Estelle. “What happened to your hair?” It was singed, her face red like a Canadian who’d gone out on the first sunny day of June without sunscreen, and gotten smacked about by the unfamiliar ball of fire in the sky called the sun. “And your skin?”

“Banishment.”

I felt my jaw drop, and I think even my shadow took a gulp of horror and surprise at the physical impact of what had happened to her when she’d been shuttled back to her own world against her will.

“We need to get you out of here,” Estelle whispered. She handed me a slip of paper. “This is the wish you need to make for everything to return to normal.”

My hands shook as I read the simple, carefully worded wish.

“Both the head fairy and I looked at it from every angle, and wrote this out. It’ll undo tonight, and should get you out of any trouble with Mrs. Claus.”

“And Christmas?”

“This wish would take you out of this timeline.”

“But will that save Christmas?”

Estelle paused. “We can’t read the future, Tamara.”

I glanced back at Haden, folding the piece of paper with the handwritten wish. “Will I remember tonight?” I looked up at my fairy godmother. “Will he?”

Estelle placed a hand over the one holding the wish, not meeting my gaze. “This is for the best. Char says you can use her credits. There will be no cost to you. No unforeseen consequences.”

“We’ll lose tonight though, won’t we?”

“It’s my job to protect you, and it’s very important we extract you from this timeline immediately.”

“But what about Christmas? What happens to it? What if the reindeer still get drunk and are out partying on the roads, and the walls remain weak, and someone else hits Rudolph? Only it’s worse because they’re speeding?

What if they don’t stop and help him? What if Santa and Mrs. Claus stay angry at each other, and she doesn’t make the magical flying oats?

What if Christmas is ruined either way?” I looked down at our hands, slowly removing mine from under hers and standing, my mind made up.

“This is too important, Estelle. I have to try to fix Christmas.”