Page 59 of Santa of the Creek

“I wish you could meet him,” I murmur. “You two would have been a nightmare together.”

I wish Echo had been able to join me, but he had to work the early shift. At least he’ll be with me for part of the afternoon and the evening. We haven’t had many evenings together; the pitfalls of dating a bartender.

I still gasp a little at the idea I’m dating someone.

Charlotte and Suzie man the grotto, which I swear is the same one from Collier’s Creek Feed. The women tell me they’re Santa’s helpers for the afternoon. Both work in the local school, which is why they were given this gig, much to their disgust.

“I asked for anything except stuff with kids,” Charlotte grumbles. She’s pretty, with a sweet, heart-shaped face and brunette hair that doesn’t move a whisper, even in the breeze.

“Me too,” Suzie grumbles. She’s younger than us, maybe in her twenties, and has black hair, so close-cropped I can see her skull.

“I said no to being Santa,” I point out. “How did that work for the three of us?”

We look at each other and chuckle.

“We were set up!” Charlotte declares.

“Totally,” I say.

“Next year, we’ll be prepared,” Suzie agrees.

But that’s next year. This year we’ve got a lot of kids who want to see Santa.

“Your reputation is growing,” Charlotte tells me. “It’s a shame Mister Elf couldn’t be here.”

“He had to work. It’s a busy day.”

Suzie giggled suddenly. “I heard he couldn’t be here, so I made a substitute.”

She brought out a life-sized cardboard Mister Elf. Fake Echo grins at me.

My jaw drops. “What the?—”

“I know!” She giggles again. “One of my friends took a photo of him so when I heard he couldn’t be here, I got this made up special.

Echo will laugh his ass off when he sees this. I pull out my phone, move Mister Elf to beside a twinkling Rudolph and snap a photo of the pair of them, sending it to Echo.

The response is immediate. I get a screen of laughing emojis and a promise I can steal it at the end of the day.

“Echo wants me to take it home,” I say to Suzie.

She waves her hand. “He’s all yours. Go stand by him. I’ll take you with your boy.”

I bit the inside of my lip at the idea of Echo being a boy. Hadn’t we had that discussion with Will? But obediently I hand the phone to Suzie, and she takes a photo of me with my arm draped around him. I send that to him too.

Not as good as the real thing

I grin at his response.Doesn’t fart in bed

That’s Ariel

Sure it is

I look up to see Suzie and Charlotte staring at me. “What?”

“It’s good to see you so happy,” Charlotte says.

I hope my blush is hidden by the beard. “Thanks.” I don’t pretend not to know what they mean.