Once Upon A Christmas Wish: Falling Hard

 

“The man in the bookstore was your father?” Lisa asked.

I shook my head. “My father died before my first birthday.” I picked up the letter of notification and opened it and read aloud “suffered a fatal injury due to a weapons malfunction which resulted in his death. Edward Miller passed away on June 21, 1984.”

“Could they be lying?”

“Why would the military lie about what happened? If they had and he was alive he would have found his way back to my mother. The man in the bookstore was younger than me not older.”

“Maybe it was a relative who decided to look you up? A random look-alike, what are they called.. Doppelgangers. A cruel joke?”

“There could be several explanations.”

“You’re probably right.” Lisa agreed. “Phoebe’s decorating unsupervised, I’d better get back downstairs. Could you wander down in about thirty minutes?”

I nodded.

“Don’t forget to act surprised.”

“Do I ever?”

I made a quick phone call the next morning to an associate requesting a background check on one Edward Miller asking them to pay particular attention to any distant relatives that might still be alive as well as exploring the possibility that my father had children with someone other than my mother. After that I found it difficult to write. My mind was wandering a lot. I did some research and discovered that people did not necessarily have to be related in any way to look like each other.

The man in the bookstore could have been anyone. Why would he give us my father’s name and dress similarly as well? It would have been a terribly cruel joke if I had know anything about Edward Miller. I had not seen the picture until last night, weeks after the incident at The Naked Ankle. He died before I could form any memories of him. I’m sure my mother would have told me about him. I never asked. He was always a ghost. Someone who would never truly exist for me in real life, there was also a sadness when Mom talked about him so I never asked.

I did know that one of the things my parents had in common was they were both orphans, having grown up in foster care systems in their home states, knowing how the constant changes to their home environments changed them, they wanted something more for themselves as adults and for their own children.

By late morning, I knew I needed to give up pretending to be writing and do something else for a bit. I took up Lisa and Phoebe on their invitation to join them at the ice rink. Lodgepole Falls really did go all out at Christmas. The ice rink was decorated with holiday lights and greenery. A winter market had been set up around the rink. I saw vendors selling homemade gifts, baked goods, food and drinks. There were game booths and a stage where Santa Claus visited and posed for pictures. Mrs. Claus took Santa’s seat to read Christmas stories at random intervals. I noticed elves and fairies wandering through the crowd telling jokes and riddles to visitors. They rewarded correct answers with vouchers for treats, drinks, and game tickets. One or two small gifts of handmade Christmas ornaments were awarded as well.

The level of holiday cheer in this place rivaled that of Rockefeller Center. Lodgepole Falls had added a layer to theirs, one of comfort and coziness.

The air was brisk but the sun was out this afternoon. It showed bright and felt good on my face. The clerk at the store I bought my outer wear from said that when you were dressed properly the cold wasn’t as cold as the numbers made it seem. I was skeptical of her words at the time. The air did not feel nearly as cold today as it should have been. It felt like everything had lined up so everyone who ventured out into this winter wonderland could do nothing except enjoy their day.

While I watched Phoebe and Lisa skate I enjoyed a mint chocolate chip flavored cotton candy dressed in a bright cheerful Christmas green.

“Mac!” Phoebe called from the ice as she waved furiously.

I turned to find McKinley standing behind me, just out of my line of sight. He was holding his own cotton candy. A monstrosity of white and red that had been twisted around each other.

“You’re going to eat all that?” I asked.

“You sound like my mother.” McKinley responded before diving into his sugary treat. “I worked hard this morning. I’ve earned this, monstrosity.” He countered between bites.

“How does one earn a treat of such epic proportions?”

“I helped set this up. The booths, the games. I made sure the trash cans were lined and set around. I helped clear the walks. There was the inspection of characters. Making sure Mr. and Mrs. Claus have their wigs and glasses straight is important. I even helped some of the fairies with their glitter.”

I pondered McKinley’s list. “It’s possible you may have worked hard enough to earn that thing.” I said as I gestured to the twirled mass of spun sugar. “The fairies are a nice touch.” I said as a pair of them ran by giggling as they passed. “I didn’t think Christmas had fairies.”

“I didn’t either.” McKinley responded. “I found out that fairies enjoy opportunities to interact with humans. Quite often they use holidays like Halloween, Christmas and even St. Patrick’s Day to interact with us Earthlings.”

“Really, I didn’t know that.”

“It’s the mountains.” He said. “They make it easier for magical beings to hide in plain sight.”

“How did you come across this information?”

“They told me.” He said without looking in my direction.

I gave McKinley a suspicious side ways glance.

“I’m not kidding. They told me.” He said turning his head to look me in the eye. “Gotcha.”

Lisa and Phoebe had made their way to the outer edge of the rink.

“Where did you get that?” Phoebe called to McKinley as she sailed past.

“Do a decent spin and I’ll show you.” He called back.

I made a mental note to keep track of signs around the market regarding dates and hours. Maybe see if the cotton candy booth runs a shop in the area. Phoebe would be getting her monstrous cotton candy, whether she did a decent spin or not. I needn’t have worried about Phoebe getting her cotton candy, the girl executed a beautiful spin a few minutes later. By the time McKinley had finished munching, Phoebe and Lisa were off the ice and changing out of their skates. McKinley and Phoebe went on a cotton candy run while Lisa and I turned in the skates.

“How do you like Lodgepole Falls’ Winter Wonderland?” Lisa asked.

“I have never seen anything quite like it. I’m having a good time. I’m glad I came.”

“It looks like you and Mac are getting along.”

“McKinley not referring to me as one of those romance novelists is helping.”

Lisa smiled without comment.

“You have to admit looking down on me for what I do is a bit much. It’s not like I’m selling drugs or peddling stolen goods. I write stories. That’s it.”

Lisa raised a brow, a gentle suggestion that dropping the subject might be a better route.

“We do seem to be getting along better. Thank you for noticing.”

After turning in the skates we headed for the food booths, meeting McKinley and Phoebe on their way back. Phoebe was holding an order identical to the one McKinley had just devoured. Lisa received one of her own in an unseasonable bright pink.

“Perfect.” Lisa said as she relieved McKinley of his burden. “Thank you Mac.”

“That is the second red and white twist I’ve seen today. What flavor is it?” I asked.

“Are they.” McKinley corrected.

“The red is cherry. The white is vanilla crème.”

“That sounds good. The pink?”

“It’s the same as any other pink cotton candy. It’s also a vanilla flavor.” Lisa responded.

“Mom’s a traditionalist when it comes to candy.” Phoebe announced before diving into her snack.

We walked through the market at a leisurely pace, stopping to listen as Mrs. Claus read a story, continuing past more food booths on in the direction of the game and shopping areas. McKinley stopped.

“Okay, what’s everybody doing?” He asked as he pointed to Lisa.

“Shopping.”

“Games.” Phoebe called.

“Games then shopping.” I said.

“Games then shopping sounds good.” McKinley said, choosing to match my preferred route. He turned to Lisa, “Would you like to change your answer?” He asked.

“Games then shopping works for me too.”

We turned towards the games, Phoebe and Lisa leading the way with their festive sugar torches. McKinley stayed behind with me.

“I’m surprised you want to hit the games section first.” He said.

“Games aren’t usually my thing.” I agreed. “But I’ve done a lot of shopping in my time.”

“Not into either of them?”

“They’re okay. I enjoy looking around, seeing new things. Being with the people I love. It’s enough.” I said.

McKinley stopped walking for a minute and looked at me. “I’m going to beat the pants off you at Ice Fishing.”

A couple of kids passed between us on skateboards.

“No skateboarding at public functions!” He called after them.

Two more flew past.

Lisa-- As requested. – Jess.

The Ice Rink

Jess heard McKinley say “No” as something pushed against her back. She fell forward, her head hitting something hard with a resounding thud. She opened her eyes after she stopped moving she found herself nearly nose to nose with a mountain man. Taking mental stock of her person, she noticed lots of things were pushed against one another.

She lost her train of thought for a moment. She wondered who she was kidding with that observation, the truth was her train of thought never even rolled out of the station. The shock of being so close to McKinley, so unexpectedly stole all rational thought from her mind. The ability to create words was proving to be elusive as well, “ow” being the only discernible expression she could manage.

She wondered whether he was going to kiss her briefly, until his hands began shifting on her body. What they were doing Jess wasn’t completely sure of. When her focus returned, she was standing upright and McKinley was running after whatever pushed her down, yelling at it.

“Jess...are you okay?” Jess looked in the direction of the voice, it was her friend and personal assistant Lisa.

“Yes. I think so.”

“What happened?”

“Something pushed against me and I went down. Hard. I might have fallen on Mac.” She responded as McKinley returned.

“Are you okay?” He asked.
Jess watched as his eyes traveled over her face and down checking her hands, arms, and legs. “I think so. I hit something, hard.”

“That was my head.” He commented.

“What?”

“You fell on me, we met head first.”

“Are you okay?” Jess asked McKinley with concern in her eyes.

“As long as you are. Did they take anything? Do you have your bag? Your wallet?” He asked.

The group found a bench and sat down. Jess checked her bag and her pockets. “Everything is here.” She said.

“Good.”

“What happened?” She asked.

“Some kids came through on skateboards, I was yelling at them when two men passed. One between us and one behind you. The one that passed behind you pushed you down. I couldn’t move fast enough to stop your fall completely.”

Santa Claus approached. “Are you two okay?”

I nodded.

McKinley looked at Santa, “Would you get on the radio and let the sheriff know he should come over. We need to get a report filed.”

Santa nodded.

“Ask him to have a paramedic come out too. Someone should check Jess over.”

After Santa left Jess looked at McKinley, “It might not be much of a report. I didn’t even see who ran into me.”

“I did.” He said.
“If they’re just kids…”

“They weren’t kids, they were grown men. One was tall and skinny with dark hair. The other one was average height dirty blonde hair, with a military cut. He was wearing a t-shirt for a rock band. I couldn’t see the name. I know the logo. A big pair of lips and a tongue. I can’t think of who it is.” He said. McKinley looked at Jess, “You have a really hard head.”

“Was it The Rolling Stones?” Lisa asked pulling him back to the subject at hand.

“That’s it.” He said snapping his fingers. “The Rolling Stones.”

When he said The Rolling Stones something fell into place for Jess. In that moment she suspected falling into McKinley was more than a random accident. The men she had first encountered at The Naked Ankle had an agenda. They had followed her Lodgepole Falls to see it through. Jess needed to figure out what it was before something bad happened.

She would do just that as soon as the feel of McKinley’s hands on her body wore off.

I finished scribbling out the details of the afternoon’s events down as fiction as Lisa suggested the night before. She was right, it was clear there was an attraction, for one of us at least. I still felt McKinley was just trying to be friendly, possibly working through his animosity for the romance genre in general and its novelists in particular. If nothing came of our interactions I could always look on the bright side, I helped someone work through his negative feelings towards something he associated with a painful period in his life. That’s always good.

What if I’m wrong?

A knock on the door frame rescued me from my thoughts.

“Whatcha doing?” Phoebe asked. She was wearing a Christmas shirt and matching leggings. There was a blush to her cheeks from time spent outside, her eyes were bright with unused energy.

“Finishing up a bit of scribbling. Am I late fixing dinner? I thought you and your mom were cooking tonight.”

The eight year old shook her head. “No one is cooking tonight. Mac said he’s bringing pizza.”

“Pizza and a Christmas movie? You’re really winning big tonight aren’t you love? So what are we watching tonight?”

“Miracle on 34^th Street.”

“The 1947 or 1994 version?” I asked.

“1947 of course.”

“My favorite.”

“It’s Mom’s favorite too and Mac’s. I like Mac. He’s more fun than Brent ever was.”

I looked at her and smiled briefly. It looked like Phoebe would bounce back from Brent’s exit fairly quickly thanks to a local mountain man. “He is different isn’t he? What time is McKinley arriving?”

“Seven.”

I checked the time on my phone. “It’s after 6:30 now. I’d better get changed.” I scribbled out a quick note and attached it to the open page in my notebook marking the beginning of the chapter I had just written. “Would you please do me a favor and put this where your mother will see it?”

Phoebe nodded.

“I’ll be down soon.”

I found everyone waiting for me in the den. Miracle on 34^th Street was cued to the opening credits and set to pause. A small cooler of soda and water sat next to the coffee table, two pizza boxes resting on top. The smells coming from the boxes’ contents filled the room. They were fantastic.

I looked at McKinley and thanked him for bringing dinner. His response was short almost to the point being formal. Something was off.

It wasn’t long before I realized his response had something to do with me. As long as I didn’t look at him directly or address him all was well, If I did one of those things the room grew quiet. Things grew cold. Very cold. Although I was the only one who seemed to notice.

By the time the movie had ended we were all stuffed and dozing. Lisa opened her eyes when I turned off the movie and switched from HDMI mode back to television. She stretched her arms above her head then woke Phoebe. “C’mon snickerdoodle time for bed.”

I caught Lisa’s eye. “You two go on to bed. I’ve got this.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

McKinley stood and stretched as they left. I retrieved the trash can from the kitchen, we started picking up plates, napkins and drink containers.

“Dinner was really good.” I said.

McKinley muttered something that might have been “Thanks.”

“Phoebe and...well we all had a nice day. Thank you for taking us around the market.”

No answer.

“I really appreciate the way you looked out for me when I was knocked over.”

I thought I spotted an eye roll. “Are you angry with me?” I asked.

McKinley crossed the room to a bookshelf and picked up my notebook. He pointed to his name where it had been scribbled several times throughout the page and asked “What do you think?” before leaving me standing in the den wondering what the hell just happened.