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“Stop. You’re not a doctor. You sell insurance. And I fell off a ladder, not out of a Christmas tree. That’s not the part I’m confused about. That’s actually the part that makes perfect sense. The part I’m confused about isyou. Why are you here?”
Ben reached out and gripped my forearm. “I’m here because you wanted me here. For Cookies with Santa, for Ada and Em—are you sure you don’t have a concussion? Maybe you hit your head on the stage?”
“Ben,” I said. “Ididwant you here. Three weeks ago. But you said you weren’t coming, remember? Something about having to tell the guy you’re seeing that you’re inextricably bound to your ex’s life forever?”
Ben winced.
“You broke up with him, didn’t you?”
“No! He’s—he’s a great guy. He came with me. He’s waiting for me at the hotel.”
“No!” My horrified exclamation brought a nurse closer. “Oh god. How did we break up? We’re perfect for each other because we’re both suchassholes.”
Ben’s jaw dropped.
“Ben! You’re spending your first Christmas with your new boyfriend, and you dragged him to some tiny town in Ohio that he’s never heard of, where he gets to stay in a hotel room while you go and play Santa for your ex and his kids? What iswrongwith you?”
“You—you asked me! Youbeggedme!”
“Ben, Jesus. We are hundreds of miles from any semblance of civilization. We are so deep in Ohio’s asshole that we’re almost in its throat. What are you gonna do with your guy for Christmas Day?” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the bewildered look on his face. “You should be with—withyourfamilies, Ben, not mine.” I looked at the nurse for backup, and she nodded. “Listen, I really do appreciate you coming to Christmas Valley. I do. But I found another Santa.”
Ben looked dazed, confused, suddenly unsure of himself—the exact same expression I’d worn on the Kiss Cam at that ill-fated Sox game that felt like it had happened a million years ago. “Another Santa?”
“Yes,” I said.
“For real you found another Santa, or is this Santa like your doctor boyfriend?”
I wouldn’t have thought I had the energy to blush, but somehow I managed it.
So, when I said that Dr. Stephen Florris took one look at my ankle and ordered me to the hospital, etc., I was glossing over a small part of the story. Namely, where Ben had crouched beside me on the stage, scanned the assembled crowd, and asked, “Is your boyfriend here, Fran? The doctor?”
And I said, “The doctor?”
And Ben said, “Dr. Stephen Florris! Your boyfriend,” very loudly, just as Dr. Stephen Florris appeared behind him.
Dr. Stephen Florris glared LED icicles at me while he got down to check my ankle. And muttered some stuff about just wanting to enjoy a peaceful Christmas Eve with his girlfriend and child. Which seemed to confuse Ben, who had every reason to believe I was dating Dr. Stephen Florris, since I had told him so on the phone weeks ago.
Then Dr. Stephen Florris said I should go to the hospital and started to leave the stage. By this time, mind you, the entire town was crowded around, watching and listening as though this were the Our Lady of the Angels Middle School’s annual Christmas pageant. Ben demanded, “Aren’t you going to drive him?”, and Dr. Stephen Florris said, “I really don’t think that’s my responsibility,” and Ben turned to me and said, “Fran, why are you with a man who won’t even drive you to the hospital when you’re hurt?”
And the rest was really, really awkward.
Now I did my best to avoid Ben’s eye and said, “He’s real. I do have a new Santa. He’s really good to me.”
“That’s great.” He sounded like he meant it. “I assume that’s the guy who jumped onto the stage and tried to carry you to the hospital?”
Okay, so I also left out the part where Cass jumped onto the stage and knelt beside me, white-faced, as though convinced he was watching me draw my last breath. He said a lot of things, like, “Fran, are you okay?” and “I refuse to let you be anything but okay,” and “Here, lean on me,” as he tried to help me stand. Mom was onstage by then too, demanding to know if I was hurt, and the girls and Jake were right in front of the stage, and Em yelled, “You were a really great dad!” as though she too was certain I was fading fast.
Cass would have taken me to the ER, except it turned out the reason he was late to the ceremony in the first place was that his ancient car had broken down and he’d had to walk. So that was when Ben offered to drive me and lifted me to my feet, and I ordered Mom to get the girls home and calmed down, and Cass seemed to realize who Ben was. His look of betrayal as Ben basically carried me off the stage was a sight that would haunt me forever.
Back to the hospital. “Yeah,” I said, flushing harder. “I mean, he’s not like… He’s just my Santa.”
“Are you lying again?”
“I…don’t know,” I admitted. “I, uh…wouldn’t mind if he was more. But that’s up to him.”
Understanding dawned in Ben’s eyes. “That’s Cass. That’s the high school boyfriend you were always going on about.”
“I wasn’talwaysgoing on about him,” I said defensively.
