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“Santa’s here,” Charity said. “And it looks like he has some presents.”
Nic scanned the room. “I don’t see any kids around.” The place wasn’t packed, but it was busy enough for a Tuesday night. “What’s he doing?”
They were both watching him, so she probably was wondering the same thing. She shook her head and said, “I don’t think he’s here to eat.”
He went straight to a couple at a table close to the door. Reaching into his big bag, he pulled out a gift for each of them, then put his finger over his mouth as if to say “Shhhh.”
Wordlessly, they watched as he moved from table to table. Theirs was the last table he visited, and by then, other couples had unwrapped the gifts, so apparently it wasn’t something they had to keep wrapped until Christmas. What was the “Shhhh” gesture about?
“Hey, Santa,” Nic said as the guy approached.
Santa smiled and looked at each of them in turn. “Nic, Charity. Nice to see you again. I just have one gift for you. You’ll have to share.”
And then he gave Nic a wink as he reached into the bag, pulled out a gift, and handed it to him. It was flat and rectangular, like a box that might hold a bracelet or watch. Nic took the gift and looked at Charity.
By then, Santa was making the “Shhhh” gesture to them, too. Nic saw it out of the corner of his eye. And then the guy was off, the bag sagging sadly behind him. It might be Nic’s imagination, but it sure looked empty, which was impossible since it had seemed full when he entered.
“How did he know how many people would be here?” Nic asked, turning back toward Charity. “And how did he know which gift was ours?”
“Is our name written on it?”
He looked down at it. “No.”
It was wrapped in shiny red paper with a silver ribbon tied around it. The wrapping was beautiful. If the guy had done it himself, Nic was impressed.
Charity looked toward the front of the restaurant. “I guess his elves made these.”
The couple at the table near the door had been given what looked like ornaments. They were holding them up and admiring them.
“Our box is too flat to be an ornament,” Nic commented, looking back at the gift in his hand.
“Only one way to find out,” Charity said.
He shifted the box so one end was closer to her. “Do you want to open it?”
Shaking her head, Charity flashed him a big smile. “I’ll let you do the honors.”
Maybe she thought it was one of those trick gifts, like a can of peanuts that had fake snakes springing out. But none of the other gifts had been tricks. He was betting there was something Christmassy inside. Something for the Christmas tree, maybe. If so, he’d give it to her. She would no doubt have a full-size Christmas tree in her house instead of a miniature one.
“The other couples got two gifts,” Charity said as he slid his thumb under the paper to pull the tape away. “We’re supposed to share this one?”
“Maybe he thinks we live together,” Nic said.
Or maybe Santa was playing Cupid. Neither of them wore a wedding ring, and Santa may have sensed they were fighting an attraction. He wouldn’t know that they couldn’t be together. He’d just assume they were foolish young people, ignoring what was right in front of them.
Inside the wrapping paper was a plain white box. By the time he lifted the top of that box, Nic strongly suspected some type of jewelry was inside. But how would two people share jewelry?
Instead of jewelry, though, he found a rectangular slip of paper. He lifted his head to look at Charity, who was staring at the box curiously.
“A ticket?” he asked.
Yes, it was some sort of ticket. When he slipped his forefinger around it to pull it out of the box, not one but two tickets popped out.
He handed one to Charity while he read the print on the other. “A Christmas Carol,” he said. “‘Admit two.’ What’s the Misty Mountain Playhouse? Is that something new?”
“It’s basically Misty Mountain Music with an overhaul.” She continued to read the tickets as she spoke. “They renamed it earlier this year. It was a whole thing. There were protests.”
“Protests.” His eyebrows arched. “I didn’t know anything that exciting ever happened around here.”
