Make You Mine This Christmas: 'The queer Christmas rom-com I've been waiting for' LAURA KAY by Lizzie Huxley-Jones

Author:Lizzie Huxley-Jones [Huxley-Jones, Lizzie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2022-10-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The atmosphere of the fête changes immediately.

The reindeer keeper rushes back off to the pen to make sure that no more reindeer escape or are stolen. Though stealing an adult reindeer seems like a much more difficult prospect.

Esther starts making phone calls, and the mayor does the same, the snowmen contest forgotten. A few of the children start crying, though Haf isn’t quite sure if that’s because Cupid is missing, or because their snowmen weren’t fairly judged. At least it’s cold enough that they won’t melt.

‘Who would steal a baby reindeer?’ Kit mutters.

‘Did you not see him, Kit? He was extremely cute. Like . . . really cute. And small.’

‘Maybe he just slipped out?’

‘I’m not sure that’s better,’ Haf says, nibbling at her lower lip.

‘You’re worried about him, aren’t you?’ Kit softens.

‘Cupid. His name was Cupid,’ corrects Haf. ‘We’ve got to help find him.’

‘Okay, sure. Let’s do it.’

Haf tries to ignore the flutter in her chest at Kit’s simple agreement.

‘I’m trying to think where a baby reindeer would go, you know, if he got out rather than was stolen. In uni, we did a bunch of animal-behaviour stuff, but not very much on reindeer.’

‘That’s surprising,’ Kit says dryly, and Haf pulls a tongue at her, but is thankful for the lightness. ‘Hierarchy-of-needs stuff, right?’

‘He already had warmth and comfort. So maybe what he wanted was food. Maybe they ran out of food while everyone was talking, and he snuck out?’

At that exact moment, a caterwaul sounds around them as a blur that might possibly be Cupid the preteen reindeer barrels right through several of the contest snowmen, stealing their carrots as he goes.

‘Oh my God!’ Kit laughs.

‘Quick! Let’s go after him,’ Haf says.

‘Go, I can’t run. I’ll catch up with you. You’re the reindeer detective.’

Luckily for her, and unluckily for everyone else, Cupid is easy to follow from the chaos he leaves in his wake. After demolishing all the carrots from the snowmen, he races down the centre of the fête, knocking over tables and chairs (and many small children) as he goes.

‘Cupid, stop!’ she yells after him, as though he might recognise her or even know his own name, but honestly, at this point, she’s desperate.

‘He went that way!’ cries one of the cake vendors, who is now covered in whatever they were selling.

‘Thank you!’ she yells.

She turns a corner and finds herself next to the raffle stand, Christopher’s gingerbread house still pristine in its cake box.

A wave of cries speed towards her, and she realises that Cupid is headed straight for the raffle prizes, which are perched on top of a very flimsy-looking table.

‘No!’ she yells as Cupid barrels into a leg, sending all the prizes skyborne.

Including the gingerbread house.

She can’t let it be destroyed. Not after all the hard work Christopher put into it.

But Cupid is so close that maybe she could grab him.

House or reindeer?

Haf runs, leaps and somehow, in the greatest luck of her whole life, she catches the gingerbread house in mid-air and lands, stumbling to her knees.

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