Nick: A Small-Town Second Chance Single Mom Christmas Romance by Mazzy King

Author:Mazzy King [King, Mazzy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MZK Publishing
Published: 2020-12-06T16:00:00+00:00

6

Nick

Small-town folks know how to party.

Christmas Eve, the town square is packed with people. Booths and tables are set up with a variety of refreshments and snacks. Speakers blast all the favorite holidays hits, and it feels like a movie set.

I stand off to the side, surveying the crowd, a cup of hot mulled wine in my hands, and for a second, I’m absolutely overcome with emotion. This is what Christmas is supposed to feel like—joyous, lighthearted, grateful. But thinking back on how I’ve spent the past few Christmases—out in the freezing cold, busting bad guys, trying to help the homeless find warm shelter and a hot meal for the night, waiting for the next terrible call from dispatch, finally dragging my ass back to my dark, empty apartment and tiredly heating up some instant noodles for dinner—it hurts. And it hurts to know that there are plenty of cops out there who are doing that very thing, tonight and tomorrow, instead of being with their loved ones.

I feel…guilty for standing here, soaking up all of this holiday joy.

Something tugs at my coat sleeve. “Mr. Nick?”

I glance down, and Gigi beams up at me. “Well, hey, there, pretty girl. Are you having fun?”

She nods and points toward one side of the town square, where Santa is set up on a big snow-covered wooden throne, surrounded by a few elves, talking with kids and parents.

“I just talked to Santa.”

I grin and kneel down to her level. “So, did you tell him what you want for Christmas?”

She nods again, but her brow creases with concern. “Yeah, I made sure he got my letter I wrote him after Thanksgiving. He said he did. But I’m worried—shouldn’t he be delivering presents now?”

Uh-oh. I have no idea what conversations about Santa Ramona has had with Gigi, so I need to tread extremely carefully. “Well, you know how Santa’s magic?”

“Yes.”

I tug at my collar. “Okay. So, time is a loose concept for him. Meaning, what’s an hour to us is like, thirty seconds to him.”

Gigi frowns.

You’re choking, Kirkpatrick. “Um. He can get around really fast because the reindeer are magic. And there are time changes all over the world, you know. So he’s probably delivering presents to this part of the country, and then after the party he’ll be off.”

“So because he’s magic, he’ll make it to everyone’s house?”

“That’s right.” I’m sweating.

“What are you two up to?”

I rise, straightening, as Ramona walks over, holding two cups in her hands. She hands one to Gigi as the smell of hot chocolate wafts into my nose.

Ramona catches my eye and smiles shyly. We haven’t seen each other since our walk after dinner a couple nights ago, but that smile tells me she’s been thinking about what almost happened—that kiss that was so close, I could taste it. Taste her.

“Hey,” I say softly. “We were just having a chat about Santa’s fluid concept of time. How he can be here for the party and still get presents to everyone in the world.

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