Christmas Kisses at the North Pole by Jessie Pinkham

Author:Jessie Pinkham [Pinkham, Jessie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2017-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 3

December 25

Christmas Day was not a significant holiday for elves. Christmas Eve was the most important day of the year, followed by Sunrise Day and Sunset Day. As the sun rose and set only once a year at the North Pole, the days were turned into celebration of the changing seasons. There were a few other minor holidays as well, such as Family Day and birthdays of loved ones. Christmas Day fell somewhere among these minor festivities, valued slightly more or less depending on the household. It was appreciated mostly as a quiet day to spend time with family and friends, and for some elves to recover from the effects of overindulging in hard pear cider at the Christmas Eve party.

Adley’s family maintained a Christmas Day tradition of brunch, after which they often played games. Most of them were playing cards when they heard a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” said Cezina.

He went back to considering how he could best utilize a mediocre hand of cards. Only when Cezina returned and said, “Adley, it’s for you,” did he give the visitor much thought.

“Who is it?”

“Keru,” she said with a wink. Thanks to Fedment, the entire family knew about Keru before they’d even started making brunch.

Adley abandoned his cards and headed for the door. Behind him he could hear Fedment say, “Now I’m sorry I didn’t answer the door.”

“Hello, Keru,” Adley said, wishing he’d been prepared for the other man to show up. For one thing, he would have put on a nicer sweater.

“Good afternoon. I hope you don’t mind me showing up unannounced.”

“Not at all.” Even if he was wearing one of his older sweaters, Adley was happy to see Keru, and it felt good to know the other man wanted to see him again so soon.

“I thought I’d see if you’d like to come skiing.” The words came out quietly, as though Keru had grown suddenly shy once he entered Adley’s house. “I left my skis outside. I won’t be offended if you’re busy, though.”

“Skiing sounds like fun.”

Keru smiled and gained his confidence back. “I’m glad you think so. If you need, I’m happy to wait.”

“I wasn’t going to win this round of cards anyway.” Even if he might have a chance at victory, Adley wasn’t especially competitive and would happily have abandoned a winning hand in favor of skiing with Keru.

He opened the closet for his outdoor clothes. The closet was neatly arranged with designated sections for each family member’s belongings. Adley’s section was further from the door and he kept it tidy and organized, so it took him very little time to find and put on the items he wanted.

“I wish my family’s hall closet was this organized,” said Keru.

“Us tidy folk outnumber the messier ones, so we insist they confine their disarray to their own sections.” His sister was the worst offender here, and her section of the closet abutted Adley’s so he’d been known to throw her hats back into her own spot when they encroached upon his.

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