Tinsel in a Tangle by Laurie Germaine

Author:Laurie Germaine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christmas, Fantasy, Santa Claus, Romance, Elves, young adult, clean read
Publisher: Scattered Whimsy
Published: 2022-07-01T00:00:00+00:00

Fed Up

NIKLAS AND I DON’T talk after that. Logan takes me on a few blue runs (I don’t break anything and only fall twice), I ski once more with Gina, and then we pack it up around four o’clock.

As Logan drives us back to Waldheim in his well-used Chevy, he and Gina try to convince us to stay for dinner. With Niklas asleep in the front passenger seat, it’s up to me to decide, and I decline since he and I have another ninety-minute ride before we reach Flitterndorf. By the time I’ll arrive at the stables to do my chores, the Third String will wonder where I’ve been. Plus, we brought some food for the return trip, so it’s not like we’ll go hungry.

When we pull up to the Donatis’ garage beside Niklas’s SnoMo, Logan kills the engine, and Gina hops from the vehicle. While she prods Niklas awake, Logan and I remove ski equipment from the bed of his truck. I’m acutely aware of his gaze on me as we haul skis into the garage and prop them against a metal shelving unit. During our second trip, after I tuck some boots on a shelf, Logan takes my hands and holds them to his chest.

“When can I see you again?” He looks at me with puppy-dog eyes. “At least tell me how I can reach you.”

“Through me.” A rumpled-looking Niklas sets down another set of boots and runs a hand over his face. “You can reach her through me.”

Logan chuckles as Gina enters the garage clutching several ski poles. “Can I trust you to relay any messages I might have for her?” He sends me a questioning look. “You don’t have a cell phone?”

I shake my head.

“Email?”

Sighing, I turn to Niklas. “You mind coming up with an explanation as to why I don’t have an email account?”

“Her parents are old school,” Niklas says without hesitation. “No electronics, no computer.” He shrugs and walks toward the SnoMo. “I don’t know how they expect their kids to function in society, but there it is.”

I cross my arms. “Thanks a lot.”

Logan returns to the truck for the remaining equipment, a frown marring his brow. “I can accept the part about no cell phones or computers, but you’ve gotta have a landline.”

Of course, my parents have a landline. It connects them to the other elves in Flitterndorf. Period.

Niklas must think I’m going to disclose our secrets in my frustration, for he says, “You can communicate via my email address, okay, Logan? I promise I’ll give her the messages. And I won’t read them. I’ll print them off and hand them over.”

“What about a Christmas party at the café?” Gina links her arm through mine. “Please say you’ll come as Santa and his elf.”

Niklas tunnels his fingers through his already mussed hair and meets my pleading gaze. Though his eyes soften, he replies, “It’s complicated, Gina.”

“It doesn’t have to be.” My chest constricts at the thought I might not see either Logan or Gina again, and I give Gina’s arm a squeeze.

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