Marrying Miss Kringle: Frost Read online

  Small movement caught her eye, and Frost looked over Mr. Paul’s head to see one of his minions clapping silently.

  Mr. Paul twisted one side of his mouth in amusement. “You’re right: they probably are looking for a handout. And I do provide. But in exchange—so do they.”

  “Get out,” growled Tannon. His brow was low and his teeth bared. “We’re done here.”

  Mr. Paul’s face was as serene as a chocolate Santa’s and as immovable. “You don’t mean that, Cebu. You said yourself you’re motivated to sell.”

  “Motivated, not desperate.”

  Mr. Paul got to his feet. “Could’ve fooled me.” He buttoned his suit and strode towards the door. He motioned for his minions to leave. They set aside their half-eaten lunches and headed for the door without a word. Tannon used his desk phone to ask security to make sure they were shown out.

  “Why do his people follow him around like that? They hardly said a word on the tour.” She was baffled by their behavior as much as Mr. Paul’s.

  “They could be robots he built so he’d have friends,” said Tannon.

  Frost grinned. “You’d think he’d program personalities.”

  “Nah, because then we’d like them better than him.” Tannon touched her side, and she slid closer, loving the feel of his arms. “You were pretty ticked off there, Miss Christmas Cheer.” He lightly kissed the tip of her nose.

  “I wasn’t the only one, you polar bear.”

  “Yeah, but people are used to seeing me angry.”

  She ran her fingers over his smooth forehead. When she’d first arrived, he had deep lines in his face. “Not anymore.”

  “Not since you came into my life. You brought Christmas back into my heart; you’ve made me a better man.” He brought his forehead down to touch hers and wrapped her in his arms. “I think I’ve fallen in love with you, Frost.”

  There were a hundred reasons for Frost to run away, and only one big reason to stay. “I love you too.”

  Tannon’s lips found hers and they shared a warm, tender, long kiss. If the way her heart lifted and turtledoves flew about in her stomach were any indication, then the North Pole would have flipped completely upside down. Tannon was all she’d ever hoped for, and kissing him, knowing he loved her, was a thousand Christmas wishes come true.

  That evening, they sat around the Cebu dining room table, decorating sugar cookies with Brody. Frost hadn’t seen either of Tannon’s parents since Donald visited the mill almost two weeks ago. It seemed every time she stepped through the front door they hid away. She didn’t like that very much. Maybe it was the Kringle in her, but she wanted people to like her and she wanted Tannon’s family to like her even more. And yet, there was a spicy part of her that was grateful she didn’t have to see them, because she was abominably mad at them for wanting to take Brody away from Tannon.

  At home, she was considered the sweetest sister, the one who never made trouble or had a bad thought about another Kringle. But the more she was away from the Letters room, the more she realized that her disposition was from a lack of association. It was easy to love her family—even the new brothers-in-law fit into the group and gelled quickly despite the weird things her family did, like fly sleighs, eat Christmas fudge year-round, and consider pine cones decorations. There was more spice to her than she had ever known, and most of it came out when Tannon was threatened, hurt, or offended—all of which his parents had accomplished the day they’d “offered” to adopt Brody.

  Still, they were Brody’s grandparents and he loved them. Expressing her negative thoughts would only confuse him and perhaps make him feel as though he needed to choose between them. Which was why, even though she would have preferred to decorate cookies at her house, she agreed to do it here.

  “Why did we make bell cookies?” Brody smeared yellow frosting across the cookie while making a face. “They aren’t very Christmasy.”

  Frost gasped and pressed her palm to her chest dramatically. “Clearly you’ve never been to England for Christmas.”

  Brody giggled at her antics. “Nope.”

  She playfully swatted Tannon’s arm. “And you call yourself a father.”

  He laughed. “Yes, because all fathers take their children overseas for the holidays.” He said the last bit in a snooty British accent.

  “What happens in England?” asked Brody.

  “Well …” Frost used a tube of green frosting to add a stripe to the bell just above the curve. She then reached for the red to add holly berries. “At exactly midnight on Christmas Eve, all the bells in the city ring out wildly to pronounce Christmas has come once again. It’s chaotic and yet beautiful.” She paused, remembering back to the night when she was fifteen and Ginger and Stella convinced her to leave the Letters room and experience the sound of churches calling Christians to midnight mass. The air was crisp and held their breath like a promise. Vendors lined the streets, selling everything from warm cider to mince pies. Warm scarves covered faces, but smiles could be seen in the eyes of people passing. Frost had linked arms with both her older sisters, floating along on the holiday cheer and wishing strangers a Happy Christmas. Life was simple and simply beautiful that night.

  She leaned closer to Brody, wanting to share some of the magic. “Santa can hear the bells from the sleigh.”

  Brody tipped his head. “He can?”

  “Yep. The bells help to keep her on schedule, and they’ve been doing it for hundreds of years.”

  Brody picked up another bell cookie, holding it carefully in his hands as he stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth in concentration so he got the frosting just right.

  Tannon was looking at her, but she couldn’t meet his eye. She’d slipped up and said her instead of him when talking about Santa. Of course he knew about Ginger taking over the big sleigh, but he didn’t know she knew. “Here. This cookie will be for your grandma.” She handed Brody an angel cookie. “If you’ll cover her in white, I’ll add blue accents and a halo.”

  Brody took to his task.

  Tannon finished slathering a reindeer cookie with chocolate frosting, broke off the head, and popped it into his mouth.

  “You’re eating more than you’re decorating,” she scolded him.

  “I can’t compete with you two.” He waved his arm over the completed cookies. “Even Mrs. Grant would be impressed with your skills.”

  Frost blushed. “This is nothing. My mom can make them look like they belong in a museum.”

  “Tell me more about her.” Tannon ate the reindeer belly.

  Frost frowned for just a moment. “She oversees our family’s holdings and is pretty shrewd, and yet she’s always fair. Her first priority is creating jobs for women—single mothers especially, because being a mom is the hardest job in the world.”

  “Agree to disagree.” Tannon winked at her.

  “I suppose you think being a father is the hardest job?” she challenged.

  “I was going to say sherpa.”

  Frost lifted her eyebrows.

  “Have you seen those documentaries on climbing Everest?” He shuddered. “There’s a dozen different ways to die on a trip like that.”

  Frost was about to respond when Donald’s voice interrupted. “I would agree with Frost. Being a father is the hardest job in the world.”

  She whipped around in her seat to see Donald and Mary standing in the doorway. “Do you mind if we join you?” asked Mary.

  “Of course not,” answered Tannon.

  Frost slid a plate of undecorated cookies their direction. “Just grab whatever you need.” She pointed to the frosting bowls and tubes with decorative tips. Speaking of mountain climbing, she felt like she was walking over one of those ice shelves that could give way at any minute.

  “You have enough here to decorate twelve dozen cookies.” Mary selected a rocking horse cookie and went to work.

  “I had to stop her from baking more.” Tannon winked her direction as he finished off the reindeer.

&n
bsp; “Well, the way they keep disappearing, you should have let me bake more.”

  “What are they for?” asked Donald.

  Frost concentrated on adding feathers to the angel’s wings. “The company Christmas party.” She felt more than saw the Cebus exchange glances.

  “All this work for the company party?” Mary prodded.

  “We’re trying to keep costs down,” Tannon explained. “And this way, Brody gets to help.”

  Brody nodded. “I wanted to make snowflakes with Frost, but she had ’em all made.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll get quality time with paper and scissors soon.”

  Donald cleared his throat. “We’ve been talking about your invitation … to the parade.”

  That brought Frost’s head up. She forgot to stop squeezing and ended up leaving a long blue trail of frosting across the whole angel. “Have you decided, then?” She handed the ruined cookie to Tannon with a might-as-well look. He bit off the end of the wing with glee, making her roll her eyes.

  Donald glanced at Mary. “We’ve decided that we’d like to do it.” He paused, adding ten pounds to his next words. “As a family.”

  Tannon stopped chewing and swallowed heavily.

  “What you said,” Donald told Frost, “about being stuck in the past was true.”

  Mary leaned forward. “We were afraid to move on, to believe it would work out okay, because, well, that made us … vulnerable.” She muttered the last word as if afraid to say it out loud. No, not fear. Fear was like tiny ice darts. This was different. This was shame squiggling out of her like gummy worms.

  Frost’s first reaction was that they should absolutely feel shame for what they’d done to their son. But then her sugar side jumped up in their defense. They had honestly done their best, and what they’d gone through … well, it was an unspeakable horror. The kind of thing that mutilated a person on the inside. Just because they still had their legs didn’t mean that they were whole on the inside. She needed to give them room to be human.

  “I’d like to make a new memory with my son.” Donald kept his chin down, like he was expecting a blow.

  Frost focused on Tannon, on his feelings. She was getting better at singling him out, and thankfully, his emotions were stable and mostly upbeat. Now, he was in turmoil, a blender of mistrust, anger, hope, and love. She placed a hand on his, hoping to instill some of her understanding in him.

  “I think that would be nice.”

  The very room sighed in relief.

  Brody hopped up. “We’re going to be in the parade.” His little face was so full of expectation that it spread throughout the room, infusing all of them and further relieving the tension.

  Tannon play punched him in the arm. “Yep. Frost too.”

  Frost’s mouth dropped open. “I don’t want to presume …”

  Mary smiled tentatively at Frost. “You’re here as much as Tannon. I think it would be appropriate if you were there.”

  Frost smiled in return. Mary was still holding back judgment of her as a possible daughter-in-law, but she was back to being the polite hostess. Some would say that was progress. Some would say it was a trap. Frost wasn’t sure who to believe. And this was a big healing moment for old wounds. She didn’t want to get in the way of that. “Thank you so much for the offer, but since I’m organizing the parade, I’m needed elsewhere.”

  “Of course.” Mary’s smile still didn’t reach her eyes, and Frost wondered what it would take to make her truly happy, to shut down all the old wounds and allow for happy memories to be made at Christmastime.

  Sparklers lit up her brain as if Christmas Magic poured understanding into her head. It wasn’t the town or Tannon that needed a hefty dose of Christmas healing—it was his parents. They were the ones Christmas Magic wanted her to make jolly.

  She looked back and forth between the two Cebus. How in the name of Santa was she supposed to get these two grim creatures in the Christmas mood?

  Donald chomped off one point of a star. He made happy eating sounds. “These are really good.”

  “Thanks. It’s my grandma’s recipe.” She tried to feel what he was feeling—see if there was any hope for Christmas. All she met was a wall. A red brick wall.

  “Oh? You know, come to think of it, I don’t think we know your family.”

  Frost giggled. Everyone knew her family; they just didn’t know they knew her family. “My grandparents are coming for the Christmas party. They’ll be pl—” She glanced across the table at Brody. “They’re Santa’s special helpers.”

  Understanding dawned on the adults’ faces. Tannon winked, and her heart did a loop.

  “You should come. I’d love for you to meet them.” And maybe Grandpa can use some of his Naughty and Nice radar to figure out Mary.

  “That would be nice.” Mary finished her cookie and moved on to a stocking. She started by adding white to the heels and toes. She was much easier to read than her husband, because she was a giant “stay out” sign in neon green. Was there any way for the dragon-thick scales to fall away from her heart?

  Donald seemed as happy as Tannon to consume instead of produce. That was fine. She’d planned on making more once she got home anyway. As she looked around the table, she couldn’t help but smile at the picture they made. If there was any way to get inside Donald’s and Mary’s hearts, it was through Brody.

  Tannon leaned close and spoke low. Donald was giving his opinion on Brody’s snowman, and Mary was busy adding finishing touches to the stocking. “Why are you grinning?” he asked.

  Frost lifted her shoulders. “This feels a lot like a holly jolly Christmas.”

  Tannon lifted her hand and kissed the back. “Thanks to you. You brought Christmas into my heart, Frost.”

  She cupped his cheek, tears gathering on her lashes. “You couldn’t give me a better compliment.”

  “How about this?” He brushed his lips across hers, sending merry shivers down her back.

  “That’s pretty great too.” She laid her head on his shoulder, reveling in the knowledge that she’d done what she came here to do: she’d given Tannon Christmas. She’d spread Christmas cheer all over Elderberry. And she’d fallen in love. There were a few things left on her list; Donald and Mary riding in the parade was at the top. She couldn’t rest until they were in the back of that convertible riding down Main Street. Her whole being knew that that was what Christmas Magic was waiting for.

  The second thing on her list was telling Tannon who she really was and convincing him to get married before Christmas Day.

  Piece of fruitcake.

  Chapter 27

  The Friday before Christmas was full of frenzied last-minute details for the company party. Tannon’s cheeks were going to hurt from smiling so much. They had twenty minutes to go before the party officially began, and Frost’s grandparents weren’t here yet. He stood outside the bay door, ready to pull it up when they arrived. Frost said they had a sleigh to bring in, and there was no way it was getting through the front doors.

  Snow fell all around, the flakes as big as his fingertips and as perfect as a Christmas movie. He didn’t feel the cold air; he was too happy. In his pocket was a diamond ring. Was it silly to believe he could love Frost for the rest of his life? Maybe, but since he’d almost died once, he didn’t see the need to waste time on frivolous things like conventional expectations. He was smart enough to know that when he found someone that made him happy, he should put a ring on her finger and start the rest of his life.

  He checked his watch—ten minutes to go. When he looked up, he was staring a reindeer in the face. He blinked several times, wondering if someone had already spiked the punch he’d sampled earlier. The animal had gray around his muzzle and velvety antlers.

  A Ho Ho Ho had him leaning around the reindeer to see a tanned Santa and Mrs. Claus waving from the seat of a stunning red sleigh. Somewhere in his memory was the thought that her grandparents had retired to Mexico. He smiled, his heart lifting like a child�
�s on Christmas morning. Waving, he stepped around his fuzzy friend and approached the sleigh. “You must be Frost’s grandparents.”

  He chuckled. “Call us the Kringles.” Santa held out a mitten-covered hand, and they shook. For an old guy, he had a strong grip.

  Tannon couldn’t help but think of Miss Kringle. He hadn’t heard from her in over a week, and he hadn’t written in more time than that. They were drifting apart. Or maybe he was outgrowing the need for a pen pal to share his secrets.

  Mrs. Kringle took his hand between hers and clasped tightly. “It’s wonderful to meet you, Tannon. My, but you are handsome.”

  Tannon’s face burned. He’d never had a stranger tell him that before. Frost had told him, but not until after they’d gotten to know one another. Still, he didn’t doubt that she found him attractive, because she made him feel like he could climb the Matterhorn. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” He glanced at the reindeer. “I’m not sure we can bring him inside.”

  “Oh, that’s all right. I’ll take his harness off.”

  “Will he wander away?”

  Santa laughed, grabbing his belly as it shook like a bowl full of jelly. This guy was good. No wonder Frost was in love with the holidays, having a Santa look-alike for a grandparent. “Not if I leave this out here.” Santa picked up a bucket of oats and set it next to the building. “He doesn’t like to get too far from his food.”

  “I can’t say I blame him for that. I haven’t wanted to get far from Frost’s cookies this week.” He turned to Mrs. Kringle. “Which I hear is your recipe.”

  Mr. Kringle unhitched the reindeer and led him to the bucket of grain.

  She smiled wide, causing her cheeks to pull back like a set of curtains with perfectly spaced lines. “There’s none better. Now …” She took his arm. “Why don’t you open that door and give us a little push?”