The Holiday Collection

“Because there was no Christmas, Matt, you and Jenny never met. She married a man from Nevada. Four years ago, they traveled to the Mediterranean. Jenny wanted to try scuba diving…”

  Matt experienced a twist in his gut. “And…”

  “There was an accident, Matt. Jenny drowned.”

  “Drowned?”

  “Yes, Matt, Jenny’s dead.”

  “Nooooo!” Matt screamed. He clutched at his chest, then kicked the car violently, experiencing a sharp pain in his right foot. Images of he and Jenny and Billy together—laughing, tossing a football, cooking in their little kitchen—flooded his head until he felt he was going to explode. Hyperventilating, he raced at the garage door and instantly felt a blast of arctic air. Without it even opening, he found himself outside. The wind shrieked past his ears, cold clawed inside his jacket. He tripped in a drift and got back up. Jenny dead. No Billy. God, he was so alone. So lost. He looked for the bells in the church steeple.

  Purvis stood calmly at his side. “There is no church, Matt.”

  In horror, Matt gazed at the small dark houses, the huge barren tree in the square.

  Purvis went on. “No decorations. No tinsel. No lights.”

  Matt felt frozen in a bad dream.

  “No Christmas. No family,” Purvis continued.

  A feeling of emptiness rushed over him so intense Matt had to gasp for breath. NO! NO! NO! He began to run, tripping and stumbling in the snow.

  Purvis moved effortlessly with him. “Where are you going, Matt?”

  “Rudolph. I need to talk to Rudolph,” Matt gasped. He fell and struggled up again. What seemed like miles ahead, he spotted Dancers Bar and Grill. He fell a second time, and a third. “Rudolph!” he screamed. The drifts kept climbing higher. “Help me, Purvis. I need Rudolph!”

  “Rudolph can’t help you.”

  Fear and terror ripped at his insides. The snow blinded his eyes and the drifts numbed his legs and toes as he stumbled past the big tree. He fell again, crying. “I was wrong, Purvis,” he wept, struggling to his feet, only to fall again. Snow and ice filled his mouth and he choked. “I was so wrong. I don’t care about a big house or a fast car. I just want my Jenny and Billy.” He attempted to rise but his legs felt encased in ice. He gazed up and saw Purvis and Rudolph looking sadly down upon him. “Please, Rudolph. You have to help me. I want my family back. Please, I beg you.” Matt felt himself sinking deeper into the snow. “I beg you!” he screamed. “I want Christmas back! I do! I do! I do…”

  Then total blackness descended over him.

  * * *

  He was warm again. Ah, it felt so good. No wind. No snow. Matt took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He was on the floor in Dancers Bar. A face leaned over him, not Purvis, but a beautiful familiar face. “Jenny!” he cried out. He reached up and pulled her close, embracing her tightly. “You’re really here,” he weeped.

  A trace of embarrassment touched her expression. “Of course, I’m here, dear. Billy and I—”

  Matt sat up. “Where’s Billy?”

  “Right here, Daddy.”

  Matt beamed. “Get over here and give your daddy a big-boy hug.” He sighed. “You both feel so good to me.”

  Jenny glanced at the two men watching by the bar. “My husband gets emotional during the holidays.”

  Purvis and Rudolph simply smiled and nodded.

  Matt stood up and placed both palms on his wife’s shoulders. “It’s really you. Right here in front of me!”

  Jenny ran her hands over Matt’s scalp. “Did you hit your head?”

  “I don’t think so,” but he noticed one foot was sore as heck. He’d never kick a Porsche again. He looked at the little Christmas tree on the counter. It was there! And his watch. “My watch!” he exclaimed.

  “Of course, it’s your watch, Matt. I gave it to you our second Christmas together. You better not lose it.” Jenny jumped with excitement. “Oh, I have some great news. Purvis says the SUV is fixed.”

  “I know.”

  “You do?”

  “I mean—hey, that is great news.”

  Jenny took his hands. “Something else, too.”

  Matt didn’t care if his in-laws were coming down to meet them. He had in-laws. He was married! Fantastic. “Yeah, honey, what’s that.”

  She couldn’t hold back her excitement. “While Billy and I were waiting for you in the diner, guess who got through on my phone. Said he tried your cell, but it wasn’t working.”

  “Your father?”

  “No, Matt. I wasn’t talking to my father in there.” A huge grin spread across her face. “Mr. Pellete from FAR WEST FORTUNE COOKIES!” She jumped up and down. “Matt, he wants you back. He needs you back! Said the new guy decided he wanted fortunes about stock markets and lotteries.”

  Matt couldn’t believe his good luck. He embraced her again. He’d forgotten how wonderful she felt. “Baby, I love you.” Then shaking his head sheepishly, he looked to Purvis and Rudolph. “Thank you. I won’t forget, ever.”

  Rudolph sort of saluted him and went back to cleaning up the ornament.

  Purvis tugged his wool cap down tight and led them outside.

  “No blizzard!” Matt exclaimed.

  Jenny and Billy looked over at Purvis, a little puzzled, and the little man just shrugged.

  Matt pulled them toward the square. “And take a gander at that beautifully decorated tree—the lights, the tinsel—incredible isn’t it!” He could see the townsfolk beginning to gather around the huge ornamented pine.

  Billy said, “Well, Daddy, it is Christmas Eve.”

  “You bet it is, son, one of the best times of the year,” Matt boasted.

  Jenny and Billy exchanged glances. “Honey, are you feeling okay?” Jenny asked.

  “Never been better, dear.”

  With the SUV packed, Matt drove away from Purvis’ garage. He’d settled up—it wasn’t near as expensive as he would have thought—just a promise to always be thankful for those that loved him.

  He slowed near the square.

  “Listen, Matt,” Jenny said, her face bright and cheerful.

  “Yeah, I hear them.” But it wasn’t bells.

  “Daddy, the town is singing!” Billy chimed in. “I guess they found whoever was lost.”

  Matt listened. “I think they did, son.” He reached over and clasped his wife’s hand. “Merry Christmas, Jenny.”

  Billy rolled down his window shouted, “Merry Christmas everyone!”

  As Matt drove out of town he heard the lilting voices rising high in the sky.

  He couldn’t help but smile.

  Merry Christmas, St. Claws!

  * * *

  Alan Nayes enjoys all holidays and one day plans on visiting the North Pole—when it’s not too cold!

  Read more about Alan Nayes and his books at www.anayes.com

  Follow him on Facebook and Twitter

  Snow Whisperers

  Lizzy Ford

  Sandy wiped the last of her tears from her eyes lest they freeze on her face in the sub-zero wind chill. Her boyfriend of two years had just given her the “it’s not you, it’s me … and my new girlfriend” speech, two days before Christmas. This winter was supposed to be a good one. After all, they planned to hold an engagement party.

  It was just another reason to hate winter. First, there were the snowmen that openly taunted her every time she left or returned to the apartment she rented from her parents over their garage. Now, there was Robby leaving her. Every year she hoped for a good holiday season, and every year she was more and more disappointed.

  With a sigh, Sandy exited her car and planted her feet carefully on the slick ground. It was dark. Her day at the office sucked, mainly because everyone else had dates or plans with their significant others. It was all anyone talked about all day.

  “Heya, Shuga.” She looked up at the familiar voice and saw the short, squat snowman across the street.

  “Chuy? I didn’t see you last year,” she said and crossed to
the only snowman she’d ever liked. He befriended her when she was young and returned to the neighborhood almost every year.

  “Got sent to Brazil for a freak snow. They can’t send newbies into an environment like that,” Chuy spoke in a rich voice with a heavy southern accent.

  “Right,” she said. “You sticking around for a few days?”

  “Through Christmas.”

  “At least I’ll have one friend,” she said. “Robby dumped me for a blonde.”

  “You’ll have that,” Chuy said wisely. “We snowpeople understand just how precious our time is. Our relationships are brief but passionate.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather have someone long term that you could grow old … uh, spend the entire winter with?”

  “Sometimes, I think it might be nice, but then I couldn’t travel like I do. When one snowman melts, another is reborn, and our souls get recycled all over the world, wherever there’s an opening. We see a lot of neat things. Snowpeople as old as I am get first pick of the good spots.”

  “This is a good spot?”

  “Oh, yeah. I love it here,” he said. “I think I like my freedom to roam better than I would being chained to one snow-woman for the winter.”

  “I guess I’m just ready to move into the next stage of life,” she said. “Been alone long enough.”

  “Even so, you don’t want to spend it with a snow-gnome like Robby. He’d melt your happiness.”

  “You’re probably right,” she agreed. “I’m just disappointed.”

  “You got two days ‘til Christmas. That’s a lifetime for a snowman. You can find someone new.”

  “We’ll see,” she said. “Well, I’m going inside. See you tomorrow.” She turned and walked away. At least her parents had respected her wish not to have a snowman in their yard this year. She entered through the garage and went to the large studio above it. Her mom had left a note on the microwave in the small kitchen area, reminding her dinner was in the fridge.

  Depressed, alone, she heated it up and sat down to eat.

  The next morning started as usual: Breakfast, shower, and work clothes. She trotted down the stairs to the garage and opened the side door to see a snow-scape of yet another couple feet of snow. The neighborhood kids were already out rolling more of the dreaded snowmen, and the road hadn’t been cleared yet. Waiting for her as she did every morning, her mother swung open the door to the kitchen.

  “Sweetie, you can call in sick. Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve,” she called.

  “No, Mama, I need to go in. Got some things to do,” Sandy said.

  “Oh, I didn’t even think about needing to prepare for the engagement party! My first daughter married! And to a wonderful- “

  “Bye, mom!” Sandy plunged into the snow, grating her teeth and thinking, I hope I get hit by a snowplow. While the cul de sac where she lived was last priority for plowing, the main thorough street two blocks away was always cleared, and she caught the bus on the days she was snowed in.

  Two very long blocks. Sandy stepped onto the sidewalk, and the jabbering snowmen lining the street fell silent, like a scene from High Noon. With a deep breath, she started walking the gauntlet.

  “Scared girl walking,” the nearest called out.

  “Meow.”

  “Nice mittens. Sure could use me some of them.”

  “You wore that scarf with those pants?”

  “What do you get when you cross a human and a blizzard?”

  “That’s the girl who got iced last night by the man with the potato nose.”

  “I got a carrot stick with your name on it.”

  Sandy rolled her eyes. One block down. She slid as she crossed a residential intersection and careened into a stop sign. Righting herself, she wondered how she’d tell her mother about the broken engagement. She should’ve felt angrier at Robby, but she didn’t. Maybe she should’ve known, like Chuy somehow did.

  Her thoughts drowned out the snowmen’s taunts. She reached the bus stop a few minutes before the bus arrived and climbed aboard. The journey to her job was only a few blocks, but the poorly cleared sidewalks were lined with snowmen. She arrived to find the parking lot nearly empty. She entered her office area and went to her assigned cube. The tap of computer keys alerted her that a few people had made it in.

  As her computer started, she went to the break room for bad morning coffee. A man in jeans and a nice sweater stood in front of the coffee maker with his back to her. She focused on him hard, not recognizing the trim physique from among her middle-aged coworkers who were soft everywhere this man was hard. Part of her wanted to order him away from her coffee while the other part of her didn’t mind ogling him.

  “Are you new?” she asked. He turned at her voice, and she almost dropped her coffee cup. He was definitely not the kind of coworker she was used to!

  “Yes, I am new,” he said. His voice was rich and deep, his drawl making the word new two syllables instead of one. “Evan.”

  “Sandy.”

  “I was just waiting for coffee. Not used to hot liquids in the morning.”

  “When else would you drink them?” she asked, brow furrowing.

  “I wouldn’t.” He was too beautiful to argue with, and his voice sent shivers down her body. “I’m happy to meet you at last,” he said. “I heard about your boyfriend. Awful business.”

  “Who told you?” she asked, eyes narrowing. “Was it Misty?”

  “No, it was—”

  “She needs to learn to mind her own business. Your first on-the-job lesson: Misty will share all your secrets with everyone.”

  “All of them?” he repeated. “Even the ones she doesn’t know?”

  Sandy stared at him then realized the world never made sense before her coffee. Rather than waiting for it to finish dripping, she poured herself a cup, close enough to notice Evan smelled like marshmallows. She poured him coffee, too, then left for her desk, where her stash of creamer and sugar was kept out of range of her grabby coworkers.

  Evan must’ve suspected she had a stash. He followed her.

  “You can have some sugar, but I’m not sharing my creamer,” she told him and spun when she reached the cube.

  “Do I need sugar?” he asked and looked at his coffee cup.

  Why are all the pretty ones jerks? She silently willed him away. He stayed, took a drink, and spewed a mouthful of coffee all over her cube. She twirled in her chair, grossed out.

  “How do you people drink this stuff?” he asked, a baffled look on his features.

  “Get out!” she yelled.

  “I said something wrong, didn’t I?”

  At her heated glare, he backed away and left. She sighed and doctored up her coffee. Her email was slow, and she wasn’t surprised to see the first two were from Robby with the subject lines of We need to talk and You forgot to leave the ring.

  She deleted both without reading them.

  “Since you’re single, do you wanna go out tonight?” Evan asked, reappearing five minutes later.

  “With you?” she asked, both surprised and irritated. She met his beautiful blue eyes, and he beamed a smile as white as the snow. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with this one, but he was … strange. Handsome men didn’t ask her out.

  “Just for a drink,” he added.

  “I guess,” she said. “Can you drink anything without spitting it all over me?”

  “I can.”

  “Alright.”

  He smiled again and left, satisfied. She leaned out of her cube to see where he went. He’d claimed the vacant cube next to Misty, which explained how he’d figured out about her doomed engagement. Misty would be throwing herself all over a man that good looking.

  Sandy’s spirits sank as she pulled out her day planner. The engagement party was supposed to be a grand affair at a conference room in the nearby Marriott. She wiped her eyes and went down the list, cancelling the room reservation and the catering. And then, she called everyone who was invited and told them there would be no p
arty. By the end of the day, she couldn’t cry anymore, and her nose was raw from blowing it. She put away her coffee cup and shut down her computer, ready to leave.

  “Heya. How you holding up?” Misty’s sugary voice rankled Sandy. She turned to see the woman in a skintight dress wearing a Santa hat.

  “Never been better,” Sandy said.

  “You’re better off without someone like that.”

  “How would you know?”

  “Well, you know she works here, too,” Misty said. “I saw the way Robby looked at her and the way he looked at you, and well, I just think it never would’ve worked between you.”

  “Very insightful,” Sandy snapped. “I’m going home now.”

  “You can come to my Christmas party tomorrow night, since your engagement party is off.”

  Sandy imagined grabbing a box of staples and beating Misty senseless, but said, “Thanks. I’ll think about it.”

  “I’m sure there’s a man out there who would want someone like you.”

  Sandy snatched her purse and rose, pushing past her annoying coworker. She’d made it halfway down the hall before she heard someone call her name.

  “Sandy, we still going for a drink?” Evan asked, t