Dear Santa(41)

About thirty minutes later, Billy’s text arrived.

Lindy silently slipped outside with the small bundle of presents. She didn’t take the time to put on her coat and wrapped her sweater tightly around her as she met Billy in the driveway, dressed in his Santa suit, complete with the long white beard and an abundance of white hair.

“Hey there, handsome,” she said, her heart lifting with happiness. She thought this Christmas couldn’t get any better, and now it did the minute she saw Billy.

“You like the beard?” he asked, lowering it a fraction so he could lean forward and kiss her. He placed his arms around her to protect her from the wind and cold.

“I can live without all that hair on your face,” she teased.

“Matter of fact, so can I.”

“Can you stay for dinner?” She didn’t want to take him away from his own family but was selfish enough to long to spend time with him this Christmas.

    He nodded. “Already saw Dede and the kids, so I’m all yours.”

All yours. Although that was a figure of speech, Lindy held the words to her heart, recognizing how strongly attached she was to Billy in such a short amount of time. After a week, it felt as if he’d always been in her life, and perhaps he had been, in the back of her mind.

“I’m wearing the Santa costume over my clothes, so once Santa visits Peter, I’ll leave and then return as myself.”

“That’s perfect.” She was grateful he’d thought this through before he arrived.

Sneaking back into the house, Lindy was happy to see that Peter was sitting on the floor, playing with his Matchbox cars on the zigzag racetrack, a gift from Lindy’s mom and dad. She mouthed the words “Santa’s here” to her parents, who smiled and nodded.

Not five minutes after her return, the doorbell rang. Her dad shared a look with Lindy, and she winked back. “I can’t imagine who that would be,” he said.

Beau barked and raced to the front of the house, eager to greet the company.

“Who do you think would visit on Christmas Day?” her mother asked Peter.

The little boy shrugged but looked up at his grandfather with questioning eyes.

“Do you want to answer the door with me?”

    Peter nodded, and awkwardly rose to his feet before racing to the front door with his grandfather.

Lindy heard Peter gasp before he stormed back into the family room and shouted, “It’s Santa! It’s Santa!”

“Ho! Ho! Ho!” Santa called out enthusiastically, as he came into the house. “I understand there’s a good little boy named Peter who’s visiting his grandma and grandpa.”

Peter stared up at Santa, his eyes as wide as he could stretch them, his mouth open in awe and wonder.

“Santa has gifts for good little girls and boys.” He lifted the bag off his shoulder and, reaching inside, pulled out the gift Lindy had given him for Peter. The four-year-old fell to his knees and tore apart the paper.

“And here’s another,” Santa said, handing an envelope to Chad and Ashley along with a receiving blanket for the baby yet to be born.

Ashley opened it and shared it with Chad. “A gift certificate for dinner at the Wine Press…wow.”

“Thanks, Santa.”

“And here’s another one,” he said, handing a bottle of wine to her father and mother.

“You’re kidding,” her dad said, as he read the label. “We’re saving this for a special occasion.” He showed it to Lindy. “Here’s one last gift,” he said, extracting a small, wrapped box that he handed to Lindy.

“For me?” she said, unable to hide her surprise.

    Billy’s eyes held hers. “Yes, you.”

Lindy sat with the gift in her lap and carefully unwrapped it. She found a charm bracelet with a single charm. A tiny silver Santa.

“Thought you could add another charm every Christmas,” Santa explained.

For Christmas, this year, after reading those long-ago letters, the Santa charm was perfect. “Thank you,” she said softly, and then, forgetting herself, she leaned over and kissed him.

“Mommy, Mommy, Aunt Lindy kissed Santa.”

“Lucky Santa,” Billy murmured, as he headed toward the door.

“Thank you, Santa.” Peter hurried forward and grabbed hold of Santa’s leg.

Chad gently pried him away so Santa could make his departure.

Santa laughed and left with another cheerful “Ho, ho, ho.”

When Billy returned, Peter raced to his side. “Billy, you just missed seeing Santa. He came to the house.”

Billy did a good job of looking surprised. “I missed seeing Santa?”

Peter nodded. “Maybe he’ll come back.”

“That would be a real surprise,” Billy said, and winked at Lindy.



* * *



—

    Dinner was over, the dishes washed, and everyone lounged around with full bellies, needing a break before digging into a selection of desserts. Her mother had baked several pies, plus there were cookies and a variety of Christmas candies.

Billy and Lindy sat on the sofa, his arm around her shoulders. She wore the charm bracelet. She had gotten him a small gift: a certificate to update his website the next time she was in town.