She found the turn for the Richardson Highway with no trouble, but when she saw the sign for her final exit, she snorted. The ramp was marked Santa Claus Lane. Good grief. She felt like she was starring in a Charlie Brown Christmas TV show... especially when she passed the sign that said, Welcome to North Pole, Alaska. A few minutes later, amidst a plethora of cutesy street names like Kris Kringle Drive and Snowman Lane, where the streetlights were candy canes and even gas stations were decorated, Hallie pulled to a stop in front of her destination and sighed. She’d come over 2000 miles and one time zone from Seattle and she was operating in a mental fog. The modest-sized building in front of her fit right into the explosion of holiday mania. It was made of cedar and stone, and Christmas lights outlined every available nook and cranny. Victorian gingerbread trim edged the gables and roof. On the lawn, Santa sat jauntily in his sleigh prepared for the eight plastic reindeer to do all the work. Resin elves, arms upraised, loaded the packages. Hallie sighed. She had never felt less like celebrating the holidays. But for the next two weeks, she was sentenced to tinsel and eggnog and lord knew what else. It boggled the mind. She left her luggage in the car and trudged up the walk. Before dinner last night, Hallie’s best friend, Julie, had brought over a set of keys to the Dancing Elves B&B. Hallie found the one marked “front door” and let herself in. The air was filled with the scents of cinnamon and evergreen. An enormous live fir tree—decked out with enough ornaments to bury old Santa himself—presided over the space in front of the bay window. Everywhere Hallie looked—from the walls to the stairs to the floor beneath her feet—knickknacks and doo dads and chotchkes abounded. Christmas was everywhere. But even that unpleasant realization took a backseat to the much bigger surprise. Santa himself stood not three feet away… wearing red pants, black boots and silver suspenders. His rotund belly had been replaced with granite-hard abs, and his shoulders were as wide as Texas. He was tanned and toned, and the smile on his face made Hallie think that being on his naughty list might not be such a bad thing. Her knees actually quivered. |
