Stranded With Santa

Jenny tried not to stare at the man’s face. His cheekbones were high; his eyebrows black and fierce looking when he wasn’t smiling. It was the middle of winter and his tan was only partially faded. The golden flecks in his brown eyes saved his face from being too severe. Nothing saved it from being the handsomest face she had ever seen.

Jenny had dreamed of that face ever since Andy had convinced her to buy the first box of that cereal a year ago. She must have bought three dozen boxes this last year alone. And that wasn’t the worst of it. She’d been talking to the box.

Jenny was a private person and she didn’t admit her unhappiness to anyone. But, one morning at a solitary breakfast, she’d poured out her troubles to the face on the back of the box and she’d been talking to it ever since. Only the face on the box knew of her disappointment with her marriage. To the rest of the world, her marriage was fine and her husband was the good-natured man he appeared to be to others. But the box knew the truth.

She’d told that box things she wouldn’t have admitted to a priest, and now it sat before her. She felt betrayed. Pictures on cereal boxes were not supposed to spring to life in front of your eyes.

“—you just can’t be him.”

“Well, everybody’s got to be somebody.”

Jenny panicked. Not only was the face here, it was—unless she missed her guess—also teasing her. Maybe even flirting with her. It was awful—like the Pope asking you out on a date. “You’ll have to go.”

Okay, Zach thought to himself. Definitely not a pole dancer. Which was fine. He had his good time waiting in Vegas. “Just give me a minute to find another one of those candy canes and I’ll be happy to head out. I need to get back before the storm hits anyway.”

Jenny looked up. “I thought you said you’d take a picture with Andy.”

“I did, but I thought you were, well, in a hurry for me to leave.”

“No, I’m just, well, I don’t want to take more of your time. But a picture only takes a second.”

Jenny forced herself to look the man in the face. It wasn’t his fault she’d started talking to his picture.

“Okay. Fine. Whatever you want.”

Jenny forced herself to smile. “It’s just that you’re the only Santa around.”

Zach grunted. “No problem.”

“And I appreciate you bringing out everything for Delores. And the candy canes, too. That was very nice of you.”

“Delores bought the canes. I’m just passing them out for her.”

“Still…”

Zach noted that the woman’s face had relaxed. The goose bumps had left. The air inside the truck wasn’t white with trails of exhaled air. “Not a problem. I’ll even tell that boy of yours I’ll take his letter to Santa.”

“I’m sorry I can’t—I mean, I don’t date anyway—not that you were asking me out.” Jenny stopped in embarrassment.

“Oh, but I was asking you out. At least I was heading in that general direction.”

Jenny couldn’t help but notice he sounded a little too cheerful for someone who had just been turned down.

“Well, I appreciate that. I’m just sorry I can’t accept.”

“It’s okay,” Zach felt around the side of his seat and found not one but two candy canes. Hallelujah! He’d soon be out of here. “I suppose you tried the cereal and didn’t like it—or you thought the manufacturer shouldn’t say it is the cereal real cowboys eat when everybody knows cowboys don’t eat anything but beans and trail dust.”

“No, actually, I like the cereal. And I think cowboys would like it if they had a chance to try it. It’s great—real nutty.”

Zach nodded and didn’t make the obvious comparison. “So you like the cereal. You just object to the box.”

Jenny nodded sheepishly. “I guess it is kind of odd.”

“No problem.” Zach smiled to show it was okay. He’d been bucked by broncs. He’d learned how to take his lumps in life. If the woman was that set against him, he’d let it be. Better times were waiting for him. “I’ll just take this other candy cane into the house and pick up the letter from—what’s the kid’s name again?”

“Andy.”

“So I’ll pick up the letter from Andy, do our bit with the camera and be on my way back to the doctor’s.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Zach shrugged as he opened the driver’s door on the postal truck. “Don’t mention it.”

To show there were no hard feelings, Zach walked around and opened the passenger door, as well. “Some folks think the picture on the box is just some dress-up modeling job. But it isn’t. The cereal company asked to put my picture on the box because I won the All-Pro Championship in bronc riding last fall.”

“Oh, I didn’t think they used your picture because of your looks.” Jenny gracefully stepped out of the truck and almost immediately folded her arms in front of her for warmth.

Zach admitted complete defeat. Most women found him attractive. He wasn’t fool enough to go after one who didn’t. Especially not when he was out in the middle of nowhere and the sky was turning a serious gray.

“Storm’s coming,” Zach offered as they walked toward the house. He suddenly understood why Delores worried so much over this little family. He felt some of that same worry tugging at him. There wasn’t another house around for miles. “You got enough supplies stored up and everything? A winter storm in southern Montana can be a fierce thing.”

“I know that.”

Zach wondered how she could know that. He didn’t ask, but she must have caught the drift of his disbelieving thoughts.

“I may not have lived through one of the storms here, but even in Los Angeles they have guidebooks that talk about Montana.”

Zach groaned inside. She’d learned about Montana storms from a guidebook.

The few snowflakes that were falling had a dry sting to them. Zach knew that meant the coming storm would be cold enough to freeze a person. Some folks thought the large wet flakes signaled the worst storms, but they didn’t. The wet flakes generally meant more snow, but the dry ones foretold a swift and merciless drop in temperature. And with the wind that could be dangerous.

“The electrical will probably go out. Are you set for that?”

Jenny turned to look at him squarely and lifted her chin. She was standing on her porch and she could still feel the pinch of the cold in her nose. She could see the sky was going deep gray and she could hear the grumbling in the air. “We have a propane furnace. And I have some oil lamps if the lights go out.”

Zach grunted.

The door on the house popped open when they stepped near it. Andy, the little boy, had been waiting for them to come back and must have heard their steps on the porch.

“Hi, there, Andy.” Zach stepped inside behind Jenny. At least the little boy liked him.

Zach revised that opinion. The boy was looking at him like he’d sprouted a second head.

“Santa Claus?”

Zach grabbed for his chin. He’d forgotten the beard.

Jenny met his eyes in alarm. She took a quick breath. “Santa shaved.”