Chapter 5 - Eve's Christmas Wedding

As soon as the sleigh landed on what looked like an iceberg, Eve hopped out. Her knees shook as she waited for Hunter to alight.

"You okay, love?" he asked.

"Okay? No. I'm not okay." She turned around in a slow circle to get a three hundred sixty degree view of wherever it was that they had landed. But all she saw was ice, snow banks as tall as she was, and more ice. "At least we're on solid land. I could kiss the ground."

Rapz hopped out of the sleigh to stand beside them. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, your lips might stick to the ice." He shook his head ruefully. "Not an easy clean-up."

Tinsel pushed past the elf and motioned for them to begin walking. "Just ignore Rapz. He's full of hot air."

Eve couldn't quite convince her legs to move, partially from the cold and partially because she was fearful of leaving the sleigh to set off to parts unknown with two quirky elves. If that is what they actually were. Nothing made any sense. Least of all Hunter. Hadn't he come to help her discover who Staci's bogus client was? And yet here he was, acting as if they were scoping out a story for National Geographic. "Um, Hunter, could I have a word with you?"

"Go on ahead without us, guys. We'll catch up," he told the elves.

"Okay, but don't scare the reindeer. They're not used to people," Tinsel called over his shoulder. "Their handler will be out shortly to take them in for the night."

As soon as the elves were out of sight, Eve grabbed onto the front of Hunter's jacket and pulled him toward her until their faces were only inches apart. "Hunter Nielson, get me out of here."

His eyebrows rose. "Are you kidding me? We haven't even met Santa yet."

Disgusted, Eve released her hold on him. "That's because he doesn't exist."

"How do you know that? I mean, really, Eve. How can you possibly know that for certain? People used to think the earth was flat."

Eve's eyes widened. "I thought you came along to help me."

"Hey, come here." Hunter reached out and drew her into his arms. "I did come to help you. So let's just go follow the leads we've been given until we get the full story."

Eve pulled away. "Story? That's always the most important thing with you, isn't it? Chasing after the story. You haven't changed, have you?"

They stood in strained silence for several long minutes. Eve longed to cry, or scream, or do something, anything, to relieve her frustration but she kept her mouth closed. Fighting with Hunter wasn't the right way to handle her feelings.

"I have."

She narrowed her eyes. "What did you just say?"

"I said I have. Changed."

His voice was low and warm, strong and solid, just like he was. Darn him. Why did he always make it so hard to walk away?

He took a step closer. "I can prove it."

Eve's earlier cold had been vanquished by the heat suffusing through her body. As ridiculous as it was, she was smoldering, right out in the middle of some forsaken patch of ice just because of the way Hunter Nielson was looking at her. He may well claim to have changed, but the affect he had on her certainly hadn't. "How exactly?"

"When we were together you accused me of always running off after a story at the expense of our relationship. And you know what, Eve? You were right." Hunter flung his arms open wide as if to call their frozen surroundings into evidence. "But now here we are, right smack in the middle of I don't know where. The old Hunter would do anything, give anything to discover if this really is the North Pole and to find out if there really is a Santa Claus. It's the story of the century."

Eve folded her arms across her chest. "And the new Hunter?"

"Will do whatever you wish of me." He took off his gloves, shoved them in his pockets, and covered his heart with his hands. "If you want to go home, I'll take you home."

Before she could ask just how he planned to pull off that miracle, she spotted three elves trudging up over a snowy hill. Between them they carried several sets of what looked like leather harnesses. They had to be the reindeer handlers. Wranglers. Whatever they were called. Eve's grasp on Christmas lingo was quite limited.

Hunter greeted the elves as they came within ear shot. Their cheery greetings in response.
"My girlfriend here-"

Eve's eyes widened. Girlfriend? The cold must really be getting to him because he'd forgotten to tack on 'ex'. That one little syllable made all the difference.

"-wants to go back to where we came from. Can you take us?"

The elves exchanged puzzled glances. "Why would you want to go back when you just got here?" one of them asked. "You haven't even seen Santa yet."

Eve watched Hunter nod as the elf spoke. She'd forgotten what a master of body language he could be, that was definitely a skill he'd honed after hundreds of interviews.

"Yes, you're right that we've haven't met anyone yet," Hunter agreed. "However, Eve would like to leave now. So you can appreciate that we need assistance arranging return travel."

"Eve?" The younger elf glanced directly at her. "Are you the wedding lady?"

She nodded.

"Oh, well, that's settled then," he said. "You can't leave. Santa is excited about meeting you and getting plans for Kris and Kyle's wedding underway."

Eve buried her face in her gloved hands and counted to ten. Three times. But when she looked back up, she was still standing in the middle of who-knew-where, talking to elves. About Santa. If this was a dream, maybe she should just go along with it and she'd wake up all the sooner. Or, if this was a slippery slope into a form of insanity, maybe she should just surrender to it. "Fine. Take us to Santa Claus."

"Whoa, hold up." Hunter frowned. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, Eve. I said it and I meant it."

Eve nodded. "I know you did. And I appreciate that you were willing to put what I wanted first." An unspoken understanding passed between them like an electrical current. It unsettled Eve even more than the fact that three elves with curled toe boots and pointed little ears watched her as if she were an alien. She knew just what the emotion was. Trust.

And it unsettled her more than the idea of meeting Santa Claus.

She turned to the elves who stood watching her as if she were a visitor from another dimension. "I think we'll stay."

"Good choice," the oldest elf said, pointing into the distance. "Because I see Rapz coming this way to fetch you."

Indeed, Rapz was marching toward them as if to recover something that had fallen off his sleigh. She and Hunter thanked the elves and left them to take the reindeer back to their stables. They struck out to meet Rapz halfway.

It was Hunter who spoke first. "You're sure you're okay with going into this blind?"

If he meant a new rekindling of the emotions between them, no she wasn't sure. But if he meant meeting the person claiming to be Santa Claus, then yes, she was as ready as she would ever be. "Let's go find out who is behind all this nonsense."

Hunter stole a sideways glance at her, his expression serious. "What if it's not a joke? What if we're at the North Pole?"

Eve shook her head, not even believing that they were having this conversation. "Then I guess it's about time to find out, don't you?"

* * *

 

The North Pole was exactly what Hunter would have imagined it was supposed to look like if he'd ever taken a moment to imagine that it actually existed. The main building, Tinsel informed them as they neared it, was referred to as 'Christmas Central'. According to the elf, it housed Santa's main offices, toy testing areas, toy production workshops, the entire wrapping department, elf administration offices, an infirmary, and a cafeteria.

"So everything is essentially here?" Hunter confirmed.

Tinsel and Rapz exchanged glances and then shrugged. "I guess you could say that."

Hunter pointed to a series of gaily painted cottages. "What are these buildings?"

"Home sweet home to every elf here," Rapz said. "Plus Santa's family lives in a series of cottages too."

This surprised Hunter. "Santa has a family?"

This question earned him a funny look from both elves. "Of course," Tinsel said. "He's married to Mrs. Claus. They have two children, a daughter named Carol, and a son named Nicholas."

"Saint Nick," Rapz clarified. "That's what everyone calls him. He'll be the next Santa Claus one day."

Hunter glanced at Eve to see if she had heard the same thing, but she was intently studying their surroundings, her expression somewhere between stunned and shocked. But he was a few steps ahead of her in grasping the reality of the situation. The North Pole was real. Which meant Santa Claus existed. All along he'd been tempted to believe this was a colossal practical joke but the scale of it all was too great for that to be remotely possible. They were at the North Pole. Mind blowing. There wasn't another way to describe it.

When they reached the main building, Rapz and Tinsel each took a hold of a brass door handle and pulled open the doors at the same time. "Welcome to Christmas Central," they chorused in unison.

As they stepped over the threshold, both Hunter and Eve stopped to stare. Dozens, no surely there must be hundreds, of elves in bright colored uniforms bustled from one side of the cavernous hall to another. Many of them carried armfuls of gaily wrapped presents, others pushed trolley carts full of wrapping supplies. A magnificent thirty foot Christmas tree stood proudly in the center of the room. Music speakers attached to the ceiling piped in holiday tunes. The room was a riot of color and a beehive of activity.

"Hunter, look." Eve pointed up to a large digital clock display against the far wall.

"That's our countdown to Christmas clock," Tinsel said, with more than a trace of pride in his voice. "Which, I'll point out, serves as a reminder that we don't have any time to waste. Follow me."

Tinsel took off with Rapz right behind him. Hunter reached out and drew Eve back when she made to follow them.

She turned to face him, a question on her face. "What's wrong?"

It didn't escape his notice that she was pale, and her pupils were slightly dilated. Good grief, was she in shock? He reached out and tucked a stray tendril of her hair behind her ear. "Are you okay, Eve? Because I can find a quiet place for you to rest while I go sort out what's going on here."

She closed her eyes for a brief moment before reopening them. "We're at the North Pole. For real. Aren't we?"

He nodded, not taking his eyes from hers. "It certainly seems that way." They stood and watched as three elves worked together to push a cart laden with toy trains across the great hall. "Do you want to leave? I meant what I said. Say the word and I'll find a way for us to go back home."

Eve shook her head. "No way. We haven't met Santa yet."

"So everyone keeps telling me." Hunter was more than a little surprised by Eve's change in attitude. "So you do want to meet him?"

Eve nodded. "Oh yes, I most certainly do." She took a hold of his hand and tugged him in the direction that Tinsel and Rapz had headed in. "I would say that Mr. Claus has some serious explaining to do."