Page 21 of A Date with Santa

The teenage girls were up next. The pair rushed to sit on Santa’s lap. He seemed to be a good-natured sort of fellow and welcomed the spirited teens with open arms.

“Ho. Ho. Ho.” Santa’s voice echoed to the high ceiling. “And who do we have here?”

The girls burst into laughter as the photographer stepped forward to snap their picture.

“Have you been good girls?” he asked, as he reached for the candy canes.

Sage was watching the exchange between Santa and the teens and didn’t notice that Ricky was tugging on her coat.

“Auntie Sage,” he said, grabbing her attention.

She turned and saw that Ricky’s smile had vanished. Something wasn’t right.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Ricky motioned for her to bend down so he could whisper in her ear.

“That isn’t the real Santa.”

“Of course it is,” she insisted.

Ricky adamantly shook his head. “That’s a pretend Santa.”

“How can you tell?” she asked.

“His beard is fake,” Ricky told her.

“Ricky, we came to give Santa the cookies. I’m sure…”

“No, Auntie Sage, I want to give the cookies to the real Santa.”

“But…”

“Please, Auntie Sage, this is important. I have to talk to the real Santa.”

“Why?” She needed to understand why this was so important to her nephew. “Is there a particular reason you can’t give this pretend Santa your request? I’m sure he’d be able to relay the message to the big guy.”

Ricky’s face was intent. “It has to be the real Santa. I need to ask him something, and I can only talk to him.”

“But…” Sage was at a loss on how best to convince him to accept the mall Santa.

“It’s important,” Ricky insisted.

“Okay,” she said, giving in. Sage had no idea how she was going to make this happen.

Ricky’s eyes were full of hope. “You’ll find him, right?”

“Sure thing, kiddo.” How she’d be able to manage this, Sage didn’t have a clue.

Chapter Seven

“Saffron,” Sage whispered into her phone. “Ricky wants to give the cookies to the real Santa. What did you come up with last Christmas?” she asked. She hoped her sister had the answer. Ricky was in bed, fast asleep. Nevertheless, Sage kept her voice low for fear he might be listening.

“The real Santa?” Saffron repeated. “This is new. What was wrong with the Santa at the mall?”

“I wish I knew. Ricky insisted that Santa wasn’t the real Santa. He will only give the cookies to the one he believes is authentic.”

Saffron hesitated as though mulling over this sudden change. “I don’t know what to tell you, sis. This is all new to me. Surely there’s someone willing to step in who can make it all seem more personal and authentic?”