Jayda’s Christmas Wish Read online

  Thank you for writing me and I’m sorry it took so long for my reply to get back to you. I am very busy at the north pole as you are probably aware. I double checked my list and you are in fact a good boy who has made me very proud this year. I am happy to say that you are on the nice list! As for your request of a dog, I will have to see what I can do. When it comes to giving live animals as gifts, I have to make sure the parents and apartment complexes are okay with it. I assure you I am doing all that I can to give you a merry Christmas. Please take care of your mom and sister, and thank you for being a good boy this year.

  Love,

  Santa

  “I guess this will have to do,” I say, biting the corner of my lip. “I’m not sure what else to say.”

  “We should get him a dog,” Connor says. He takes the letter and folds it in half, then puts it in a fancy Santa Claus envelope. I know Max will be thrilled to see it in our mailbox.

  “I wish,” I say with a sigh. “I want a dog, too, but we can’t afford it.”

  “It’s only twenty dollars to adopt a shelter dog during the holidays,” Connor says. “Max said he doesn’t care what breed it is.”

  I shake my head. “But food, and shots, and vet visits and heartworm prevention pills. Until my mom gets a job, there’s no way we can afford it, and I can’t just get him a dog and stick my mom with all these extra expenses.”

  Connor looks like he’s about to say something, but then he doesn’t. I don’t ask, because everything still feels so raw with us. I’ve been acting normally since we started writing this letter to Max, but in the back of my mind I’m still jumping up and down and freaking out because Connor totally likes me.

  And I totally like him.

  He seals the envelope with some wax and Santa’s official metal stamp. “I’ll put this in the mail tomorrow.”

  “Actually, can I have it?” I ask, holding out my hand. “The mail will take a couple days to get to him and my poor brother has been driving himself crazy waiting on a reply.”

  “Sure,” he says, handing it over. His brows crinkle together as he looks at the floor. I follow his gaze to the bags of letters to Santa, all of them unopened.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “Now I feel bad. All these kids are probably waiting for a reply, too.”

  “So reply to them.”

  He shakes his head. “There’s no way. It’s hundreds of letters.”

  “I am a part time elf at the Harris Christmas Tree Farm,” I say with a grin. “Maybe I can help you.”

  There’s one week left until Christmas, and five days to get the Santa replies in the mail for them to be delivered on time. I go over to Connor’s house every day after school, riding with him in his truck instead of taking the bus, and together we knock out as many replies as possible. After counting nearly six hundred letters, we realized we’d have to make our replies quick. They can’t all be as detailed as Max’s letter was. I cheat a little and have some of my letters say nearly the same thing.

  You’ve been very good this year, and I’ll see what I can do, blah blah blah.

  It’s the most fun I’ve had in my life. Writing letters for hours makes my hand hurt, but that’s not why it’s so much fun. It’s the spending time with Connor that makes it fun. We talk about school, and the holidays. He tells me about how his dad threw himself into work after his mom died, and how he won’t even be coming home for Christmas this year.

  I learn about how much his mom loved Christmas, and he shows me some photos of what their front yard used to look like every year. She would make the entire property look like a magical winter wonderland. She truly loved the holidays. At first, Connor seems sad talking about his mom, but after a little while, he really opens up. I think it makes him happy to remember her, especially while we’re sitting in the dining room answering Santa letters.

  I open up a little, too. I tell him about my mom’s job loss and how hard it’s been on the family. I even tell him about my dad who just decided one day that he didn’t care to be a part of our family anymore.

  Also, Connor’s dad totally pulled some strings and my mom had a phone interview yesterday at his company. Last night, she was dancing around the house smiling and in a great mood. It almost felt like it did before she lost her job. I guess that means the interview went well. I really hope she gets the job. Maybe life can hurry up and go back to normal soon.

  On the fourth day of letter writing, we’re nearly finished with our replies. Connor and I feel like a real couple in a way—not that I have much experience in the matter since Ricky was my one and only boyfriend so far. We haven’t kissed or anything, and there’s this huge part of me that really hopes it happens soon. But Connor and I are close. He picks me up in the morning and drives me to school, where we both hang out in the library at lunch. And then he drives me back to his house after school where we hang out and answer letters until dinner time when he takes me home.

  My mom thinks I’m hanging out with friends, and Max has been so happy that he finally got his Santa letter that he doesn’t seem to care that I’m not home as much as I used to be. Connor and I have a bond now, a shared purpose in answering these letters. As each day goes by, I feel us becoming better friends.

  I hope it means we’re more than friends.

  But I’m still so unsure. We haven’t talked about it since that day I discovered who he was, and he admitted he had a crush on me. Still, I don’t say anything. I’m having so much fun with him and I don’t want to ruin it if he’s suddenly decided he doesn’t like me in that way anymore. For now, I just want to live in the moment.

  “Done!” Connor says, dropping his pen like a mic drop on the table. “That’s the last letter.”

  “Woop!” I say, pumping my fist in the air. There’s about twenty envelopes next to me that I’ve just finished writing as well. Now we’re officially finished replying to the Santa letters. “I’m proud of us,” I say. “The tradition continues.”

  Connor’s grin wavers. “I guess this means I’ll have to do this task every year…”

  “I’ll help you.”

  He looks me in the eyes and it sends a warm shiver down my spine. “I would like that.”

  I can’t think of anything witty to say, so a few seconds pass awkwardly. I wonder if we’re both thinking the same thing? Now that the task is over, there’s no point in me coming over each day. We had a goal to accomplish together, and now it’s done. Are we done too?

  “Want some cinnamon rolls?” Connor asks. “I bought them from Sue’s Bakery yesterday.

  “Sure,” I say, even though I’m not hungry. I just want the day to last longer. I’m not ready to go home.

  I follow him into the kitchen, and I lean against the island countertop while he microwaves two cinnamon rolls. My gaze drifts to the refrigerator, which has a lot of photos on it. There’s one of Connor and his mom, standing next to the Hornet mascot statue in front of our high school. A wave of recognition smacks into me.

  “Hey, I knew your mom!” I say, touching the photo. “I can’t believe I didn’t remember it sooner. She was a substitute teacher!”

  Connor nods. “Yep. Talk about embarrassing. She knew everything about my friends before I did.”

  I remember her more as the seconds go by. She was nice. She was one of the sweet subs that we always enjoyed having when our teacher was out. She wasn’t some strict old lady like the other subs. “I liked her,” I say, feeling a pang of loss in my chest.

  Connor hands me a plate with a fork and a cinnamon roll the size of my head on it. He takes a bite of his and nods. “I thought it was so lame that she would sub at my school. I was always embarrassed of her being there because it felt like, I don’t know, like my privacy was invaded or something if she walked in the lunch room when I was there. And she volunteered for everything. She was always in the yearbook.”

  He stares at his fork and draws in a ragged breath. “I didn’t even buy a yearbook last year. It was r
ight after she died, and I didn’t care about anything related to school. Now I regret it. There were a bunch of pictures of her in it, and now I don’t get to have a copy of them. I talked to the school and they didn’t have any extra copies.”

  He sighs. “I would give anything to have her sub for my class and embarrass me again.”

  My heart aches for him. “What are you doing for Christmas?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “Nothing.”

  “You should come over. We’ll have dinner at my place. My mom won’t mind.”

  He lifts an eyebrow. “You sure?”

  I nod eagerly. “Why don’t you bring your famous deep dish pizza and I’ll make dessert and we can just have a fun night of it? You shouldn’t be alone on Christmas.”

  Connor reaches across the table and takes my hand. “Okay,” he says, intertwining his fingers into mine. “That would be fun.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  It’s the first day of Christmas break from school, and I’m with Connor at eight in the morning. I shove my hands in front of the heater vent in his truck as he pulls away from my apartment. “So why did I agree to let you pick me up this early?” I ask, giving him a crooked smile.

  Christmas is two days away and we’ve been hanging out at school and texting every day since we started writing the Santa letters. It only makes sense that he’d want to hang out on the first day of break, but not so freaking early. “It’s like the law of high schoolers that you should sleep in any time there’s a day off school.”

  He laughs. “Because we have to get there right when they open so we can get the best selection.”

  “What are you talking about?” I say. “Get where? What selection?”

  His sneaky grin is even cuter than his normal grin, if that’s possible. “See this is why it has to be a secret. If you know the destination you’ll probably try to stop me.”

  I sit up straight and narrow my eyes. “What are you doing?”

  He shrugs, trying to act casual. “Connor!” I say, feeling a little bit of panic rising in my chest. Surely he wouldn’t do anything embarrassing… but I don’t know why he’s being sneaky. I’ve been hoping he’d ask me on our first official date soon, but I can’t imagine that happening so early in the morning. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

  “It’s for Max,” he says. “We’re almost there. You’ll see.”

  A few minutes later, we pull into the county animal shelter. “A dog,” I say, turning to Connor. “You want to get my brother a dog? I thought we discussed this already.”

  He parks the truck and takes my hand. “My dad said your mom is officially getting the job. And that was the only thing stopping Max from being able to get a dog so…” he bites his lip and his eyes sparkle in anticipation. “So let’s get him a dog. It’ll be the best Christmas ever.”

  “My mom might get pissed,” I say.

  He shakes his head, his teeth digging a little deeper into his bottom lip. “I don’t think she will.”

  “What do you mean by that?” I say

  He takes a breath, his hesitation making me nervous. “What do you mean by that?” I say again.

  “Well…” He tilts his head. “I might have already talked to your mom.”

  “What!”

  He laughs and squeezes my hand. “She said Max can have a dog.”

  My eyes nearly pop out of my own head. “When did you talk to my mom?”

  “The other day when I dropped you off at home,” he says. “I was walking back to my truck and she stopped me. She was in that rec center building and I guess she saw me drop you off. She asked if I was dating you since we spend all this time together… I told her about the Santa letters and how you were helping me.”

  “Oh my god…” I say, feeling my cheeks blush. “I can’t believe my mom talked to you.”

  He nods. “She’s really nice. Then I told her how I wanted to buy Max a dog, and I said it would help me win some brownie points with you if I made your brother’s Christmas wish come true and… well…” He shrugs. “Your mom told me I should go for it.”

  “I can’t believe this,” I say. “I can’t believe you talked to my mom.”

  “Is it working?” he asks. “The brownie points thing?”

  I roll my eyes. “That depends,” I say. “Are we dating?”

  His thumb slides across my palm. “I was going to wait until Christmas to ask you to be my girlfriend. You know… try to make it all special and stuff.”

  I reach for the door handle. “Then I guess I’ll wait until Christmas to tell you how many brownie points you have.”

  I am on cloud nine as we walk into the animal shelter. As far as I’m concerned, Connor and I are totally a thing, but if he wants to wait to make it official in a special way, then I’m happy to oblige him. Ricky never did anything sweet like this. The animal shelter is playing Christmas music on the speakers and the lobby is decorated in tinsel and lights.

  Even thought they’ve only just opened for the day, several families are here looking for a dog to adopt. It makes me happy knowing that several of these animals will get their forever homes this holiday. Connor and I walk through the facility looking for the perfect dog for my brother. There are no puppies available, which is what everyone else seems to want. Not me. A puppy needs a lot of time and training and we all go to school or work so after the holidays a puppy would be alone all day. I want a dog that’s a little older. One that won’t be quickly snapped up by a family. One that needs us.

  Connor stays quiet, following me as I walk the aisles of dogs in their kennels. It’s a little sad, seeing all these precious animals and knowing I can only take one. I say a little prayer that they’ll all find their perfect human soon, and I keep my eye out for a dog that Max would love.

  We round the corner and I make eye contact with a dog. He’s fluffy and adorable. Some kind of husky mix with white and gray fur. His tail wags as he looks up at me. I kneel down in front of his kennel and put my hand to the fence. He licks my palm.

  “Hi there,” I say, reaching in and petting the top of his head. His tail wags eagerly. It only takes two seconds and my heart has made its decision. I look back at Connor. “I think we found him,” I say.

  “Good choice,” he says back.

  We adopt the sweet dog, which I decide not to give a name so that Max can name him, and then take him back to Connor’s house. He’s going to watch him until Christmas morning and then sneak over and drop him off just before Max wakes up. We plan out the whole thing and I’m so excited I could burst. These last few months might have been hard on my family, but Christmas morning is going to make up for all of it. Max will be so excited.

  Mom is getting a job. I’m getting a boyfriend. Things are going to work out okay, after all.

  The next morning is Christmas Eve, and I decide I can’t wait any longer to give Connor his Christmas present. I take the bus over to his house to surprise him.

  He opens the front door in his pajamas—flannel pants and a black long sleeve thermal shirt. He looks insanely cute. And also surprised. “Jayda?” he says, stepping back and letting me inside. “Why are you here this early?”

  I grin and hold out the wrapped present. “I couldn’t wait any longer to give you this. Plus I wanted to see the dog.”

  The dog rushes up to me, tail wagging. He’s so soft and fluffy and sweet. I drop down and wrap my arms around him. “I can’t wait to take you home,” I whisper to him.

  “He’s such a sweet dog,” Connor says. “I’ll be sad to see him go.”

  “You’ll just have to come over and visit a lot,” I say, standing up. “Open the present.”

  Connor frowns, staring at the gift in his hand. “You didn’t need to get me anything, Jayda.”

  “I didn’t spend money on it, if it makes you feel any better.”

  His eyebrows narrow. “Okay, now I’m curious.”

  “Open it!” I say, bouncing on my toes.

  He pulls off the paper, and his e
yes go wide as the paper falls to the floor. His lip quivers and I can tell he’s holding back tears. “Jayda…” he says softly, running his hand down the cover of the hardback book.

  “I want you to have it,” I say. “You were right—there are a lot of pictures of your mom in here.”

  He swallows and a tear rolls down his cheek as he clutches last year’s yearbook to his chest. “Thank you,” he says.

  I wrap my arms around him, squeezing him tightly. I feel his lips kiss the top of my head. “Seriously,” he says, setting the yearbook on the couch so he can wrap his arms back around me. “This was the best gift ever.”

  We stand like this for a long time, wrapped up in each other. He smells like body wash and cinnamon, and he’s warm and feels like home. Like someone I should have been with all along. I close my eyes and let my cheek rest against his chest. “I’m glad the holiday brought us together,” I whisper.

  “Me too,” he says back as he takes my face in his hands and peers into my eyes. He tilts my chin up and kisses me softly on the forehead. “Me too.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “The weather outside is frightful…But the fire is so delightful...”

  “Much better,” I say, watching the Bluetooth speaker play songs from my phone. Connor lent it to me yesterday, and it’s going to make today the best Christmas Eve yet. Last night, while Mom, Max and I were watching a DVD on the family laptop, we’d had a knock on the front door. The older woman who lives a few apartments down asked if we’d like to have her old artificial Christmas tree. She said she was getting too old and didn’t want the hassle with putting it up and taking it down anymore.

  I couldn’t help but smile as Max and I went to her apartment and carried it back home. It’s as if the universe is working its magic to make everything come together at the last minute. We might not have a real tree, but this will do.

  Now, it’s officially Christmas Eve and Mom is in such a great mood. She got the phone call yesterday saying she’s getting the job, and it pays more than her old salary did. She starts on January third. She decided to bake more Christmas cookies, and now we’re setting up the new Christmas tree. I play the music louder and join my family in the living room while we dance and decorate. The smell of the sugar cookies baking in the oven fills up the room.