Santa Daddy, I’m Not the One

19

LANDON

T he moment the man touched my cheek, I froze. It wasn’t just the brush of fingers against skin; a jolt of electricity shot through me, awakening every fiber of my being. My body responded with a deep yearning, a longing so intense it scared me. I watched, paralyzed, as he left the shop. With each step he took away from me, I felt like a piece of my heart was being torn out. My chest tightened, and my heart palpitated with an unknown dread and an aching loss.

Who was he?

Images from my dreams flashed through my mind, creating a stampede of memories that seemed to have no origin. With a cry, I clutched my head and sank to the floor, legs too weak to support me. The shop around me spun, colors blurring into a whirlwind.

“None of us like the fact that you are here, Landon, but we’ll have to make the best of the situation.”

“How did a nonbeliever get into Twinkle Glen?”

“I’m an eternal being descended from the yule stag.”

“He touched the tree, and now the lights are even dimmer.”

“Just a little bit of ice to make the heart go numb.”

“You’re amazing. I love holding you like this after sex .”

I gasped as the memories hit me like several punches to the body. They weren’t dreams. They weren’t dreams!

I stared at the doll in my hand, and a tear rolled down my cheek. I remembered everything. The laughter, the warmth, the glowing trees of an ethereal world, and his face—finally clear, finally mine to remember.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, the realization crashing over me like a wave. Everything that had been just beyond the veil of my consciousness had snapped into sharp clarity.

“Landon, are you okay?” Sarah ran toward me. “Did he hurt you?”

Oh no. I’d sent him away. What if he never came back? I had no way to get to his world without him. Sarah reached for me, but I was already moving, acting on a primal, urgent need to follow him.

“I remember,” I gasped, the words barely a breath as I shoved through the door, the bell chiming frantically. I sprinted after him, my feet pounding the pavement, the familiar streets morphing into a blur, and called his name. “Nils! Nils!”

I weaved through the pedestrians, focused solely on the path I hoped he’d taken. My heart raced, not just with the physical exertion but with a tumult of emotions so powerful it was almost debilitating.

My breath hitched with each step I took. Time and space condensed, warped around me as I tried to piece together the fragments of love and longing that flooded my brain. “Nils!” I yelled again, my voice echoing back at me from the stone facades of the buildings lining the streets.

I stopped, my breath ragged, my sides aching. Tears streamed down my face. He couldn’t be gone. I couldn’t have lost my chance. Despair gripped me, crushing me. Wiping my eyes, I turned slowly to return to the store and halted.

Nils stood there, his expression a mix of astonishment and hope. Our eyes locked, and without a thought, I was running again, the ache in my legs forgotten.

“Nils!”

“You remember?” he asked, his voice breaking with emotion as I crashed into his arms.

“Yes.” I clung to him, the solidity of his body against mine grounding me in the whirlwind of my emotions. “I remember everything. I love you.”

“And I love you,” he whispered back. “Frostheart is gone, Landon. He can’t hurt us anymore. Come back with me. Come back home, please.”

“Yes, I want to go home with you. I missed you so much.”

He laughed, wiping my tears. “How could you have missed me? You didn’t remember me.”

“But I dreamed of you every night.” I sniffled. “Every night I felt your love, but then I woke up, and you were gone.”

“Never again, my love. I’m never letting you go again.”

He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him back. To think when we first met, I never dreamed that I would be the one.