Santa's Secret

My name catches my attention, only to find the receptionist gawking at me. I try to smile, but it feels forced so I stop trying.

“Mrs. Winters is waiting for you in her classroom.”

“Great, thank you.” I head toward the hall where I remember her room being. Artwork from the students lines the hall and each bulletin board is decorated for the holidays with green garland and snowflakes. I remember making trees with cotton balls and construction paper. Art was my favorite subject in elementary school.

I knock on the wooden door and turn the handle. Mrs. Winters turns her attention toward me as I step into her class. The loud gasps bring a wide smile to my face. I wave at her students and rush over to give her a hug. “It’s so good to see you,” I tell her.

Mrs. Winters pulls away, leaving her hands on my shoulders. “Look at you, Delaney, so grown up.”

I nod and shrug. “You haven’t changed one bit, Mrs. Winters.”

“Just older,” she says, brushing me off. She keeps her hand on my shoulder as she turns me to face the class. “Children, allow me to introduce you to Delaney Du Luca.” I wave and everyone says hi. Most of the girls whisper among themselves, and I find myself looking for Aiden’s daughter, even though I have no idea what she looks like and the kids in this class seem to be older.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your class, Mrs. Winters.”

“Oh no, worries. We were working on our songs for the festival play.”

“That’s why I’m here. I’d like to help,” I tell her, watching as her eyes light up. She clasps her hands together.

“Oh, Delaney, I think that’s just wonderful. Don’t you, class?”

The chorus of yesses gives me a surge of happiness. I don’t know why this means so much to me, but it does. Mrs. Winters tells me there’s a meeting after school and suggests I be there. I promise her I will be before leaving her to tend to her class.

With time to waste, I stop at the local diner and pick up lunch to take to my favorite guy. Stepping inside my dad’s office is like stepping into a time machine. His walls are covered with pictures of Dominic and me, from the time we were toddlers until now.

My finger runs along the frames, each image bringing up a good memory. The more time I seem to spend here, the more I feel like I’ve been losing myself in Hollywood. Everyone makes a big deal out of me being Delaney Du Luca, when I really just want to be the girl who used to follow her brother around, begging to play with him and his friends.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” my dad’s voice has me spinning on my heels to face him.

“Hi, Daddy.” I hold up the greasy bag of food from the diner.

“To what do I owe… oh no you didn’t.”

“I did, but only if you don’t tell Mom!”

My dad rushes over to his door and peeks his head around the corner, asking his secretary to hold his calls. He shuts the door and rubs his hands together. “You can guarantee I won’t tell your mom. Come on, let’s sit.”

He clears us off a spot on his table and holds the chair out for me. I rip into the bag of poutine and set it in the middle of the table. “I haven’t had this since I left,” I tell him, taking the first gravy drenched fry.

“No, I can’t imagine poutine would be very popular in California.”

My dad and I dig in. Every so often, our forks crash into each other, vying for that one soggy fry.

“Are you happy to be home?”

“I am. I still can’t believe I ventured out in the storm today, though.”

My dad looks out the window and laughs. “Storm? Sweetie, this isn’t a storm.”

I shrug. “It is to me. If there’s even a hint of snow in Los Angeles, the town shuts down, the grocery stores are emptied and everyone hunkers down. It’s like an apocalypse. I used to laugh, but now I do the same thing.”

“I suppose people forget how to drive in the snow.”

“And dress. I had to run to Burlington to buy clothes the other day.”

Dad puts his fork down and rubs his belly. “I heard about that. Aiden saved the day?”

“He did. I think I’m going to call Calvin and ask him to fly out here. I thought I’d feel safe, but the other day…”