Sweet Inspiration (16 page)

"My dad is crazy about the dogs. He has actually entered the Iditarod several times. There is even a miniature castle in the back that's a dog house."

"Oh! That is so cool. Your family really embraces adventure, don't you? You don't seem scared of anything."

Wolfgang looked thoughtfully at Lucy. "I think you must be pretty brave, too, Lucy Anne. Accepting Glasdorf would be too 146

Sweet Inspiration

by Penny Watson

overwhelming for a lot of people. I'm impressed that you are so at ease here."

Lucy shrugged. "I think Glasdorf is incredible. But I don't really feel that brave. In fact, I'm pretty nervous about meeting your dad."

Wolfie patted her on the shoulder. "Come on then, let's go inside. I guarantee you that it's not going to be that bad. My dad grumbles a lot, but underneath he's really a softie.

Especially around my mom. Right, Nicholas?"

Nicholas nodded. "Even if my parents are disappointed in my behavior, they would never think less of you. In fact, I'm sure my parents are going to be thrilled to meet you, Luce."

Sven stomped his feet on the front stoop to dislodge the snow and ice. "Let's head inside, I'm freezing. Time to hang out in front of the fire with a hot toddy."

Nicholas knocked on the front doors, ornately carved and embedded with stained glass. Lucy noticed that the red and green slivers of glass were constantly changing patterns, and sparkling with lights. "What is the significance of the glass?

It's so beautiful."

"A lot of the glass has protective qualities when constructed with the aid of elfin magic. My father's entire house is protected and blessed by very old and powerful magic."

Finally, the doors opened. Lucy looked down at an old woman, barely three feet tall, dressed in a red velvet jumper.

Her eyes lit up when she saw Nicholas.

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"Nicholas Klaus! However do you do, young man? Come in, come in. Your parents will be so happy to see you. Did everything turn out all right with the council this evening?"

"Yes,Wilma, thanks for asking. All is well."

She clapped her hands and beamed. "I knew they would forgive you, young Nicholas! And who is this?" The elf turned to Lucy and warmly grasped her hands. "Is this the lovely lady who's captured your heart? Let me look at you."

The tiny woman pulled on a pair of glasses and peered through the thick lenses at Lucy. "Oh my! What a beauty!

Look at all those lovely curls, and such pretty eyes." She turned to Nicholas and clucked. "Congratulations! She's a gem, Nicholas."

Wilma turned to the other brothers in the foyer and planted her hands on her hips. "And when are you boys going to find your Schatzis?"

Wolfgang shook his head ruefully. "Haven't found her yet, Wilma. I'm still looking."

Greg laughed. "Maybe we'll get lucky with the supermodels at my party."

Oskar leaned down and kissed Wilma on the cheek. "Didn't you know? I'm waiting for you to dump Boris. You're the only one for me, fair maiden."

Wilma swatted Oskar on the arm. "Don't get cheeky with me, young man. Come on in. Your mother has been waiting for you." She turned to Nicholas. "Your parents were nervously awaiting the council's decision, Nicholas. They've been worried about you."

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As Lucy, Nicholas and his brothers walked into the stately great room, they heard a feminine voice complaining nearby.

"Well hell, look at that! I burned another chicken."

Wolfgang laughed and pointed to a door at the end of the room. "That's the kitchen, Lucy. I have a sneaking suspicion that dinner is going to be late tonight."

Sven moaned. "Not again! We're too late, dammit."

Oskar hugged the cookie tin to his chest. "Thank God for the cookies."

Wolfgang headed into the smoky room. Lucy peaked through the doorway and spied a petite woman dumping a blackened chicken into the sink. She wore an apron emblazoned with "Christmas Rocks!" and had beautiful silver and turquoise Native American jewelry to compliment her pixie-styled silver hair.

"Oh no! I wanted tonight to be perfect." The woman sniffled and smacked the charred bird with a wooden spoon.

"Mom? You okay?"

The pixie turned toward Wolfgang with glassy eyes.

"Wolfie! Look what I did!" She flung herself into his arms and Wolfie patted her back reassuringly.

"Mom, no worries. We don't care about the chicken."

"But I wanted dinner to be perfect tonight. We're meeting Lucy Anne for the first time, and...well, I wanted to impress her. She's a cook, you know, like Nicholas." Mrs. Klaus wiped her hands on the apron. "And I'm so worried about your brother. I hope the council was kind. Sometimes those elves can get a little bit crotchety, if you know what I mean."

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Nicholas entered the kitchen and chuckled. "Mom, I told you a thousand times, bake, not broil for a roast bird..."

"Nicholas!" Mrs. Klaus grabbed Nicholas' arm and squeezed. "What happened? Are you okay? Did Ebbe and Gerd give you a hard time? I'd like to give those two a piece of my mind..."

"Don't worry, Mom. All is forgiven. They let me off the hook with a warning. I'm supposed to shape up, and set a better example."

Alena gave a sigh of relief. "That's wonderful news. I'm surprised they weren't more difficult."

Nicholas nodded. "Well, actually, they weren't too happy with me for breaking the rules. But when they found out Hector used the red sphere to heal Lucy, their attitude suddenly changed."

"What's up with the red sphere?" Wolfgang asked.

"Evidently it only works under certain conditions. They believe that Lucy was meant to live, otherwise the magic wouldn't have worked."

"Aha. It sounds like the elves went off on one of their 'fate of the world' lectures. Good for you." Gregor bumped fists with his older brother.

"What the hell? They never let
us
off with that one," Oskar commented.

"Yeah, probably because there's no possible magical explanation for joy-riding in the sleigh, you ass." Sven laughed at his brother's irritated expression.

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Alena reached up to pinch Nicholas' cheek. "I'm so happy for you, honey. You never know how those council meetings are going to go."

"You're not disappointed with me?" Nicholas' expression turned grave. "It's the first time I've ever gotten into serious trouble with the council. I thought you would be upset."

Alena shook her head. "Actually, I'm proud of you, Nicholas. You took a risk to protect someone you care about.

And you were willing to pay the consequences, if need be. I can't imagine anything more honorable than following your heart."

Nicholas hugged his mother and sighed with relief. He turned back to Lucy who was still hiding in the doorway.

"Mom, there's someone special here I would like you to meet." He held out his hand to Lucy and she nervously grasped it as he pulled her into the room.

"Lucy Anne Brewster, this is Alena Klaus, my mother, a.k.a., Mrs. Klaus."

Alena dabbed at her teary eyes with her apron and smiled at Lucy. "Oh, forgive me, sweetheart. I'm just upset about another cooking disaster. It is so nice to finally meet you, Lucy Anne. Nicholas has been remiss in hiding you from us."

Alena removed her apron and hung it on a hook on the wall. Lucy could not believe her eyes. Mrs. Klaus wore a short white T-shirt, which showed off very toned arms. Clunky silver bangles jangled on each of her wrists, and a gauzy peasant skirt swirled around her ankles. She padded around the kitchen on bare feet, adorned with silver rings on her brightly polished toes. When she reached out to warmly shake 151

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her hand, Lucy noticed a tattoo of ivy and berries around her wrist.

"It's so nice to meet you, Mrs. Klaus."

"Oh, please call me Alena. You are adorable! Way to go, Nicholas." She turned to Wolfie and winked. "There's hope for all of you yet, if Nicholas got so lucky."

Wolfgang nodded. "That's what I'm thinking, too. She doesn't have any sisters though, I already asked."

"Oh, too bad." Alena's sparkling green eyes studied Lucy intensely. "So tell me about yourself, Lucy. Where are you from, and what's your family like?"

"I'm from Eston, New York, a small town in upstate New York. I own a cafe there called Sweet Inspiration. My parents died several years ago, so I'm sort of on my own."

"Not any more," Nicholas whispered into her ear, and Lucy snuggled closer to his side, thankful for his support.

Alena nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I must admit I've heard wonderful things about you, sweetheart, from all of the elves in town. You've made quite an impression here."

Before Lucy had a chance to answer, Oskar yelled out

"What the hell is that?" He was staring into the sink at the blackened fowl.

"Looks like dinner bit the dust, again." Sven poked at the remains of the chicken with disgust.

Alena stood fuming with her hands on her hips. "Quit complaining! You boys could always help out, you know. Why don't you let Nicholas teach you a thing or two about cooking, so you're more self-reliant with the domestic arts? Women like that, you know."

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Oskar looked at Lucy and grinned. "Actually, Mom, we have another master chef in the family. Maybe Lucy and Nicholas can whip up a quickie dinner, what do you think?"

Alena looked hopefully at Lucy. "That's a great idea! Lucy, I hate to inconvenience you, but would you be willing?"

Lucy smiled up at Nicholas. "Absolutely. What do you think, Nicholas?"

"Of course." He gazed down at her with a twinkle in his eye. "I love cooking with you, Lucy. Let's look in the fridge and see what we have to work with." Nicholas pulled her tightly into his arms and kissed her on the forehead. She blushed, knowing that all of his family was watching intently.

But she was also secretly pleased that Nicholas was not embarrassed to show his affection.

Alena beamed at the two of them. "Well, it's about time, Nicholas. It looks like you finally found something you like as much as your culinary creations."

Sven had opened up the cookie tin and was sneaking one into his mouth when Alena snapped, "Sven, what are you doing, young man?"

"It's just an appetizer. No biggie."

Alena peered into the tin and then raised an eyebrow at her son. "Don't bogart the lemon stars." She snuck a couple out of the tin for herself as Lucy perused the refrigerator.

"What do you think, Luce? Any ideas with these ingredients?" Nicholas started to pull items out of the refrigerator and line them up on the counter.

"Actually, I think we can make some homemade pizzas. I see fresh dough, and lots of veggies, basil and hot sausage. I 153

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can even make some with spicy shrimp. Would your family like that sort of thing?"

"Oh yeah, we like that sort of thing." Sven helped Lucy carry her ingredients to the counter. "Dad loves pizza. He'll be digging that."

Nicholas nodded. "I can make a home-made Caesar salad, too. My father loves garlic."

Alena slung her arm around Lucy's shoulder. "Nicky adores pizza and seafood. Spicy shrimp pizza sounds marvelous.

What can we do to help?"

Lucy divided the vegetables into several workstations.

"Why don't you guys slice up the veggies, and I'll start the marinara sauce. Is anyone interested in rolling out the dough and making the crust?"

From behind her came a deep booming voice. "I think I can handle that."

Lucy spun around to find a giant of a man filling the doorway to the kitchen. His thick white hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and he was sporting a sharp-looking goatee. A well-worn muscle shirt with the Boston Marathon logo displayed his muscular arms. He wore runner's pants and high-end athletic shoes, and he was wiping sweat from his brow and chugging from a water bottle.

"Look who's here!" Alena slipped her arm around her husband's waist and gazed up adoringly into his sparkling eyes. "Have a good work-out, honey?"

"Excellent. I see our company has arrived." Nicholas Sr.'s gaze flickered to Nicholas and Lucy questioningly.

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Alena nodded. "Nicholas is back from the meeting. All is forgiven." She whispered to her husband, "And that's Lucy Anne."

"From the smell of it, I guess roast chicken is no longer on the menu." The giant man leaned down to softly kiss his wife on the lips.

Alena smiled. "Never fear, my dear. Lucy, Nicholas' new friend, is here. And she just happens to be a master chef."

Two serious hazel eyes inspected Lucy from head to toe.

She recognized those golden-flecked eyes; they were the same deep amber hue as Nicholas'. The intensity of his gaze was excruciating. Lucy held her breath as Nicky Sr. assessed her in a glance. And then, right before her eyes, his face was transformed by a lop-sided grin, complete with a dimple on his chin.

"Well, well. Looks like Nicholas found himself a Schatzi at last." He reached for Lucy's hand. His giant, callused hand engulfed hers. "It's a pleasure to meet you Lucy Anne Brewster. I'm Nicholas Senior, otherwise known as Santa."

* * * *

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Lucy shook her head as she realized the man in front of her was
the
honest-to-God Santa Claus. "You...you don't have a belly. I thought that Santa was supposed to be...you know..."

"Fat? That's just an urban legend. Not an ounce of fat on this bod, I assure you."

"No red coat."

"Nope. Can't work out in a coat."

"Your cheeks aren't rosy, and...and...your nose is not like a cherry."

"Well...my cheeks get kinda rosy when I'm running, especially a marathon."