The Christmas Elf, A Secret-Santa Story

Chapter 19 - Friends know best

Tuesday 20 December

The pile of presents on the floor of her bedroom was slowly transforming from a pile of bags and boxes to neatly wrapped gifts with gift tags. The sound of cartoons filtered upstairs and she could hear her parents' voices ever so often.

She sighed and then caught herself sighing with a frown.

Her mobile rang just then and she pressed the answer and speaker keys so she could keep her hands free. "Hey Jake," she said in pleased surprise when she glanced at the caller ID.

"Eileen, my dearest friend and the woman who has known me for what feels like hundreds of years..." he greeted.

"Uh oh," she said, "you only ever lead with that when you want something." Her busy fingers paused in the middle of tying a bow.

"See! You know me so well!" he exclaimed and they both laughed.

"I have a shipment that was delayed and now I have to go deal with that and we are too busy here to leave Kate alone to deal with both managing the lot and the counter," he said.

"Say no more, mon ami, I should be able to be there in under an hour."

"Great!" he said. "I owe you one!"

"That's the beauty of our friendship Jake, we don't need to try to keep score," she reassured.

"I hate taking you away from your parents, though," he griped.

"They'll be fine, they have entertainment of their own here," the smile was in her voice as she thought of Ella. "Plus, if it makes you feel better I can always tell them to swing by the lot later when Claudia gets home. I'm sure she won't mind driving them and they always love visiting to see what you and Kate have done differently each year. Claudia would be happy to help since can't stop thanking us for keeping Ella while she's at work this week."

"That's the little girl who moved in with her mother right? She didn't have a sitter"

"It may be the other way around with the moving Jake, but yes. They were the ones we placed the most traditional tree with," she said.

"Ah, right! She seemed like a total sweetheart."

"She is! And my parents love spending time with her. Claudia had a sitter lined up, but Ella didn't really know her and Claudia was feeling guilty about it being the Christmas season and having her daughter stay with a stranger, you know how it goes. The biggest relief to her, I think, has been how much Ella enjoys being here and the fact it feels like she has a family support system. The icing on the cake is that Mr. Jensen's family got here yesterday and I had forgotten that his granddaughter is the same age – so now Ella and Aster seem to be destined to be fast friends."

"Sounds like you're really bringing people together Eileen, as usual."

"I don't think I had that much to do with it," she protested. "But we can catch up later – let me change and tell the parents so I can get to the lot."

"Okay, sure, see you soon," he said, "but I think you're underestimating the impact your warmth and openness have on the people around you. Would your parents have been so willing to help with a neighbor's kid if they didn't know you would be totally fine with it? Would Claudia have let you if she didn't feel so at ease with you? Would Mr. Jensen's family respond the way they did? Think about it..."

He did a very Jake-like thing and hung up before she could answer.

~ O ~

"You can put those boxes over there," Eileen instructed one of the workers, as she cashed for a customer. Kate walked up with a basket of decorations for an older customer and then came around to help bag the purchases for the last customer.