Christmas with Nick Klaas

Part 29: Trouble in Paradise

Eleven months later . . .

The Caribbean sun felt good on Noelle's skin again.

At work, the orchestra had been encouraged to take the week after Thanksgiving off since they were going to be booked solid for the latter half of December. It had been a long autumn—a long year, really—so Noelle took full advantage of the break. After flying into San Juan a few days earlier, she chartered a boat and sailed east. She had no clear itinerary except the date of return to catch her flight home.

She was now on island time. She ate when she wanted, and she slept when she felt like it. She knew the best places to snorkel and where to restock provisions. She didn't turn on her phone, and she certainly didn't check the news. The temperature had been in the eighties, the wind was always favorable, and the forecast looked equally perfect.

She'd just made herself a holiday rum punch, which was exactly like a regular rum punch, but with twice the booze and a sprig of rosemary because it looked Christmas-y and she didn't have any mint. Anchored off Magens Bay in St. Thomas with no intention of leaving in the next few hours, she could get a little tipsy without consequence. She deserved as much.

After climbing the steps to go back up on deck from the galley, Noelle took a sip of her cocktail as she brushed her fingertips against the green, plastic garland twisted around the top lifeline. She'd wrapped the fake shrubbery on the synthetic rope that acted as a rail on both sides from aft to fore. Red bows periodically dotted the composition, and battery-powered twinkle lights were also hidden in the needles to provide extra ambiance at night.

Her parents—who ironically enough were on a skiing trip in Canada right now—would think her mad for such a display of holiday sentimentality. But the truth was, she missed Nick. And anything she could do to reclaim that feeling of happiness she had while with him was worth the effort and possible ridicule, no matter how out of character it seemed.

The Macy's parade—with its enthusiastic marching bands, whimsical balloon characters, and quirky Broadway performers—had recently ushered in the holiday season, officially opening the floodgates to all things Christmas. Of course, some places had already stocked chocolates in red and green wrappers or strung multi-colored fairy lights in windows weeks earlier, but this year, Noelle didn't mind as much as in the past. Having spent even just a short time in the Arctic-adjacent little town that held all the Christmas magic within its boundaries had changed her outlook on the holiday. The man who now had to continue the ancient traditions had a lot to do with it, too.

They didn't keep in touch. Trying to maintain a long distance relationship even if she hadn't felt overwhelming guilt for his father's disappearance would have been hard enough. It wasn't as if Nick blamed her. Quite the opposite. He was thankful for Noelle's assistance in helping to banish his cousin. He was so sweet, yet so naïve. She was the reason Piet had managed to wreak chaos in the first place!

Yet Nick had still asked her to stay. Tears clouded her eyes now just thinking about it. Refusing was the hardest thing Noelle had done in her twenty-four years of existence. She'd made him promise to contact her only if Sinter Klaas had been safely found. Her phone had yet to receive a call from Lapland.

Gracefully walking across the teak deck past the ship's wheel, Noelle stepped down onto the transom platform in the rear. She balanced her drink in one hand while steadying herself with the other on a rail before sitting on the seat and dangling her legs into the turquoise water. The sea felt amazing, and a small school of parrotfish swam by, one pausing to nibble on her toes.

Noelle laughed and took another sip of the punch. She was already feeling the alcohol as it buzzed through her brain. Good. She needed the release. Closing her eyes, she tilted her face up to the sky. A couple of more minutes and she'd need to reapply her sunscreen, but until then, she was going to enjoy the blissful serenity: focus on the quiet, think of nothing, and relax.