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“Well, apparently some guy called Dan Goory was dying to find out about me—so he could ruin Christmas for everybody. At least that’s what they told me when they first came to see me.” He laughed. “Made me feel extremely important, I can tell you! Like one of those football players that gets traded for millions of dollars! And at my advanced age, no less! Cheered me right up.”

“I just wish you’d told me,” said Chase with a shake of the head. “You had me worried sick.”

“Worried sick? But Chaser, you know your Grandpa Kris is like a cat. I always land on my feet!”

“I know,” he said with a slight smile. “So you’re the new Santa, huh? What do you know?”

“Yeah,” Kris chuckled. “Imagine that, Chaser.” When I gave him a questioning look, he said, “Oh, right. Well, Chase here was always driving the girls away. Mind you, he was only six at the time. Said he had no need for girls. So I started calling him Chaser. I was the one who picked him up from school, you see, so we developed quite a bond, didn’t we, Chaser?”

“I’ve stopped driving the girls away from me a long time ago, Gramps,” said Chase.

“I know! You started chasing them instead, so the moniker still applied.”

“Well, I’ve stopped doing that as well,” said Chase with a slight smile.

Kris directed a curious glance at me.“Yeah, I can see that. So when is the wedding?”

We both laughed uncomfortably, Chase and I.“We haven’t really discussed that,” I said. “I mean, we’re just getting to know each other.”

Kris patted his grandson on the cheek and tsk-tsked.“Still good old Chaser, huh?”

“No! We just met, Grandpa. There’s simply no—I mean, we haven’t—the thing is…”

“Nobody is chasing anyone away, Kris,” I said. “We’re simply taking it one step at a time.”

“As you should,” said Kris with a waggle of his remarkably white beard. He slapped his thighs. “And now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready for my big show! Santa’s in town!”

As he walked off to his bedroom, I noticed a box of Cohibas on a side table. When I opened it, I noticed several cigars were gone, and printed on the side of the box was a stamp that indicated the box was the property of Thornton Fifth Avenue. I shared a smile with Chase. Another mystery solved.

Chapter 15

The whole town was gathered in Town Square, around the huge Christmas tree. All around us the Christmas market was in full swing, with stalls having been set up all over the place, selling eggnog, gl?hwein, hot chocolate, and treats like gingerbread, bugle cones, Christmas tree brownies, candy canes, s’mores and a lot more. There was one stall where Wilbur Vickery sold Christmas trees, for people late to the party, but since they all looked a little worn-out, no one was buying what he had to sell.

“So where is this newfangled Santa?” asked Gran, who was shivering in her wool coat, her head drowning in a thick knit cap with Christmas motif. “If he’s not here soon I’m gone!”

“He’ll be here,” I said, hugging myself to get warm.

Snowflakes were gently fluttering down, covering Hampton Cove in a soft blanket of white. Chase was right by my side, a glass of gl?hwein in his hand—mulled wine with cinnamon—and so were my parents, Uncle Alec, and pretty much all of Hampton Cove. They all wanted to see the new Santa, so turnout for this traditional Christmas feast was great, which must have pleased the council and the Mayor, who were officiating the festivities. Even Dan was here, even though he’d told me he was going to sit this one out—a one-man boycott.

Outdoor heaters had been set up here and there, and people were taking turns getting warmed up before returning to their vigil in front of the tree.

“That tree is the ugliest tree I’ve ever seen,” said Gran, expressing the opinion of many.

“It’s not a real tree,” I told her. “It’s just made to look like one.”

“Well, they sure didn’t succeed. It doesn’t even look like a tree, just a giant clothes hanger.”

She was right. It was a giant clothes hanger. As if IKEA had decided to make the world’s biggest clothes hanger in some kind of Guinness World Record attempt and had created this.

“I’m sure it’s good for the environment,” said Mom. “Trees are not supposed to be used for decorative purposes and thrown away once Christmas is over,” she added when Gran cast her a scathing look.

“It’s tradition,” Gran snapped. “You don’t mess with tradition.”

“I think it’s not so bad,” said Dad. “If you squint a little it almost looks like a real tree.”

“If I squint a little you almost look like a real man,” said Gran, “but that has never fooled me!”

“Hey, that was uncalled for,” said Mom.

“A real man would have filed a complaint with the council just like I told him to,” said Gran. “And not weaseled out.”

“I didn’t weasel out,” said Dad. “I just didn’t see it as a priority. Besides, the Mayor personally assured me that he was going to take all the suggestions into consideration when deciding on next year’s celebration.”

“I like it,” said Chase. “It’s… art.”