The Boss Who Stole Christmas - Jana Aston Page 0,2

surprise to some of you, but Reindeer Falls is quite the happening tourist destination.

In a small Midwestern city kind of way.

I bet Nick is bored out of his mind here. He spent the last four years living in Europe. Based in Germany, which I only knew because his sister mentioned him a time or three during lunch in the employee break room. Probably where he bought all his fancy suits too, because they surely didn't come from the Macy's in Saginaw.

I'm not sure Nick is Reindeer Falls material. Which is the worst thing I can say about a person. I imagine it's like a New Yorker side-eyeing transplants with disdain. Not NYC material, I imagine they think as they watch someone patiently wait on the crosswalk instead of darting into the street inches from a yellow cab like a local.

Reindeer Falls is the most charming city I've ever seen and there's no place else I'd rather be. Population five thousand thirty-four, which is misleading because there's a city of fifty thousand just twenty minutes away. And Detroit is ninety minutes away, so it's not as though we're a tiny isolated town where everyone knows everyone’s business. We're Midwest adorable. Our official town slogan is "Little Bavaria," because the town was founded by German immigrants and built to resemble a village in Germany. To this day a full fifty percent of the residents are of German descent and a strict building code remains in place requiring new builds mimic the European charm of our origin.

And sure, maybe I'm biased because I was born here. And because my name is Holly Winter. And I might as well just tell you now… I have two sisters named Ginger and Noel.

Yes, my family loves Christmas.

My mom denies that she married my dad for his last name, but between you and me, I'm pretty sure she pursued him so she could have a gaggle of Christmas-themed babies.

But back to the Teddy Bear Café. It's my passion project. Bavarian Bear is one of the product lines I'm responsible for. They've been made in Nuremberg, Germany for over a hundred years and the Flying Reindeer Toy Company has been the exclusive North American distributor of Bavarian Bears for the last forty years. A special Bavarian Reindeer was even developed as the company's flagship toy.

When a storefront on Main Street opened up earlier this year I proposed that we rent the space and open a Teddy Bear Café, where children could bring their Bavarian Bears (or their Bavarian Reindeers) for tea. It will be a destination for tourists and a place where local children can have their birthday parties. We'll sell the complete line of Bavarian Bears at that location along with the accessories. You know, tiny pairs of shoes for your bear. Outfits so you can dress your bear as a doctor or an astronaut or a gymnast. Child-sized pajamas sold with a matching set for your bear. We're going to have a bear clinic for any bears that need repairs and a bear spa for any bears that need a bit of a wash.

I know, I know. This all sounds too delicious to be true. But this is life in Reindeer Falls and the reason I don't want to quit and get a boring job somewhere else. Having a part in the Flying Reindeer Toy Company feels a bit like being a Christmas elf and who doesn't want to have an in with Santa?

Listen, I know Santa isn't real. But he's real in my Christmas-loving heart and that's good enough for me.

This project is something I've wanted to do since I started with the company. The Bavarian Bear makers have a smaller version of the café in Nuremberg. When I saw it on their website I was enchanted—and determined that we could do something similar here in Reindeer Falls. We have a steady flow of tourism here. We're a Midwest holiday destination for starters. Tree lightings and gingerbread baking contests and horse-drawn sleigh rides on a specially designed track though the Reindeer Falls forest. Fine, we don't really have a forest per se. It's a few hundred acres of woods on the edge of town owned by the Hartfield family. They cleared a path through the woods, bought a few sleighs and Santa's Sleigh Ride was born. And let me tell you, they do a nice business each winter.

We also have Oktoberfest season each fall. Main Street is lined with quirky shops and we have the