The Solstice Mistletoe Effect

The Solstice Mistletoe Effect | Serena Yates

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Chapter One

“ARE you ready to go?” Lance looked down at Jakob, whose

hand reached up to clench his as they walked toward the

front door. His lover, Magnus, had gone outside to warm up

one of their two SUVs. Since he was from Sweden and had

spent years on expeditions to research glaciers, he was a lot

less sensitive to the freezing January temperatures than

Lance. Even though Lance had grown up in Mistletoe,

Wyoming, he’d only recently moved back from L.A. and was

having a harder time adjusting than he’d expected.

“Sure!” Jakob wore his new down coat, matching

mittens, and scarf. He looked a lot more ready to face the

cold morning air than Lance felt. “It’s okay to be a little

nervous, right? I mean, this is a new school, and I don’t

know anybody there.”

“Of course it’s okay to be nervous.” Lance was a little

jittery himself. This was the first time that Jakob would be

on his own after the FBI had returned him from being

kidnapped by his other uncle, Brian, and his wife Nancy.

They hadn’t agreed with Magnus being named Jakob’s legal

guardian after Magnus’s brother and his wife had died in a

plane crash early last year. “But I think that you might know

a few of the kids already. Remember our visits to the skating

rink?”

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“That’s right! George and Fiona said they’d see me in

school.” Jakob grinned as he picked up his backpack.

“Mistletoe Elementary is a very good school. Uncle

Magnus and I checked it out before we enrolled you.” Lance

was still nervous, but they couldn’t keep Jakob at home

forever. Besides, the boy needed kids his own age to play

with.

The drive only took twenty minutes. Magnus was driving

and Lance focused on the route; he’d be driving Jakob to

school in the future, since Magnus would be at work at

Grand Teton National Park. Today was an exception. Magnus

hadn’t wanted to miss Jakob’s first day, so he’d arranged to

start work a few hours later than usual.

When they arrived at the school, Magnus quickly found

parking, and they walked toward the entrance side-by-side,

Jakob skipping ahead. A few of the other parents who were

dropping off their children did a double take when they saw

Lance and Magnus walking together. Some stopped in their

tracks and openly stared. Lance was surprised. They weren’t

even holding hands.

He tried to shrug off the uncomfortable feeling of being

watched because their family was different, but it wasn’t

easy. He knew that Wyoming wasn’t exactly the most

progressive state where same-sex relationships were

concerned, but facing the reality of being noticed and stared

at like that was harder than he’d thought.

He was relieved when they reached the principal’s office.

“Welcome to Mistletoe Elementary. My name is Helen

Rutherford.” The grey-haired matron in a surprisingly

cheerful light green pants suit shook Jakob’s hand and

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greeted Magnus and Lance with a small smile, pointing at

some chairs. “Please, have a seat.”

When they’d made themselves comfortable, Ms.

Rutherford pulled several sheets of paper from a drawer, sat

down behind her desk, and put on her reading glasses.

“I’m glad that you were both able to come by today. So

many parents don’t make the effort to be here together.” Ms.

Rutherford smiled at Jakob, laugh lines crinkling around her

bespectacled eyes. “And it’s a pretty important day for you,

Jakob, isn’t it? I’m sure you’re glad that both your—

uncles?—are here with you.”

“Lance isn’t my uncle!” Jakob grinned. “At least, not

yet.”

“He isn’t?” Ms. Rutherford pretended to be surprised,

but the twinkle in her eyes gave her away. Lance relaxed a

little. It looked like this woman had a sense of humor.

“No, but that doesn’t matter, does it? He’s really good at

taking care of me, and I love him as much as my Uncle

Magnus.” Jakob looked ready to defend Lance against any

possible attack from this stranger.

“You’re right, Jakob, it doesn’t matter. At least not to us.

But there are a few rules and regulations which require some

paperwork to ensure that both your Uncle Magnus and

Lance will be recognized as if they were your parents. Just in

case something happens and to make sure that they’re the

only ones who can pick you up from school.” Ms. Rutherford

pointed at the sheets she held. “So they need to complete

and sign a few forms.”

“Okay, I guess.” Jakob nodded and watched patiently as

Lance and Magnus went through three sets of papers. They

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provided contact details and a password for when they

wanted to authorize others to pick up Jakob.

Ms. Rutherford took the sheets back when they were

done and looked them over carefully. Finally, she took off her

reading glasses and smiled at them.

“Looks as if we’re all set, gentlemen. Let me just put

these away safely and I’ll show you to Jakob’s classroom.”

Ms. Rutherford got up, walked to one of the lockable filing

cabinets, and put the paperwork into one of the many

drawers.

They followed her through the quiet corridors decorated

with colorful drawings and craft projects until they reached

one of the classrooms at the very end of the hall. Ms.

Rutherford turned toward Jakob.

“Now, the other children have been in here for about ten

minutes, but they know to expect a new student. So, we’ll

walk in, I’ll introduce you, and then your teacher will take

over. His name is Mr. Harris.” Ms. Rutherford waited for

Jakob to nod before she opened the battered-looking door.

With a last uncertain glance at both of them, Jakob

followed her into the classroom. Lance had trouble staying

where he was, and Magnus didn’t look as though he was

faring much better. God, it was hard to let Jakob go after all

he’d been through. But coddling him wouldn’t do any good at

all. Lance sighed.

“This is much harder than I thought.” Magnus’s deep

voice woke Lance from his gloomy thoughts. He looked up

into silver-blue eyes that were shining with emotion. “He’s

been to school before, of course, but that was before all the

craziness with my idiot brother-in-law. You’d think that the

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fact they’re in prison, awaiting trial, would make me feel

better about letting him go, wouldn’t you?”

“I know what you mean. We’ve had him under our

protection for almost two weeks, so it feels weird to let him

stay with strangers.” Lance frowned.

“It’s not logical to feel like this—but I still do.” Magnus

grinned. “Sometimes I wish I could return to my blissfully

ignorant state where I could just ignore emotions. You have

taught me too well, älskling.”

It made shivers of delight run down Lance’s spine when

Magnus called him “sweetheart” in that deep baritone of his.

He wanted to touch his lover so badly, but he knew he

couldn’t. The risk was too high. The looks they’d been given

earlier, when they hadn’t even done anything, were burned

into Lance’s memory. He didn’t want to do anything that

could provoke a similar or worse reaction.

“I love it when you speak Swedish. I wish we could go

home right now.” Lance smiled when Magnus winked at him.

“So do I!” Magnus grinned. “Hold that thought until

tonight and I’ll teach you some new words.”

“Sounds good. We might need a few new traditions and

customs as well, now that Jakob’s in school.” Lance grinned

back.

“Makes sense. It’s a new phase in our lives, isn’t it?”

Magnus stepped back to make room for Ms. Rutherford

coming out of the classroom.

“That went really well. Jakob chose a seat next to some

friends he’s apparently made over the winter holidays. Mr.

Harris seemed satisfied with the arrangement.” Ms.

Rutherford smiled and led them toward the exit. “Thanks

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again for coming by and supporting Jakob. We’ll keep a close

eye on him to make sure he settles in, and we’ll let you know

if anything out of the ordinary happens.”

They shook hands and were outside before they realized

they’d been dismissed. Lance started laughing.

“I guess being the principal means you have certain

skills, and Ms. Rutherford doesn’t seem to be hesitant about

using them with parents as well as students.” Magnus

looked a little stunned, but he was smiling as well.

LANCE checked his watch for the fifth or sixth time within

the last four minutes. He knew that he’d arrived at the

school much too early, but surely it was three o’clock by

now? He shifted in his seat, trying to make himself

comfortable. It wasn’t the car seat that was the problem,

though. He was eager to see Jakob and find out how the first

day of school had gone for him. And he wanted to get away

from the stares of some of the other parents who were

waiting to pick up children. It looked like their little family

had made quite an impression this morning if those people

still remembered him.

Finally, the first kids appeared at the door. Lance soon

detected Jakob amongst the laughing and jostling kids. The

boy seemed oddly quiet, but he looked relieved when he saw

Lance. He opened the rear car door and climbed into his

booster seat, buckling himself in.

“Hi, Jakob.” Lance turned around so he could look at

the boy.

“Hi, Lance.” Jakob’s eyes were overbright.

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“Hey, what’s wrong?” Lance was about to unbuckle

himself to climb into the back and take the boy into his

arms. He looked like he needed some comfort.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just….” Jakob blinked, trying not to

let the tears fall. “Can we please go home?”

“Sure we can go home. As long as you promise to tell me

what’s bothering you.” Lance waited until Jakob nodded

before he turned back toward the front and started the car.

The twenty-minute drive seemed much longer than it

had this morning. By the time they made it into the house,

Lance’s stomach was in knots. They sat down on the sofa in

the living room and Lance opened his arms, finding them full