CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVEFive days before Christmas, Jesse was feeling sad and lonely over his breakup with Kelly. He wanted to go see her in the worst way, but he knew he couldn’t. Sending mixed signals would only make everything more difficult.
Rather than sitting around and feeling sorry for himself, he got himself a one-day gig as a mall Santa. Maybe that would cheer him up.
Weatherly was all for it. He needed a feature story for the slow-news holidays. The mall owners recognized the opportunity for free publicity and promptly gave one of their Santas the day off.
Jesse managed to fit into the Santa suit, stomach padding and all. By the time he put on the white wig and beard, he looked pretty convincing. The pants were too short, and the high black boots were too small. That was no proble
