Page 4 of A Curvy Wonderland (A Curvy Girl Christmas #3)

4

ELDAN

R ight next to the Christmas tree farm, my parents had built a small café where people could get hot cocoa and snacks to have while they shopped. That’s where I sat early the next morning going through the ornaments as Bob lay next to me, a furry lump on the floor.

The shop was closed down, leaving the space area empty save for me and the ornaments spread out on the table in front of me. Last night there had been a dozen new requests, and somehow, I had to make like a genie and get them to come true. Too bad it wasn't as simple as rubbing a lamp and making a wish and poof, it happened. No, I had to actually talk to people and figure this out.

Each request was pretty different so far.

Several of them were for children’s gifts.

One person had requested help decorating their home for Christmas.

Another one had suggested shoveling snow at an elderly neighbor's house.

Someone else had pointed out a person in the retirement community whose family wouldn't be coming back to visit.

Another person yet had suggested I join the Carol Karens. I rolled my eyes at that one, pretty sure my dad had added it as a joke, and tossed it in the trash a few feet away. Not gonna happen. The last wish would be hardest of all, so I tucked it in my pocket to mull it over later.

Luckily, the requests for toys would be easy—I could go online and order them. Mom and Dad had plenty for that.

I knew my family was lucky—I'd never grown up wanting for anything, at least nothing money could buy. But not everyone was that way. One year I learned that most families went into debt during the Christmas season. It made me dislike the holiday even more.

I got out my phone and put in the orders for the toys, and then I looked at the last three ornaments.

Bob sat up my side, nudging my hand. Absently, I scratched his ears. “I know, maybe you should help me decide which one to do first.”

Just as I was about to hold the ornaments up to him, the door to the café opened, and a girl about my age and two younger girls came in.

“Sorry, the shop’s closed,” I told them. “It opens at two.”

The older one gave me a friendly smile. It touched her eyes so easily, and the first thing I thought was Wow, she's pretty . The second thing I thought was, Why is she so happy? I just told her the shop’s closed.

She spoke in a sweet voice saying, “Delilah told me we were supposed to meet you here?”

I pressed my lips together. “Delilah?” I didn't know anyone by that name.

Just then, the door to the coffee shop opened again, and I let out a sigh. Why was everyone coming in when the sign clearly said CLOSED? But then my mom walked through the door in a matching white outfit. This time of year was always like her personal fashion show. Although these three in matching pajamas could give her a run for her money.

Mom swept past my uninvited guests and said, “You must be Holly and Tatum and Lucy. I remember you two from last night.” She bent down to smile at the younger girls. “How are you doing?”

Tatum and Lucy were shy, clinging about the older girl, but Holly gave my mom that friendly smile and said, “Hi Mrs. Green. Delilah said we were supposed to come and help with the charity.”

My jaw dropped. Help? And my mom knew?

It was bad enough that I was put in charge of playing Santa, but now I knew it had been easy before. Now, apparently, I wasn't working alone, which I would have much preferred.

But my mom nodded happily and said, “We received several requests last night, and I'm sure Eldan would like a helping hand.”

“I would no–”

Mom put her hand on my shoulder, giving me a pointed expression that said, Behave .

“You didn’t let me finish,” I said, not even bothering to smile. “I would not turn down help. Everyone knows working with small children helps things go faster.”

My mom narrowed her eyes at me, and I shook my head. I randomly picked up an ornament and looked at it. “Looks like we're setting up a Christmas tree.”

I walked towards the door with the ornament in my hand that had the address to the woman's house. It said come by anytime. “Let's go,” I said to the three intruders. I didn't even bother to check if they were following me.

Bob stayed behind like he was trained to do, but I could feel him watching me leave.

As I walked down the hill into town, I could hear footsteps crunching on the snow behind me. In her cheery voice, the older girl, Holly, said, “It's so much easier on the way down the hill, huh girls?”

One of the younger girls, Tatum or Lucy, I wasn't sure which one, said, “We should have brought a sled and gone down the hill that way. Would have been a lot faster.”

Not likely. I’d tried it as a kid and wound up with a broken arm. I opened my mouth to say so, but then Holly spoke.

“Maybe tomorrow,” she suggested.

I couldn't help but wince at the thought of them coming back again tomorrow. Typically, if I was by myself, I would have had music or a podcast or something to occupy my mind, but now it was just silent. And not even the good kind of silent, the kind of silence where they were talking to each other and I was an outsider.

Then I heard the youngest one say, “Why is he so grumpy?”

Holly replied, “You can ask him.”

I cringed again, just in time for the youngest one to run up in front of me and start walking backwards on the sidewalk. “Why are you so grumpy?” she asked.

“Because I thought I was doing this by myself.”

I heard Holly snort, and I had to look over my shoulder to see what that was about. She looked a little bashful, her eyes darting everywhere but me. I arched an eyebrow, expecting an explanation.

She fiddled with her scarf as she said, “You don't seem all that different now from when you're at school.”

The strangest feeling went through my chest at the fact that she had noticed me at school, but I quickly shook it. That probably came up because I was used to being by myself. I didn't really notice other people and I didn't expect them to pay attention to me either.

“I prefer books to people,” I finally answered the little girl.

She lifted her chin in acknowledgement but didn't look completely convinced. Then the girl in front of me went a little off track and fell backward into the snow. She giggled and started doing snow angels.

I shook my head, continuing to walk until I turned onto Candy Cane Lane and found the right house number listed on the ornament. We walked up to the front door, and despite the nerves at talking to someone new, I knocked below the big garland wreath with a sparkling red bow.

Several moments passed, and I knocked again.

Nothing. “Oh no,” I said. “Looks like she's not home.” Even though I was dancing for glee at the thought inside, I forced a frown at the three girls and then walked away.

But then the door opened as I reached the end of the sidewalk.

I stayed facing the road to hide my cringe as I heard Holly say, “Hi there, we're here from the giving tree to help you decorate!”

I turned and watched the woman smiling back at Holly and giving me a confused look, and then it seemed to dawn on her what was happening. “Oh, how wonderful. I wasn't sure it would actually happen when I wrote that wish down, but I'm so thankful for you four. I was worried I wouldn’t get more done than the tree and a few ornaments.” She gestured that we should come inside as she chatted with the little girls. “And who are you two cute things?”

I interrupted the conversation saying, “Where's your Christmas stuff?”

“Oh dear, it's in the attic. Right out in the garage, if you pull the ladder open, you should be able to find it. It’s in red and green boxes.”

Of course it was. Without preamble, I walked through the kitchen to the garage, pulling open the attic and walking up the steps Once I passed the ceiling, I used my phone to see what I was working with. A thick layer of dust covered everything, even the cord of the lone light bulb up there. I coughed as dust shook off the cord and filled my nostrils. Then I put my phone back in my pocket and swung my gaze around, finding the red and green boxes. There were four of them.

Getting these down the rickety wooden steps would not be fun.

But then I heard a voice tentatively call behind me, “Need any help?”

Holly.

I didn't want to admit it, but that would be nice. “I'll hand the boxes down to you. Can you hold them?”

“I'm stronger than I look,” she returned. “You have to be to watch little girls.”

I wasn't sure what that meant. I hadn't spent much time around little kids except for at the Christmas tree farm, and even then it was at a distance, or while supervising Bob while he got petted. But I went ahead and grabbed the boxes. We worked together silently as I passed them down to her.

Once they were all downstairs, I folded the ladder up and brushed the dust off me as best I could.

“Where to next?” she asked, completely oblivious to the streak of dust over her cheek.

“You have a...” I said, gesturing at my cheek.

“Oh no.” She reached up and brushed the wrong cheek, getting more dirt from her fingertips on her cheek. “Did I get it?”

“You just made it worse.”

She giggled, and the sound was almost like Christmas bells. My lips twitched to smile along with her, not quite making it all the way. The expression was almost foreign.

“Help me,” she said.

“How am I supposed to do that?” I asked. “I already told you about it.”

She shook her head at me, walking back through the garage door and into the kitchen. “Come along.”

I followed her, watching her wet a paper towel. Then she handed it to me and turned her cheek, waiting for me.

I should have been focusing on helping, but I could smell her perfume. Peppermint. It scattered my brain.

“Help?” she asked.

“Of course.” I reached up, using the wipe to brush away the smudges of dust on her brown cheeks.

My fingers practically shook as I did.

Her eyes were bright as she asked, “Am I good?”

I had to take a step away to answer. “There's no dirt if that's what you mean.”

And this girl? She laughed. Like she wasn’t affected at all by what just happened—so unlike me. “How gentlemanly of you to say,” she teased.

I wasn’t sure how to respond. But I didn't have to as she walked back toward the garage. As she reached the threshold, she looked over her shoulder at me. “You coming?”