Page 6 of A Curvy Wonderland (A Curvy Girl Christmas #3)

6

ELDAN

T he next morning when Holly, Tatum, and Lucy got to the coffee shop at the Christmas tree farm, Holly wasn't wearing ridiculous bright red pajamas. No, this time she had on an oversized green sweater with an overly happy snowman on front, black leggings, and oversized green socks that stretched halfway up her calves. But the most offensive part of her appearance was a winter hat where the bauble on the top looked like a snowman with a tiny top hat.

Bob trotted up to Holly and the girls, much less perturbed by Holly’s festive outfit than I was. Probably because he could only see in black and white.

All three of them bent to scratch him, and Tatum said, “He is so cute.”

Holly, like she was talking to a baby, said, “You are the cutest, fluffiest dog, Robert.”

It was kind of cute, not that I’d ever say that out loud. “His names not Robert,” I said instead.

Holly looked up at me. “Then what's his name short for?”

I cringed. I should have just kept my mouth shut. But I couldn't handle Bob being misnamed. “It's short for Bauble.”

Holly’s lips stretched into an overjoyed smile. “Like baubles on Christmas trees?”

My lips barely twitched. “Yes.”

She smiled even bigger than I thought possible. “The biggest Grinch in Garland has a dog named Bauble. Hmph.”

“I didn't name him,” I defended.

Holly shook her head. “Sure you didn't.” She leaned in, holding her hand over her mouth and whispering loudly. “It'll be our little secret.”

Tatum and Lucy giggled from where they were still petting Bob.

I rolled my eyes, turning back to the table full of ornaments sorted by type.

One pile was requests for toys and other gifts, which I’d already ordered to wrap and deliver later on. Another pile was for people who were lonely this Christmas and needed someone to spend time with. It seemed strange to me, since I enjoyed my time alone so much. But judging by Mrs. Banerjee’s joy yesterday, not everyone felt that way.

I’d thought about that, along with Holly’s comments, on my walk back to Emerald Acres yesterday. With that in mind, I went over to Tatum and Lucy, holding the ornaments with visitor requests out like I was showing a stack of cards for a magic trick and said, “Pick a card, any card.”

Lucy reached one first, then gave it to her sister to read. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she focused on the words “Clifford in the Garland Retirement Community could use a friendly visitor because his family is away on vacation and will not be able to visit this holiday.”

Holly muttered, “Friendly? Do they know who you are, Eldan?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Let's go.”

Lucy pouted her bottom lip out, kneeling by my dog and hugging his neck. “Can we bring Bauble?”

The dog popped his tongue out, panting happily.

Holly shook her head and began saying, “Sorry, I don't think dogs are allowed there.”

But I said, “He actually is a certified comfort animal. We’ve volunteered there before. I'll get his vest from the house.”

I left the girls in the café while I walked across the grounds to the house. My mom was inside at the kitchen table editing photos on her computer. She always took pictures of families Christmas tree shopping and posted them online so that they would have the memories captured beautifully. At the sound of me coming inside, she pushed back her computer and looked up at me. “How's it going, sweetie?”

“We're going to bring Bob to the nursing home.”

She smiled. “That sounds fun. Are you having a good time with the girls?”

“Define good,” I muttered, going to the cupboard off the entryway and looking for his vest and leash.

Mom chuckled. “Holly is quite jolly.”

I cringed. “ Mom .”

She smiled. “You could use some more of that in your life.”

“Debatable,” I returned. Then I gave her a quick hug and walked back outside.

When I came into the café, Tatum and Lucy were standing at opposite ends calling Bob to them, trying to see which one he would go to. He ended up jogging over to Holly and she laughed, petting his ears.

My chest felt lighter just at the sound of her laugh. It was strange to me. I’d never reacted that way to a girl’s laughter before.

Or anyone’s, really.

“Bob, heel,” I said.

He pranced away from Holly, dutifully coming to sit at my side. As I buckled his vest on, Holly came closer and watched. After a moment, she said, “So is his name spelled Bob, B-O-B, or Baub, B-A-U-B?”

“I never thought about it, I admitted. “I think just regular Bob.” I stood up, holding his leash.

Holly shrugged. “Hmm…” I waited for her to say more, but then she told the girls to put their gloves and hats back on before we walked back out into the cold air.

That was another thing I didn't like about the wintertime—wearing all the extra layers all the time. I wondered what it would be like when I left for college in Florida, and I wouldn’t have to worry about the gloves and hats and scarves all the time.

The four of us walked down the hill into town, and Tatum and Lucy took turns holding Bob's leash. He was well enough trained that he walked right beside whoever was holding the leash without tugging or pulling, so I didn't have to worry too much about him getting away from them.

We walked past the people doing the snowman competition in the town square, and Holly said, “I think that's my friend Carolyn… No, it can't be. She would never do that without her parents making her. She almost doesn't like Christmas as much as you,” she said to me.

While leading Bob along, Tatum said, “Why doesn't she like Christmas?”

Holly shrugged. “She’s never really said, but I think it's been hard for her since her parents divorced.”

Tatum looked thoughtful. “One of my friend's parents got divorced and she gets double Christmas presents every year.”

Lucy skipped alongside me, singing, “I wish our parents were divorced.”

Holly chuckled at that, and I cracked a smile too, even if it was only for half a second. Little kids saw the world so differently.

“You have the best parents ever,” Holly told her.

Lucy seemed to agree with her, going on ahead to trade Tatum dog walking duties.

We reached the retirement community, and when we went inside, the receptionist recognized Bob and me. “Back again for a visit?” Marco said.

“Actually…” I began and then told Marco what we were doing. He led us back to the big activity room and introduced us to an older man named Clifford. He had a dark gray beard, no hair atop his head, and sat in a wheelchair. He lit up when he saw the four of us.

Marco said, “You have some guests today.”

“I didn't think I would get any visitors this holiday,” Clifford replied with a stroke of his beard.

Holly smiled brightly at him saying, “Looks like you had a little Christmas angel looking out for you.”

Marco told us, “We're about to start gingerbread house decorating. Do the five of you want to do it together at a table?” The two younger girls instantly said yes, but Holly looked to Clifford. “Does that sound good to you?”

The old man nodded, making his beard bump against his chest. “It's been a while since I've decorated a gingerbread house. Since my kids were little. Do you think you girls can teach me?” he asked Tatum and Lucy.

They nodded confidently, and Lucy said, “I'm really good at it. I'll teach you everything.”

Clifford chuckled at her confidence, and then we followed Marco to a big square table on the edge of the common room.

Marco said, “Here you are. Eldan, is it okay if Bob mingles around the room like last time? Everyone will be so happy to see him.”

“Of course,” I answered, unleashing Bob.

Clifford rolled his chair to sit on one end, Holly and I sat next to each other in chairs, and then the girls sat on the booth along the wall. Soon we each had a small gingerbread house kit to start working on while Christmas music played over loudspeakers. I wasn’t as grated by the tunes as I usually was.

It had been several years since I'd built a gingerbread house, although maybe not as long as Clifford. When I was younger, my parents used to have activities for all of us to do together. But now that I am older, I kept myself busy with books I was reading, puzzles, and working around the Christmas tree farm for some extra spending money.

But this setup was pretty self-explanatory. They had several bags of frosting for us to use, graham crackers, and bowls of sprinkles and gumdrops to decorate with.

The girls instantly set to work, telling Clifford what to do and showing him how they were building their houses.

Holly hummed to the music as she set about creating her gingerbread house, not in a square shape but in an octagon. She worked methodically and sometimes as she was gluing, her tongue would stick out the side of her mouth like she was deep in focus.

It was… cute.

Wait . My eyebrows drew together. Was I really thinking of someone as cute? Someone who loved Christmas as much as Holly did? Not a chance.

I looked down at my gingerbread house and began gluing the sides together with frosting just for the sake of having something to do with my hands while my brain went wild with thoughts of what that meant.

But Bob must have picked up on my inner turmoil because he came over and laid his fluffy head in my lap, looking up at me with doe-brown eyes.

I let out an amused breath through my nose and scratched his ears.

Holly glanced over and said, “Everything okay?”

I nodded, and then told Bob to go mingle before continuing a line of frosting along the crumbling edge of the cracker.

For the next hour or so, the five of us built the gingerbread houses, chatting about nothing at all. No sooner than the houses were built, did the girls begin eating theirs, starting with the sugar crusted gumdrops on top. They encouraged Clifford to do the same, but he said, “My blood sugar would not thank me for that.”

“There's sugar in your blood?” Lucy asked around a mouthful of sweets.

Tatum nodded, sagely saying, “I read it in my human body book. It's how we get energy.”

Clifford pointed at Tatum, happily saying, “You are a smart young girl.” Then he explained to Lucy, “You have to have just the right amount of energy–not too high, not too low.”

Marco approached then, saying, “Your gingerbread houses look lovely.” He frowned a little at mine. “Yours looks like there was a snowstorm or something.”

Holly laughed under her breath.

“Don't laugh at me,” I said, my neck getting hot. “It's been a while.” And I was a little distracted , I didn't say, because then they would ask why.

Clifford chuckled deeply. “Don't worry son, you can always come back and practice.”

I shook my head. I didn’t think I would be doing that anytime soon, but I kept my mouth shut, if only for Holly's sake.

Marco said, “The cooks are telling me it’s time for lunch–are you ready, Cliff?”

“One second.” He pulled two small boxes from his pockets. “I got you girls something.”

Their eyes lit up. And Lucy said. “Presents?”

Clifford nodded. He handed one to each of the girls, and they opened it up, finding a necklace inside with a snowflake pendant.

Tatum looked up at him and said, “You got these for us? It's so pretty.”

He winked and said, “They're from Santa. Be sure to write a thank-you note to the North Pole.”

“Thank you,” Tatum said.

“Thank you,” Lucy echoed.

He smiled and said, “Thank you for making this the best day. I appreciate you all more than you know.”

Eldan gathered Bob and leashed him up. Then we all said goodbye, and as we were walking out of the building, Holly's stomach growled loudly. She giggled, patting her midsection. “Guess it's time for lunch.”

Tatum said, “Can we go to Scrooge’s Diner?”

Holly put her hand on Tatum’s shoulder. “Your mom gave us some lunch money, so that's fine with me. Then she turned her gaze to me, adding, “Want to get some lunch?”

I thought about saying no, but then she added, “It’s Scrooge’s Diner. No Christmas inside.”

So I surprised myself by saying, “Okay.”