Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
AVERY
“Do you ever wonder what would happen if an elf were to travel to the real world?”
I hold the wrapped present in my hand, letting it hover mid-air over the box I’m currently packing.
Looking up, I see Victoria with a snow globe held up to her face.
The floating ‘snow’ hides her expression, but her distracted tone has me wondering if there’s more than just the potential time-travelling hypothetical elves. “Like Buddy?”
She lowers the snow globe and tilts her head, her chocolate coloured eyes narrowing at me. “Buddy was a human raised by elves.”
“Good point. So, what are we talking here? Elves that plan an escape, searching for what they think is a better life? Curious ones that want to see what Santa sees? Oh, maybe there are evil elves that banish the high-ranking ones to the real world trying to stop Christmas.” I smile, my mind racing with too many hypothetical responses.
“I don’t know. I mean, all of the above? Do you think they would feel displaced? Overwhelmed maybe by how different it is from the North Pole?”
“Maybe, but elves do have a connection to the real world.” Her eyes narrow even more at my response, as if the words coming out of my mouth were in a foreign language.
“Santa. So, even if elves didn’t have things like cellphone and the internet—which I wholeheartedly think they would—Santa would be their connection to the ‘real world.’ Plus, who’s to say one has never hitched a ride or rode shotgun in the sleigh?
And I think Santa would need an assistant for his biggest night of the year. ”
“Hmm, you’re right. I guess everyone needs a Bernard.” Victoria raises the snow globe back up to her face. Now that the snow has settled, the tiny North Pole village is visible, as are her enlarged eyes through the curved glass. “I still think it would be weird.”
Lowering the toy into the half-filled box, I contemplate how I’m going to find out what her real question is, as I don’t think it has anything to do with elves or the North Pole.
Placing my hands on my hips, I watch as she looks at the ceramic scene before her as if it held all the answers.
“What’s really going on? I don’t think you’re genuinely asking about elves. ”
In the three years I’ve worked with Victoria, I’ve never seen her like this. She’s normally the most chipper, positive elf that could turn even the darkest day into sunshine. So, this why her contemplation of travelling elves and monotone voice is worrisome.
With a heavy sigh, Victoria lowers the globe carefully onto the stack of tissue papers on the desk in front of her. “I just wonder if there’s an alternate universe where elves could live among us, and we wouldn’t even know.”
“Did we somehow stop talking about elves and start talking about aliens?”
“What? No.”
“Then I’m struggling to follow your line of thought here.”
“Do you remember how Jonathan said he wanted to take me out for a special dinner last night?”
“Yes. We went through about a dozen different dress options because you were worried that the restaurant was ‘too fancy’ for anything you owned.” While I loved helping her out, as Victoria has become more of a friend than a coworker the last few years, it had taken up our whole lunch break earlier this week, just for her to decide on the first dress she had shown me.
“Yes…well…I thought he was going to propose.”
My heart stops. My breath stills. This is what Victoria’s been wanting for the last three months.
Every surprise bouquet of flowers. Every drop in for lunch.
Every hint dropped at a future together, it’s all been because she thought he was going to finally pop the question after three years together. “And?”
“And nothing,” she huffs as she plops down into the chair behind her.
“I mean, it must have been something for him to take you to the fanciest restaurant in town.” I pull up a chair next to her and take a seat, really taking her in.
Her deep auburn hair is split into two braids underneath our standard green and red elf hat. Her arms are crossed over our green work t-shirt as she closes in on herself. Her shoulders are slumped. There’s a deep frown on her face. I’ve never seen her so distraught.
“He got a promotion at work.”
“That’s…great?” I ask cautiously. Normally, that would be something to celebrate, but it seems like there’s something other than a missed proposal here.
“He’s moving to Calgary, and he wants me to go with him.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.” She looks down at her folded hands. “What am I going to do, Avery?”
I think back to when I was in this same predicament with Maxwell.
I was crushed when I found out that he was moving to Vancouver.
My heart sank even more when he asked me to move with him.
Everything I know and love is in Kamloops.
My family, my job, my friends. While I was willing to make it work for the sake of what I thought was my forever, I’m so glad I didn’t in the end.
But if I hadn’t gone down that path, I wouldn’t have been hurt by him and ultimately, I wouldn’t have met Matthew. While I’ve only known him for a few days, I already know that he’s not someone I want to miss out on knowing.
“What does your heart tell you to do?” I ask, mostly because I wish someone would have asked that of me.
Tears fill her eyes as she glances up at me. “It’s telling me not to go.”
“But Jonathan?” she asks, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
“You’ll figure it out.” I place my hand on her arm, letting her know I’m here for her. “When does he move?”
“Not until the new year.”
“Then you have time,” I say with a smile.
Victoria blows out a heavy breath and gives me a weak smile. “Thank you, Avery. Out of everyone here at C.O.C.O.A., I know you understand this situation the best.”
“Boy do I ever,” I grumble under my breath.
“So now you need to tell me about where you’ve been sneaking off to the last few days.”
I rear back. “Sneaking? I haven’t been sneaking anywhere.”
“Fine, maybe not sneaking. Rushing? Dashing?” Her eyes go wide. “Oh my gosh, you were literally dashing through the snow! Were you in a one horse open sleigh?”
“No,” I chuckle, playfully smacking her arm.
But that would be awfully romantic to do with Matthew. Add that to the list of things I’d like to do.
“You can’t leave me like this. I know there’s something! You’ve been leaving on time the last couple of days, and you never leave on time. Come to think of it, I can’t remember any other time you’ve left before me.”
“I’m not that bad,” I add.
But am I?
“You’re avoiding the question. It must be good.” She grasps my hand from her arm and holds it between both of her hands. “Please let me in on it. I need something that will distract me.”
“There’s nothing really…”
“Please? It will be my Christmas present!”
The wistful smile on her face pulls on my heartstrings. She’s such a wonderful person, and the thought of her getting anything other than her happily ever after makes me sad.
“It’s nothing, really. I’m just helping a friend.”
“Uh huh, and this friend is….?”
Taking my hand back, I get up and walk back to the box I was filling. “You wouldn’t know him.”
“Ooooh. It’s a him.” She jumps up and walks to my side. “Wait a minute, what about Maxwell?”
“We, uh, broke up.”
“What? When?”
I sigh. “When I was in Vancouver.” I gloss over the details, not wanting to relive them myself, but also not wanting to dwell on them, given her own current predicament.
What I do spend time on, though, is meeting Matthew.
While I don’t tell her that we’re fake dating for the town, I can’t hide my excitement for being in Gingerbread Grove and the games.
“You like him,” she says with a grin.
“He’s a friend, Vic, nothing more.”
“Right…of course. So, tell me more about these games.”
She may have dropped it for now, but I know it won’t be forever. I will, however, take the reprieve in questions. “Tonight is a snowman building competition.”
“Oh, how fun! What do you have planned? Classic Frosty style? Snow sculptures? A mix of the two?”
“I just found out about it last night so I haven’t had time to plan too much. I was up late after getting home from the toboggan race. I started to look things up online but then fell asleep to have the most animated dreams about snowmen racing down Gum Drop Hill.”
“And yet none of those racing snowmen gave you ideas? Rude,” she chuckles.
“Right?” I let out a deep sigh and pick up another wrapped toy to place in the box. “I’m thinking if I just jazz up a standard snowman enough, we can make it to the next round. It’s the gingerbread house competition later this week that’s going to need all of our attention.”
“You’re really taking this seriously, aren’t you?”
“I just really want to help him. Matthew doesn’t realize how special he is, or how much the town loves him. While he may not want to live there, I just want him to feel...” I struggle to find the words.
“Less like an elf stuck in the real world?” Victoria completes for me.
I look up at her and smile. “Yes, exactly that.”
“Well,” she continues, standing and taking a place next to me, starting to load the next box. “I think you’re off to a good start. And who knows? Maybe this will be good for you, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean—” she bumps her hip with mine, “maybe Gingerbread Grove is the distraction you, and your heart, needs right now. It may not be the best time with Christmas so close, but this is your favourite time of year.”
“Well, yes.”
“And it’s a town that you’ve been talking about visiting for a while now.”
“I know, but…”
“No, there are no ‘buts,’” she says, facing me.
“You deserve to be happy, Avery. I can’t tell you if Matthew is your Christmas miracle, but I think he’s been placed in your life at this moment for a reason.
Whether it’s to heal your heart, give you ideas for C.O.C.O.A.
, or just to make you happy, but God placed you there for a reason. ”
“Maybe.” If I’m honest with myself, I’ve thought about that more than once in the last few days.
Maybe there is a reason why things have played out the way they have.
It can’t be a coincidence that things with Maxwell ended just at the right time for me to be stranded at the airport and then also be able to hitch a ride with Matthew.
While lying to everyone about our dating status isn’t the most honest thing, I don’t regret that it means I get to spend more time with him.
And I may have come up with a few ideas for C.O.C.O.A. to improve the Christmas experience for our families while I’ve been there. Field trips to Gingerbread Grove and Candy Cane Creek included.
“No, there’s no ‘maybe.’” She places her hand on my arm, making me turn to face her.
“Maybe I should look on GingerSnap and see if there’s anything that’s been done in past competitions, or maybe other competitors hinting at what they’re doing,” I muse, running my finger along a curled piece of ribbon.
“What’s GingerSnap?”
“The town’s social media app. Our server at the diner said they use it to keep everyone up to date on what’s going on.”
“That is amazing. Do you have to be a member of the town to join it? Is there a secret passcode to get in? I bet it’s something like cookies… no, that’s too obvious. Hmmm…cinnamon! Cloves! Nutmeg!” she yells, getting more animated with every suggestion she gives.
“I haven’t downloaded it so I don’t know, but I bet Matthew could get it for me.”
“What are you waiting for? Pull out that phone and download it! I need to see what GingerSnap and Gingerbread Grove are all about!”
Reaching into my back pocket, I shake my head at the notification staring back at me. “I guess it won’t be too hard to find; it looks like I’ve been invited to join.”
She sticks to my side while I follow the prompts to create an account.
Each page has an animated gingerbread man with text bubbles to walk you through the sign-up process.
From a design standpoint, this is incredibly well made, which is shocking considering how badly the town’s website needs to be updated.
“This is the best thing I’ve seen in, well, forever.” Victoria hovers over my shoulder as I click through the screens, each one more incredible than the next. “This town looks like it’s right out of a Christmas fairytale.”
And I have to agree with her. My feed is filled with pictures of the town getting ready for the holiday, everyone pitching in to decorate the tree and the town square.
I recognize some faces that I’ve been able to meet the last few days, but it’s really just a blur of happy faces willing to help out and make the season extra special. Feud or not.
“Is that one you? Oooh, is that Matthew? He is cute!”
The picture in question is, in fact, of me and Matthew.
It’s a candid shot of us racing down the hill in our toboggan.
The more I swipe through, the more I see they’ve captured more than just the race.
There’s a shot of us holding hands when we were announced as winners, and of us hugging at the base of the hill.
“Just friends, huh?” Victoria asks smugly as I scroll to the last picture to see us kissing.
I’m not sure how I’m going to talk my way out of this one.
“I mean, friends…kiss?” I can’t even say that without wincing.
“Uh huh,” she says with a smirk.
“Who’s that?” she asks, pointing to the corner of the screen.
Zooming in, I have to laugh when I see the couple in the background. “That’s McKenzie and her husband.”
“The ex and the mayor? They don’t look too happy to see you two kissing,” she laughs.
“Nope, not one bit.” I don’t want to admit the satisfaction I feel with seeing how distraught they are by our happiness, whether from us being together or winning the race, but I want to break out in a happy dance.
“I get it now.” She beams up at me. “While I still don’t believe you two are just ‘friends,’ you have to do your best to win this thing. You can’t let them win.”
I don’t know if she means just the games or the overall battle we seem to be fighting. Either way, I know she’s right.
A slow smile spreads across my face. “Do you want to help me come up with a game plan?”