Chapter Five
JAMES
“ W ell, you did it,” Casey says, leaning back in the folding chair behind the table, his fingers laced behind his head. “And you didn’t cause any trouble or start any scandals.”
“You act like I’m incapable of going a day without upsetting someone. I’m not even remotely the more stress-inducing client you have.”
“I’ll give you that.” He straightens in his seat and drops his hands. “So, why didn’t you tell me you came from a Christmas town?”
“Because it’ wasn’t a ‘ Christmas town ’ when I lived here. That happened after I got drafted.”
“It doesn’t even have an Inn. I thought all small towns have an Inn.”
“I heard someone say it’s being renovated after some drama with the last mayor. You weren’t complaining when you got my parents’ guest house to stay in. I have to be back in my old room.”
He laughs. “I wish I felt even a little sorry about that, but I don’t. Speaking of, I think I’m going to pick up something to eat at one of those tents over there and head back over. My job here is done. I think I can trust you not to make a fool of yourself now you’re officially off duty.”
I sigh. “I’ll do you one better. I’ll come with you. I’m done here.”
“I don’t think so, but you know where to find me if you strike out.”
“Strike out? Did you forget I play hockey, not baseball?” I’m so confused about what’s happening right now.
He gives me a two-finger salute before standing and walking toward Main Street, whistling.
Casey doesn’t whistle.
“How did the rest of your day go?”
I spin around to see Victoria’s smiling face looking at me. She’s changed out of her Easter egg dress and is now wearing jeans and a t-shirt that reads ‘I’m a little egg-stra’ with the outline of a bunny holding a basket of eggs.
“Great. How did it go with Cuddle Muffin?” That’s a sentence I never pictured myself saying. Ever.
“He was stubborn, but we managed to herd him back into his enclosure. We had to make a trail of grapes and fend off all the birds in the square at the same time.”
“Is that why you changed outfits?”
Her cheeks go red as she looks down at her shirt. “Uh, yeah. Some birds took exception to not being allowed grapes, I guess, and used me as target practice.”
I stifle a laugh. “I’ve heard that’s supposed to be good luck.”
“Didn’t feel like it at the time,” she says sheepishly.
“Maybe I can help turn your day around. What do you say I take you out for some food? The Diner must still be around.”
“Yes, but probably not how you remember it,” she laughs.
“What do you mean? Don’t tell me Frank sold the place.”
“No, he’s still there with Nancy serving. It’s just…well, I think you’ll have to see for yourself.”
She wasn’t kidding.
Standing on the sidewalk in front of what’s now called ‘Gingerbread Junction,’ I can’t believe how different it looks from the Springs Diner it was when I was growing up.
“It’s…” I trail off, not knowing how to finish my sentence.
“Magical,” Victoria says, looking up at the brick building before us.
What was once a classic white-washed brick facade is now painted a light brown. The sign now reads ‘Gingerbread Junction’ in red and green playful font and white paint meant to look like it’s dripping down like icicles.
The window paintings are throwing me off a little. They’re a mix of Christmas and Easter, with painted elves alongside bunnies and Easter eggs scattered with gingerbread men.
“It really is Christmas year-round, huh?” I ask, seeing a painted image of a snowman with bunny ears sticking out the corner of the window.
“From what I’m told. I only moved here a couple of months ago. I think they used to be more of an off-season, but since Candy Cane Creek hosted a Valentine’s Day festival, the town decided they needed to ramp up more activities throughout the year. Easter being the first one.”
“Is that why you moved here?” I turn to her, genuinely curious about what drew her to this odd town.
“For the rivalry? No.” She shakes her head with a laugh.
“No, for the off-season events. I never did find out what this C.O.C.O.A. does and why you and Avery are elves.”
“Why don’t we go grab a table, and I’ll tell you all about it?”
I follow her in, instantly comforted by the smell of over-roasted coffee and greasy food. While everything about the diner looks different, it still smells the same. Maybe just a little more…sweet?
“Well, look at you! I heard you were in town. I wondered if you’d stop by this time instead of hiding out at your parents’ place like you usually do.” Nancy’s bright smile puts me at ease, even if her words are condemning.
“I don’t hide, Nancy,” I say, knowing full well that’s what I do when I’m in town.
“Uh, huh. I’m sad to say your usual table has been claimed by someone else, but you can have the one next to it.”
“It hasn’t been ‘my table’ in at least ten years.”
“Nonetheless, you know which one to go to. Head over, and I’ll be there in a minute.” Nancy gives Victoria a quick wink before grabbing the coffee pot and walking off.
Making our way between the tables, I notice the old dark blue, speckled carpet has been replaced with a light oak laminate. The tables look relatively the same, but all the booths have been upholstered with bright red leather with rows of dark green buttons.
What really catches my eye are the bright white walls that have replaced the old yellowing paint and the large mural of a winter scene painted along one long wall. Gingerbread men are playing various winter sports on a snow-covered hill, with Santa and his sleigh overlooking them all from the top.
I turn my head, studying the gingerbread men more closely. They’re all wearing paper bunny ears.
“They added those this week, along with the window paintings,” Victoria says from behind me.
“It’s festive,” I say, not knowing what else to add.
I lead her to the back corner of the diner, eyeing up the man half-hidden by the laptop screen.
“Should have figured you were the one to swipe my table.”
He looks up, eyebrow raised with a smile. “I came back to town before you. All’s fair in small towns and diners.”
“You two know each other?” Victoria asks, amazed. “I mean, you’re both from here. I don’t know why I’m surprised.”
“Nothing bonds you like escaping this small town and moving to the big city,” Matthew says, closing his laptop. “But yes, we connected a few times after James got drafted.”
“We would have connected more if he liked hockey. The only guy I know that consistently turned down free seats to Lumberjacks home games,” I joke.
“No point giving them to someone that’s not going to watch the game,” Matthew says, the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “I heard they roped you into coming back for the Hop.”
Roped in is one way of saying it.
“ Hoppy to help.” I give Victoria a wink, sending her into a fit of cute giggles. Matthew just groans.
Everyone knows I didn’t have a say in coming back to Woodland Springs–sorry, Gingerbread Grove–and I’m thankful that neither brought it up. I was hesitant to come back, especially after what happened, but now that I’m here, I’m glad I came. Not only did I see that being out around town wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as I thought it would be after decapitating a chocolate bunny and scaring multiple children, but it meant that I got to meet Victoria.
“Wait, how do you guys know each other?” I ask, looking between them.
“Matthew is Avery’s fiance,” Victoria says.
“The elf?” I say, turning to Matthew.
“ Head elf,” he corrects. “And yes. We moved to Gingerbread Grove a few months ago when she opened a C.O.C.O.A. branch here.”
“And your computer company?” I ask.
“Still in Vancouver. I run what I can from here, and Mitch holds down the fort in Vancouver.”
“All you Gingerbreadians living in the city. I hope you haven’t gotten too big for your britches, but considering how little you all visited here, I thought you forgot about us,” Nancy says–mostly jokingly–as she walks up behind me.
“Hey, I moved back here. Don’t lump me in with them,” Matthew says, placing his hands up in surrender.
“Begrudgingly,” Nancy replies as she hands a black booklet to Matthew. “Here you go, hun. No rush getting it paid. I need to get these guys seated and ready to go.”
Taking her cue, I nod to Matthew and slip into the booth beside his across from Victoria. While it was nice to see him, it’s her that I really want to be talking to.
“What can I get ya?” Nancy asks.
“I think I deserve a treat after today,” Victoria says, briefly looking down at her menu before smiling at Nancy. “I’ll take a pink bunny shake, please.”
“A…what?” I ask.
She places her menu down and points to an overly pink drink with a bunny sticking out the top. It’s a strawberry marshmallow milkshake with a bunny marshmallow on top. Isn’t it cute?”
“What can I get you, James? A bunny milkshake? We also have blueberry and cream egg.”
“While those sound delicious, I can’t during the season. I’ll take a water and a coffee, please.” While it’s true I try to limit certain foods during the season, I’m not sure how I feel about the overly fluffy-looking milkshake.
“You’ve got it. I’ll get those started while you take a minute to look over the menu,” Nancy says as she walks off.
Grabbing my menu, I see it’s nothing like the one I had memorized as a teenager. “A Jolly Ginger Burger? Did they really put ginger in a burger?”
“No, thankfully,” Victoria chuckles. “But they added a ginger bacon jam as an extra, which is pretty good on the mushroom burger.”
“I don’t know how I feel about that.”
Everything on the menu is Christmas-themed: peppermint mocha pancakes, cranberry roasted rubens, and Honey Hot Turkey Burgers.
Actually, that one sounds pretty good.
“Everything is usually normal diner food, just with Christmas names. Except if there are some specials that Frank comes up with. Since finding out the other town is on a taco kick, he’s decided he needs to do something similar, so his specials have been desserts. Everything’s honey-infused because it’s popular, I guess? That’s what he said, anyway. So he has honey-lavender drinks and honey syrups for the pancakes. I heard he’s even trying to find a way to start his own hives out back.”
“Is that…safe?”
“Who knows? I don’t know how far he’s looked into it. I know that since that town started to take the rivalry seriously, everything in Gingerbread Grove has ramped up a bit, too.”
“Why are you acting like Candy Cane Creek is some sort of bad word?”
“ Shhh ,” she says, lowering her voice and leaning into the centre of the table. “You can’t say that in here.”
I lower my voice and lean in as well, humouring her. “And why not? Am I going to get beaten by a candy cane?”
“Shhh,” she looks around, seemingly to make sure no one heard me. “Seriously, you can’t say that. I know you haven’t been around since this all started, but it’s going to stir up a lot of drama if you do.”
“You can’t be buying into all that. You just moved here.”
“No, I don’t fully understand it all, other than the town trying to compete to be a destination town during the holidays, but I have seen the fallout from people throwing that name around, and it’s not pretty. Friendships ended, families fighting.”
“Over a town?” I ask in disbelief.
“Avery can tell you more about it because she was involved in the Yuletide Games and the candy contraband that went down with the old mayor, but yes, people take this rivalry very seriously.”
“And the, uh, peppermint candy is now banned?” I ask, trying to understand fully. It just dawns on me that I need to tread carefully if I want to make it out of town without causing another disturbance that could get back to Jeffrey–or the media.
“There was talk about bringing it back after Cal was brought up on bribery charges, but from what I understand, the town rallied together and decided to keep the ban and support gingerbread treats instead. Something about solidarity and unity.”
“Wow.” I don’t know how else to answer.
“And here are your drinks,” Nancy says, placing a water and coffee in front of me and the pinkest, fluffiest drink I’ve ever seen in front of Victoria. “Are you ready to order your food?”
We both pull back from each other and sit up straight. My gut turns, feeling as if we were caught doing something wrong. I guess we were, considering that even mentioning the town of Candy Cane Creek is short of an indictable offence.
I motion to Victoria, who orders the turkey burger, and I do the same–including the side of stuffing and fries. I might say no to a sugar-laden drink, but I can’t turn those down.
“So,” I say as Nancy walks away. “Tell me, how exactly does someone become an elf?”
“The first rule is, you don’t ask questions,” she whispers.
“And the second rule?” I whisper back.
“You have to believe in magic.”