Chapter Ten
VICTORIA
“ I ’ve seen town square, Peeps. It’s where we met, remember?” James says as we stroll down the path past the gazebo.
“Yes, Skates, I remember.”
“Skates?” he asks with a chuckle.
“What? You can give me a nickname, but I can’t give you one?”
“You can, but I’d like to think I’d have a better name than ‘Skates,’” he jokes.
I stop walking and face him. “But…you skate.”
He laughs. Not just a little, a full-belly laugh that rings through the square. “You’ve got me there.”
“Hmmm. Fine, I’ll keep thinking.” I start walking again, getting closer to our destination. “All right. We need to make this quick.” I look around the square, not seeing another soul, but not knowing if James’ laugh was going to attract any attention.
“What are you…?”
I don’t let him finish his sentence before I pull him through the hedges.
“Vic…” he starts, but I cover his mouth with my hand, stifling his yell.
“ Shhh ,” I say. I wait a moment until he nods in an understanding to be quiet before I remove my hand. “Seriously, you would be the worst ninja.”
“I didn’t know I was auditioning for the role of one,” he whispers. “If I were, I’d be more of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle type.”
“You want to hang around in the sewers and be trained by a rat?”
“One, who wouldn’t want to be trained by Splinter? And two, endless pizza. I’m sold.”
“So I should call you ‘Slice’ then?”
“Please don’t.” He shakes his head. “Where are we, anyway? And did you pull me through hedges?”
“Yes, and we’re in the secret garden.”
He looks around curiously. “Wait, I remember this place. There’s a…ah, yes, there it is. There’s the well.”
“Avery showed me this place just after we moved here. The townspeople surrounded the well and this little garden to hide it from the tourists. They wanted to keep something that was just for them and preserve it.” I walk over to the well and crouch down, carefully running my fingertips along the petals of the tulips planted along the side. “I like to come here sometimes to think or when I miss my family.”
“Where are they?” he asks, coming up behind me.
“Kamloops. I know it’s not far away, but it feels like it sometimes. I haven’t lived this far away from them before.”
“You guys are close?”
“Yes.” I smile. “What about you? Are you close with your family?”
“I guess so. It’s just me and my parents. I come and visit them on the off-season.”
“I’ve only met your parents in passing, but they speak very highly of you.” I stand and turn to face him. “They’re proud of you.”
His cheeks turn an adorable shade of pink. “Thanks.”
“I’m serious. The whole town is proud of you.”
“Well, they may have been. I don’t know if they are now.” He turns away from me, shoving his hands in his jeans pocket.
“They are. I mean, I’ll admit, you were a bit of the talk of the town when it first happened, but once they found out you were coming to help with the Hop, they were excited.”
“Hmph,” he says.
“I have to ask something, though.” I feel nervous, but it’s been on my mind since I learned he was coming to Gingerbread Grove.
“Yeah?” He looks over his shoulder.
“Why use the bunny head as a puck? And why shoot it at the host?”
He rubs his face with his hands and faces me. “Honestly? I don’t know. Reflex, I guess? I had a hockey stick in my hand so my instincts told me to start stick handling.”
“Instincts or intrusive thoughts?” I ask.
He chuckles. “Probably the latter. As for why I shot it at Tommy, I honestly thought he said ‘shoot.’”
“What did he actually say?”
“He says he said ‘Isn’t it cute?’ about a real baby bunny the producer had to bring out.”
I wince. “Oh.”
“I didn’t know anything about the bunny. Anyway, it was a mistake I’ll never make again.”
“So, what happens now?” I ask hesitantly.
“Now, I wait to see if the President of the hockey team is happy with the good PR I’ve gained here, and he’ll let me join the team again.”
“Could you really have gotten kicked off for that?”
“Officially, no, but there are other ways. The word ‘traded’ was used in our last meeting.”
“And I’m assuming you don’t want that.”
“No. I grew up watching the Lumberjacks. It’s the only team I’ve ever wanted to play for. When I was drafted by them, it was a dream come true.”
I hold his gaze, seeing the sincerity in his words. He may not have wanted to come back to Gingerbread Grove for the reasons he did or the problems he had with his team, but at the very least, it reminded him of what he’d worked so hard to achieve.
“Well, I pray they don’t make you wait too long to find out.” I mean the words that I say, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel sad about it as well. The sooner he hears, the sooner he leaves Gingerbread Grove, and I likely won’t see him again, especially if what I hear about him hiding out at his parents’ property during the summer is true.
“Thank you. I hope so, too.” He steps closer and reaches out, linking my fingers with his. “In the meantime, I hope to get to know you better.”
“Oh, yeah? What would you like to know?” My heart thumps in my chest. He wants to get to know me. Me . Granted, he’s spent most of his free time with me since the Hop, but still. It’s a thrill knowing he’s interested in me.
“Let’s see…Favourite music.”
“Country.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Not Christmas music? Doesn’t that go against the elf code of conduct or something?”
“Ha, ha. There’s nothing in the elf code about what music I can listen to.”
“Wait, there’s seriously an elf code?” he asks, stepping closer to me.
“Of course. Don’t all jobs have something similar?”
“I…I guess it just sounds different when I actually say you’re an elf out loud.” He shakes his head.
“I get it. Not everyone can say they’ve met an elf,” I laugh. “What’s yours?”
“Rock. Anything that gets my adrenaline going for a game.”
“Favourite movie?” I ask.
“Terminator.”
I shudder. “The robots don’t freak you out?”
“Of course they do. That’s part of the appeal,” he says with a smile. “Let me guess yours.”
I stand up straighter. “All right.”
“I’m not going to say Elf. It’s too obvious, and you’ve denied it too many times.”
I smile wider.
“I’m beginning to think that Christmas might be too much of a giveaway.”
I don’t say anything. I let him talk it out.
“I still think you’re a classic movie girl. I think I’m going to go with…” he brings his free hand up to his face, rubbing his lip with the side of his finger, still holding firm to my hand with his other. “I think you’re a… Princess Bride girl.”
I laugh. “There’s no way you just knew that. Did someone tell you?” I look behind me. “Is there someone there feeding you words? Is this a Cyrano situation?”
“I have my ways. Or maybe it’s just who you are.”
“Are you saying I’m like Princess Buttercup?”
“If it means I’ll be your Westley,” he whispers, stepping closer to me.
I look up at him, the moonlight shining down on his handsome face as he brushes my hair away from my face. “What are we doing here, James?” I ask, my voice so quiet I’m unsure if I spoke the words.
“I don’t know, Peeps, but I want to keep doing it.”
The words ‘me too’ hang on my lips when a ringtone breaks the silence around us.
James lowers his forehead to mine and closes his eyes. “I need to get that. It’s Casey.”
“You set his ringtone to ‘The Imperial March?’” I fight back a laugh.
“If you had to work with him, you would too.” He lingers for a moment longer before pulling back and dropping my hand. He takes a few steps away from me and answers his phone.
I smile as he makes sure to talk in hushed tones, sneaking glances my way before turning his attention back to his phone call.
I should look away and give him some privacy, but I can’t help but notice how handsome he looks in jeans and a sage green Henley. He has one hand casually placed in his front jeans pocket, the other holding the phone to his ear.
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” he says, sneaking another glance my way. “Casey, I said I would. Yeah, all right. I’ll call you later.” He hangs up the phone with a sigh, his shoulders slumping.
“Are you okay?” I ask, taking a step toward him.
“Yeah, it’s good news. Jeffrey wants me to join the team in Winnipeg. He says the media outlets back home were loving The Hop yesterday.”
“You don’t seem like it was good news.”
“I…” he starts before shaking his head. “For once in my life, I don’t want to join my team and get on the ice.”
“Why not?”
“Because I see there’s more to life than hockey. That maybe there’s something off the ice I’ve been missing.”
“And that something is?” I ask. I think I know what he will say, and I want so bad for it to be true.
“You, Peeps. I want to get to know you better. I want to spend time with you and see where this is going. That is—if you’ll have me.”
“Oh, James. Why would you think that I wouldn’t?” I reach out and place my hand on his arm, hoping it reassures him that I want the same thing.
“I met you yesterday, Peeps. This isn’t normal.”
“Who says that anything has to be normal? You’re talking to an elf that lives in a Christmas town. Nothing about my life is normal. ”
“You’ve got me there.”
“What if we make our own normal?” I say. “We call the shots.”
“So, how would we make this work?” He tips up my chin with his finger. “Because I want this to work.”
“I do, too.”
He’s quiet for a moment as he studies me. I normally feel self-conscious having someone watch me the way he is, but I feel safe with him. I feel cherished. As if he’s trying to learn every part of me.
“I only have about a month left in my season, barring any miracles that we’ll make the playoffs. Then I can come back to Gingerbread Grove until training camp starts.”
“We’re starting to plan for Christmas, but it’s nothing I can’t do remotely. You know, if you ever invite me down to see one of your games.”
He smiles wider than I’ve seen him smile before. “I’d like that. And you’ll actually take me up on it? Not like Matthew?”
I laugh. “I may not know how to skate or follow any teams closely, but I get the gist of the game. I think I can follow.”
“I’d like that. On one condition.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
He leans down and whispers in my ear. “You wear my jersey. I want everyone to know that you’re there with me. For me.”
“As you wish.”
He leans back a little, just enough that I can look into his eyes. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
“I told you, we make our own normal. Maybe there are times when Buttercup saves Westley.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know about that. But there’s one thing I do know. I’d like to kiss you right now.”
I suck in a breath. I can’t do anything but nod. My words are lost in my throat as he lowers his lips to mine.
And just like that, it doesn’t matter who saves who, but one thing’s certain. I’ll always be his Princess Buttercup.