But I couldn’t seem to focus on any of that. Not this year. Ever since that embarrassing moment on my front porch the other day, I had been fighting a sense of impending doom. It seemed that every time I tried to win Cam back, something got in my way. And even though I’d never put that much stock in Allie’s theories before, I couldn’t stop thinking about the Dozen Dates Theory. What if it was true?
I was busy pondering that for the fifty-millionth time as we crossed the street to Sugarplums, the town’s most popular ice cream and sweets shop. In fact, I was so deep in thought that I bumped into Allie as she came to a sudden stop in the doorway.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I gave her a poke in the back. “Keep moving—my frostbite is getting frostbite out here.”
“Um, I was just thinking.” Allie turned and pushed me back a step or two. “I’m not really in the mood for hot chocolate after all. Maybe we should go over to the diner instead.”
“What’s the matter with you? You love hot choc—” I stopped short. I’d just gotten a look past her at the interior of the sweets shop. Cam and Jaylene were seated at one of the tiny round tables for two, their heads close together as they dug into a shared ice cream sundae.
Their backs were to us, so they didn’t see us. While we stood there gawking, Jaylene reached up and wiped something off Cam’s cheek. He smiled, and she leaned her blond head against his shoulder for a moment before continuing to eat.
Nick grabbed me by the arm. “Come on,” he said. “Allie’s right. Suddenly the diner looks like a much more appetizing idea.”
Soon the three of us were down the block at the Elf Street Diner, sliding into our usual booth, me on one side, Allie and Nick on the other. My mind was still whirling with what we’d just witnessed.
“If I’m counting right and haven’t missed anything, that’s date number eight they’re on right now,” I said. “I’ve been trying to figure it out mathematically. At the rate they’ve been going, there’s a high probability that the Ball will be date number twelve.”
“Oh, Lexi.” Allie’s expression was anxious and sorrowful. “I wish I’d never even told you about that theory. It’s making you too crazy.”
“Yeah. Since when do you believe in her nutty theories, anyway?” Nick said. Shooting Allie a glance, he added, “No offense.”
The waitress approached at that moment bearing menus. “We don’t need those,” Nick told her. “We’ll just have three hot cocoas and a basket of fries.”
She shrugged. “You got it, hon.” After quickly scribbling a note on her pad, she bustled off again.
“Anyway,” Nick said to me, “no matter what Allie says, there’s nothing magical about date number twelve. It’s not like Cam’s going to turn into a pumpkin or something.”
“I know.” I ran my hands through my hair, not even caring for once about Bozoing myself up in public. “I know that. Of course I know that. But it’s not really the point, is it?”
“What do you mean?” Allie asked.
I stared at her. “Twelve dates, thirteen . . . at some point, that theory of yours is going to be right. They’re going to be a real couple, and it’ll be too late for me to get him back.” I bit my lip. “And then I may spend the rest of my fabulous, exciting, big-city life wondering if I let my one true love get away.”
Allie and Nick exchanged a glance. “Look, Lex,” Nick said. “There’s a really easy solution to all this angst.”
“Don’t tell me to just talk to him,” I warned.
“But you have to!” Allie cried, leaning forward over the table. “Just tell him the truth already. What’s the big deal? You’ve always been honest with the rest of us.”
“Yeah,” Nick added. “Even when we didn’t ask for it. Like when you made me get rid of those ratty old cargo pants I used to wear all the time.”
“Or that time back in middle school when you were the only one who told me my new haircut looked terrible and I should get it fixed,” Allie put in. “I was kind of hurt at first, but you were sooo right, and I would’ve been way more embarrassed if I’d walked around like that for weeks without realizing the truth.”
“Oh, and then there was the summer after sixth grade when you convinced me to confess to breaking old Mr. Miller’s window,” Nick said. “Yeah, he was mad at first, but he was so impressed with the way I took care of his lawn to pay him back that he hired me to mow for the next three summers. So you were right to make me ’fess up.”
I held up both hands as Allie opened her mouth again. “Okay, enough. I get the picture. Honesty is the best policy, blah blah blah.” The waitress was returning with a tray of water glasses by now, so I paused until she’d set one in front of each of us and then hurried off again. “But this is different,” I went on, wrapping both hands around the cool, slick surface of my water glass. “I’ve dug myself in too deep already. If Cam and I do get back together, he can never know what a devious psycho I truly am.” I stared at them both. “That means you guys can never tell him either. Promise?”
“Whatever you say, Lexi.” Allie sighed and tugged at the loose strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail.
“Yeah, Scout’s honor and all that.” Nick lazily crossed his heart with one finger. “But if you’re not going to tell him the truth, how exactly are you planning to win him back?”
“Good question.” I gulped down half my water, then set down the glass and tapped my fingers on the table, thinking hard. “I definitely can’t just beg him to give me another chance. Way too random and pathetic, especially after I spent so much time practically shoving him at Jaylene. No, getting back together has to seem like his idea.”
“Are you kidding me?” Nick shook his head. “That sort of thinking is exactly what got you into this mess in the first place, remember?”
But I barely heard him. What I’d just said had sparked something. Not a real answer, not quite . . . but the feeling that an answer was just around the corner somehow.
“Throwing myself at Cam isn’t going to work,” I mused aloud. “I had to practically staple Jaylene to his lap to get him to break up with me.” For the first time in, oh, about five or six dates, I felt a flicker of real hope and confidence. “After all, I convinced Cam to decide to break up with me when you guys swore it couldn’t be done. It can’t be impossible to convince him to decide he has to have me back. All I need is the right plan. . . .”
We were halfway through the basket of fries before I finally hit on a promising idea. “It was one of your theories a while back,” I told Allie. “Something about being jealous—Jealous Jumping Beans or something?”
“You mean the Jealousy Jump-Start Theory?” she guessed.
“That’s the one. It was something about how a guy who’s on the fence about asking a girl out is more likely to do it if he thinks another guy is about to swoop in and snag her.”
“Yeah, that’s basically it.” Allie licked some ketchup off her fingers.. “But that theory is really meant for new couples, not your kind of situation. Plus Cam isn’t the competitive type like a lot of guys.”
Nick nodded. “True. Otherwise he would’ve decked his buddy Bruce long ago for slobbering all over you every chance he gets.”
“That’s different,” I said. “Cam knew I never had any interest in Bruce. But think about it. It took me seeing him with Jaylene to truly realize what I was losing when we split up. Maybe if he sees me with another guy—a real guy, a hot, mysterious guy, not anyone like Bruce or Andrew—he’ll have the same kind of epiphany.”
“You know, that almost makes sense.” Allie sounded dubious, but there was a hint of interest in her voice too. “I guess it could work. Maybe. It would definitely be an interesting expansion of that theory.”
“Kind of sucks for your decoy boy if it does work, though,” Nick put in. “Are you really going to use some poor dude like that, Lex? Get him all hot and bothered over you, dump him like a bad potato, and then go running back to Cam?”
“Of course
not!” I retorted.
To be honest, I hadn’t gotten that far yet. But now that I thought about it, I realized my cousin was right. I couldn’t treat any guy like some lab rat, no matter how important it was to get Cam back. Maybe a little of Cam’s niceness had rubbed off on me over the years after all.
“No,” I said thoughtfully, reaching for another french fry, “the other guy will have to be in on the plan.” I smiled as the perfect guy popped into my head. “Hey! How about your friend Charlie?”
“You mean Charlie Welles from baseball camp?” Nick asked.
“Yeah. He’s perfect—he’s good-looking, he’s smart, he has a sense of humor, and you’re always saying he’s kind of a player when it comes to women. And most important, Cam has never met him.” I smiled at Nick hopefully. “Think he’ll go for it?”
Nick shrugged and reached into his pocket for his cell phone. “I can ask him. Actually, it kind of sounds like the type of crazy plan he’ll think is a riot.”
“Wait,” Allie said before Nick could punch in Charlie’s number. “Even if this Charlie guy is willing, how are you going to make sure Cam sees you guys together?”
“That’s easy.” My mind had already worked out that next step while we were talking. “I’m betting I know what their next date is. Holiday Harmonies is this weekend.”
Allie’s eyes widened. “Of course! I bet you’re right. Everybody goes to that.”
The Holiday Harmonies concert was another of the town’s myriad annual holiday events. It was a fund-raiser for the Claus Lake Fire Department, traditionally held on the Friday before Christmas. As Allie had said, just about everyone in town attended to socialize with their neighbors, discuss the upcoming Ball, and listen to various local musical groups and soloists do their thing. I figured there was roughly a ninety-nine percent chance that Cam and Jaylene would be there.
“Okay, then.” Nick lifted his phone. “Let’s see if we can get you a fake date for Friday night.”
I looked out the window as Charlie maneuvered his Saab into the last remaining parking space on the block. Dozens of concert-goers were hurrying toward the fireman’s hall, most of them with their hands in their pockets and their shoulders hunched against the cold wind gusting in off the lake, which was blowing around the snow that had been falling steadily all day.
“Hang on.” I dug into my purse as Charlie cut the engine. “I have the tickets in here somewhere. Let me find them before we get out in the cold.”
When I pulled out the tickets, Charlie held out his hand. “Let me hold on to them both until we get inside.” He winked. “That’s what a real date would do, right?”
So far Nick’s friend really seemed to be enjoying this whole scheme. Maybe almost too much. I couldn’t really complain, though. He was just as good-looking as I’d remembered, with mischievous blue eyes, tousled dark hair, and a rakish grin.
“Okay, Prince Charming.” I handed over the tickets. “Ready to go in?”
“Can’t wait, my love.”
Soon we were among the people rushing through the cold and snow. Charlie put one arm around my waist as we walked and reached over and took my hand with his other hand. It felt like overkill, but I didn’t complain. It was warmer that way.
“See your ex anywhere yet?” he murmured into my ear as we entered the hall. “Be sure to point him out so I know who my audience is.”
I glanced around at the sea of familiar faces. Nick and Allie were just coming back from the coat check window. When they saw me, they hurried over. Nick immediately started into some elaborate high-five ritual with Charlie, but Allie grabbed my arm so tightly it hurt.
“They’re here,” she hissed. “Over by the snack table.”
Looking that way, I saw them. Cam was leaning against the wall, looking casually handsome in cords and the Nordic print sweater I’d bought him for his birthday the previous year. Jaylene was totally overdressed for the occasion in a sparkly midnight-blue dress and high heels, though she didn’t appear at all self-conscious about the fact that most of the other female concert-goers wore something closer to my own attire of nice black pants and a sweater. The two of them were chatting with several girls from Jaylene’s class.
“Come on,” Nick said. “Let’s go over and say hi, shall we?”
“Absolutely.” Charlie reached over and took my hand. “Shall we, my princess?”
“Sure. Just remember, we’re supposed to be on, like, our second date, okay? Don’t go overboard with the princess thing.”
“Got it.” He winked. “Just having a little fun.”
The other girls drifted away as we approached. “Well, hi there, y’all!” Jaylene greeted us with her usual enthusiasm. “Cam said the whole dang town comes to this concert, but Ah guess Ah didn’t believe it until Ah got here.”
“Yep, we never miss it. We’re all addicted to Christmas.” Nick gave Cam a friendly slap on the shoulder. “Isn’t that right, buddy?”
“Definitely.” Cam smiled at him. But I was pretty sure I saw his eyes dart curiously toward Charlie.
Jaylene’s curiosity was much more open. “So Lexi,” she said with a coy smile. “Who’s your handsome friend? Ah don’t think we’ve met.” She held out a hand toward Charlie. “Ah’m Jaylene.”
“Charlie.” He shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Jaylene. Any friend of the lovely Lexi is a friend of mine.”
I tried not to wince. So much for not going overboard. “Charlie, this is, um, my other friend, Cam. Cam, this is Charlie. My—my date.”
“Good to meet you, Cam.” Charlie held out his hand.
Cam took it. “Likewise.”
I tried to watch him without letting on that I was doing it. Was it my imagination, or had his jaw clenched slightly when he’d taken Charlie’s hand? I wasn’t sure.
“So how did you two meet?” Jaylene asked, snuggling up against Cam until he put his arm around her.
Charlie slung one arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “It’s a cute story, actually,” he said with a chuckle. “I live over near Dornerville, but I was here in Claus Lake one day last week doing some Christmas shopping. When I stopped at the red light on Elf Street, I looked over and saw the most gorgeous girl I’d ever seen in the car next to me. It was our Lexi, of course.” He squeezed again and bent to give me a kiss on the top of my head. “I tried to get her attention, but just then the light changed, and she drove off without even looking over. I was heartbroken.”
“Aw, so sweet!” Jaylene cried. “Then what happened?”
Charlie shrugged. “I followed her, of course. What else could I do? I’d been struck by Cupid’s arrow.” He put his free hand to his chest. “I knew I had to meet her. So I forgot all about my shopping and followed her. I had to run a red light at one point to keep from losing her, and a traffic cop pulled me over. But when I explained, he let me go—he said Lexi Michaels is well known to be the most beautiful girl in town, so he couldn’t blame me for chasing her.”
If I could have muzzled him at that moment, I would have. Or better yet, strangled him. I’d conveniently forgotten that the main reason Charlie was friends with Nick was because they shared that wicked sense of humor.
“He’s just kidding,” I said quickly. “He didn’t really get stopped by the cops.”
Charlie squeezed again. “You don’t have to be modest, baby,” he said. “Anyone with eyes can see that you’re gorgeous. Aren’t I right, guys?” He nudged Nick.
Nick coughed. “Uh, she’s my cousin, dude.”
“Oh, right. Well, I’m sure Cam here agrees with me.” Charlie turned and beamed at Cam instead. “Back me up here, buddy.”
Cam looked uncomfortable. He shot me a quick glance, then shrugged. “Sure,” he said quietly. “Lexi’s beautiful.”
I felt a pang. How many times had he told me that over the past four years? Somehow, though, I’d never fully appreciated the compliment until right now.
“Sure she is,” Jaylene put in happily. “And that’s such
a sweet story, Charlie!”
“Not as sweet as my Lexi.” Charlie reached over and chucked me under the chin. “That red light was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me. It was fate, you know?”
I shot Nick a helpless glance. He shrugged at me.
“Um, so did anyone catch the Packers game last weekend?” he spoke up. “Kind of a heartbreaker, wasn’t it?”
“The only heartbreaker for me is Lexi,” Charlie put in. “It would break my heart if I couldn’t be with her.”
Things were rapidly spinning out of control. There was no way Cam would believe this guy was for real. Maybe it was better to ’fess up now, admit that Charlie and I were just friends, and play the whole thing off as some kind of joke. . . .
Before I could decide, a buzzer went off to call people into the hall. The concert was about to start.
“Come on, guys,” Allie said, sounding relieved. “We’d better go find our seats.”
Charlie and I had seats near the middle of the room on the aisle. Nick and Allie were sitting together across the way. Cam and Jaylene were a few rows ahead of them.
“What’s the deal with that ridiculous how-we-met story?” I hissed at Charlie as soon as we were sitting down. “Where did you come up with that, some bad romance novel? There’s no way anyone would believe that’s really how we hooked up.”
He leaned back in his seat and grinned at me. “Oh, I don’t know. Fact is stranger than fiction, right? Anyway, I think they bought it.”
I blew out a sigh. “Well, just cool it a little, okay? Try to keep things more believable.”
The Twelve Dates of Christmas Page 11
