Approximately Yours (North Pole, Minnesota)

by Hammerle, Julie

  And it wasn’t the girl standing next to him.

  His glance had snapped to Holly automatically, and Danny’s thumb had gone to the tip of his forefinger, which had touched Holly’s cheek before, a few days ago, during the second round of the gingerbread contest. He hadn’t forgotten about it. When they’d made skin-to-skin contact, his nerves had lit up like the Griswalds’ house. The two of them might cause a town-wide power outage if their lips touched.

  But Danny had conveniently forgotten to consider the other person in this scenario. Elda was the one he was supposed to be with. She was the one her grandma had urged him toward and who had drawn pictures of him in her notebook. She’d remembered for eight years that his favorite candy bar was a Take 5. She liked him. Holly did not. Holly had cut him off when he was about to ask her out, and she’d made sure he and Elda sat together tonight.

  And, you know what? Talking to Elda tonight was easier. It was better. He knew what to expect from Elda now, and he’d stopped waiting for the girl from their text messages to show up. He was starting to appreciate her for her.

  He should kiss Elda.

  Holly was the one who’d told him to stop thinking and just go for it. That was what he should do.

  And then someone shouted, “Kiss him, Elda!”

  This was the moment of truth. Danny gazed into Elda’s big brown eyes and leaned toward her. He hadn’t kissed anyone since Star. Heck, he hadn’t kissed anyone before Star. This was a big moment. He prepared himself to remember it.

  Elda, however, sideswiped his cheek and whispered, “You don’t want to kiss me.”

  The crowd groaned with disappointment over the non-kiss for a split second before resuming whatever they were doing—drinking eggnog, returning skates, taking selfies with the life-size cardboard cutout of North Pole native and professional hockey player, Stan Stashiuk.

  “Yes, I do.” Danny was trying to grab the bull by the horns here. He and Elda were supposed to be together.

  She caressed his cheek. Nothing. No sparks. Not a one. “No, you don’t.”

  “I do, Elda. Our texts.” They were going to make this work.

  “Texting with you has been great,” she said, “but…Danny…our date wasn’t.”

  “It was good. We had fun.” Danny Garland didn’t fail at stuff. He wasn’t going to fail at this relationship before it ever had a chance to get off the ground.

  “I think we might have more fun with other people,” Elda said. She squeezed his shoulder, and that was it. Elda was done with him.

  Danny nodded a tacit good-bye and hustled out of the building as fast as his crutches could carry him. He stood on the steps for a moment, squinting from the myriad of Christmas lights and the gold and silver aluminum ornaments decorating the trees outside the rink. Tourists and townies alike passed by—all paired up and gazing at their partners lovingly. Everyone around him was in a couple. Tonight was an exact replica of when he caught Star and Phil together in the laser tag room. Danny was the only loner in North Pole. He headed toward the comfort of Santabucks.

  Danny had nearly started sobbing on Main Street when he caught Star kissing Phil. But the end of this whatever romance with Elda only numbed him. The fact that they couldn’t make things work wasn’t the worst part of the situation. Two girls had rejected him in one week. Oh-for-two, Danny was in a slump.

  Elda squashing their budding romance proved he wasn’t so special, that he was truly nothing without his ability to play basketball, that whatever “popularity” he’d built up over the past several years was all phony. Danny, outside his ability to shoot hoops, brought nothing to the table. Holly had known that about him right away.

  Danny snuck a peek inside Santabucks before entering. He kind of wanted to talk to his mom right now. He needed to talk to the one woman on the planet who actually knew him. She was working the counter tonight, but she wasn’t alone. Holly was in the coffee shop, too, and so was Craig. They were sitting right next to each other, having a serious, intimate conversation. She leaned closer to Craig as he spoke. Danny’s stomach churned. He was going to be sick.

  They were on a date. At least it looked more like a date than whatever Danny and Elda had been doing on the architecture tour.

  Danny, nearly choking on the oppressive scent of peppermint and roasted almonds that permeated Main Street, pulled his eyes away from the scene. He set off for home, keeping his head down to block out the Christmassy glow.

  The breakup with Star had frightened him. When he met the Page girls, Danny should’ve done the irresponsible thing and thought with his heart instead of his head. He should’ve gone after Holly from the start. It definitely would’ve ended in disaster, but it would’ve been worth it. He should’ve thrown caution to the wind and beckoned her over to the mistletoe today, just to see what would’ve happened.

  …

  When Holly booked it out of the hockey rink to avoid having to watch Danny and Elda kiss under the mistletoe, she bumped into Craig in the parking lot.

  “Where are you off to?” he asked.

  Holly didn’t have an answer. She was either going to hide or run or bury herself under a mound of royal icing and candy inside her grandmother’s garage.

  “I was gonna get coffee. Want to come?” Craig had his hands in the front pockets of his mom jeans, and he was rocking back and forth on his feet—heel to toe, heel to toe. He was nervous. Holly had never seen Craig nervous before. She figured him for someone who didn’t care what other people thought.

  Holly usually relished her solitude, but she needed a diversion. Craig had been fun at the arcade following the second round of the gingerbread contest, and she’d had a nice time chatting at the ice skating thing tonight. Grabbing coffee with him wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. It might actually be fun, keep her mind off other guys.

  Plus, he had a car. An escape vehicle. She was on board with anything that would get her far away from the ice rink as fast as possible.

  While Craig drove her to Santabucks, he kept talking about himself, the things he liked—movies and books and TV shows. Even though Holly couldn’t bear to hear one more trivia tidbit about Game of Thrones, she didn’t totally mind just listening. The distraction was working. Thanks to Craig, she’d forgotten all about Danny…for the moment.

  As soon as Holly and Craig entered Santabucks, they were in Garland world. Danny’s mom was working the counter. Danny’s pictures were on the wall. This place unfailingly brought back memories of the first day Holly had seen him working here, The Coffee Shop Incident, of Holly adding Elda’s phone number to his contacts, and of the two of them meeting here this morning before spending one fantastic day together. That was all in the past. Now he was kissing Elda.

  She could totally picture it, the kiss. Danny and Elda were so awkward together, but all of that was just pent-up sexual tension. The mistletoe was the icebreaker. After that it was just a few quick steps to a full-blown romance.

  Which was good, because that was the point of this whole thing. Elda needed someone worthy of her, and Danny needed someone who could open up to him and wouldn’t break his heart.

  Holly placed her order—medium cinnamon latte—and Craig jumped in to pay before she could.

  “You don’t have to,” she said.

  “I want to.”

  He was just being friendly. Craig had noticed that Holly was upset, and he was being nice. Holly accepted the drink, grateful for the kindness. North Pole was full of good people, people who looked out for one another. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  After retrieving her drink from Danny’s mom, Holly walked over to a table in the middle of the coffee shop, trying desperately to prevent her mind from conjuring up a mental image of whatever Elda and Danny might be doing right now. Holly was willing to bet they were at his house. Obviously his mom was working tonight, and they’d have the place to themselves. Holly shuddered as she reached for a chair. But Craig barreled over, nearly knocking her down
, and pulled out a chair for her. Okay, so he was really leaning into this whole polite thing. “Thanks, Craig,” Holly said as she sat down.

  Then Craig took the seat right next to her instead of sitting across the table, which was super odd and intimate. Their arms were right next to each other, nearly touching. She kept her eyes down on her drink, because if she turned her head, she and Craig would be practically nose to nose. She wrote it off as Craig being incredibly socially awkward, which was something Holly could empathize with. It probably hadn’t even occurred to him to take the seat across from her.

  He kept talking about Game of Thrones for a few more minutes, and Holly worked hard to appear interested. When he stopped to breathe, she asked, “Is your showstopper ready?” Holly stared at the dried splash of coffee on the lid of her drink. It was shaped kind of like a reindeer, because of course it was.

  “I’m about finished,” Craig said. “It looks amazing. I’m really proud—” He cut himself off. “But how is your showstopper doing?”

  Holly stared at him for a beat. “It’s good.”

  Craig, blinking, tilted his head as if ready to hang on her every word.

  “Craig? Is this a date?”

  He straightened up. “Oh.”

  “I mean, if it is”—oh my God, what if it wasn’t and she was saying all this right now?—“I want to be upfront with you right from the start. I’m not interested. I like someone else.”

  “Danny,” Craig said right away.

  “Yeah.” Yikes. Maybe she’d been more obvious about her feelings than she thought.

  “I always thought you two made more sense together than him and Esmerelda.” Craig straightened up, resuming his usual air of disdain for other people. “Besides, it’s fine. Dinesh thought you and I might make a good couple, but I get the feeling you don’t really like Game of Thrones. I can’t be with a girl like that.”

  “Good, well, we’re on the same page.” Holly sipped her drink, waiting for Craig to move to the other side of the table. He did not.

  After she finished her coffee, Holly dragged herself home to work on her showstopper. At least the caffeine jolt would keep her up all night. She needed every available second before judging started tomorrow at four.

  But she reached a roadblock just outside her grandma’s house. A couple stood on the walkway, silhouetted in the moonlight. Holly’s heart was in her throat. It was Elda and Danny. They were standing close, talking, touching each other here and there like they were constantly checking to make sure the other was real.

  But wait. This guy wasn’t wearing a cast, and he wasn’t using crutches. It was Dinesh. Dinesh was touching Elda’s hair and whispering in her ear. Elda was gazing at him like he was the Mona Lisa, and she was determined to figure out all of his secrets.

  Holly marched right up to them. She pushed Elda’s shoulder, not hard, but firm enough so Elda would know she meant business.

  “Hey.” Elda rubbed her arm. “What’s the matter?”

  “What’s the matter?” Holly stared hard at Dinesh.

  Elda ran her fingers through her hair and gave a slight smile to Dinesh. “Dinesh and I…” Elda grinned harder and shrugged.

  Holly snapped Elda out of her Dinesh-induced haze. “Where’s Danny? What about the mistletoe?” Holly shuddered. She’d been picturing Danny kissing Elda for the past half hour.

  Elda squeezed Holly’s hand. “I shot him down.”

  “You what?” Holly snatched her hand back. That wasn’t how this was supposed to go. Elda and Danny were supposed to be on his couch right now rounding second base. It was the scenario she’d been preparing her brain for.

  “Holly, I told you. Danny and I have nothing in common.” She nodded toward Dinesh. “I found someone who doesn’t mind the real me.”

  Dinesh leaned in. “I more than ‘don’t mind’ her, to be clear.”

  Holly folded her arms. “But the mistletoe. I saw you move on Danny like you were going to eat his face off.”

  Elda laughed, her eyes wide with surprise. “I don’t know what you thought you saw, but it wasn’t that. I kissed him on the cheek, just to take the pressure off. He doesn’t like me. If anything, I think he likes you.”

  “I wish you’d stop saying that.” Holly’s hands balled into fists, and she glanced over at Danny’s house. The light was on in the front room, but she couldn’t see in. “Danny Garland doesn’t like me.” Holly saw the truth when Danny had looked at her tonight. The word “nope” had been written all over his face.

  “He’s confused,” Elda said. “Think about it. He’s had this fabulous time texting with a girl he thought was me while having a great in-person rapport with you. His mind must be all jumbled up. We really did a number on him.” Elda reached over and picked a bit of fuzz off Dinesh’s coat. The two of them were chatty, bubbly, happy. They had an easy vibe that was the exact opposite of how Danny and Elda acted when they were together.

  Dinesh wasn’t the guy Holly would’ve picked for her cousin, but what did Holly know? She was the nerd who’d been in love with a guy for eight years, but instead of being honest and telling him about it, she’d tried to set her cousin up with him instead.

  They really had done a number on him. Holly had concocted this elaborate scheme with literally no escape plan and no favorable ending. She had been messing with Danny this whole time, and it was time to make things right. Time to tell him the truth. Danny would probably hate Holly forever because of it, but it was the only possible way out.

  “We’ve got to come clean. Both of us.” Holly held out her hand. “Give me your phone. Please.”

  Elda handed it over.

  Holly opened the text conversation with Danny. She wrote, “I want to explain everything. Meet me in my grandma’s garage when you get this.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Danny glanced out the kitchen window toward the back of Mrs. Page’s house. Holly and Elda were walking together to the garage.

  Hadn’t Elda already explained everything, or at least tried to? She wasn’t into him. Period.

  He shut his curtains and sat on his bed. What was left to discuss?

  Almost immediately after he sat down, he stood again. He grabbed his crutches and went to the window. The light was on in Mrs. Page’s garage. He touched the windowpane, which was cold under his fingertips.

  He’d been all upset after his first date with Elda because he thought he was going to have to live his whole life pretending to be someone he wasn’t in order to get girls to like him. But being around Holly today, he realized that wasn’t the case. Some girls—or, at least one girl—totally got him. He was both totally comfortable and completely off-balance around her. He wanted to hold her and talk to her. He wanted to know her and wanted her to know him.

  He knew she didn’t feel the same way, and that she was possibly interested in Craig, but that was okay. He’d take the risk and tell her how he felt. She had to know. She was leaving in a week, and this couldn’t go unsaid.

  Elda had said in her text that she needed to explain everything. Well, so did Danny.

  Danny’s stomach filled with butterflies as he threw on a jacket, grabbed his crutches, and headed out the back door. He was super nervous, but he’d dealt with enough disappointment in the last month to know he could handle it if Holly ended up laughing in his face. He’d survived a broken leg and catching his girlfriend cheating on him in public. He could handle a little rejection.

  A few months ago, he might not have been able to say that.

  When he reached the garage, he peeked in the window. The door was slightly ajar, so he could hear the girls’ conversation. Danny smiled to himself when Holly’s voice reached his ears.

  “Oh my God, you’re hopeless!” Holly was laughing, tilting backward in a lawn chair, popping M&Ms in her mouth.

  Elda was on the floor, fiddling with one of those gingerbread kits they’d used to practice for the second round. She was trying to make the walls stand, but they kept toppling o
ver as she tried to add more icing.

  Danny raised his hand to knock. He held his breath. This was it. This was the moment of truth.

  “I mean, look at you.” Holly laughed louder, covering her mouth to stifle it. “I can’t believe Danny actually bought that you were the one who knew how to build a gingerbread house.”

  “Shhh,” Elda said. “Shut up.”

  And now his breath was stuck in his throat. His hand had stopped about an inch from the door. For once, Danny was glad to be on the crutches, because at least they were keeping him upright.

  “Besides, I’m not that bad.” Elda leaned back, admiring her handiwork.

  “You’re terrible,” Holly said. “You suck.”

  “Well, you’re a terrible matchmaker.” Elda’s voice lowered to a whisper. “Texting him all that stuff about architecture and weird books? No wonder we never had anything to say to each other.”

  Danny’s heart skipped a beat, and the past week or so started replaying in his mind, but with a new clarity. Holly rocking the second round of the competition, telling him she was a sculptor, an artist. Elda having absolutely nothing to say to him whenever they were together, but Holly being able to see into his soul.

  The girls had been playing a prank on him. He’d been talking to Holly this whole time.

  And he was a dumbass not to have seen it.

  They were literally laughing at him right now.

  He rapped on the door. It was an involuntary action. He wasn’t sure if he was making his presence known or trying to get them to stop saying these things.

  Both girls’ heads swung toward the door. The dim lighting in the garage cast dark shadows on their faces. Danny pushed the door open the rest of the way and stepped inside.

  Holly jumped up from her chair. “Danny.” He got the sense she was about to rush toward him but caught herself when she saw the look on his face. “Oh.”

  He swallowed, trying to quell the emotion rising in his throat. “So, I heard what you were talking about just now.” He gripped the handles on his crutches so hard, his fingernails dug into his palms. “You two were messing with me this entire time?”