Page 37 of Chasing Cheer
Ash filled her in on who was who in the chamber. “The woman in the blue puffer jacket is Esmeralda. She leads a lot of events for the chamber, and we’re working closely together on the Christmas faire.”
Holly nodded, listening as he rattled off a few more names. About ten minutes into their walk, Holly spotted Ivy and Clove peering at her excitedly through the trees.
“What the—” Ash came to a stop to squint at the trees. “Those look like the fawn I thought I saw the other night. But they don’t look like the deer around here.”
“You can see them?” Holly asked. She had warned all her reindeer to stay scarce after the previous incident. Apparently, Ivy and Clove had forgotten that instruction. Her heart raced.
“They almost look like the reindeer one of our vendors brings down for the Christmas faire, but they haven’t confirmed they’re coming this year. It seems a little early for them to be here, if so.”
Ash was oblivious to Holly’s internal struggle, and he strolled over to the reindeer and held out a hand tentatively to Clove. Clove hesitated, her eyes flashing to Holly’s, then she stuck out her tongue and licked Ash’s hand. Holly gasped. Ash turned back toward her and smiled.
“Don’t worry. They’re friendly. The ones brought in for festivals are always accustomed to people,” Ash said, completely misreading Holly’s surprise as fear.
Behind Ash’s back, Clove gave Holly an apologetic look, almost as if to say, “I couldn’t help it.”
Holly frowned.Why isn’t their invisibility magic working in Emerald Hollow? Has anyone seen them aside from Ash?She had still been feeding them magic lichen at regular intervals.Does this have to do with the spiked cider?But that wouldn’t explain how Ash had seen Ivy the first time.
Holly’s thoughts jumped around too quickly, and she glanced at her watch. It was spinning a bit less rapidly because of the water and the fresh air, but it still wasn’t fully back on track.
She felt lucky that Ash had come up with his own rationalization for why the reindeer were there, but that didn’t mean others would. She made a face behind Ash’s back that she hoped would signal to Ivy and Clove that they needed to disappear and stay out of sight, and the two young reindeer turned and ran.
Comet, who normally stayed right near Ash’s side when they went for a walk, had been barking at Ivy and Clove and looked ready to give chase.
“Comet, stay,” Ash commanded, and the dog stopped near him, though his back legs were quivering with a desire to run.
Holly tried to relax her breathing.
“I’ll have to check on the vendors tomorrow. The reindeer shouldn’t be loose in the woods like this.” He returned to the trail, and they continued to walk. “You and Sofia seem to be getting along well. She’s going to be really sad when you leave.”
Holly’s chest seized. She didn’t know when it had happened, but the thought of leaving Emerald Hollow pained her. Sometime in the last few days, she had stopped searching for the town’s mysterious source of Cheer and was instead just enjoying being there. She wasexperiencing, like Lumi had told her to do.
It took her a moment to realize she hadn’t responded to Ash’s comment. “Sofia is great. She’s the best friend I never knew I needed.” Holly tried not to focus on what would happen after the Christmas faire, when she had to return to the North Pole, deliver Dreams, and get back to her regular routine.But what is my regular routine? Dashing around the world, chasing Cheer? Do I enjoy that?She certainly loved succeeding, constantly changing variables to try to maximize her Cheer collection. But she wasn’t sure she’d been truly happy.
They continued the walk back to the Emerald House mostly in silence. The usually talkative Ash seemed comfortable just to walk with her, and Comet trotted along between them, occasionally turning to sniff in the direction the reindeer had gone.
Holly’s watch hand still twisted a little too quickly, its normal pattern disrupted, as they strolled through the evergreen trees. Holly thought her brain felt exactly the same way.
ChapterThirty
Ash woke up early the next morning, as usual. He planned to be productive, and he had a meeting with the vineyard owners in an hour. Stopping in the restaurant to grab a coffee to go, he said good morning to Sofia, who was working a rare-for-her early shift.
Sofia just nodded sleepily.
Then Holly entered the lobby. The smell of cinnamon drifted to him.
“Ew. Why are you both such early risers?” Sofia asked, slipping an apron over her blue sweater. “I wouldn’t even be close to awake right now if I weren’t filling in for Tyler.” She rubbed her eyes and yawned dramatically.
“Where are you heading off to so early?” Ash asked Holly, shrugging on his jacket and ignoring Sofia’s sleepy theatrics.
“I like going for walks in the mornings. It’s so peaceful,” Holly said.
He saw her surreptitiously take a few oranges from the lobby fruit bowl and slip them into her jacket pocket. Smiling, he wondered where she was going with them.
“How about you? Taking Comet for a walk?” Holly asked once the oranges were firmly out of sight.
The dog was wagging his tail eagerly at Ash’s side.
“What? Oh. No. I’m sure he wishes I were, but I have to run a few errands this morning.” “A few” was an understatement, but he had a clear plan for the day and was confident he could get everything done as long as he didn’t have any unexpected pressing issues come up, which certainly wasn’t guaranteed.
