Page 46 of Chasing Cheer
“Those look great,” Sofia said once the pops had cooled. “They’ll be a hit at the party.”
Holly smiled in satisfaction, hoping Sofia was right.
Just then, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” came on through Sofia’s speaker, and they began to belt out the lyrics.
“You should sing that to Ash. He’d love it,” Sofia teased her after the song ended and they’d returned to their normal volume.
Holly threw a large pom-pom at her head.
“Okay, I think we’re ready! Let’s get a picture.”
Sofia clipped her phone into a tripod and grabbed a remote that went with it. Holly, who had never been in a picture before, was startled. Sofia slipped an arm around her waist, and they leaned close to each other, smiling for the camera. As Sofia snapped a few more pictures, Holly relaxed and followed her lead. Then Sofia sorted through them and grabbed a photo printer from a nearby bookshelf.
Within minutes, a miniature photo had come out of the machine, and Sofia handed it to Holly. “We look fab.”
Holly stared at the photo, a smile creeping onto her face. Sofia, whose green sweater dress had been turned into a Christmas tree covered in tinsel and pom-pom ornaments, was beaming next to Holly, who was playing an inside joke with herself by dressing as Ms. Claus.
Holly had added furry red fabric to the bottom and around the cuffs of the white dress, a vertical line of three bows down the front, and a fitted black belt made of tulle fabric. She had quickly stitched a collar shape around the neck, trying to throw in all the human stereotypes of Ms. Claus to make it obvious who she was. She tucked the photo into her purse.
“Wait!” Sofia exclaimed just as they were about to walk out the door and head to her Subaru. “You need a Santa hat with that.” She ran to another room, grabbed a red-and-white tufted Santa hat, and placed it on Holly’s head. The red portion was made of sequins. “There. Now it’s perfect. Let’s go, Mrs. Claus.”
ChapterThirty-Six
Holly and Sofia pulled up to the Emerald House just before seven. The parking lot was fuller than usual at that time of night, and others were entering the building in their ugly sweaters. Holly carefully cradled the plate of jingle pops as she looked around and caught sight of a necklace of flashing Christmas light bulbs around a woman’s neck and reindeer antlers on a man’s head.
“Ash was right. Good turnout on short notice,” Holly observed, following Sofia through the heavy front doors.
“Never underestimate the power of word of mouth in a small town,” Sofia replied.
A glass bowl labeled Door Prizes Entry and a roll of raffle tickets sat on a small table. Sofia picked up the pen and filled out a ticket for each of them.
Sofia linked arms with Holly. “Now, where is he? I can’t wait to show him our outfits.”
They made their way through the busy café, Holly stopping to put the jingle pops on the table with the other appetizers. Christmas music was playing from the speakers, and guests were already starting in on the spread of appetizers and drinks. Holly saw the man with the reindeer antlers take a jingle pop and smiled.
“How did he pull this together so quickly?”Without magic,she thought.
“Probably asked the kitchen staff to work on some appetizers during the slow time in the afternoon. Pulled some prizes out from the storage room. All the bones were already here for a party, so all he really needed was the people. And here they are.” Sofia gave a half twirl, waving her hand across the swath of people. Holly thought Sofia might have been underestimating Ash’s efforts, but she nodded and followed her toward the back room.
Sofia poked her head through the door. “There you are!” She stepped over the threshold, letting out a delighted laugh. “Would you look at this? Santa and Mrs. Claus!”
Holly pursed her lips, trying to hold back a smile, as she followed Sofia into the small room and laid eyes on Ash. He was dressed in a red sweater with Santa’s face embroidered on the front. Like Holly, he was sporting a Santa hat.
“She wears it better,” Ash said, his eyes lingering on Holly until the box he was holding started to slip, and he moved away to tuck it onto a shelf.
A flush creeped up Holly’s neck, and she experienced a strange mixture of relief and disappointment when the charged moment ended.
“What are you doing back here working? The party’s in full swing,” Sofia said.
“I know. I just had to put away a few things to make more space. I figured the party wouldn’t get exciting until you two showed up anyway.” He winked, and Sofia swatted his arm.
“If you’re referring to my spiked cider, I didn’t make any this time around. It’s a wine night for me. Holly brought a dessert, though. Something called jingle pops. I tried one before we left, and they are divine.”
“I’ll have to taste one. You two look great. Where did you get the dresses?” He looked between them appreciatively.
“We made them at Sofia’s house today,” Holly said, placing a hand on her hip to pose.
“Impressive. She introduced you to her craft box, did she?” Ash touched an ornament on Sofia’s sleeve, and it gave a little jingle.
