Page 47 of Chasing Cheer
“She did. Now I know where to go if I get in a pinch when decorating. I guess we’re all good at doing things on short notice,” Holly said, nodding through the door toward the party.
Ash waved a hand casually. “That’s nothing much. Besides, I was hoping to rope one of you into helping me with the ugly-sweater contest and the door prizes.”
“I’m in,” Sofia volunteered.
Holly nodded. She’d never helped with a contest before and was eager to get more experience acting like a local in Emerald Hollow.
“You’re lifesavers. All right. I’ve gotta go check on things out there. But the first round of door prizes is being announced at seven thirty, and the final sweater results are at nine. Make sure to vote.” He leaned in closer to Holly and whispered, “And may the best Claus win.”
He pointed at each of them then disappeared through the doorway.
Holly’s gaze trailed after him, her watch vibrating so hard that she thought it might fly off her wrist.
“That man can never stay still for two minutes,” Sofia mused, taking Holly by the arm again. “But he’s right about voting. Let’s put our names down for the contest. You can vote for two people. That way, everyone doesn’t just vote for themselves.”
They found the table and signed up for the contest. An Emerald House employee who was working at the table snapped each of their pictures, did a quick printout using a printer similar to the one Sofia had at her house, and tacked their pictures to the bulletin board.
“Write your names underneath,” she instructed.
Once done entering the ugly-sweater contest, they roamed around for a while, Sofia introducing Holly to townspeople she hadn’t met yet and greeting others that she already had. They stopped by the appetizer table for snacks, and Holly was delighted to see that her jingle pops were all gone.
“It’s almost seven thirty,” Holly said, checking the large clock in the corner.
“Let’s go,” Sofia said and went to the front door to grab the crystal bowl.
They met up with Ash by the café counter, where a microphone was resting on a serving tray. Ash picked it up and tapped it on then opened his phone to turn down the music.
“Good evening, everyone,” he said then gave the group a moment to get quiet.
A few conversations continued in the far corners of the room, but most people turned their attention his way.
“We’re getting ready to do our first raffle drawing here. We’ll have them every half hour until nine, when we’ll announce the winner of the ugly-sweater contest.”
A few people whistled in anticipation. Ash glanced at Sofia, and she raised the glass bowl into the air.
“Mrs. Claus, will you do the honors?” Ash asked, his eyes shining at Holly.
It felt strange to hear her last name coming from Ash, and she panicked before realizing he was referring to her sweater.
“Here goes.” She reached into the bowl and grabbed a raffle ticket then looked at the name scrawled across the top. “Enzo!” she pronounced loudly.
A few people clapped or clinked their glasses. Enzo made his way through the crowd to claim his prize. The rest of the partygoers returned to their conversations.
“Lovely to see you again, Holly,” Enzo said, beaming.
He was wearing a sweater covered in tiny snowflakes and pizzas. Then he asked her what the prize was in Italian, and Holly responded, also in Italian, that he was receiving a gift card to the Emerald House. He clapped in delight, and Holly wasn’t sure if it was more about winning or about her Italian.
“I didn’t know you spoke Italian,” Sofia said, looking impressed. “You’re full of surprises. Next thing I know, you’re going to tell me you speak Spanish.”
“Hago hablar español,” Holly replied without thinking.
Sofia’s jaw dropped. “How many languages do you know? Please don’t say more than three.”
“A few more. It’s part of my work,” Holly replied, eager to change the subject.
She and Enzo spoke for a while longer while Sofia and Ash mingled with the guests. Enzo told Holly about how he’d started his restaurant, and the details were surprisingly juicy.
“He is really interesting to talk to,” Holly told Sofia half an hour later, when Enzo had claimed he was ready to head home and brag to his wife about his raffle winnings.
