Page 199 of How My Neighbour Stole Christmas
That’s not good. How many points is that? I glance over at Taran, and she’s scribbling away in her notebook, probably calculating even as Bob continues.
“Coming in second, we have…Cole Black and his holly jolly sidekick, which means Jimmy Short is our first-place winner!”
Jimmy steps forward and raises his fists in the air as he pumps them up and down, his victory puffing his chest as he points at the woman in the front row who I now know is his ex-wife. She blows him a kiss, and he catches it while the crowd erupts.
I glance over at Cole, my disappointment making me emotional because I don’t even know if I’m in the running for first anymore.
“Now remember,” Bob says. “This competition isn’t over. We still have the town vote on who has been the most spirited of them all, and the finals of the Christmas light display. Nothing is set in stone, so the next two days matter the most. Congrats to our Kringle-ees and merry Christmas!”
Together, we all say, “Merry Christmas,” and then we start dispersing.
I turn to Cole and give him a sad look, which causes his frown to deepen.
He walks up to me. “What’s wrong?”
“I just…” I see Taran headed my way, so I say, “Meet me by the large tree over in the corner.”
He nods and takes off just as Taran closes the space between us.
“You pushed the needle too close to the edge.”
I sigh. “I know, Taran.”
“I told you not to.”
“I know,” I repeat. “But it’s way more stressful than you think.”
“You kept looking over at Cole,” she says.
“Because he was using a sewing machine. It was loud and distracting,” I say. “Who knew he could sew.”
Taran folds her arms. “Yes, that was annoying.”
“But how did Jimmy win?”
She glances over at Jimmy, who’s talking to his ex-wife. “I’m going to go inspect those entries.”
“Okay,” I say. “I’m, uh, I’m going to go to the bathroom.”
While Taran walks up to the table to do her inspection, I walk to the back corner where Cole is waiting for me. When I reach the tree, he pulls me behind it and lifts my chin so I can meet his gaze.
“What’s wrong?”
Lip quivering, I say, “I messed up my stocking and I know that’s why I came in third. Taran’s not happy, and I have no idea what the points are adding up to, but I’ve gotten third for the last three competitions and that can’t be good.”
“You’re eight points behind,” Cole says, clearly able to calculate fast. “There’s still points you can earn.”
“With our light display? Have you seen Aunt Cindy’s house? We’re not taking first with what Taran has put together.”
“It’s about improvement,” he says. “Not overall. So you might get lots of points for improving what you started with. Who knows.”
“Did you make any improvements?”
He smirks at me. “Well, we fixed the lights that were oddly out when Paula and Peach came by.” That brings a small smile to my lips. “And tomorrow morning after our Christmas Eve eve celebration, Max and I plan on putting some lights on the lawn, but nothing too fancy. If anyone has a chance for improvements, it’s you and Taran. If I were you, I’d talk to her tonight and see what you guys can do to spruce it up and work on it all day tomorrow.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” I heave a sigh and then lean in to him as he wraps his strong arms around me. “God, I was so distracted by you.”
He chuckles. “Was it the sewing?”
