Chapter 13

13

Natalie and Frankie returned the broken house to its box while the others stood around it. Doctors examining the patient.

"I may as well not go in," Elinor wailed. "I have to have a gingerbread house."

It didn't look good.

"Superglue," suggested Adele.

"Mom, someone's going to eat that. You want to poison them?" Frankie scolded.

"No one's going to want to eat that. It's been on the ground," said Adele.

"No one's going to want to eat it because no one's going to bid on it," Elinor corrected her, and a little sob escaped.

"You go on in," Frankie said to her. "We'll figure this out. And no more crying. You'll ruin your makeup."

Adele took Elinor by the arm. "Come on, hon. We'll think of something. Come on, Warner."

"What are we going to do?" asked Natalie when it was just mother and daughter and a box of mess. "It looks like it got hit by a hurricane."

"Or stomped on by Godzilla," said Frankie. Then inspiration hit. "Nat, I need you to race home and get Warner's toy T. rex."

Natalie stared for a minute, then laughed. "And then the dinosaurs came." It was the family joke whenever a room didn't get picked up or when a soufflé fell. Always a good way to laugh off disaster.

"That's right. I'll run to the shop and make up a sign. Meet you back here in fifteen minutes."

It was closer to twenty by the time they entered the hall, but since they'd been fifteen minutes early to begin with, it didn't make them too late getting to the spot on one of the long tables that had been reserved for Elinor's house. It was at the far corner of the room. Thank you, Barbara.

Frankie could see that the competition was stiff as she threaded her way through the crowd, greeting people and encouraging them to vote for Elinor's collapsed house...which, she assured everyone, was intentionally destroyed. Mrs. Myrtle, a kindergarten teacher at Carol Elementary, had created a little gingerbread school, complete with tiny toy children enjoying a playground that included a slide made from cookies. Sandra Jackson, who was retired, had obviously spent hours building a gingerbread castle complete with turrets. How the heck had she done that? Another contestant had created a log cabin, and Pastor Gorton's wife, Becky, had made a gingerbread church.

"Just so you know, this wasn't my idea," Becky said to Frankie as Natalie set up their disaster next to Becky's creation. "Edna Darling bribed me to enter at the last minute. She's making a big contribution to help repair the church roof. I don't expect to win, and that will be fine with me." She eyed the sad, broken house. "Uh-oh."

"Prayers would be appreciated," said Frankie as she set out the toy dino and the little sign she'd made.

"Dinosaurs, huh?" Becky said, reading it, and chortled.

"We had a little mishap in the parking lot," Frankie explained.

Viola was next to arrive, making a beeline to the table where Team Elinor's house was displayed. "Good Lord above, what happened?" she asked, staring at it.

"The dinosaurs came," said Natalie.

Elinor looked down at her sad house. "A dinosaur?"

"You have to watch out for them," said Frankie.

Elinor sighed.

"It's cute. And unique," Becky assured her. "People will love it."

"No one better try to eat it," said Elinor.

Two little boys ran up to the table. "A dinosaur, Mommy!" cried one.

"Oh, that is fun," said the mother. "Clever idea."

"That's our Elinor, always thinking outside the box," Frankie said, and brushed a piece of gravel off the roof. "I hope you'll vote for her house as the best."

"I want to vote," said one of the little boys, and Frankie handed him a ballot slip.

"There's your first vote," she said to Elinor as the boy's mother helped him check the correct box.

"Probably my only vote," Elinor replied.

A loud squeal interrupted their conversation, making almost everyone in the room jump, except Mrs. Graham, who was deaf. This was followed by tapping on a microphone and, "Is this thing on?" which signaled that the party was about to start.

There stood Barbara, in a black dress accented with a red scarf and black high heel boots. She smiled from a tiny makeshift stage at the front of the room right next to where the flag was on display. "Can you all hear me?" she asked.

"Loud and clear," called someone.

"Good. Welcome everyone to our first annual Mrs. Claus pageant."

First annual? This was going to become a tradition? Frankie frowned. Of course, Barbara would take full credit as she basked in the spotlight. Ugh. Sharing is caring , Frankie scolded herself.

"We want you all to enjoy looking at our contestants' gingerbread houses and chatting with them. Cast your vote for your favorite. We'll be gathering votes in half an hour and tallying them up along with the other votes that have come in earlier. Then we'll chat with our candidates and announce a winner. As you can see, we have some wonderful entries, and I expect some bidding wars when it comes time to auction off those gingerbread houses. I know you'll want to be sure to purchase hot chocolate or apple cider from the Boy Scouts booth. And do check out the cookies being sold by the Friends of the Library. And finally, a big thank you to Carly Rae from KZAM for bringing her crew to join us tonight. She'll be giving our Mrs. Claus candidates airtime so those who couldn't be here with us won't have to miss out on anything. Now, let the fun begin."

A couple of men gave a whoop, and people went back to milling about and visiting. Many were already lining up to visit with the various candidates, and Frankie caught sight of Stef interviewing Mrs. Myrtle.

"Airtime?" whimpered Elinor.

"Just say how happy you are to be in Carol," Frankie coached her. She caught sight of Mitch at the far end of the second display table, chatting with one of the contestants, and hurried over to him. "Can you come give Elinor some encouragement?"

He looked to where Elinor stood, watching the main door as if considering bolting through it. "Cold feet?"

"Frozen. She'd have been okay if our house hadn't gotten wrecked in the parking lot."

"Not good," he said.

"She's ready to withdraw, I'm sure," said Frankie.

"If she's stressed, maybe she should."

Frankie frowned at him. "I know she's going to win. This would be so good for her. Come on, help her out."

He shrugged. "Okay."

Once she had Mitch pointed in the right direction, she hurried off to fetch Adele away from the hot drinks stand. Of all the times to be thinking about her stomach.

"Mom," she said, catching Adele just as she was about to order. "What are you doing?"

"I should think that would be obvious. Did you get the house fixed?"

"Yes, but Elinor is in panic mode. I'm sure she's ready to bolt."

"Well, then let her. This is supposed to be fun. If it's not, quit pushing the poor girl."

"I'm not pushing. I'm helping."

Adele rolled her eyes. "That again."

"Come on, please go over and give her some moral support." Elinor loved Adele. Having Adele nearby along with Mitch would surely be a calming influence.

"I'll be over as soon as I get my hot cider."

"Honestly, Mom, where are your priorities?"

"Right now? Here. She's fine. Quit fretting."

Frankie frowned at her mother, then started back to where Elinor stood. Oh no! Carly Rae was making a beeline for Elinor and her destroyed house.

Frankie hurried over, threading her way through the crowd and narrowly missing getting hot cider spilled on her by one excited reveler.

She got to the table just after Carly Rae and in time to hear Mitch say, "This makes me think of when I was a kid. I loved dinosaurs, and I'd have loved a gingerbread house like this."

Elinor looked up at him with adoration, and Carly Rae stepped in with her microphone. "That's pretty high praise. What inspired this?" she asked Elinor.

Elinor's cheeks succeeded in matching her loaner red dress. "We had an accident in the parking lot. But you have to make the best of things, right?"

Great fast thinking. Frankie smiled at Elinor. Her smile grew into a self-satisfied grin when she saw William Sharp making his way toward Elinor and the little crowd around her. She would be fine now.

Sure enough, Elinor's confidence appeared to increase as the minutes ticked past. Finally, it was time to collect the gingerbread ballot boxes, and Frankie took Elinor's to the far corner of the room where James was in charge of tallying votes.

"Looks good for your candidate so far," he whispered.

"Good," she whispered back. Hopefully, Elinor had a big enough lead that no matter what happened with the houses she'd still be sitting in Santa's sleigh the next morning during the Santa Walk parade.

More time passed, and then the microphone squealed again. Once more Barbara asked if it was on.

"You're on," James called.

"All right, everyone, let's bring up our candidates," Barbara said.

Tony Errico, the high school music teacher, had been strolling around the room, serenading people on his accordion. As the contestants made their way to Barbara, he played "Here Comes Santa Claus" accompanied by hoots and applause from the attendees.

The hall was packed, and it took a while for the women to get to Barbara, but they finally made it. Frankie followed in Elinor's wake and squeezed in right in front of Barbara there on the stand. Barbara looked over her head, pretending not to see her.

Viola joined Frankie. "She looks terrified," she whispered, looking to where Elinor stood.

"She'll find her groove," Frankie whispered back, sounding more confident than she felt. Elinor did indeed look terrified.

"Ladies, we know each of you would make an excellent Mrs. Claus," Barbara said to the women, who stood lined up next to her. "Can you each tell us why you'd like to be our Mrs. Claus this year?"

Elinor's face turned as white as Santa's beard, and she looked at Frankie in terror . What have you done to me?

Frankie nodded and smiled at her. You'll be fine.

"I think I definitely have the girth for it," said Mrs. Myrtle as Barbara held the mic in front of her. There were a few unsure laughs, and she continued, "And you all know how much I love children."

"Maybe she should be Mrs. Claus," Viola whispered, and Frankie frowned at her.

Barbara was on to the next contestant.

"My husband talked me into it," said Sandra Jackson.

Becky and two more women explained that they also had friends or family members who thought they would make a good Mrs. Claus.

Then it was time to interview Elinor.

"I don't know if anyone can really fill Frankie Lane's shoes, but I'm honored that she nominated me," Elinor said.

Nailed it! It was the perfect thing to say, both humble and kind enough to acknowledge the town's first Mrs. Claus.

"Go Elinor!" called Adele, and one of the men punctuated it with a loud whistle.

Barbara barely smiled. "Thank you, Elinor." She turned her attention back to the audience. "There you have it," she said. "The votes have been tallied, and I'm sure you all want to know who will be this year's Mrs. Claus."

"So, tell us already," yelled a man at the far end of the room.

Barbara looked disapprovingly at the impatient heckler. "But first we want to thank our veterans for the use of the hall."

"You're welcome. Now get on with it," called the man.

Barbara ignored him. "Let's thank our judges for offering their expertise," she began. "I'm sure it wasn't easy coming to a decision." She announced the judges' names, and the crowd applauded politely. "And we are fortunate to have our mayor here with us tonight." She smiled at Mayor Lent, who was standing next to her, looking festive in a black skirt and a glittery red sweater. "Thank you, Mayor, for joining us."

The mayor barely had a chance to say, "My pleasure," before Barbara turned her back on her.

"So. This year's Mrs. Claus is..." Barbara paused dramatically.

"Tell us, or we're gonna start throwing cookies at you," hollered the heckler.

Barbara's face turned Christmas-stocking red, and she handed the paper with the results to the mayor, along with the microphone.

"This year's Mrs. Claus is Elinor Ingles," Mayor Lent announced, and the room exploded in applause.

"You did it," Stef said to Frankie, and Frankie beamed, proud of her success in transforming Elinor. Elinor would wear the title, but Frankie couldn't help feeling like she was still Mrs. Claus. It was a very satisfying feeling.

Barbara picked up a Mrs. Claus cap from the table behind her and snatched the microphone back from the mayor. "Let's see how our new Mrs. Claus looks in her cap. Come on over, Elinor."

A blushing Elinor walked over to Barbara to applause and whoops.

"Elinor, we know you'll make a wonderful Mrs. Claus," Barbara said to her when Elinor reached her and the mayor, who was standing to the side, ignored. Next, Barbara would be inviting herself to grand openings and ribbon cuttings. "Would you like to say a few words?" Barbara asked after she'd settled the ruffled cap on Elinor's head.

She held the microphone in front of Elinor's face, and Elinor did a deer-in-the-headlights blink.

But then she gathered her poise. "I would just like to say thank you, everyone. I'm honored to be able to be part of this wonderful community and this lovely celebration that my employer, Frankie Lane, started."

"That was sweet," Adele whispered to Frankie as Barbara's determined smile faltered.

More kudos to Frankie. Elinor was definitely getting a raise in the new year.

"I'm looking forward to helping Santa spread plenty of joy tomorrow," Elinor finished, then stepped away.

"There you have it," said Barbara. "And now, while our contestants are rejoining their fans, let's get ready to auction off the wonderful gingerbread houses they made. As you all know, the money we raise from auctioning them off will go to our Help Santa fund and do lots of good in the community, so I hope you came with fat wallets. Mayor, will you be our auctioneer?" she said, and gave the microphone to Mayor Lent.

It looked like the mayor was going to get to do something after all.

"Congratulations. We knew you could do it," Frankie said to Elinor when she joined the team, which Frankie made sure included William.

"It was probably a vote for you and Holiday Happiness more than it was for me," Elinor said humbly.

"You're part of Holiday Happiness, and everyone loves you," Frankie said, then hurried to fetch Elinor's house.

Meanwhile, the mayor had the microphone and was saying all the proper mayoral things required on such an occasion, praising the stores, the committee and their Mrs. Claus contestants while committee members gathered the houses and brought them up to a table set up onstage.

The bidding began, starting with Mrs. Myrtle's gingerbread school. The bidding among her former students was fast and furious, and she was delighted when it went for a hundred dollars. Becky Gorton's church also raised a hundred dollars for the Santa fund, and Sandra Jackson's castle went for two hundred.

A gingerbread log cabin came next, and that also did well. So did the others.

But the star of the show was Elinor's dinosaur disaster house, with William Sharp, Mitch and the mother of the two little boys bidding like crazy, the boys bouncing up and down in excitement. The mom dropped out after fifty dollars, shaking her head sadly. Mitch and William stayed locked in a battle until finally, Mitch called out, "Five hundred dollars." William gave up.

Everyone applauded after Mitch called out instructions to give it to the mother of the two boys, and Frankie could see Natalie hurrying over to warn the woman that their prize was not edible.

"I wanted to buy your house," William told Elinor as her supporters gathered around her once the bidding was over.

"It was awfully nice of you to try," she told him.

He cleared his throat. "It was for a good cause."

Oh, good grief, what kind of romantic response was that? "And anything for Elinor, right?" Frankie prompted him.

"Of course," he said.

The admiration in his eyes was certainly plain to see, although Elinor didn't. She was looking worshipfully at Mitch, the big spender. "That was such a generous bid," she said to him.

"I appreciate creativity, and how you saved your house was very creative," he said to her.

Frankie expected Elinor to inform him that the dinosaur theme had been Frankie's idea, but Elinor kept quiet.

Which was odd considering how much she'd just praised her employer onstage.

Oh, well , Frankie thought, and kept her mouth shut. No way did she want to spoil Elinor's moment of triumph. And she also didn't want to take away from the hero worship that Mitch was enjoying.

But something shifted in her when Elinor said, "I can hardly wait to spend the day with you tomorrow, Santa."

It was the polite thing to say, but the delivery... Was Elinor flirting with Mitch? The thought pulled down the corners of Frankie's mouth. Somehow, Elinor flirting with Mitch felt like friendship trespassing. She was imagining things, of course. Elinor and William were a match. Elinor belonged with William. She didn't have any interest in Mitch.

So there was no reason for the little Grinch poke to Frankie's heart when Mitch smiled at Elinor and said, "You're gonna be a great Mrs. Claus."

Elinor would be a lovely Mrs. Claus, for sure, and Frankie wanted her to enjoy the experience. Really. But Frankie was Mrs. Claus. Elinor was understudy Mrs. Claus. She would be fine, but she wouldn't be great.

Stop this right now , her better self scolded.

Elinor turned to Frankie. "I couldn't have done this without you. Thank you for how supportive and wonderful you've been to me."

"You're welcome," Frankie said. Elinor was so happy, and Frankie knew the fun of getting to play Mrs. Claus would be a huge confidence builder. How could she begrudge her employee that thrill?

People were leaving, and the committee was starting to take down tables and put away chairs. Time to get to work.

"I'll be ready to take you home in a few minutes," Frankie told Elinor. She got to work collapsing folding chairs and stowing them away.

She half expected to see Mitch helping with cleanup, but instead, only a few minutes later, he and Elinor were leaving the hall together. Her phone dinged with a text from Mitch.

Running Elinor home.

William should have been running Elinor home, but there he stood, watching them go. William definitely needed some serious coaching on how to win over a woman. Frankie was just about to abandon her chore, hurry over and give him some pointers when Mrs. White, one of her regulars, stopped to talk.

"This was a great event," the woman said. "Frankie, you are so clever at coming up with fun ideas. And we all benefit."

If she couldn't be Mrs. Claus, getting thanked for coming up with fun ideas was a nice consolation prize. It was good to be appreciated. It would have been even better to be appreciated by Mitch, who was now off with the new Mrs. Claus.

"Thanks," Frankie said. "I'm glad everyone enjoyed it."

"And Elinor is going to be a darling Mrs. Claus. That girl has certainly blossomed over the last few weeks."

"Yes, she has," Frankie agreed, inwardly taking credit for Elinor's transformation.

"She's such a sweet young woman."

"Yes, she is," Frankie agreed again, and knew she couldn't take credit for that. Elinor was indeed a sweet woman. Hopefully, Santa and Cupid would get together and bring her a lifetime supply of love this year. One of them needed to give William a textbook on winning over a woman.

Adele stopped, said hi to Mrs. White and then informed her daughter that she and Natalie were headed home. "I'll see you bright and early at the store tomorrow to get the hot cider going."

"Thanks, Mom," Frankie said, and kissed her mother's cheek.

Natalie kissed Frankie goodbye. Warner gave her an enthusiastic hug and asked when he was going to get his dinosaur back.

Oh yes, the dinosaur. "He might have run away, but don't worry, he has cousins coming to stay with you soon." As soon as Frankie could find a replacement.

Stef was next to leave, about to go out for drinks with a couple of friends from the paper.

Frankie was ready to leave, also. Most of the cleanup was done. Anyway, Barbara was the committee chair. Let her stay for the final sweep-up.

"How about you?" Frankie said to Viola. "Feel like going out for a hot buttered rum?"

"I need to get home and finish the cookies I started baking. I promised I'd have some for Terrill when he gets done with his shift."

"Can't ignore your man," Frankie said like the understanding friend and good sport that she was.

"I'll catch up with you tomorrow," Viola promised, and gave her a hug, then hurried off.

There went the team, scattered to the winter wind. Even though she was pooped from her busy day, Frankie felt too keyed up to go straight home. She wanted to go over the event with someone, maybe enjoy some hot chocolate or a drink at Heat or Carol's Place.

Mitch probably had Elinor safely delivered home. He'd be free. She texted him. Up for a drink?

Sorry. Can't. Going over stuff for tomorrow with Elinor.

Frankie frowned. What was there to go over? Elinor would put on the Mrs. Claus costume and join Mitch outside of town at the wooden sleigh made especially for Santa by Mitch's crew from the hardware store back when Frankie had first conceived of the idea. The sleigh would be pulled by horses on loan from a nearby farmer. Two committee members had already decked it out in greenery and red plastic ribbons. All Elinor had to do was climb aboard, put a blanket over her lap and sit and wave. Once Santa was set up in the town square on his Santa throne, she'd welcome the children, give them each a candy cane and escort them up to see him. This was not rocket science.

Where are you guys?

Her place.

How long are you going to be? She looked at what she'd typed and then wiped it out. What was she, a stalker? OK , she texted instead.

It looked like she was going to be alone. She said good-night to the few remaining committee members, giving Barbara a wave from a distance. Barbara probably didn't want any holiday hugs from Frankie anyway. Then off she went to her car.

No gingerbread house to haul, no nothing but her purse and a slightly dampened spirit. Going home alone felt so anticlimactic.

She was almost to her car when her fellow committee member Autumn came running after her, calling her name. She was holding out a cell phone in a pink sparkly case. Frankie recognized that case.

"I think your mom left this behind when she was helping us with our booth cleanup. It had fallen on the floor, and I picked it up. I almost forgot I had it."

"I'm surprised she hasn't noticed it's missing," said Frankie as she took it. "Thanks."

Now she had something to do. Her mother was probably in her jammies and getting ready to relax. They could sit on the couch and talk about the evening's adventure.

She drove to Adele's house. The same SUV Frankie had seen several times before was parked outside on the curb, a little way down from the house. Somebody had company.

Not Adele. Her living room was dark, and the tree lights were off. So much for a cozy chat over a glass of wine or hot chocolate.

But if Adele was in bed this early, she needed her rest. Frankie used her key and slipped inside. She'd leave the phone on the hall table. She didn't bother to turn on the hall light. No need. The table was only a few steps away and...

Whoa! She tripped over something and went crashing into the table with a yelp, knocking off the pewter bowl where Adele kept her keys. It landed with a metallic boing .

What the heck? She felt around on the floor for it and found...a shoe? Since when did her mother leave shoes in the hallway? She stumbled over another on her way to the light switch. Flipping on the switch, she saw two very big shoes lying on the floor.

Wait a minute. What was going on here?