It did. “Point made,” Holly said. “Even though none of this has anything to do with my situation. I don’t like Danny. And he doesn’t like me.” He liked Elda, he wanted Elda, and Holly would never crush his soul by telling him she’d been the one behind those texts.
Seeing the disappointment in his eyes would ruin her.
Chapter Thirteen
ELDA: Hey.
DANNY: Hi!
ELDA: I’m running out to Wal-Mart tomorrow morning. For candy. Want to come?
DANNY: Okay.
ELDA: 8 AM. I’ll pick you up at Santabucks.
DANNY: See you then!
DANNY: (gif of De Niro from Taxi Driver) DANNY: (gif of Joe Pesci from Goodfellas) DANNY: (gif of someone screaming into the abyss) DANNY: (gif of someone else screaming into the abyss) DANNY: (gif of a skeleton staring at his phone, waiting for a response)
Chapter Fourteen
Saturday, December 23
“She’ll be here,” Jamison said. “Stop worrying.”
“Whatever.” Danny was sitting at one of the Santabucks tables, waiting for Elda to show up. They were supposed to be going shopping together for extra showstopper supplies, but she was five minutes late. He was picturing a whole slew of scenarios right now—she’d found something unsavory about him online and had lost interest, she’d stopped responding to his texts last night because she’d had a heart attack or someone else had had a heart attack, she was somewhere in North Pole right now making out with Phil Waterston…
An unfamiliar light-blue minivan pulled up outside, and Danny perked up. Elda wasn’t blowing him off. Well, that was progress. Two doors opened, and two girls hopped out. Elda and Holly. Holly. Danny’s emotions were such a mess of confusion, he dropped half his cinnamon crunch muffin on the floor.
The little bell over the door jingled as they entered, and Holly scanned the room. Her eyes stopped on Danny for a moment, but she looked away as fast as it happened. So did he. He leaned down to pick up his breakfast from the coffee shop floor. He had no idea what to say to her at this point, or why he should bother saying anything at all. She was just a tourist in town for Christmas. He owed her nothing. What did it matter if she thought he was a needy loser? Making small talk would only serve to highlight his puppy dog nature.
“Hey.” He waved specifically to Elda.
She ran over and squeezed his shoulder. “Hey.”
Holly, barely glancing at him, went to the counter and ordered a mocha to go.
“You excited to go to Wal-Mart?” Elda asked.
“Is anyone ever?” Danny said with a grin.
She nudged him in the arm as her phone buzzed. “Oh, shoot,” she said after reading the text. She frowned and looked Danny right in the eye. “It’s Dinesh. Apparently he, well, I don’t want to get into the gory details, but there’s a sink-related emergency over at the arcade, and he totally needs my help.” She glanced over at Holly. “I’m sorry, guys. I have to deal with this.” She waved her phone in the air. He saw an actual text from Dinesh on her screen. She was telling the truth.
“We can wait for you,” Danny said.
Holly glared at her cousin. “Yeah,” she said. “We have all day.”
“No, you don’t.” Elda already had one foot out the door. “And this thing with Dinesh could take hours. Like, literally hours. Go on without me.” The bell jingled, and she was gone.
No Elda. No buffer. Just Danny, Holly, and a minivan.
“I really do need to buy more candy,” she said.
“Me, too.” He kept staring at the door, trying to name all the feelings swirling around in his stomach right now. Dread was there, for sure, and annoyance. But also kind of maybe a hint of excitement.
Holly walked over and placed her to-go cup on the table. She bit her upper lip with her lower teeth. And Danny was able to identify another emotion: desire. God, she was cute. Too bad she thought he was the most pathetic person in all of North Pole. “So, are you ready?” she said.
Danny shook his head. “You don’t have to. I’ll get my brother to drive me later.”
“Don’t be silly. Let’s go.” Holly picked up her cup and went to the door, which she held open for him.
He took a deep breath and dragged himself up from his chair. A whole morning alone with Holly. This day was going to end in tears—his. Still, he followed her out to the minivan. Holly grabbed his crutches and tossed them into the back.
“Thanks.” Most people didn’t offer to help him. He wasn’t sure if people just felt awkward about it or if they thought offering to help might offend him. Maybe they figured he was a young, healthy guy with a broken leg, and he could handle himself. They were right about that, for the most part. Danny could handle himself, but it was nice of Holly to show him the courtesy.
“What do you need at the store?” Holly turned the key in the ignition.
“I think, like, M&Ms or something else colorful. I’m building a basketball court, and I want to fill in the stands with little candies.” Already they were talking about things Danny was interested in. Why couldn’t it be this easy with Elda? Maybe because his relationship with Holly was never going to be more than a reluctant friendship. They weren’t trying to impress each other, so they could talk about anything, even stuff as mundane as making candy people for his gingerbread showstopper.
Holly squinted as she pulled onto Main Street. “Jelly beans, maybe? More colors. More variations. The M&Ms might come off too same-y.”
“Good point.” She was dead right. “You’ve really gotten to know your stuff over the past week.”
She blushed. “Gingerbread boot camp, I don’t know.” Her hands kneaded the steering wheel. “Building a basketball court is a really cool idea. I can’t wait to see it.”
Danny suppressed a grin. Deep down—maybe not so deep down—he was just a sad nerd who needed to be liked. Maybe he should stop trying to fight it.
“How was your date with Elda yesterday?” Holly peeked at him out of the corner of her eye.
“All right.” Danny watched the bobblehead Bears player on the dashboard move in rhythm to Holly’s driving. She and Elda had to have talked about the date. Elda had probably told Holly how badly it went, and now Holly was preparing to rub it in. “You mind if I roll the window down?” Without waiting for an answer, he pressed the button and closed his eyes as the cold air whipped his face.
“You like Elda, right?” Holly said. “Like, I mean, you like-like her.”
“Elda’s great.” Danny spoke into the wind. “I just wish things could click easier between us in person. I don’t know if we’re both just super awkward or what.” He’d avoided the actual question. Like-like was such a strong word.
“Elda is really awkward around the guys she likes, if that helps.”
Hey, Holly wasn’t rubbing his inability to properly woo her cousin in his face. That was something. “I think it does. I mean, I’m totally out of practice with this whole dating thing, myself.”