Holly gasped. “Holy shit.”
“Indeed,” Danny said. Today would be etched in the North Pole history books—the first tie in gingerbread contest history, and now the first proposal.
“Will you marry me?” Dinesh asked.
The crowd cheered as Elda jumped up and ran to the dais. “Yes, yes, yes!” she squealed, pulling her new fiancé into a massive, smothering hug.
“When Elda makes up her mind, she really makes up her mind,” Holly said, clapping for her cousin and Dinesh.
Danny leaned down and whispered, “Looks like you’ll have a reason to come back here again.”
Holly clutched the trophy hard to her chest. “Which means I am definitely taking this home with me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Tuesday, December 26
HOLLY: I’m on my way. I swear.
DANNY: The movie’s about to start.
HOLLY: I KNOW. The grownups are making Moscow Mules in honor of Grandma, and my uncle made Elda and me run to the store for limes.
HOLLY: (gif of kids from Love, Actually saying “I hate Uncle Jamie”) DANNY: It’s fine. I’m keeping your seat warm…for now.
HOLLY: Oh, no! If I don’t make it in time, who will you give my seat to?
DANNY: Well, Craig’s been eyeing it.
HOLLY: Damn it, Craig!
HOLLY: I’ll be there in five. Ward him off.
…
12:15 AM, New Year’s Day
DANNY: When can I see you again?
HOLLY: I literally just left your house. I’m not even back at my grandma’s yet. I’m texting you from your front porch.
DANNY: But you’re leaving in the morning.
HOLLY: Not until lunchtime.
DANNY: Have breakfast with me…before we part FOREVER. (sobbing emoji) HOLLY: Not forever. I’m coming back for Elda’s wedding.
DANNY: Feels like forever.
HOLLY: You know, my phone works in Chicago, too. We have cellular towers and everything. It’s a pretty big city.
DANNY: You mean we can keep doing this whole texting thing?
HOLLY: I mean…yeah. I’d like that. No pressure, though.
DANNY: No pressure. But, like, if Craig did something silly that I just HAD to tell you about…
HOLLY: You could text me.
DANNY: Or if, say, I had a question about what to watch next on Netflix?
HOLLY: Text.
DANNY: I suddenly feel so much better about this whole “you leaving” thing.
HOLLY: I’m going to bed. See you tomorrow morning!
DANNY: Happy New Year! [heart eyes emoji] Good night!
HOLLY: Good night!
…
Ten minutes later
DANNY: Okay, what should I watch on Netflix?
HOLLY: All right. Let’s figure this out…
Chapter Twenty-Two
Thursday, January 18
“You know I wouldn’t do this for just anyone,” Holly said, gazing deep into Danny’s beautiful blue eyes. She’d made sure to touch up her makeup and fix her hair after school. It had been snowing today in Chicago, and her cheeks were still pink and cold from the wind.
“I know. You told me before you’d never, ever FaceTime for me. I thank you for loosening your rules just this once.”
“Well, it is a special occasion.” Holly propped her phone up on the desk, perched on her chair, back straight, and waited.
Via the magic of FaceTime, all the way from his house in North Pole, Danny lifted his leg and plopped it onto his kitchen table.
“Danny, we eat there,” came his mom’s voice from off screen.
“I know, but just for a second.” He peered into the camera at Holly. “Check it out. No cast.”
She clapped as he removed his pale, skinny leg from the kitchen table. “How does it feel?”
“Light,” he said. “And weak. I have to do physical therapy now, to strengthen it, but it’s coming along. I’ll be ready to walk the streets of Chicago soon enough.”
He was coming down to Chicago for spring break, which had been planned pre-Holly. He wanted to check out Loyola, one of his top college choices, and maybe a few other schools, too. Holly wondered how much she’d get to see him when he was in town. She didn’t want to assume. But the way he talked about the trip, it sure seemed like he planned on hanging out.
Danny was staring at something off screen now, and Holly tried to guess what it was. Soon, however, Danny’s eyes were back on her. He leaned in close to the screen, unselfconscious, because he was Danny Garland and of course FaceTime-ing was no big deal for him. He probably hadn’t fretted at all about how his hair looked or whether or not the angle of the phone made his face look fat. Holly had tried desperately not to worry about that stuff herself. Danny liked her as she was. Old habits died hard, though, hence the makeup. Plus, this was their first time seeing each other “in person” since Holly left North Pole on New Year’s Day.
“Hey,” he whispered, “you look beautiful, by the way.”
“Why are you whispering?” she whispered back.
“My mom’s just over by the counter.”
“And she can still hear every word out of your mouth,” came his mom’s voice.
Holly grinned. He called her “beautiful” in front of his mom. Sure, it was kind of embarrassing, but it was also kind of awesome. “How are Elda and Dinesh doing?”
Danny nodded toward the kitchen window. Elda and Dinesh, thanks to Dinesh’s sizable down payment from all the money he’d saved working at the arcade and living with his parents, had bought Grandma’s house. They’d moved in a few days ago. Elda had spent the weeks leading up to the move updating the plumbing. “They’re good. They’ve been sending Craig over to me whenever they want some alone time.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s not so bad. We play video games, and we’ve started watching Game of Thrones.”
“Nooo! Traitor!” Holly squealed in mock horror.
“You’d actually like it,” Danny said.
“I probably would, but don’t tell Craig that.”
Danny mimed zipping his lips. “I wouldn’t want him to suddenly decide he’s in love with you because now you know who Beric Dondarrion is.”
Holly’s face flushed. He’d said “love.” “Who?”
“Let’s keep it that way.”
“What else is new?” Holly leaned back in her chair a bit. This FaceTime thing didn’t suck. It was kind of like she and Danny were chatting in the same room. And Holly had almost forgotten to worry about how she looked on screen. Almost.
“Well, the basketball team is still in first place in our division, and Coach is finally letting me help out. I joined the engineering club at school, if you can believe it—”
“I can.”
“—but they’re hazing me right now, since I’m the newbie. How about you?”
“I’m going to look at a few colleges in Indiana this weekend with my parents. Nothing too exciting. My friend Rebel and I are working on a new art show, too.” Holly had created several pieces for this one. And she planned to display them more prominently, instead of shunting them off to a dark corner somewhere. “You want to see what I’m doing?”
“Of course.”
Holly held up a mosaic of Christian Laettner she’d crafted out of tiny pictures of his, and Duke’s, biggest foes. It was quite an undertaking and had required a lot of research on her part. Thank goodness she now knew a Christian Laettner expert.