Approximately Yours (North Pole, Minnesota #3)(22)
When he opened the side door of the garage, he found Holly and Elda sitting on chairs flanking a table, staring at a mound of sweets that covered an entire king-size sheet. Holly slammed a sketch pad shut and shoved it under her seat when Danny walked in.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw Holly with a pencil stuck behind her ear. He knew it couldn’t be the case, but it almost felt like she was mirroring him. Ever since the accident, he always had a pencil over his ear. Maybe she’d noticed.
Oh, who was he kidding? No, she hadn’t. It wasn’t like he was the first person to ever put a pencil behind his ear.
Danny gripped the handles on his crutches, focusing on Elda. Elda was the one who liked him. Elda was the one who’d sent him gif after gif of people wagging their fingers. Elda was the one who knew he loved Take 5 bars. And she was very, very pretty. Like, no one would debate him on that.
“So here’s where all the candy went.” He’d just returned from driving around town with Jamison, hunting for ingredients to make his gingerbread showstopper. North Pole had been cleaned out. The only stuff left at the sweet shop had been brown Sixlets and discounted items from Halloween and Thanksgiving—like white chocolate turkeys and those gross peanut butter things in the orange and black wax wrappers.
Elda jumped up and fetched him a chair, which was super nice. “We’d be happy to share some of our candy with you.”
“Elda,” Holly said, eyeing the candy stash, “stop giving away our stuff.” She nodded to Danny. “Though you can have the Take 5 bars, obviously.”
“It’s all right.” Danny sat down and put his leg up. The garage was musty and smelled of mildew, but at least it wasn’t too cold. “I don’t need your charity. What are you guys building?”
“It’s gonna be amazing!” Elda said. “We’re build—”
Holly stomped on her cousin’s foot, keeping her from spilling the beans. “Nice try. Like we’d tell you.”
“So, um, Danny.” Elda faced him, sitting on the edge of her seat. Her hands were folded in her lap, and she stared at him with big, brown doe eyes. “I was hoping to run into you in town today.”
“Yeah?”
“I just…I kept peeking around every corner, waiting for you to pop out”—her hands turned into claws, like she’d been imagining Danny as a bear or something—“and surprise me. Grrr!”
Holly kicked Elda in the shin.
“Ow!” Elda rubbed her leg. “I mean, our texting…wow. And I found the Take 5 bars, so.” She shrugged.
Holly buried her face in her hands.
“Um, so…” Danny said. It was time to do it, even if only to put an end to the abomination of a conversation the two of them had going right now. He was going to ask out Elda Page. He hadn’t asked a girl out in six years, basically. His mouth went dry. “There’s this thing tonight.” His voice definitely squeaked. Wow, he was pathetic at this.
“Holly!” a boy’s voice boomed from outside. “Where are you?”
Danny’s throat clamped up. Who was this dude yelling for Holly? Maybe she had a boyfriend. It was entirely possible. Maybe that, and not some other reason, was why Holly was so completely uninterested in him.
“Garage,” she shouted.
A guy about Danny’s age walked in, and, wow, this dude was competition. He was tall and muscular with dark, wavy hair and chiseled features. And he was looking for Holly. No wonder she didn’t like Danny.
The guy’s eyes went right to Elda. “Oh, there you are. You’re the one I’m looking for, actually.” He rubbed his bare arms. “What the hell are you two doing out here? It’s freezing.”
“Try putting on a coat, Sal. It’s Minnesota,” Holly said.
Elda gestured toward the guy. “Sal, Danny. Danny, Sal. My little brother.”
“Oh, hey.” So, he was Holly’s cousin. Danny’s stomach dropped even harder than before. Since Sal wasn’t Holly’s boyfriend, she was definitely rejecting Danny for reasons that had everything to do with Danny himself.
Sal grinned sheepishly at his sister as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I was looking for you, because I need some help…?”
Elda’s shoulders dropped. “Dude.”
A snicker escaped from Holly’s lips, but she covered her mouth and kept her eyes on the mountain of candy. It was the first time Danny had heard her laugh. It was cute, musical, more girly than Danny would’ve expected.
Sal winced. “Sorry.”
“You’re seventeen,” Elda said. “You’re fully capable of handling this yourself.”
Danny’s glance bounced between Elda and Sal. They had their sibling shorthand down pat.
“Obviously, I’m not,” Sal said.
“Well, you need to learn.” Elda raised her eyebrows.
“So, teach me.” Sal pointed to the door. “No time like the present.”
Groaning, Elda hoisted herself from the floor and said, “Be right back.”
Once they’d left the garage and were back in the house, Holly let out the giggle she’d been holding in. The whole garage filled with the tinkling sound of her laughter.
Danny eyed her warily, trying hard not to grin himself, which was hard. Her laugh was infectious. “What? What’s she doing for him?”