Approximately Yours (North Pole, Minnesota #3)(27)

Yes, yes, it was, but that was news to Elda. Holly’d started building gingerbread houses when she was in preschool, and she kept making them even after her family stopped coming to North Pole for Christmas. Getting a bunch of cookies to stand upright while loaded down with candy and frosting took skill and practice.

But Holly had to stop holding the fact that Elda was a novice against her. Elda had always been the one to keep the team fed and hydrated. She may not have helped on the actual showstopper, but she provided a valuable service. She was and always had been, as far as Holly was concerned, an integral part of the team. Holly had to keep reminding herself of that.

“We’ll worry about the showstopper later. For now we need to concentrate on round two.” Holly opened up one of the gingerbread house kits Elda had found at a grocery store, complete with some bastardization of royal icing. Holly grabbed scissors and opened it anyway. “If you can learn to make a gingerbread house stand using this garbage, you’ll have no trouble making one stand tomorrow during the competition using the real stuff.”

The girls stood at their worktable, trying to erect a house on a tiny bit of cardboard using store-bought gingerbread and icing. Holly showed Elda how to make a base of royal icing to help the walls hold, and how to line them up at perfect angles. “Basically, our goal is twofold,” Holly said, her sticky frosting-covered hands holding two walls upright as the icing dried. “Make sure the thing stays standing, and make it look pretty. Both elements count for a lot. As long as it stays up, we won’t get docked too badly for, like, frosting seeping out the cracks or whatever. And if we can decorate it nicely, that goes a long way, too.”

Elda spread more frosting along the crack between the two walls. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Of course,” Holly said.

“I mean, with this, but also with Danny. I think it’s working.” Elda furrowed her brow as she held the walls together in some approximation of a right angle. “Danny said he’s going to stop by soon.”

“Ooh.” Holly tried hard to feign excitement. She’d known the score going in—Holly would do the work, but Elda would reap the benefits. And the benefits were considerable. Danny Garland was a beautiful, sweet, smart boy, and Holly’s crush on him had only gotten bigger.

“I talked you up to Dinesh today,” Elda said.

“Mmm-hmm.” Holly never should’ve given Elda the okay on that. She didn’t want Dinesh. She didn’t want anyone here in North Pole except Danny. It wouldn’t be fair to Dinesh for her to agree to go out with him when she definitely wasn’t interested.

“He seemed kind of into it,” Elda said.

Sure, kind of. And that was the other thing. Dinesh didn’t like Holly; that much was obvious. He, like Danny and most other people who were attracted to girls, liked Elda. If Dinesh had in any way indicated that he’d be interested in dating Holly, it was probably only as a way to spend time with Elda. “You know what? I’m good,” Holly said. “Maybe we should nix the whole double date idea. I don’t need you to set me up.”

“I want to,” Elda said. “You’re so great to help me with Danny and the gingerbread contest. Give me a chance to do the same for you. Grandma would’ve wanted us both to be happy.”

Dinesh wasn’t going to make Holly happy. “I’m honestly fine.” A wave of sadness hit her, which was nothing new. All her emotions were so near the surface here in North Pole, especially since they were staying in Grandma’s house and going through Grandma’s things. And every day, the house got a little emptier, a little less Grandma-like. She would’ve wanted both girls to be happy, but that didn’t seem possible, given the current situation.

The side door of the garage opened, and in came Danny, the very reason for Holly’s emotional confusion.

Carrying a Christmas gift bag over his shoulder, he maneuvered his crutches past their gingerbread paraphernalia on the floor and took a seat in an empty lawn chair. Elda jumped up and got him another chair for his leg.

“Thanks.” He grinned at her as he hoisted his leg up. “What are you up to?”

“Practicing.” Elda stood next to Holly at the table and grabbed a bowl of icing. “Now put that wall here, Holly.” She took Holly’s hand and moved it exactly where she wanted it to go. “I’m teaching Holly how to make a gingerbread house.”

“I was just the water girl back when we used to enter the competition with our grandma,” Holly said, shifting her hands slightly to make sure the walls were at a perfect ninety-degree angle. “I used to be the gopher. I didn’t do any of the gingerbread work.”

Danny’s eyes met Holly’s, but she pulled hers away fast. If she allowed herself to linger on him for any meaningful length of time, he’d see right through her.

“You two are never going to catch me in the second round,” he said.

Holly was trying so hard to keep her cool, to show him that she’d barely noticed his existence, but he looked so cute sitting on that chair, and he kept smiling at her like she was a real person or something. Maybe he was just trying to throw them off their game by being so charming. He had to know he was a beautiful human specimen who made otherwise smart and clearheaded girls lose their cool. That couldn’t be a mystery to him.

Holly doubled down on her glare, just to throw him off the scent.