The Winter of Candy Canes (A Sweet Seasons Novel) (8 page)

“Candace, we got this for you,” another elf said, walking up and carrying a tall stool with a backrest. He helped her hop up on it. Once seated, she was able to dangle her injured leg on the side away from Santa. Next the elf leaned a pole with a plastic hook on the end against the rope next to her.

“What's that for?” she asked.

“We put ribbons on the packages, so when you want to give out a present, you just have to hook one with this,” he said.

“Wow. Thank you!”

“Thank you,” he said, giving her a little salute before dashing off.

She turned to look at the stage and thought,
Let them come!

The kids came in a steady stream, but each of them kept a respectful distance away from her and reached to take the candy canes from her fingers. She was amazed at how quiet and well behaved they all seemed. Maybe they were less rowdy on weeknights because they didn't have to wait quite so long in line.

When her break came, she was surprised to see Kurt walk up. He helped her down off the stool and then walked with her as she tried to limber up.

“You're doing really well,” he said.

“Thanks. I have to convince my doctor to let me out of this thing before Winter Formal,” she said.

“Hey, no worries. I'm sure we'll be fine even if you're still wearing it. Maybe we'll invent the Don't Go Near the Injured Leg dance.”

“Ha ha,” she said, although she truly appreciated what he said.

“Everything going okay?”

“Yeah. I was really nervous when I got here, but I didn't need to be. All the kids have been really good. It's like they're going out of their way to avoid touching me at all.”

“That's probably because there's a rumor going round that the elf with the crutches uses them to beat naughty children.”

“That's terrible!”

“It keeps them from bumping your leg.”

“I've only been back two hours. How on earth could a rumor start that quickly?” she asked.

“Maybe because I started it early last week,” Kurt said with a smile.

“You!” she asked, feeling somewhat angry.

“Yow. Looks like I'm at the top of your naughty list.”

“Kurt, how could you? It's not true!”

“Hey, I didn't want you to come back and risk getting hurt again,” he said, suddenly serious. “I figured anything I could do to keep someone from accidentally bumping you or especially from intentionally hurting you is my duty as a boyfriend.”

Lying was wrong. She couldn't fault his logic, though. At any rate, the damage was done, and as much as she didn't like admitting it, his tactic seemed to be working.

“Okay, but if I get any supervisors breathing down my neck, I'm pointing them straight at you,” she said.

“Fair enough.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “You really are an adorable elf.”

She smiled.

Candace had Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons off from work. On Tuesday afternoon she made another trip to the mall to buy presents. This time she didn't have her mom or Tamara with her. Mom had dropped her off. It was just her, the shopping list, and the stores. She wore a backpack to carry her purchases, so she still had her hands free to deal with the crutches.

After much indecision she had decided to buy something cool for Josh and small, fun gifts for Sue, Becca, Roger, Martha, and Pete. As it turned out, small and fun were surprisingly hard to come by without adding the word
expensive
.

Pete turned out to be the easiest. She found a book about trains on the discount rack at Barnes and Noble. She also found a book there about the history of chocolate but figured it would be cruel to give it to Becca. Instead, she opted for a small box of sugar-free confections from See's. She thought about writing
sugar free
in bold across the box with a Sharpie so Gib wouldn't have a heart attack when he saw it, but then decided it would look too tacky.

For Roger she found a keychain-sized electronic basketball game that seemed perfect. For Martha she got a World's Best Boss mug. It was totally cheesy, but she had a feeling it would
make Martha smile. For Josh she got a Make Your Own pizza package, which included a pizza pan and tons of recipes. For the number of bets they had made that somehow involved pizza, it seemed appropriate. She figured she'd write an obnoxious note to the effect that he was going to have to make her pizza.

When her thoughts turned to a gift for Sue, she remembered that she still hadn't found out why the other girl was so sad and what she could do to help her out. Truth was, Candace had been pretty busy the last week and a half trying to figure out how to help herself.

She decided to hold off buying Sue's present until she had a chance to talk to her more. That meant that Sue and Kurt were the only ones Candace still had to buy for. She stayed for a while longer, trying to find something for Kurt but finally gave up in defeat and called her mom.

On Wednesday afternoon before Bible study, she headed back to the mall with Tamara. With only a week and a half left before Winter Formal, it was time to get serious about dresses.

“So, how freaked are you about auditions in drama Friday?” Tamara asked.

“Totally,” Candace answered. “You know I'd be happy to stay in the background, singing in the chorus or something. I definitely don't want to be front and center.”

“You always say that and yet —”

“Hey! I'm serious. No public singing.”

“What do you think about this?” Tamara asked, pulling a long purple dress off the rack.

“You always wear purple,” Candace pointed out.

“And I always look good.”

“True. Still, it's Winter Formal. Try something more … wintery.”

“Wintery? That's good. Don't let the English teacher catch you saying stuff like that. She'll bite your head off.”

“What do you think of this one?” Candace asked, pointing to a rich green velvet dress.

“Girl, you are so the pot calling the kettle black. If I always wear purple, you always wear green.”

“Come on, I've got red hair. There are some colors that just don't work for me, and one that definitely does.”

“That's it. You're not allowed to pick out your own dress,” Tamara said.

“What?”

“Nope, forget it. You'll try on the ones I pick for you and buy one of those.”

“Fine. Then you have to do the same,” Candace said.

“Fine.”

Candace went to work and before long had picked five dresses for Tamara to try. “Here you go, white, red, ice blue, forest green, and fuchsia.”

“I'm so not wearing the pink one.”

“That's for me to decide, remember?”

“Fine,” Tamara said with a sigh. “But you get to try on these,” she said thrusting the hangers toward Candace.

“Gold, black, peach, burgundy, and brown. Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“They're all short. I was hoping to wear something longer.”

“Cand, you know I love you, so I'm going to be honest with you. There's no way you're getting out of that brace before the formal. A short dress will be easier, and we can color coordinate that brace somehow.”

Candace was sick of the brace. It was hot, scratchy, and made movement practically impossible. For a week and a half she had been sleeping on her back all night, unable to roll onto her side. There was no way she wanted to wear it to Winter Formal. However, she wasn't stupid enough to stop wearing it until her doctor gave permission.

“Fine,” she grumbled.

Tamara carried all the dresses back to the dressing rooms and set Candace up in a large one with a bench she could sit on. “If you need help, let me know. Otherwise, I'll see you in a minute for the first modeling.”

A few minutes later, Candace had struggled into the brown dress. When she saw Tamara in the fuchsia dress, she laughed hysterically at the look on her best friend's face.

“I told you, I'm not wearing this,” Tamara growled.

“The color's great on you, but the style … what is that? Baggy chic?”

“I'd have to say the same thing for yours.”

“Next!” they shouted together.

Candace was not thrilled with either the peach or the black dresses, and Tamara similarly dismissed her green and blue dresses. They retreated back into their dressing rooms, and Candace tried on the burgundy dress.

“You know, Kurt's going to think you look great no matter what you wear,” Tamara said.

“And you will look great no matter what you wear,” Candace said. “Have you asked anyone yet?”

“No,” Tamara admitted as she walked into the hall wearing the white dress. It looked stunning against her olive skin. Candace was also surprised by how well the burgundy looked on her. She would have never picked it out, but it was nice.

“Now I think we're getting somewhere,” Tamara said.

Only one dress left for each. Candace pulled on the gold one and admired herself in the mirror. It looked awesome and fit really well. She hobbled out into the hall and Tamara appeared in the red dress.

“Wow!” they said in unison.

“And I think we have the winners,” Tamara said.

“Good choice. I really like this,” Candace said, smoothing down the gold skirt.

“Ditto. I don't usually wear red, but apparently I should.”

A minute later they were back in their street clothes and Candace handed the gold dress to Tamara to carry.

“So, who are you taking to the dance?”

“I'm thinking of not taking anyone. There's just no one that I'm interested in right now.”

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Candace.

“I'm not sure I like that smile,” Tamara said. “I already told you I'm not asking Josh.”

“Actually, I was just thinking. If you're not interested in anyone, you have the chance to do a good deed.”

“Okay, I'll bite. What do you have in mind?”

“Roger is chewing himself up over the fact that Becca's going to the dance.”

“Oh, I see. You want me to take Roger in the hope that he'll be man enough to dance with her and sweep her off her feet.”

“Something like that.”

Tamara sighed. “Fine. As long as he's clear that that's what's going down.”

“I can promise he will be.”

“Okay. Set it up.”

“Thanks, Tam, you're the best.”

“I know.”

They reached the register, and Tamara handed the clerk both dresses. “It's on me, although for this favor, you should be buying.”

“I can buy my own. Paychecks — amazing things,” Candace said.

Tamara rolled her eyes. “You figured out what you're getting Kurt yet?”

“You know I haven't.”

“Then save your money in case you need to spend it on his present.”

From the mall they headed to Bible study. Jen was already there when they arrived. She looked up at Candace, appearing more timid than she usually did. Candace still hadn't entirely
figured Jen out. She was so quiet it was almost unnatural at times. Jen walked over and stared down at the floor. Her shoulders were hunched, and her hands were rammed into her pockets.

“Candace, can I talk to you?” the girl asked.

“Sure, what about?”

“It's about my friend. Well, actually me. Well, my friend and me.”

“Okay.”

“You see, my best friend isn't a Christian. I've talked to her about it loads of times, but …”

“What is it?”

“I feel like we're drifting apart now that we're in high school. Her idea of fun is going to these parties, and I don't feel comfortable at them.”

“Why? Are people drinking?” Candace asked, thinking about Kurt's Halloween party that she had herself left for that very reason.

“And smoking. It just seems dumb. Does that mean that I'm immature or something?”

“No. If anything, it means that she is. She's playing at being a grown-up without understanding what that really means. To be mature and grown-up means to take responsibility for your own actions, not to do whatever you want.”

“That's kinda what I thought,” Jen said. “I just don't want to lose my friend.”

“Are you worried about losing your only friend, or are you worried about losing her specifically?” Candace asked.

“I'm not sure.”

“Well, I can tell you this. You can always make new friends. And true friendship can survive just about anything.”

“Thanks.”

“Does that help at all?”

Jen nodded. Other girls started arriving and she moved away.

“Well said,” Tamara said softly.

“I hope so.”

Once everyone had arrived, they went around the circle and discussed what they had done to grow in their target area in the past week. Most of the progress was small, but hard won.

“I didn't smoke once this week, even when my mom yelled at me,” the one girl said.

“That's awesome,” Candace said. Not only could she not imagine smoking, she couldn't imagine having a mom that constantly yelled at her. She thanked God quietly for a good home life.

“I prayed in the morning while I showered instead of at night so I wouldn't fall asleep,” Jen said shyly.

“Good for you,” Tamara said. “I tried that once, and I still fell asleep.”

“What do you do?” Jen asked.

“I pray when I drive,” Tamara answered.

Candace looked at her in surprise. They had been friends for thirteen years, and that was a new one. It just went to show that no matter how well you knew someone, they could still surprise you.

When it was Joy's turn, she smiled at everyone. “I managed to up my devotion and prayer time with God to two hours every day.”

Candace just stared at her, and all she could think was that either Joy was lying or she had no life whatsoever. What was worse was seeing the look of discouragement on the other girls' faces when they heard that.
All she's doing is making everyone feel that there's something wrong with them. Why does she do that?

Candace cleared her throat. “Good for you,” she said. “It must be awesome to have no work, family, or school commitments in the evening so that you can do that.” She tried to keep her tone light.

“Oh, no,” Joy said, wide eyed. “I'm very busy. But I think God's worth it, don't you?”

For the first time, Candace actually thought about using her crutch on someone. She gritted her teeth. She didn't know how to move past this without ripping into Joy or completely dousing the other girls' sense of self-worth.

“God is worth everything,” Candace said quietly. “But all he asks of each of us is our best. Clearly, some have more time, some have more ability, and some have more humility,” she said.

She was walking a fine line, and she knew it. Joy's eyes narrowed as though she suspected she had just been slammed. She wasn't sure, though, and Candace could use that to her advantage.

“I'm very proud of the progress we've all made. It sounds like some major battles have been fought and won in people's lives.”

At the end of the study, Candace climbed into Tamara's car and fumed as soon as they pulled out of the church parking lot. “Why does she have to do that? What's with the holier-than-thou thing? I mean, seriously, that doesn't help anyone. It just discourages the girls who are actually trying.”

“Maybe she's insecure,” Tamara suggested.

“Do you really think that?”

“No, but I'm trying to find a way to keep you from punching her lights out next week.”

“I'm so glad you never play those games,” Candace said with a sigh.

“No. However, I have been known to play richer-than-thou games with people who make me mad.”

“I think I've seen that,” Candace said, smiling at the memories.

“Maybe Joy doesn't even realize what she's doing. Who knows, maybe her parents do that, and she thinks it's what's expected.”

“So, you think I should try to talk to her.”

“At least find some common ground or a way to tolerate her.”

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew Tamara was right.

On Thursday Candace arrived at The Zone early to hunt down Roger. She asked a ref, who had seen him heading toward the Thrill Zone a few minutes earlier.

She hobbled her way there. It was getting easier to use the crutches now that she was putting her full weight on both legs. Her shoulder felt better too.

When she got into the Thrill Zone, she saw a group of referees huddled around the Spiral roller coaster, staring and pointing upward. Candace stopped and looked up. Becca walked along the tracks, head swinging back and forth.

“What is she doing?” Candace asked.

“Looking for the golden candy cane,” someone nearby said.

“She's going to hurt herself!”

“Yeah, but you got to admire her dedication.”

“Go, Becca!” someone else shouted.

“But surely it couldn't be up there!” Candace protested.

“Why not?” Roger asked as he walked over, eyes still staring skyward.

“That's absurd.”

“Not really. Two dozen referees have already gone over every inch of the off-field areas with no luck. That leaves areas on field that only referees can get to. This certainly counts.”

“But no sane person would put it up there!”