by Caroline Lee
Yet, part of Elf wasn’t sure he really wanted to track her down. After all, she’d made it really clear she didn’t want another date with him… He should respect her wishes, even if they disappointed him. Had disappointed him since Friday when he’d seen her last.
“There you are, my Elfikins.”
Elf started. He’d been so focused on feeling sorry for himself, he hadn’t heard his mother join him on the porch. “Sorry, Muz. I figured you’d be in there celebrating.”
“Oh, no.” The petite, white-haired woman waved dismissively. “Ellie told us last week privately, our first night here. I’m thrilled of course, but your father’s getting maudlin about his baby girl becoming all grown up.” She sighed, then began to rub her arms to fight off the chill. “Besides, Will got out the root beer to celebrate, and you know how I feel about their weird obsession with root beer.”
Elf hid his smile. “They’re not obsessed. They just like it.”
“Too much. Celebrating with root beer? Gracious peace, no. Thank goodness the restaurant has that nice champagne I like.”
He gave up and chuckled. “I’ll be sure to take you out there one evening, Muz.”
“Oh, it’s not me you should be taking out for champagne, Elfikins.”
When she sidled closer, he put his arm around her to keep her warm. He dearly loved his mother, but it amazed him that someone as tiny as she was had managed to raise someone like him, who could crush her with a sneeze. She never felt tiny though.
Now, she just patted his hand. “Thank you, dear. Now, when are you going to get married and show your little sisters how it’s done?”
He sighed, wondering if Muz had been reading his thoughts. “They’re showing me how it’s done.”
“I know, Elfikins, and that’s a problem. You need a nice girl.”
“You’re right.” It was the first time he’d admitted it to her, but his mother just patted his hand again. “I’m looking. I’ve felt…” How to explain? “Ever since Ellie and Dink got married, ever since I showed up here at River’s End Ranch… I dunno.” When he shrugged, he jostled her against him. “I feel like I’m missing out on things.”
“You are dear.”
He snorted at her lack of sympathy, but she just grinned, watching Indy’s antics. “Love is a wondrous thing, Elvis. I can’t stand the thought of you being so lonely.”
“I’m not—”
“You know what I mean. Lloyd has Jace, and Elliot has Will, and you have…?”
“No one.”
Muz turned so that she could wrap her arms around his middle and gave him a loving hug. “You will though, Elfikins. She’s out there, and Christmastime is a magical season.”
“You really think so?” He hadn’t known his mother to be so impractical.
“Oh, I know so. After all, a partridge in the hand is worth two pear trees.”
Elf took a deep breath. There was the mother he recognized. He let a dozen heartbeats pass in silence before he said, “That doesn’t actually have anything to do with anything, Muz.”
“Well, not with that attitude, Elfikins.” She patted his hand once more. “But I’m sure you’ll find your partridge soon enough.” Then she gave an exaggerated shiver, before pulling away. “Now come inside, and bring that poor puppy inside too. But don’t tell your brother-in-law I said that.”
“Still want him to think that you don’t like animals?” It was an on-going lighthearted feud between Muz and Will.
“Between that dog and your sister’s hedgehog—a hedgehog, gracious peace!—it’s no wonder it’s taken me this long to get a grandbaby. At least you’re normal and limit your ‘pets’ to those motorcycles you always used to fix up. Heaven help me if you ever adopted a…a miniature pig or something! Wouldn’t that be just like you…” Her voice trailed off as she went back into the house.
A miniature pig. Maybe there was some truth to the whole “magic of the Christmas season” thing, for Muz to pull that example out of thin air.
And just like that, he felt like he had his mother’s blessing to track down Belle again. His heart thumped against his chest at the thought. He could see her again. It didn’t have to be a date, did it? He could just…sort of run into her. It was a big ranch, after all. And maybe he could chat with her. And find out why she’d turned him down.
Suddenly, it didn’t seem so warm after all. Elf straightened and mimicked Will’s whistle for Indy. He’d give his love to his family, congratulate Ellie once more, and then head home to his little apartment. And then tomorrow…maybe he’d be able to find Belle again.
Thank goodness Faith was so focused on her training. Monday evening, Belle’s younger sister claimed that she needed at least an hour in the hot tub to loosen her muscles, and Belle wasn’t about to object. It gave her some peace and quiet in their shared bedroom, finally.
Of course, it wasn’t like Faith and Matt—or even Mom and Daddy—hovered around Belle during the day. Mom was too busy on the slopes with the twins, coaching their Olympic dreams, and Daddy spent his time at the River’s End Ranch pro shop. That left Belle to wander around, taking in the scenery, with Tootles trotting around behind her.
She’d managed to avoid going back to the smithy since meeting Elf on Friday. Not that she was going to let one man ruin her holiday tradition here on the ranch, but it was just easier to not have to turn him down again. He was a flirt, and she’d had her fill of flirts, thank you very much. Her weekend had been filled with checking out all the new activities and catching up with old friends. Kelsi was pregnant! Who would’ve thought that last year? That guy she’d been dating had been a total loser!
And now, it was nice to be alone for a bit in the evening—not counting Tootles, who snored softly at the base of her bed—because it meant that she could relax a bit. And talk to her friend. He was often online around nine, so she logged on and wasted time on social media while she waited.
Sure enough, a little after nine his distinctive ping told her he’d logged on too.
Smiling, Belle opened the chat window. She’d thought of the perfect way to stump him. Her heart already pounding in anticipation, she carefully typed, “Now this is one thing, baby…that I want you to know.”
Not only was it an obscure song, it was a lyric from the end, so it was less likely he’d—
What? In less time than she expected, he wrote back, “Easy-peasy.” He added a smiley face for good measure. “
Belle’s jaw dropped. Again? No matter what Elvis quotations she came up with, her friend knew the next line to the song. It was a game they’d started months ago, and had become habit to start each chat session trying to stump each other. And as much as she loved Elvis Presley, her friend was better at the game… Half the time, she had to go Google her answers, and he always seemed to know when she’d cheated like that.
So she shouldn’t be surprised he’d been able to quote the next lyric to Baby Let’s Play House. Smiling ruefully, she began to type.
Elvis’Queen: How do you DO that?
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: I’m just awesome.
Elvis’Queen: Do you have a photographic memory, or what?
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Uh…what’s it called when it’s with hearing things? Photographic means you remember stuff you see, right?
Elvis’Queen: You remember stuff you hear?
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: I only have one station pre-tuned in my car!
Elvis’Queen: Oldies?
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Oldies!
Belle shook her head slightly, but then confessed, “Me too. But you should see my phone’s playlist.”
Those three little dots told her he was typing, then Hunk’s words popped on her screen: “All Elvis, all the time, I’ll bet.”
She just typed a smiley face.
He did make her smile. Whoever “HunkaHunkaBurninLuv” really was, he made her smile. They’d met over the summer when she’d logged onto her favorite Elvis Presle
y forum to get help with a particularly hard crossword puzzle clue: “Where the King was briefly in charge.” She’d thought it was a reference to one of his movies, but it had turned out to be referring to Elvis’s short stint as deputy sheriff in Shelby County, TN.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv had come up with “Shelby” after at least two hours of conversation, and by that time they were friends. Now they liked to test each other with trivia as much as possible.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Got a new one for ya.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: You know the King was blonde as a kid, right?
Elvis’Queen: Yeah. Every true Elvis fan knows that.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Yeah, Queenie, but did you know that he was part Cherokee Indian?
Elvis’Queen: Ha! Really? Wait, maybe I DID know that. His grandmother or something?
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Further back. Great-great-somebody-or-other.
Elvis’Queen: Well, that explains his dreamy cheekbones.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Dreamy? Is that what girls look for these days? Dreamy cheekbones?
Elvis’Queen: Well, it doesn’t hurt.
She liked that, while she didn’t know everything there was to know about Hunk, he didn’t know everything about her either. They shared a mutual love of Elvis Presley, and fun trivia, and she’d gotten to know his thoughts and dreams over the last months. She might not know what he looked like, but she did know all about his frustration with working for a small mechanic’s shop, and his first-prize Karaoke wins that he was so proud of, and his ennui about the upcoming holiday because he wasn’t quite sure of his place in his family anymore.
And in return, she’d told him about her loving-but-overbearing mother, and her siblings’ Olympic dreams, and even about feeling as if there wasn’t any place in the world that she felt like she really belonged anymore. She’d told him all about missing Hawaii, and how she’d even learned to speak Hawaiian to mesh her two home states somehow. In return, he’d told her that he had just recently moved—she didn’t ask where he lived though—and helped remind her about the wonder of seeing a new place through new eyes.
He called her Queenie”—she’d told him she’d won beauty pageants, and he’d teased her about winning the Miss Idaho title—and was there to listen when she complained about the shallowness of the title. Their friendship was based on who they were at the moment when they were both online, rather than who the rest of the world saw them as.
And while she didn’t know his name or what he looked like, he didn’t know that about her either, and that was how she wanted it. She was tired of men who saw her as the former Miss Idaho, who wanted to be with her based on what she looked like rather than who she truly was.
Hunk was her friend because he didn’t care about any of that.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: OK, Queenie. Your turn.
Elvis’Queen: ???
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: I’m feeling down. Give me a challenge.
Elvis’Queen: Hahahaha! OK. Hold on.
Elvis’Queen: Hmm….
Elvis’Queen: Who inspired his outfits?
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Come on, I said a CHALLENGE. Liberace told him to start dressing all flashy, with sequins and stuff. And Elvis made sure Liberace always had a seat reserved at his concerts.
Elvis’Queen: Hmm. Should’ve known you’d know that.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Should’ve
Elvis’Queen: OK, how many times did Elvis visit the UK?
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Ah. Like, the whole UK, or just Britain?
Elvis’Queen: Same answer. Quit stalling.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: No, I know this. Hmm. Only a few times, right? To meet the Beatles?
Elvis’Queen: Nope, the Beatles met him in CA when they toured the US.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Ah.
Elvis’Queen: Give up?
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Fine, Queenie, I give up.
Elvis’Queen: Only once! On his way back from his Army duty in Germany. His plane stopped over in Scotland.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Only once?
Elvis’Queen: Once! HA! I taught YOU something!
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Thanks, Queenie. I needed a smile.
Elvis’Queen: And being schooled by me makes you smile?
A good thirty seconds went by, before Hunk finally replied. And when he did, Belle’s lips curved upwards and her heart lightened. “You always make me smile.”
CHAPTER THREE
“That oughta do it,” Elf grunted from underneath the snowmobile. “Thanks for your help.”
Andrew didn’t answer, so Elf wiggled his way out from under the skis. His friend was holding the rear end up, and Elf could see the sweat on the other man’s brow as he strained under the weight.
Hurrying to push himself to his feet, Elf grabbed the other side of the vehicle and helped Andrew lower it gently to the floor. As soon as the treads hit the cement of the fleet garage’s floor, Andrew sighed.
“Ugh. You need another mechanic to do this stuff. Why was I the one to lift that thing? You’re twice my size.”
“Because you don’t know how to change the brakes on one of these things.”
Andrew scowled, and reached into his pocket for his pack of sunflower seeds. “You don’t know that. Next time you call the duty phone to come hold a four-ton vehicle over your head, give me fair warning so I can go find a toilet to unclog or something.”
Grinning, Elf slapped his friend on the shoulder. “It’s not four tons. I would’ve given you a jack for that! Besides, I can’t believe you’d rather unclog toilets than come hang out with your buddy.”
“A buddy who owes me a hundred bucks.”
Elf was wiping his hands on a rag and grimaced. Andrew would bring that up, wouldn’t he? “I still have until Friday.”
“To get a kiss from a gal who turned you down flat.”
“Hey, miracles have been known to happen.” Only, he couldn’t expect one in this case. Even after the conversation with Muz last night, he wasn’t sure how to find Belle again. Granted, he could probably just drive around the ranch…or ask Gwen at the front desk where the Kalani family was staying. But he’d been working such long hours, and besides…all that seemed sorta…stalkerish.
Andrew snorted. “So this isn’t that easy of a conquest, huh?”
Elf threw the rag at Andrew’s head, but the other man dodged it and just crunched down on his seeds with a grin.
“You know I’m not in it for the easy conquest, right? You know it’s not like I’m wooing these girls just for some…some notch on my belt, right? You know I’m not that kind of guy?”
Andrew shrugged. “What kind of guy are you then?”
The question stopped Elf as he was reaching for the soap to clean off more of the oil. What kind of guy was he? “I’m…” It seemed weird to talk to Andrew about this, but they were friends. “Last night I found out that Ellie and Will are pregnant. And Dink and Jace are happy. Everyone around me is in love, and I’m…”
“You’re not.” Andrew was looking at him thoughtfully, just holding the open seed bag in his hand, not reaching for it. “You want to be?”
“Have you looked around, man?” Elf bent over the sink, scrubbing his hands and arms. It seemed as if the oil had worked its way into all of his pores, “There’s something about the air on this ranch—everyone is in love.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” Andrew sighed. “And yeah, I’ll admit that it wasn’t on my radar until I moved here, but lately, I’ve been looking around and it seems…I dunno. Nice. But you, man. You didn’t strike me as the kind who was looking for love.”
“What, just because I flirt?” Elf straightened and grabbed a clean towel. “I like flirting. You should try it.”
“I have. It’s gotten me exactly nowhere.”
Elf chuckled at the bleak humor in his friend’s tone. “Well, I’m not going to give you lessons, okay? If you’re going to find love, it’ll be without flirting, I guess.”
“You really are s
erious? You’re looking to fall in love, Elf? Not just kiss-‘em-and-leave-‘em?”
Elf didn’t know if he should be offended by his friend’s assumption or not, so he just said, “Yeah.” And then he sighed, thinking of the conversation with Muz. “There was something about Belle that made me think that maybe she was the one. Something…I dunno, familiar, you know? But…” He shrugged. “She turned me down flat, as you said.”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “Aww, heck. She’s out hiking the snowmobile course with her sister this morning.”
“What?”
“I got called to the Copper Cabin—that’s where her family’s staying—to deal with a busted fuse this morning. I heard them say the brother’s going out on the slopes, but the two sisters were going hiking.” He rolled up his seed bag, smiling slightly. “I figure you’d need to test the snowmobile, right?”
Elf was so surprised by the idea, he laughed. “Yes! I do need to make sure she’s running perfectly for the races tonight.” He grabbed his leather coat off the hook. “Good idea, man!”
Andrew shrugged and headed for the door. “I’m an engineer. It’s what I do.”
The snowmobile was actually the only project for the morning, so the timing was perfect. As Andrew let himself out of the garage, Elf pulled on his heavy winter coat, and traded out his gloves for a pair of suede workman’s gloves that would protect his knuckles better from the wind. Then he punched the button to open the large bay doors and grabbed a spare helmet.
Just in case.
He climbed onto the snowmobile, revved it over, and headed out into the ranch to look for Belle.
Elf found her in less than twenty minutes. She was right where Andrew had said she’d be—hiking along the lower trails of the mountains. He wouldn’t have guessed it was her—everyone out here was so bundled up, it was impossible to tell who anyone was—but it was hard to miss the small cloven hoof prints that followed the two sets of boot prints in the snow. Kelsi’s earlier advice about pig prints made him smile, and he followed the prints at just over an idle speed until he caught up with the women.