by Caroline Lee
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: But I’m not. I didn’t want to be. Right then, I should’ve gotten him to cancel the bet or something, once he knew that I was serious about you. But I wasn’t thinking about the bet any longer. He told me that you and Faith were out hiking, and I just hopped on the snowmobile and went to find you.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: I’m sorry, Belle. Really, really sorry.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: I hope that you can forgive me, because I’ve been miserable since Christmas. Christmas Eve, I guess. I gave Andrew back his money, by the way. I guess that’s not really relevant, but I wanted you to know that. I’ve missed you.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: I’ve missed you as Belle, and as Queenie. You’ve become one of my closest friends, and it hurts not to have you in my life.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: So that’s it.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Belle?
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: OK, you can say something now.
Her heart was slamming against her ribcage so hard, she was sure she’d pass out. One shaky breath. Two. Three. Could she believe him? Could she believe that the bet had meant nothing, and he really was the wonderful man she’d fallen in love with? Really was the friend she’d come to rely on over the last few months?
How could she not?
She shook out her hands and took another deep breath, and held it. Then, making her decision, she released the breath in a rush and typed, “Thank you for explaining.”
Immediately, he replied. “You believe me???”
“Yes.” It felt so good to type those three little letters.
“I’m really sorry, Belle. Please say that you understand. That I didn’t make a complete mess of my explanation.”
The tightness in her chest loosened further when she typed, “I forgive you.”
She was so focused on the relief she felt to know that she was telling the truth—she did forgive him—that she didn’t notice how long it took him to type back.
HunkaHunkaBurninLuv: Hold on.
Hold on? What? Belle blinked at the chat window. Hold on? He’d just poured his heart out to her, and she’d taken the plunge and forgiven him, and he’d typed, “Hold on?”
She waited another minute, but he didn’t type anything more.
Elvis’Queen: Elf?
Elvis’Queen: What’s going on?
How could he just leave her hanging like this? She pushed Tootles off her feet and slammed the laptop closed. If he was so desperate to talk to her, he could just…
Well, she wasn’t sure what he could do. He’d obviously gotten what he wanted—her forgiveness, and now he could just—
She growled under her breath. She didn’t know what he could do, because she didn’t understand what was going on. She swung her legs down off the bed and reached for her cell phone to call him directly.
That’s when the front door to the house slammed open, and she heard his voice.
“Belle! Belle, honey, where are you?”
Her heart climbed up into her throat and all of the oxygen in her lungs just whooshed right out. She stumbled for the door to her room and wrenched it open, leaning on the doorjamb for support.
He was here. In her family’s cabin. Standing in the living room, panting desperately, and looking for all the world like a hero from one of Faith’s romance novels. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, or even shoes, and his shirt was untucked sloppily. Like he’d run out of his house and all the way here, although she could see the car keys dangling from his hand as he stood there, dripping snow on the carpet and looking as breathless as she felt.
Elf. He was here.
She threw herself out of her room and he met her halfway, dropping the keys and gathering her in an embrace that was freezing cold and wonderfully warm all at once.
Kiss me! She wanted to yell. He’d come after her. He’d gotten her forgiveness and come immediately here. It was the most romantic thing she could think of. Kiss me!
But he didn’t. Instead he cupped her cheek in his palm, and looked down at her with an intensity in those gorgeous blue eyes that she swore she’d remember for the rest of her life.
“I love you, Belle Kalani.”
“Oh, Elf…”
She didn’t get a chance to tell him that she loved him too. Maybe he saw it in her eyes, because in the space between one heartbeat and the next, he crushed his lips against hers, and she lost herself in his touch.
This wasn’t over, but for now…for now, this was where she belonged. Where she’d always belonged.
December thirtieth was another Friday night. Since last Friday had been Christmas karaoke, this week was Open Mic night at the restaurant, and Elf had a feeling that it was one of the most important nights of his life.
Luckily, his family hadn’t asked any questions when he’d invited them. All of them were spread out over two tables that had been pushed together near the back, and Will’s brother Wes and his wife Amber had joined them. The girls were currently talking about Kelsi’s baby shower, but Elf wasn’t listening.
Instead, his attention was on the doorway. He’d visited Mr. Kalani that morning and had a long talk, one which had left Elf feeling both relieved and terrified. In the end, he’d asked the older man to bring his family to the restaurant that evening.
Mr. Kalani had looked at him for just long enough to be uncomfortable, then nodded. “Since we’ll be leaving on Monday, I guess we’d better attend tonight, huh?”
Despite the reassurance in their parting handshake, Elf was still nervous. Would the Kalanis come? Would he get the chance to give Belle the gift he’d been working on?
He’d meant to start work on it that first night, the night after he’d finally managed to explain his actions to Belle, but he hadn’t. After showing up at her house—leaving his truck parked haphazardly on the front lawn of the Copper Cabin—he couldn’t seem to make himself leave. When her family had come back from skiing, Mrs. Kalani had even invited him to dinner. Well, more like told him he was staying for dinner, but standing there with his arms around Belle, Elf would’ve welcomed any excuse to stick around.
There! At the front of the restaurant, a new batch of people were shuffling in, removing hats and gloves and stomping the snow off their boots. There was Matt, and Mr. Kalani…and there, wearing one of those long skirts Elf loved, was Belle.
He hadn’t even realized that he’d frozen in place until Dink elbowed him. “Breathe, big brother. No good proposing to her if you pass out and hit your head, and we have to take you to the Apothecary.”
After tearing his gaze away from Belle, he lifted a brow at his sister. “What makes you think I’m proposing to her tonight?”
But his littlest sister just rolled her eyes. “Why do you think we’re all sitting around drinking root beer and pretending to debate whether teal or magenta better accentuates Bigfoot’s coloring?”
She’d been whispering, but obviously not low enough. Jace nodded and leaned in. “Obviously magenta.”
Snorting, Dink swatted his arm. “I swear you’re color blind. Bigfoot must prefer teal.”
“See?” Jace smiled at his wife, then at Elf. “We don’t care about this stupid topic—”
“I do!” Ellie called from down the table.
“—but we do care about you,” Dink finished. “So take a few deep breaths, hitch up your big boy panties, and go do what you need to do.”
On his other side, Muz patted Elf’s hand. “I hope you’re wearing your big-boy panties tonight, Elfikins.”
He couldn’t help it; his family was ridiculous. Elf burst into laughter. And with that laughter, he felt some of his tension drain away.
I can do this.
That certainty helped him relax a bit and join in the joking and baby-shower planning—when he put in a vote for chartreuse, Ellie threw a bread roll at him—but he kept an eye on the table where Steve had seated the Kalani family. And was pleased to see Belle sneaking peeks back at him.
When they were almost through eating, Wade Weston stood up with the mic. “Ladies
and gentlemen, welcome to Open Mic night at River’s End Ranch. Tonight, we have three special judges.” He gestured to the table in the front where he’d been sitting. “Most of you know Jaclyn Hardy. She’s volunteered tonight because she said she’s got an important message from the fairies.” There were some chuckles, but the old lady whose bunnies had climbed all over Elf just nodded seriously. “Beside her is Simon from the pro shop, and of course my lovely fiancée, Maddie.” The way he looked at the woman—and the little girl sitting beside her—told Elf that Wade was madly in love with them both.
After everyone applauded for the volunteer judges, Wade explained the rules, then called for performers to come up and enter their names. Once the competition began, Elf found himself shifting nervously. Most of the performers had guitars or accompaniment of some sort, and his family kept up a running—but quiet—judging in the background. That one kid hadn’t been too bad…
Finally, after Dink’s third nudge, Elf decided it was time to give them the show they’d been expecting. As he went to stand, his mother’s hand on his stopped him.
“I love you, Elvis.”
“I love you too, Muz.” He returned her smile.
“I told you that Christmas was the time for miracles, didn’t I?”
He dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Yes, Muz. But you also told me that ‘wassailing’ is something that Polish wrestlers do, so I take most of it with a grain of salt.”
She rolled her eyes and swatted at him. “I can’t believe you’d say such a thing about your own mother.” But then she patted his arm instead. “Good luck, Elfikins.”
“Thanks.” He’d need it.
He crossed to the judges’ table, and was surprised when Jaclyn looked up from her paper and heaved a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness! I thought their timing was still off.”
Glancing in confusion at the current performer, Elf raised a brow.
“No, no, silly.” Jaclyn waved dismissively. “The fairies. They told me that you and your queen have finally worked out your timing, and you’re not late or early.”
Suddenly, what Jaclyn had told them last week made sense. If the woman really was talking to some mythical creatures that could somehow know all about his relationship with Belle, then things would look a little wonky, wouldn’t they? After all, he’d actually known her for months, and they’d been good friends that whole time. But when he’d met Jaclyn, they hadn’t realized how long they’d known one another. No wonder the old woman was confused!
So he smiled. “I was taking my time, but I think everything’s good now. In fact, I think I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
Jaclyn nodded firmly, and shared a smile with the older man beside her. “See? I knew he’d make it in time.” She lowered her voice to a not-at-all-convincing whisper, “He’s the one who brought George that lovely new girlfriend. But now, all of the gnomes are demanding their own true loves. I have a hard enough time playing matchmaker to the humans on this ranch…I don’t have time to do it for everyone.”
Not sure if he was supposed to apologize for Belle’s gift or not, Elf just ignored the old woman’s complaints. Instead, he leaned down to explain his unorthodox request to the judges. After, Elf stood beside the table, shifting his weight from foot to foot, and thinking about how glad he was he was wearing his red cowboy boots. They made him feel lucky somehow. Maybe it was the memory of her excitement the first time he’d sung for her, last Friday.
Hopefully, she’d be just as excited tonight.
When Wade called his name, he went up and pulled down one of the two mics off its stand. “Hi, everyone. This is a little unconventional, but I plan on singing acapella.” He took a deep breath. “And I don’t want to do this alone.” Boy, wasn’t that the truth? “I want someone in particular by my side. She might want to sing, or she might not.”
He could tell by the look on Belle’s face she’d figured out where he was going, but he said it anyhow. “Belle, would you come up here with me?”
She was smiling when she joined him in front of everyone. He squeezed her hand once, then nodded down at the little pig who’d followed her. “Hi, Tootles. Thanks for joining us tonight.” A ripple of laughter went through the audience.
He stepped back, faced Belle squarely, and popped his knee three times to get the rhythm.
“Well, since my baby left me, well, I found a new place to dwell…” He loved the way her jaw slackened in amazement, then bloomed into a smile. “Well, it's down at the end of Lonely Street…at Heartbreak Hotel.”
He crooned into the microphone, cupping it in front of his mouth and giving her a few of Elvis’s smoldering looks. It was all a performance, and all for her. She got into it by pretending to go faint and fan herself whenever he did an Elvis Presley lip curl.
It was fun, but more importantly, it was the truth. Until he’d lost Belle, he hadn’t known what “Heartbreak Hotel” had meant. Now though? Now he understood.
“Although it's always crowded, you still can find some room, for broken-hearted lovers to cry there in the gloom!” He’d been miserable without her, and he poured all of that misery into his singing.
And he knew, from the way she looked at him, that she understood.
When his last “They’ll be so lonely they could die” had faded away, and the audience clapped madly, he stood panting, watching her. She didn’t reach for him, or even make a move towards him. Instead, she picked up the other mic, and as the applause died down, she began to sing.
“We're caught in a trap. I can't walk out…”
Elf caught his breath. He knew the next line to Suspicious Minds as well as she did, and his heart sang it along with her.
“Because I love you too much baby!”
Did she? Did she love him as much as he loved her? Her beautiful dark eyes screamed that she did.
“Why can't you see…what you're doing to me, when you don't believe a word I say?”
She shouldn’t be singing those lines. He was the one who’d lied to her. He was the one who’d given her cause to be suspicious, and it made his heart ache.
So he lifted his microphone and sang in duet with her. “We can't go on together…with suspicious minds. And we can't build our dreams on suspicious minds.”
She choked on the last line, and Elf wasn’t about to sing without her. Instead, he let the song lapse, and he reached for her hand. Pulling her closer, he looked into those eyes that he loved so much, and took a chance.
He took a chance on another Elvis Presley song—possibly his most famous—which completely and utterly summed up his feelings for Belle.
“Wise men say only fools rush in…” He took a deep breath. “But I can't help falling in love with you.” Somewhere in the audience, someone gave a little squeal of excitement. Muz? Dink? Faith? Someone else? He couldn’t tell.
Belle squeezed his hand, and he saw tears in her eyes when she lifted her mic and sang the next lines along with him. “Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you.”
And his heart felt like it was soaring, to be standing up there, staring into her eyes, singing those words with the woman he loved so much.
“Like a river flows surely to the sea, darling so it goes…Some things are meant to be.”
The next line was the most important one. He let go of her, and stepped backwards. Her lips snapped closed when he dropped to one knee, right there in front of everyone. And his hands shook as he pulled his special project from his pocket.
The ring wasn’t in a fancy box—wasn’t fancy itself. Definitely not what she deserved. But he’d spent hours and hours and hours bent over a hot anvil, pounding and teasing the iron into a delicate wreath of curves and flourishes. The center held a large ruby, with the iron wrapped around to cup it, to keep it safe. To Elf, it looked like a hot ember from his forge, cradled in the coal.
No, it wasn’t fancy, but it was him. And he prayed that she’d take him as he was.
He swallowed, and knew that his voice cracked when he sang the all-important next lines.
“Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I can't help falling in love with you.”
The moment seemed to stretch infinitely long, and Elf felt the corners of his vision going black.
Then she screamed and threw herself into his arms, and the two of them fell to the floor, laughing, and Elf knew that everything would be alright in his world.
“You mean it, Elf? You want to marry me?”
“More than I’ve ever meant anything, Queenie. You’ve been my friend for a long time. But now you’re my own queen—my beauty queen!—and I am beyond lucky to have you in my life.” He wrapped his arms around her, feeling the cold floor beneath his head but unwilling to let her get away until she gave him the answer he needed. “So how about it? Will you take my hand?”
“Yes!” She dropped a quick kiss to his lips. “Yes!”
And then a little black nose peeked over the edge of her shoulder and whuffed at Elf. He swore he saw Tootles the anxiety pig wink at him, and if that wasn’t an endorsement of his marriage to Belle, then what was?
They were both laughing when their lips met.
Fools might rush in, but this didn’t feel foolish. This was right.
“I love you, Queenie.”
“I love you too. Mele Kalikimaka, my hunky blacksmith.”
Elf smiled up at the beauty who’d stolen his heart. “And a very happy new year.”
EPILOGUE
“Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!” Her family counted down the last seconds of the year, warm and cozy in the Copper Cabin. “Five! Four!” Elf’s arms tightened around her waist, and she threaded her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck. “Three! Two—”
The power went out.
It wasn’t just the lights—she heard the pop of a blown fuse, as the TV and the heater whined to a stop the same moment the lights flickered off. The entire house was plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the embers still glowing in the fireplace.