Cupid Claws: The Twelve Mates Of Christmas, Book 6

by Sylvan, Sable

  “Why?” asked Holly. “Doesn’t someone need to staff the tables?”

  “Avery and Krampus can do it,” said Rowan. “Jack and Pandora are handling that ice photo booth thing right now.”

  Rowan went and got Avery and Krampus.

  “Move, kid,” joked Avery. “I don’t want to stand here awkwardly.”

  “Thanks, Avery,” said Holly awkwardly, before she followed after Rowan.

  Holly and Rowan went to the stocking decoration table first. There were mini stockings, red and green, and a variety of felt stickers that had glue pads on the back, so people could decorate their stockings without making a mess and ruining their clothes. The table was running low on supplies, so Rowan made a mental note to have someone come by to restock the materials. The pair moved on, checking each of the activity tables. Most were popular — well, all except for one.

  The station was like the saddest looking Christmas tree in the lot, the kind that would get tossed out on Christmas Day, while the rest of the stations were like the giant glitzy Christmas trees one would find in the mall. The station didn’t have much décor, except some sad looking garlands. It looked more like a voting booth than a proper activity station. Every other station had visitors except for that lonely station, reading, ‘Letters to Santa!’ in big bubble letters drawn by Avery in red, with green Christmas trees pictured near the characters. As good as a baker as Avery was, she was a very poor artist when it came to drawing with markers.

  “I wonder why nobody likes this station,” mused Holly.

  “I guess it’s not as glamorous as the others,” said Rowan.

  “It’s classic,” said Holly. “Here, you do one with me.”

  “Writing a Christmas list?” asked Rowan. “Huh. I haven’t done that in a long time. I just thought it’d be a fun activity for people that did do it every year.”

  “You never made one as a kid?” asked Holly.

  “I did — but not since I’ve been grown,” said Rowan. “What about you?”

  “Maybe it’s silly, but…I write one every year,” admitted Holly.

  Holly took one of the papers from the Christmas list writing station. The paper was plain printer paper, printed off of a color printer. The papers all had the same template. They read ‘Christmas List’ on the top in goofy letters, had a cartoon of Santa Claus, and, below, ten spaces for writing down wishes. On the bottom, there were mailing instructions. On the table, there was a box of envelopes, some stamps, and a self-inking stamp. The top of the self-inking stamp had the same address listed in the mailing instructions on the Christmas list template.

  “These are super cute,” said Holly. “I always just wrote mine on plain notebook paper. Avery outdid herself with these. Okay, you and I have to do this. It’s tradition, and we have to make sure somebody uses Avery’s templates! She obviously went to a lot of hard work to set this up.

  If only she knew Avery has boxes of this stuff in that same basement you two were looting, said Cupid. That Christmas elf is probably just glad to get all this stuff out of her basement!

  Rowan took a paper and thought about what he wanted for Christmas. He already knew what he wanted for Christmas — he just had to think about it. He finally wrote it down. He knew it was silly, but, there was only one thing Rowan wanted to see underneath his Christmas tree, that year, and every year after.

  Rowan wrote it down. On the bottom of the form, he filled out his name. He sealed his list in an envelope, reaching for the self-inking stamp at the same time as Holly.

  “What did you wish for?” asked Rowan.

  “I think if I tell you, I won’t get it,” said Holly, stamping the envelope and passing the stamp to Rowan,.

  “Come on,” said Rowan. “What, are you afraid of getting on The Naughty List?”

  The mention of the word ‘Naughty’ immediately brought one thing to Holly’s mind — the mark on Rowan’s body. Holly didn’t answer Rowan.

  “Sorry,” said Rowan. “Did I say something?”

  “It’s nothing, really,” lied Holly. “I think things are dying down a little. Are you ready to start the speed dating event?”

  “Yeah, I guess now could be a good time to do that,” said Rowan. “Alright. I’m going to need you to stand up there with me.”

  “Why?” asked Holly.

  “Because my battalion of knitting-needle-wielding grandmas is nowhere to be seen,” said Rowan. “Aren’t you my assistant tonight?”

  “Ugh, fine,” said Holly. “I really don’t like being in front of a crowd.”

  “Just imagine that they’re all just wearing their underwear,” said Rowan.

  Of course, that made Holly think of one, and only one, person in that room wearing nothing but his underwear. Holly had seen enough of Rowan that she could imagine him without the underwear, to boot!

  Rowan and Holly ascended to the stage. On the stage was a table, decorated like the ones in the speed dating area, with two chairs, and a vase filled with a paper chain. Rowan grabbed the mic from the stage and turned it on. Slight feedback filled the room.

  “Sorry about that, folks,” said Rowan. “It got your attention, though, didn’t it?”

  Some people in the crowd chuckled. Rowan kept talking.

  “I’m your MC and matchmaker for the night, Rowan Hooligan, and this here is my lovely assistant, Holly Luna,” said Rowan. “Now, can we get a round of applause for Holly? This entire event was her idea — really, I’m her assistant.”

  The people in the crowd laughed. Holly felt her cheeks get as red as her namesake berry. Had Rowan just called her, of all people, lovely? When it was obvious he wasn’t attracted to her?

  “We’ll be starting the speed dating event very shortly. There’ll be a few events based on personal preferences — a round for men interested in men, for women interested in women, for men interested in women and vice-versa…you know the drill,” said Rowan. “Or…do you? Let’s see a round of hands. How many of you have ever done speed dating before?”

  A bunch of hands rose up in the air.

  “Now, how many of you have ever done speed dating — Rowan Hooligan style?” asked Rowan.

  All the hands went down.

  “That’s what I thought,” said Rowan. “When the speed dating events start, you’ll form two lines, based on gender. You’ll get a number and a color. Sit in the seat that matches that number and color. For example, if I have a red one, I’d sit at the first table, in the red chair. Simple enough?”

  The crowd nodded.

  “Great,” said Rowan. “At the end of each speed date, whoever is sitting in the green chair will move up a number. That means if you were at, say, table seven, you’d move to table eight — and of course, sit in the same color chair. Here are twenty-four sets of tables because, luckily, we prepared for this turn-out. At only three minutes per speed date, each speed dating round will take at most an hour. But, you’re not here to think about that. You’re here for romance! So, Holly, let’s show the people how it’s done.”

  Rowan led Holly to the green chair that made her red dress pop. He sat down in the red chair, across from Holly.

  “First, we’re going to tear off one of the paper links from the paper chain,” said Rowan.

  Rowan ripped the paper link.

  “On each of these links, there is a question — and it doesn’t matter how you rip it, because the question is written multiple times on the strip,” said Rowan. “These are just conversation starters.”

  Rowan looked down at the strip. He gulped. He knew that he should’ve seeded the example question with a custom question of his own.

  “So?” asked Holly. The crowd laughed with her.

  “Sorry, I seemed to have forgotten how to read,” joked Rowan. “Alright, Holly…what’s been your most fond memory this entire holiday season?”

  “Hmm,” said Holly. “I think…it was putting up Christmas decorations at Bear Claw Bakery, with your help.”

  “Really?” asked Row
an.

  “Heck yeah,” said Holly. “What was your fondest memory?”

  “Taking the hike with you down the Christmas trail,” said Rowan. “It was a truly magical evening.”

  People in the crowd sighed and smiled at the cute couple on the stage.

  “So what’s next?” asked Holly.

  “At this point, you move on to the next table — to the next man,” said Rowan, going back into matchmaker mode as Holly broke the very spell she’d put him under. “It’s that simple, folks. We’ve got our corny, goofy, Christmassy questions in those bowls, but we’re not about to put you on The Naughty List for daring to talk about other stuff. Throughout the night, we’ll have the food and libation available, as well as the activity stations.”

  “I personally recommend the Christmas list station,” said Holly, taking the mic. “Who knows? Tonight, things feel magical, don’t they, folks? So who knows — you might just get every last thing on your Christmas list.”

  The crowd clapped. Rowan turned off the mic.

  “That was a really great closer,” said Rowan.

  “People don’t want to hear boring instructions,” said Holly. “Fun. Fast. Theme. Those are the three ingredients for a perfect singles’ event.”

  “You remembered that?” asked Rowan, surprised Holly had chosen to remember anything from that afternoon in the basement that had been fateful but not mateful.

  “It’s three words, Rowan,” said Holly. “It’s not that hard to remember.”

  Holly and Rowan went back to the sign in table and relieved Avery and Krampus of their positions. Holly and Rowan continued to check in late-comers and direct them toward the buffet and craft stations. Rowan left the table to MC the speed dating events, rushing between the stage and sign-in table so he could perform both duties.

  At the end of the night, once the speed dating rounds were over, those tables were put away and room was made for a dance floor. New couples had their photos taken in the ice photo booth, which had somehow not melted onto the floor, into a great, big, hazardous puddle. Avery put out the last of the food with signs that said people were free to take what they wanted. The last people trickled out of the community center by midnight.

  “Time really flies,” said Holly. “Can you believe it’s already midnight? We were here for longer than a work day!”

  “Yeah, I can feel it,” said Rowan.

  “Well, you can sleep when you’re done cleaning,” growled Krampus.

  “We can’t do this tomorrow?” asked Rowan.

  “Sure we can,” said Krampus. He looked at his watch, waiting for the second hand to pass the twelve.

  “Oh, would you look at that,” said Krampus. “It’s twelve-oh-one. It’s technically Christmas Eve. That means we need to haul ass to clear this place out because you need to get your sleep. We have a big job tomorrow.”

  “You have to work on Christmas Eve?” asked Holly.

  “Yeah,” said Rowan. “I can explain tomorrow.”

  “Don’t,” said Holly. “Rowan…I had fun tonight, but, explaining things is just…”

  “I get it,” said Rowan softly. He got up from his chair and started to help Krampus clean up the mess.

  Holly went backstage and got changed into her regular clothing again. The fancy dress and heels were cute, but not as comfortable as her work clothes, her worn but comfy sneakers, and her soft Christmas themed sweaters. That day’s sweater had a message on it — ‘Help Your Elf To Some Cookies,’ with a pattern of grandmas and Christmas cookies and little elf shoes, not unlike the heels she’d worn that night.

  Holly went back out. Krampus and Rowan were doing the heavy lifting. Avery got help from Holly, cleaning up the trash. Holly heard that little voice in her head tell her that she should’ve heard Rowan out, but Holly shut it out by focusing on cleaning up the bits of crushed up candy canes and crumbs from the sugar cookies.

  * * *

  “You know, you should’ve done the speed dating thing,” said Rowan.

  “Not for me,” said Krampus, arranging the boxes in the van. Pandora and Jack had helped clean up a lot of the community center before they headed out. Within twenty minutes, Rowan and Jack and Krampus had put away all the tables, and Pandora had very efficiently hauled trash bags out to the dumpster so Avery and Holly could focus on filling the dang things instead of dragging them outside into the cold. The clean-up stage was already in the home stretch, with Holly and Avery packing up tablecloths and lights and such.

  While Holly and Avery packed up the decorations, Rowan and Krampus were loading up Avery’s full-sized bakery van with all of the boxes of decor Avery had contributed to the event.

  “There were some cuties,” said Rowan.

  “Sounds like you found someone,” said Krampus.

  “Well…okay, there’s one cutie I’m into,” said Rowan. “No points for guessing who I’m talking about.”

  “You really think Holly’s the best woman out there?” asked Krampus.

  “She’s perfect,” said Rowan, loading a box of lights into the van. “There’s nothing I would change about her.”

  “Not even her penchant for those vile seasonal tops?” asked Krampus.

  “I know what you’re thinking — ‘how could someone love something so ugly?’ — someone like Holly, who’s gorgeous and beautiful and not ugly in the least”, said Rowan. “But…I actually think they’re kinda cute.”

  “There’s no accounting for taste,” said Krampus.

  “If she can find the beauty in something like an ‘ugly’ Christmas sweater, then maybe, she can find something Nice in a Naughty sinner like me,” said Rowan.

  “You really do love her, don’t you?” said Krampus.

  “Absolutely,” said Rowan.

  “Then why haven’t you told her?” asked Krampus.

  “Because…I rushed things, made mistakes, and now, she doesn’t want to talk about that stuff,” said Rowan.

  “A lot’s changed since that day,” said Krampus. “I see the way she looks at you. I think she might be ready to hear the truth — the whole truth.”

  “Am I allowed to tell her?” asked Rowan. “Am I allowed to tell her about why I’m a reindeer, what the deal is with Camp Kringle, The Ride, everything?”

  “Of course,” said Krampus. “Shifters. I never get it. For a bunch of bad boys, the werebears of Clan Marron sure seem to be wary of breaking the rules. There’s no rule against telling people about Christmas magic — at least, not for you.”

  “And for you?” asked Rowan.

  “What about me seems like I follow the rules?” asked Krampus. “I’m no Christmas angel, kid. Speaking of which, do you want to use your bear again tonight?”

  “Of course,”” said Rowan. “But let me guess –”

  “You have to turn it in tomorrow morning,” said Krampus. “I’m the only one allowed to break the rules – so don’t make me regretting breaking the rule about letting you use your bear.”

  * * *

  Holly couldn’t believe what she’d heard. The words rang over and over in her head.

  ‘How could someone love something so ugly? Someone…like Holly?’

  The sound of Rowan’s chuckles played in the background as his words played over and over like a broken record.

  As soon as she’d heard the words, she’d walked away from the car, back into the community center. She dropped the box of decorations, not bothering to put them in the back of the car herself. Holly made a bee-line for Avery.

  “Hey,” said Holly. “I, uh…I’m drained. Like, really tired.”

  “You should be — you worked hard today,” said Avery, patting Holly on the back. “Why don’t you take the night off tonight? All I’m doing is collecting ribbons for Krampus, for his ribbon ball.”

  “It’s, uh…more than that,” said Holly. “I think I made a mistake.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Avery.

  “I think coming up to The Wreath was a mistake,” said Hol
ly.

  “Did something happen?” asked Avery.

  “I just…would rather be around family this Christmas,” said Holly. “Would it be okay if –”

  “Yes,” said Avery. “If you need to spend the holidays with loved ones, then you should leave tonight. That way, you can spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with them.”

  “I won’t be inconveniencing you?” asked Holly.

  “I hired a temp for the holiday season so that somebody could handle organizing a party,” said Avery. “You did that, and you put on one heck of a party. I’ll miss seeing you on Christmas Eve, at my Christmas party, and of course, you’re a joy to have around the bakery…but you need to give yourself a gift, and do right by you.”

  “Thanks, Avery. I needed to hear that,” said Holly.

  “Just text me when you’re out of the rental unit. Leave the key in the mailbox,” instructed Avery. “Don’t forget to swing by the bakery tomorrow to pick up some treats for the road — and to bring home to your family.”

  “You really are the best,” said Holly, before giving Avery a big hug. “Merry Christmas, Avery. I swear — you’re my Christmas angel.”

  “Angel? No,” demurred Avery. “Elf? Well, if the pointy shoe fits…” Avery motioned down to her green and red pointed heels. They curled at the toe. Each toe had a gold jingle bell hanging from it. Avery clicked the toes together, and the bells jingled.

  Holly headed out to the parking lot. Rowan was still loading Avery’s car with Krampus. Good. He wouldn’t notice her leaving, and that meant he wouldn’t see her crying.

  Chapter Nine

  Christmas Eve, 2012

  On the morning of Christmas Eve, Holly packed up her car. She set her phone up, with directions to her destination. She thought about stopping by the bakery but decided against it. Things didn’t need to be more awkward than they already were.

  As Holly drove, she put on the radio. Every single station was either playing Christmas songs or songs for people nursing a broken heart. Holly turned on her own music — some goofy show tunes — and sang along, trying to cheer herself up.