Page 83 of The Merry Matchmaker

Again, Frankie thought of her conversation in the shop. “Who knows what the future holds?”

Later, after her sister left, Frankie continued to sit by her tree, thinking about her life and the lives of the ones she loved. If she could ask God for one thing, it would be a hopeful beginning to the new year for all of them.

Surely that wasn’t too much to ask.

When it came to new beginnings, Elinor was Frankie’s pet project. Frankie closed the shop early on Thursday, leaving a sign on the door that read:

CLOSED TO GET READY FOR THE MRS. CLAUS PAGEANT TOMORROW. VOTE FOR ELINOR!

Then she raced home to bake more gingerbread, cutting it into pieces according to the pattern Mitch had made for her.

She was just finishing up her royal icing when Natalie arrived with edible metallic beads, coconut for snow, peppermint discs and decorating tips and parchment paper and gumdrops. The gumdrops package had already been opened.

“Warner wanted to come. The only way I could get him to not throw a fit was to leave some gumdrops with him,” she explained. She held up a small LEGO man. “He wants us to be sure and put his person in front of the house.”

Elinor arrived, bringing M&Ms and mini candy canes. Right after her came Adele with a plate of brownies. “For sustenance,” she said.

Stef and Viola arrived together, bearing wine and cheese and crackers. “We figured you guys would have the candy supply all taken care of,” explained Stef. “And it looks like we were right.” She eyed the pile on the kitchen counter.

“I think we’re good to go. I’ve got the gingerbread and the frosting ready,” said Frankie.

“But first, the important stuff,” joked Stef, holding up two bottles of Gewürztraminer.

“Good idea. We can toast to our success,” said Frankie.

“We haven’t succeeded yet,” pointed out Elinor.

“We will,” Frankie assured her, and started pulling glasses down from the cupboard. Once the wine was poured, she held hers up. “To Elinor, this year’s Mrs. Claus.”

“To Elinor,” echoed the others, and they all clinked glasses.

Then they got to work. Adele put herself in charge of sketching where the various treats would go on the house while Stef unwrapped candies and Viola covered a piece of heavy cardboard with tinfoil to make the base.

That left Frankie and Elinor to put together the walls and put on the roof under Natalie’s supervision, sealing everything with royal icing.

“That stuff is so gross,” said Viola. “It’s like cement.”

“Which is what we need to hold our house together,” said Natalie as Elinor held two walls in place, waiting for them to seal.

“It’s taking forever,” Elinor fretted.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” said Adele.

“But we need to build a house in a night,” Elinor said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get there,” said Frankie. “Okay,” she said, once their walls looked sturdy. “Now the roof.”

The two sides of the roof were set on the house and glued together along the top with more icing. Construction was looking good.

Until the workers began to tile the roof with candy, and the house started to sag.

“Oh no, what’s happening?” asked Stef.

“Hold it together,” commanded Frankie, pressing on her side of the roof.

That was all it took. The roof caved in and broke in half. Two walls followed suit and their demise was accompanied by a chorus of groans.

At the sight of the collapsed gingerbread house, Elinor burst into tears. “This is a sign. I shouldn’t be doing this. I’m not meant to be Mrs. Claus.”

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