Page 84 of The Merry Matchmaker

“The only thing this is a sign of is that we need to go back to the drawing board,” Adele said firmly.

“This has nothing to do with you being Mrs. Claus,” Frankie said.

Stef refilled Elinor’s wineglass and handed it to her. “Here, drink this.”

“People make these all the time. We just have to figure out what we’re doing wrong,” put in Viola.

Natalie was already on her phone, doing research. “I think I know what we did wrong. Our dough has to be thicker. And...” She stopped and groaned.

“And what?” prompted Frankie.

“It needs to be chilled for three hours.”

“Three hours?” Adele made a face and shook her head. “We won’t even be able to start baking until ten thirty.”

“We can do this,” Frankie said firmly. “It’ll be like being back in college, pulling an all-nighter studying for finals.”

“I’m too old for all-nighters,” grumbled Adele. Then, on seeing Elinor’s crestfallen face, she added, “But I’m not dead yet. I’m in. Just don’t expect me in the shop tomorrow before eleven. I need my beauty sleep.”

“I probably can’t stay that late,” said Natalie.

“It’s okay. The rest of us can handle this. Right, Team Elinor?”

The others nodded, and Elinor looked at them all with tears in her eyes.

“You’re all so kind,” she said. “Thank you.”

“It’s all part of the adventure. This is the kind of thing we always look back on later and laugh about,” Frankie said.

Stef grabbed her wineglass and raised it in a new toast. “Memorial service for House Number One. You tried,” she said, looking down at the collapsed mess. “You gave your all for Elinor. Rest in peace. In my stomach,” she added, making the others laugh. Then she broke off a piece and ate it. “It tastes good anyway.”

“Find me a recipe, and I’ll make another batch of dough,” Frankie said to her daughter, and Natalie obliged.

Ten minutes later the dough was chilling in the fridge, Natalie was on her way home to her family, and the rest of Team Elinor was chilling in the living room, watching a Christmas movie. The heroine happened to be a shy baker in need of love. She also just happened to specialize in making gingerbread houses. How handy for her that the man who had come into her shop looking to buy one for his grandma was single.

“Now, there’s a sign,” Frankie told Elinor. “I can already see a certain someone bidding on your house.”

Elinor smiled and took a sip of her wine.

Try Number Two held together. It was almost one in the morning when the crew finished, but they all concluded it was a work of art. Frankie created a royal icing hat for their LEGO man and topped it with a tiny cinnamon candy decoration from the jar in her cupboard.

“There,” she said, setting him down with a flourish. “Now we are ready.”

Yes, they were.

It was a slow day at the shop the next day, which was hardly surprising. Residents were waiting for the big day of fun on Saturday and the sale prices of twenty-five percent off on all holiday merchandise. In addition to the sale, they would be putting out free samples of some of Natalie’s candy creations—tiny bites of eggnog-and-mint-chocolate fudge. Normally Frankie would have been in her Mrs. Claus outfit. This year she’d promised to loan it to Elinor if she won, which Frankie was sure would be the case.

They closed the shop early again, leaving a sign on the door that said:

GETTING READY TO CHOOSE THIS YEAR’S MRS. CLAUS—COME VOTE FOR ELINOR. WE’LL BE HERE TOMORROW!

Then Frankie went back to her house and got out the red dress she’d promised Elinor, along with the Mrs. Claus outfit and wig. After those were loaded, she carefully settled their gingerbread creation into a small cardboard box. The sides weren’t very high, but they were high enough, and it would offer extra stability. She then settled the whole thing in her trunk and headed for Elinor’s apartment on Huckleberry Street by way of The Salad Bowl.

Let the fun begin!

Corky had recovered from his upset stomach and made it to school, and now Griff was regretting that he hadn’t kept his son home for the rest of the week.

“Tommy’s mommy is taking him to see Santa tomorrow,” Corky informed Griff when he picked him up from school.

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