Page 77 of The Merry Matchmaker

You are the best, she texted back.

And he was. She really should start looking around again for someone for him. Someone who would be willing to share, of course.

William Sharp entered the shop, looking for a new ornament for his tree. More like looking for yet another excuse to see Elinor. These two were definitely a match. When was that man going to get his courage up and ask her out? At the rate he was going, never. Frankie would have to give them a nudge.

“William, are you going to vote for Elinor for Mrs. Claus?” she asked him.

“Of course I am,” he said. “I know you’ll win,” he told Elinor, which—surprise, surprise—made her blush. How cute were they?

“You are coming to the pageant, aren’t you?” Frankie pressed. “You can sit with Team Elinor.”

He smiled at that and said he’d be happy to. Frankie would make sure they sat together.

True to his word, Mitch stopped by Frankie’s house that evening with gingerbread house plans. He found her up to her wrists in cookie dough. She met him at the door, still wiping it off with a damp washcloth.

“I thought I’d make a small batch to see what it tastes like,” she said.

“When does construction start?” he asked.

“Thursday night. I know that’s cutting it close, but Mom couldn’t do tonight. And Wednesday is Warner’s school concert. We can’t miss that. But we’ll have a full crew on Thursday. Hopefully, we can manage this. Your house design isn’t too elaborate, is it?”

“Nope. I kept it simple. It’s all about the stuff you put on it anyway, isn’t it?”

“I hope so,” said Frankie. “Anyway, gingerbread houses are only an extra attraction. How many votes Elinor gets on hers shouldn’t affect the outcome.” Although many elections were won by only a handful of votes. “I hope.”

In addition to getting her mother, daughter and sister to help Elinor, Frankie planned to also draft Viola. With so many of them involved, she’d decided to make a party of it. “Everyone’s going to bring goodies to decorate the house, and we’ll build and party.”

“So, a whole construction crew.”

“I guess you could say that.”

He looked beyond her toward the kitchen. “You need a taste tester?”

“Sure. Want some decaf?”

“Yep,” he said, and followed her into the kitchen.

“I sure hope Elinor becomes our Mrs. Claus,” Frankie said as she started his coffee. “It would be so good for her.”

“The way you’ve been campaigning for her all over town, I don’t see how she can lose.”

“I want to do everything I can to help her.”

“I’d say you are,” he said.

She gave him his coffee, and they chatted about what they were getting for their families for Christmas as he watched her work. It was all so cozy and friendly. Ike would have approved of this arrangement.

“This is good,” he said after sampling the first experimental cookies that came out of the oven. “You guys gonna auction off the houses afterward?”

“I never thought of that. Good idea. We could, and then donate the proceeds to the Help Santa fund. I’ll have to have Stef get that in the paper. But first, I’ll have to suggest it to Barbara in a way that makes her think it was her idea.”

Mitch chuckled. “I see you’re managing to, er, manage Barbara.”

Frankie sighed. “It’s not easy to work with someone who basically came in and took over.”

“We know who got the Santa Walk ball rolling. Anyway, sharing is caring. That’s what my mom always told me when my little brother stole one of my toys,” he said, and put the last bite of cookie in his mouth.

“I don’t care about Barbara.”

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