Page 9 of A Curvy Carol

Whit waited for me to go on. “It wouldn’t be so bad if...?”

I chewed on my bottom lip for a moment, trying to decide what I should share. “If they didn’t put so much pressure on being the perfect divorced parents. It’s like they try to outdo each other every single Christmas and I miss just being with them without all the pressure.”

Saying that out loud made me realize just how much I was hurting. Maybe I still wasn’t completely over the divorce. I picked up my orange soda and drank some of it to make the frog in my throat go away. The Christmas music playing sounded even louder in the silence.

Like he could sense my need for a subject change, Whit said, “So, what all is there to do here in Garland? I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Grateful for the new topic, I put down my soda and said, “Where would I even begin?”

He looked at my crafting bag, which sat on the table. A small notebook with a pen tucked inside peeked out. “May I?” he asked.

I nodded.

He grabbed the notebook, carefully opening it to a blank page in the middle. “Let’s make a list.” He began jotting something down. “Ride the Garland Express,” he said.

“Check,” I replied.

He crossed it out, then looked up at me. “What else? Build a snowman?”

I chuckled. “There’s a whole competition for that.”

He lit up. “Really? Cool.” He jotted that down.

We went on, until the list got pretty long.

“That’s fourteen things,” he said, holding up the notebook. “Ambitious, but I have faith in us.”

I took the notebook, going through the list.

1 - Ride on the Garland Express

2 - Enter the snowman building competition

3 - Cocoa at Cocoa Corner

4 - Volunteer at Santa's Elves

5 - Eat at Scrooge's Diner

6 - Make a wish on the Christmas tree

7 - Go ice skating at Fall La La La La

8 - Go caroling with the Carol Karens

9 - Watch a movie at A Wonderful Film

10 - Take a candy making class at Candy Cane Co.

11 - Take a sleigh ride from Rudoph

12 - Get a souvenir from Santa's Bag

13 - Pick out a Christmas ornament from The Nutcracker

14 - Get snowflakes painted on your nails at Vixens

“We can crossnumber six off, since that one already passed,” I pointed out.

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