Page 38 of 12 Days of Mistletoe

“Ooo,” another lady at the table, one I haven’t given a board to yet, croons. “Boyfriend. That’s exciting.”

The man next to her—the one with a really terrible toupee—grumbles, “Bon Bon, could you tell your boyfriend to hand out the boards, please?”

“Elliot,” she groans as if I’m a misbehaving child. “You haveonejob.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” I hand out two more boards and Bonnie is off to the next table.

“Bon Bon!” yells the man who demanded a mermaid earlier. “What’s shakin’ bacon?”

“Hey, Doug,” Bonnie says, though it’s not as bright as before. “Mermaid today, huh?”

“She’s gonna be lucky. I can tell.”

“Bonnie,” I say, because I can’t let it go. “I’m just trying to apologize.”

Bonnie scoops the bucket into the gold coins and sets them in the center of the table. “But are you actually sorry? You meant what you said, right? We both know I’minto my dog.”

My mouth goes dry. No answer feels like the right answer here. “Well?—”

“The boards, Elliot!” She gives the smallest of eye rolls and I feel like an idiot who can’t get simple instructions down.

I toss three boards onto the table. “Bonnie, I just?—”

“There’s no mermaid on this board,” Doug grumbles. “Don’t you have any mermaids in there?”

Bonnie groans, sets the treasure box on the table, and snatches the boards from my hands.

“Well, geez, Bon Bon,” Doug says, “if it’s that much trouble?—”

Bonnie moves her eyes to the older gentleman. “Sorry, Doug. It’s no trouble. It’s a simple, easy request,” she says, her tone full of sarcasm. “One that myboyfriendcan’t seem to understand. Believe me. It isn’t you. It’s him.”

Doug’s lips turn up in a smile—as long as he’s not the one making her grumble, he’s perfectly happy. “There she is!” He points to the stack of boards Bonnie is flipping through.

“Yep. Right here.” She holds the board out to Doug, a mermaid with a gold tail in the left corner square.

Doug scoops a handful of gold coins from the bucket, dropping them onto the table beside him.

Bonnie picks up the treasure chest of coins and shoves it into my hands. “Can you handle this job?”

“I can handle either job. I’m trying to talk to you.”

“And I’m trying to work. It’s fine, Elliot.You said what you said, and you meant it. I amintomy dog. This is what you know about me. You’re not even wrong.”

“Then why are you so offended?” I’m more confused than anything. Her mood flipped so fast and I honestly don’t know what I’ve done.

She pauses between tables, one hand on her hip. Her throat bobbing in a swallow. “I’m not offended.” Her eyes flick up to me. “I guess I’m disappointed. Iaminto my dog, Elliot. Actually, I’m more than into her, I’m dependent on her. Yes, I love her, I’m crazy about her. Noel is literally the best pet in the world. But she is a whole lot more than a pet. Ineedher. I don’t know why—because boyfriend or not, I hardly know you—but I thought you understood that for a minute. Your statement tells me you do not.” She gives a one-shoulder shrug. “No apology necessary.”

I’m pretty sure a chest of real, actual gold coins falls into the pit of my stomach.

I’m a jerk.

This isn’t some obsession for Bonnie. Although—she may be somewhat obsessed with Noel. But it’s a whole lot more than that. And I do know that.

It’s a minute before I realize that I’m standing alone between tables. An entire sixty seconds—Bonnie is two tables ahead of me now. She’s not waiting anymore.

“Hey, One-thirty,” Bill yells, calling me by my Scrabble score. Yep, that’s a nickname I’m going to love explaining to Gran. “Gold coins, over here.”

I walk to the next table, fill their bucket, then make my way over to Gran and Bill.

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