Page 22 of Evergreen Christmas

“Can you what?” Nate asked, shaking his head slightly to clear his mind of Jordyn.

“Can I go say hi to Miss Jordyn?” Roxie pointed to the left, where Jordyn stood several feet away.

Just as Nate spotted her in the crowd, Jordyn looked over at him, their eyes meeting. She looked different than she had three hours ago. She wore the same boots she’d worn earlier but she’d changed into a darker pair of jeans, a white sweater, and a green scarf that matched her eyes perfectly. The long waves of her hair were loose, spilling around her shoulders, the red hue highlighting the pink blush in her cheeks put there by the wind.

Jordyn smiled at him, and he smiled back, that familiar hum of pleasure zipping through his veins.

“Yeah,” Tucker drawled beside him. “Why don’t we all go over and say hello?”

The teasing gleam in his eyes made Nate shift uncomfortably from one boot to the other as his smile vanished.

Friendly enemies, he reminded himself. That’s what he and Jordyn had agreed to be for the duration of Noel’s Christmas competition, and he was going to stick to their agreement. They’d even shaken on it.

“Not a good idea.” Nate smiled down at Roxie, wincing as she frowned with disappointment. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but we’re on a different team from Ms. Jordyn right now. And the Nanas have very strict rules when it comes to the Christmas competition.”

“Oh, yeah.” Tucker rocked back on the heels of his boots and grinned at the Nanas, who were lining up in a neat row on the stage. “No cross-conspiring,” he stated in a monotone.

Roxie made a face. “What’s cross con—con . . . ?”

“Conspiring,” Nate stated slowly. “It means working together with someone in secret in order to get around the rules in some way.”

Roxie’s expression turned serious. “It’s not good to break the rules is it, Daddy?”

Nate smiled with pride. He had a good and honest daughter and he hoped, despite the increasingly cynical world they lived in, that she’d carry those attributes with her into adulthood. “That’s exactly right, sweetheart.”

Nate stole one last glance in Jordyn’s direction, but the sun had set, the pink glow surrounding them dissolved, and several long sets of Christmas lights, which had been strung on tall poles that surrounded the town square, burst into a warm glow.

Cheers erupted from the crowd that surrounded the stage and a soulful Christmas carol streamed from loudspeakers that were positioned strategically among the crowd. Singing, joyful whoops, and boisterous applause erupted all around the stage as Noel’s Nanas, dressed in matching Christmas sweaters and dancing to the music, stepped up to a microphone positioned center stage and smiled.

Carol Belle took to the microphone first. “It’s that time of year again, my friends!” She clapped her hands and Noel’s residents followed her lead, bursting into applause, the excited energy of the crowd waving through the throng of people. “Tonight is the night we kick off Noel’s annual Christmas competition, and this is going to be one of the best years yet! We have strong, returning competitors—and brand-new ones—who are going to make each of the twelve contests more exciting than they’ve ever been!”

Kandy stepped up to the microphone next. “And on that note, we’d like to welcome our newest resident of Noel and first-time competitor in our annual Christmas competition, Jordyn Banks!”

As Kandy spoke, she lifted her arm and pointed out into the crowd. A spotlight, positioned at the edge of the stage and manned by a teenager, swept chaotically over the mass of people below, then landed on Jordyn.

Caught off guard, Jordyn squinted up into the bright blaze of light and held her hand up in front of her face, smiling and blushing as the crowd applauded, their attention now focused on her.

“Jordyn Banks,” Kandy continued, “has moved into Chestnut Ridge and will be joining our competition this year. Let’s give her a very happy Noel Christmas welcome, shall we?”

The applause grew louder and a chorus ofwelcomebroke out from the crowd. Roxie, still standing in front of Nate, bounced with excitement and waved enthusiastically, shouting welcome along with Nate.

Nate grinned. Oh, man, Jordyn was embarrassed. He could tell from a mile away. But despite her obvious discomfort at being singled out by the Nanas, she looked over and met his eyes again, and the delighted gratitude in her expression as she mouthed the wordsthank youmade him smile even wider.

“Now that we’ve greeted our newest participant,” Carol Belle said into the mic, “we need to get down to business.” After the cheers died down, she continued speaking. “As you know, we want everyone to have fun and enjoy themselves during these contests, but there must be rules to ensure that the competition is as fair and equitable as we can make it. And those rules must be properly adhered to and enforced every year.”

Eve, nodding as she stood beside Carol Belle, leaned in toward the mic. “Rule number one. If you have signed up to participate in the Christmas competition, you may compete individually or in a group of four or less. Once teams—comprised of an individual or a group of individuals—have been established, all participants must remain on their chosen teams for the duration of the competition.”

“This rule,” Carol Belle interjected, “is meant to promote community and collaboration among our residents.”

“There will be twelve Christmas contests,” Eve said. “Whoever wins the most contests will win the Christmas Crown at the town square tree-lighting on Christmas Eve. Until that time, scores will be tracked on our Tree Scoreboard and will be updated immediately after the winner of each contest is announced.”

The spotlight moved over the crowd until it settled on a tall wooden board, carved into the shape of a large Christmas tree, positioned at the opposite end of the stage.

“Whoever is in the lead,” Eve said, “will have their name appear at the top of the tree. Everyone else will be ranked, according to winning points, below, and the number of points each group or individual has earned will be listed beside their name. Transparency has always been and always will be a core principle in our Christmas competition.”

“Which brings us to the most important rule of all,” Carol Belle said, holding up one finger. “There will be no cross-conspiring in this Christmas competition. It bears repeating that once you have signed up for a team or as an individual competitor, you must operate solely within your team or as an individual. No teams or individual competitors are allowed to cross-conspire, plot, plan, discuss, strategize, or manipulate any aspect of the Christmas contests in order to sway the win or gain an advantage over other competitors. If you are found to be a cross-conspirator, you will be immediately disqualified from the competition and, depending on the circumstances of your violation, may or may not be banned from future Noel community competitions.”

The excited cheers of the crowd died down and a hush settled over the town square.

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