Page 38 of Evergreen Christmas

Jordyn had liked Mason Walker well enough when she’d met him five days ago at the Candy Cane Fishing contest, but from the moment she arrived at the Terrible Tinsel Triathlon, Noel’s favorite cop stuck to her more than the candy cane syrup she’d just been doused in.

“The secret to winning the triathlon is to start off at a moderate pace, cut corners where you can, and save your last big surge of energy for the final few feet of the race.” Mason, hopping from one foot to the other beside her at the south end of Noel’s town square to warm up for the race, dragged a hand through his wet, sticky hair, then slung a handful of candy cane syrup onto the dormant grass. “Only thing,” he said, “is once you get to running, the syrup starts to melt all over you. It slides right into your eyes and ears. It’s enough to trip anybody up.”

“That’s okay,” Jordyn said, smiling. “I know a thing or two about racing. But I do have to admit, I’ve never raced anyone while covered in red candy cane syrup. Had I known a bucket of syrup was going to be dumped over my head, I would’ve brought a pair of goggles.”

She wiped her face as Mason had, then flicked a handful of candy cane syrup to the ground. Opening her eyes wide, she forced her sticky eyelids apart and surveyed the scene before them.

Noel’s Terrible Tinsel Triathlon was about to commence. As usual with each contest, a crowd of residents had gathered in the town square, some standing in line waiting for their turn to be doused with candy cane syrup for their run, others dumping the buckets of syrup over the participants, and a few standing by taking pictures, laughing at their friends’ and loved ones’ sticky discomfort. It was, indeed, a sight to behold.

Overnight, a fresh burst of frigid air had rolled over the little town, dusting Noel’s mountain peaks and valleys with a thin layer of snow. It made for a beautiful sight, but it also made the ground slick and slippery, which would pose an added challenge for participants.

“Are you familiar with the course?” Mason asked, shaking his hands by his sides and bouncing from one foot to the other as he continued warming up for his run.

Jordyn nodded. “Kandy gave me a rundown yesterday. From what she told me, we start over there.” She pointed at the starting line, which was marked with a line drawn through the snow several feet in front of them. “Then we take off across the town square, run its entire length, grab the gift box marked with our name that’s sitting on the other end, circle around and come back down the middle through the obstacle course. When we reach this end of the town square again, we have to wrap our gift box with one of the ribbons on the ground. The first one to finish beautifying their gift box wins.”

And boy, did she need to win this one!

So far, she hadn’t placed in any of the competitions she’d participated in, and according to Kandy, only the top three performers prior to the tree contest had a good chance of accumulating enough points to win the Christmas Crown. If Jordyn didn’t start accumulating points now, she was certain to be at the bottom of the scoreboard, and she’d lose every chance she had to win the Christmas Crown for Noel’s Nanas.

“Ms. Jordyn!”

Wiping away a fresh layer of syrup that had seeped over her eyelids, Jordyn glanced to her right, where Roxie was skipping across the town square toward her. “Hello there, Roxie!”

She craned her neck, glancing past Roxie to the sidelines, but Nate was nowhere to be found.

“Uncle Tucker told me you’d be running against him today.” Roxie’s eyes grew wide as she drew to a halt in front of Jordyn. “Boy, they really dumped a lot of syrup on you!”

Jordyn laughed. “Yeah, I think they did accidentally go a little bit overboard with me.”

Tucker, who’d been strolling leisurely behind Roxie, joined them. His hair, normally styled, was coated with syrup, as were his clothes and shoes. “Nah. That was a deliberate hazing. They always dump an extra bottle of syrup over the newbies.”

He nodded in Mason’s direction and the two men briefly greeted each other.

Jordyn gave Tucker the once-over. “Well, looks like somebody had it out for you today, too. You look like you’ve got more syrup on you than I do.”

He chuckled. “I probably do.” Leaning closer, he wrinkled his nose and whispered, “Seems I’ve upset a few of the ladies in town over the years and today is the perfect day for their revenge.” He rocked back on his heels and rubbed his slick hands together. “But the bigger challenge for us will be when they roll us in all that tinsel.”

He pointed at an array of multicolored tinsel that had been layered in high stacks along the edge of the town square. Several participants who’d already been doused in syrup had stretched out on the ground and volunteers were rolling them through the piles of tinsel and laughing uncontrollably.

Jordyn groaned. “Oh, I forgot about that.”

“That’s the best part,” Tucker said. “The syrup itself is hard enough to wash off but once the tinsel sticks to it, you’ll be pulling multicolored strings of plastic out of your ears for the next three weeks.” He laughed. “But if you win, it’s worth it.”

“Speaking of tinsel,” Mason said, nudging Jordyn’s arm. “The line for being rolled in it has shortened. Shall we take our turn?”

Jordyn waved a hand. “You go ahead, Mason. I’m going to visit with Roxie and Tucker for a minute.”

Disappointment flickered over Mason’s expression, but he quickly hid it with a smile. “No problem. I’ll see you at the starting line.”

Roxie frowned, then peered up at Jordyn. “Are you and Mr. Mason on the same team now?”

Jordyn shook her head. “Nope. I’m still competing on my own. He’s just being nice and showing me the ropes.”

Roxie smiled. “Well, even though you’re going to be running against my uncle Tucker, I hope you do good, Ms. Jordyn.”

Jordyn squatted on her haunches in front of Roxie. “You know, that’s really nice of you, Roxie.” She winked and tapped her cheek. “But they always say good luck is best served with a kiss on the cheek.”

“You mean . . .” Roxie eyed Jordyn’s sticky face and shuddered. “You want me to give you a good luck kiss on your cheek?”

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