Page 17 of Must Love Alligators

“Gators don’t…jingle…though,” Chase said.

Bailey bit her bottom lip.Dammit.These people were addictive.Nuts.But addictive.Fun.Irreverent.Goofy.Clearly loving.She wanted some of all of that.

“It’s just a gimmick,” Ellie said with a shrug.

“But, I mean, at least make it Rudolph the Red-Nosed Gator, or something,” Chase said.“Then at least it’s ananimaland kind of makes some sense to substitute the gator in there.”

Ellie narrowed her eyes.

“Or Grandma Got Run Over By a Gator,” Chase said, as if suddenly inspired.“Nowthatwould totally work.”

Ellie propped her hand on her hip.“I have a shot gun and very good aim that says that would never happen.”

“And a really good gator gumbo recipe,” Leo added.

Ellie nodded.

Chase laughed and pulled Ellie in for a hug.“What was I thinking?”

“But it would be funny if it was run like a murder mystery dinner theater thing.Where the tourists start here and get their first clue, then go out on a bayou tour and gather other clues trying to find where the guilty gator is hiding out.Then when they get to the final destination, there are gator Christmas cookies and green hot chocolate.”Bailey frowned.“I don’t know how you’d make hot chocolate green, though.Maybe just green marshmallows?”

Chase, Ellie, and Leo all turned to face Bailey at once.As they stared at her, she felt her own eyes getting wide, realizing she’d just blurted that idea out.And no one was saying anything.

She felt her cheeks heat.“Sorry.That was silly.”

But Chase gave her a huge grin and then laughed.“That’s amazing.”

“If we make white hot chocolate, we could turn it green with food coloring,” Ellie said.

“I’m totally telling Maddie,” Chase said with a nod.

“Not if I get there first,” Leo said, starting up the ramp.

“And you’re going to take full credit?”Chase called after him.

“Unless she hates it,” Leo said.“Then I’ll tell her it was Bailey.”He gave Bailey a wink and disappeared around the corner of the building.

Ellie shook her head watching him go.“He won’t really,” she told Bailey.“He’ll tell Maddie it’s your idea.That’s a lot of fun.”

“You think so?”Bailey wasn’t sure where the idea had come from.She’d just been picturing an alligator wearing a red Santa hat and the idea had popped into her head.

“So you all head out and decorate the cabin for the general tour,” Ellie said, handing Chase a box and Bailey a bag.

A strand of lights hung out of the top of the surprisingly heavy bag.

“It’s like a sleigh ride up north,” Ellie went on.“Except with an airboat rather than a sleigh.And without the snow.And…okay, it’s really like a swamp boat tour but with Christmas lights.”

Bailey laughed at that.

“That’s really a thing?”Chase asked.

“Of course it’s a thing.It’s great,” Ellie said.“All the cabins out there decorate and we string lights from the cypress trees and every dock plays a different Christmas song and has different treats to hand out.”

“Sounds like trick-or-treating, but with a Christmas theme,” Chase said.

“Except that we do the trick-or-treating at Halloween,” Ellie said.

“You do?”he asked.“Really?People go cabin to cabin trick-or-treating in boats?”

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