Page 7 of Yours to Ho Ho Hold
She ignores me.
“Oh, come on. You weren’t too good to hold my hand when you thought your life was in danger, but now that we’re safely on land, you can’t even look at me?”
She looks over the rows of heads as if judging if she can squeeze between the people in the growing crowd standing in the aisle. Considering our seats are in the very back, I know there isn’t much use in being impatient, so I may as well settle in.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve arrived at our emergency landing location of Chestnut Crossing, Minnesota, home of the world’s largest candy cane sculpture.”
My eyes go wide, and my brain does that little tingle thing when I get an idea.
“The current temperature is a balmy fifteen degrees, and the local time is 10:29 p.m. Please see the airline worker at the desk outside the gate for further instructions. Trust me, we’ll do everything we can to get you to your destination in time for Christmas. In the meantime, enjoy the sights of this infamous Christmas town.”
I glance back to Holly, who’s got a backpack hiked over one shoulder and is standing up, trying to squeeze between the two guys who were sitting in front of us. They don’t even budge.
“Ow. Shit. Can you let me through?” she grunts as she tries to shove her backpack between them as leverage.
“No way. We were here first. You’re not cutting. I’m hungry and tired, and she never came back with my snack. Besides, I think the turbulence rattled a turd loose, so unless you want to bear witness to me shitting my pants, I’d back off.” He bends to meet her glare as he delivers the last part, and she slowly backs away, falling back into her seat with a humph.
I can’t help my laugh because it’s obvious the guy’s telling the truth, based on how he’s clenching his butt cheeks and the sweat on his brow. He looks scared, and that’s enough for me to take his word for it. It’s a fair excuse, and now, I’m rooting for him, too.
“You think this is funny?” she hisses, sitting awkwardly with her backpack against the back of her seat.
“Yeah, it’s pretty funny. I can’t say I expected him to have a solid reason for being a dick, but …” I shake my head. “Dude’s got the poopoo sweats to prove it. Poor guy.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not my problem. I need to get off this plane. I need to find another connection or something because there’s no way in hell I’m just going to frolic the streets of Chestnut Crossing and enjoy myself. I need to be on the beach, away from the cold, away from the snow, and away from Christmas entirely!”
I just laugh and cross my arms over my chest. “You know, it would probably do you some good to roll with the punches a little more. Things have a way of working out, but you just have to trust they will.” I lean back in my seat and gesture at the long line around us. “See, these people are all in a hurry, but what they don’t know is that we’re all going to the same place anyway. Just relax, trust me.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Trustyou?”
“Yeah.” I nod.
“Trustisn’t really my thing.” She folds her arms over her chest and lets out a heavy sigh.
“Yeah, I’m learning that.”
The line begins to move, and people have to fight against the people behind them to retrieve their bags, making the processes slower than if they’d just go in order of their seats.
It’s a painfully slow process waiting for our turn at the counter, but I let her ahead of me so I can at least have something fun to look at while waiting.
When it’s finally our turn, Holly steps up to the counter and passes her ticket information.
“Merry Christmas, Miss Shepherd,” the woman reads as she types in her information. “Let’s see here. We’re offering room and board for your inconvenience at the … oh no …”
“Oh no, what? What’s wrong?” Holly asks, standing on her tiptoes as she tries to read what’s on the computer.
The woman’s smile falls as she types something and shakes her head. “I’m so sorry. This has never happened before.”
“What? What’s never happened?” Holly leans forward but still can’t see the screen, so she hikes a knee up attempting to climb on top of the counter.
I have to cover my laugh with my hand.
“Calm down. There’s no need to climb—”
“Then just tell me what you’re looking at and stop being so vague!” Holly blurts, and the sweet older woman goes still.
“I’m sorry.” Holly lowers her leg and smooths her sweater. “I’m just really tired and stressed, and I had to stand behind this guy who farted for like twenty minutes to get off the plane, and I haven’t eaten anything since my chocolate chip muffin at breakfast.” She sucks in a breath. “And I got fired this morning, and I hate Christmas, and this airport smells like candy canes, and I just want to go somewhere else.”
I place a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry about my girlfriend’s meltdown. We appreciate you working on this for us…” I glance at her name tag. “Martha. I love that name by the way,” I say with a wink.
