Page 46 of Maybe This Christmas
Brandon scoffed at that.“Good luck.”
“The toy drive starts this week, so they’ll have to be back in town for that instead of trying to hustle our guests out of money.”
“Ugh, I hope they’re not still considering me for Santa,” Caleb said.
“Don’t hold your breath,” Sabrina said.“But I’ll tell them you’re too busy here to help.”
“I thought I heard them talking about a sexy Santa calendar.Carlos as the cover boy, you for Mr.March?”Brandon said.
Carlos was the second-in-command at Ellis & Daughter.And, despite getting married last summer, he was still something of a town heartthrob.
“That they consider me in the same league as Carlos is kind of flattering.But I’d appreciate any intervention to keep me here.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”Sabrina checked her time on her smartwatch.It’s almost time to rustle everyone up for the competition.”
“What are the rules, again?
Brandon shoved a stopwatch at him.“The fastest one down the hill wins.No accelerants added to the bottom of the sleds.”He pointed to the sleds’ aluminum bottoms.
“Like what, cooking oil or something?”
Sabrina laughed.“You’d be surprised how competitive people can be.Especially for a free dinner at the lodge.”
Caleb glanced to where people were starting to emerge from the lodge building.“As long as no one breaks a hip in the process.”
“Oh, we won’t start until the Falling Leaves Fire Department and EMTs are here to oversee the situation.”Sabrina raised her hands over her head.“Over here, everyone!Let’s get this party started!”
Emma was at the front of the pack.She wore a bright pink snowsuit with a silver jacket on top.She looked around as if she were eying up the competition.
“You look like serious business,” Caleb said once she was in earshot.
“I have a surprisingly strong competitive streak.You saw that last night at bingo.”She motioned to her snowsuit.“I knew I was right for bringing this.Everyone else looks like amateurs.”
He snorted at that.“Well, I know who I’m putting my money on, then.”
She grinned up at him.“Good to know I have the betting man’s favor.”Their eyes met, and she brought a hand to the crook of his arm.“Hi.”
Just the way she said that straightforward phrase had him smiling from ear to ear.
“Hi.Did you sleep well?”
She took a step toward him.“Not really.Mainly because I was excited to see you.”
Before he could respond, Sabrina’s voice came booming over a megaphone.“All right, everyone!Line up, then it’s time to sign waivers and hear the rules!”
“Where the hell did she find a megaphone?”Caleb asked.
At the same time, Emma said, “Waivers?Should I be worried?”
“For a sledding champion such as yourself?I wouldn’t worry.”
Emma ended up being fourth in the lineup.Unfortunately, the competition lasted all of twenty minutes before those waivers came in handy.One of the guests landed sideways in the parking lot and fractured their wrist as they braced their fall.
Sabrina and Brandon worriedly took off to tend to the guest.Everyone else wandered off.No one was interested in becoming the next one with an injury.
Clearly, this was an event that wouldn’t be staying on the schedule after this year.
“Guess the first annual Sky House sledding competition is a bust,” Caleb said.
