Page 25 of Tacos & Toboggans
I blinked twice, trying to clear my head of the fuzz filling it, until I made out three voices yelling my name.
“Jaelyn!” Ivy yelled, sliding in next to me as I tried to sit up. “Don’t move!”
“I’m fine,” I said, shaking my head a bit as I sat up. “What happened? I thought it was the safest hill in existence.”
Ivy leaned back on her butt and shook her head. “It usually is. We hit a rut or something with one of the tracks, and it tipped the sled up. You went flying off.”
“I guess it was a good thing we were almost to the bottom,” I muttered, rubbing my left arm.
“It’s a mole hill,” Addie said, jogging up to us. “No way to know it was there.”
“Well, let’s not make a mountain out of it,” I said, trying to joke, but no one was laughing as Ivy unbuckled her helmet and then mine.
“Why are you rubbing your arm?” Addie asked as she moved in to inspect it.
“It kind of hurts. I probably twisted it when I rolled over it.”
“Where does it hurt?” Heather asked.
“My wrist,” I explained, finally looking down at it. Surprise froze me in place. “That doesn’t look too good.”
Ivy moved in and pushed my hand aside to examine the bump on my wrist, which was swelling rapidly and turning black and blue. “Maybe it’s just a sprain?”
“I’m calling Gabe,” Heather said, pulling out her phone, but I shook my head.
“Don’t call Gabe. We can go back to the diner and put some ice on it. I’m sure Ivy is right that it’s just a sprain.”
Unfortunately, she was already on the phone, and I worked hard not to roll my eyes. Not only was Gabe a detective in Bells Pass, but he was also an EMT.
“He’s just going to overreact and make me go to the hospital,” I muttered to Ivy. “You know I can’t afford that.”
“You have insurance through the diner, and I’ll cover the deductible. She’s right, at least let Gabe look at it.”
“This isn’t Workman’s Comp, though, Ivy.” I bit my lip. “It’s really starting to hurt. That’s normal for a sprain, right?”
“Sprains can hurt worse than breaks,” Addie said when Heather turned back to us.
“He’s on his way. Even if you don’t need to go to the hospital, he’ll drive you back to the diner, so you don’t have to walk. It’s a long way back.”
My arm throbbed more with each passing second. I tried to put on a brave face so they wouldn’t worry. One glance atIvy told me she already was. “I’ll be fine, guys. I’m sorry to ruin your fun. You guys enjoy yourselves. I’ll wait by the fence for Gabe.”
“Right, as though that’s going to happen,” Addie said with a snort.
“This wasn’t your fault,” Ivy said. The tone of her voice told me she was mad at herself. “If anything, it was my fault.”
“On the upside,” Heather said, trying to distract me. “It’s your left arm, so at least you can still write and draw.”
After checking my wrist again and noting the swelling and bruising, I couldn't disagree with her. “That’s an excellent point. I have a ton of books to churn out for the holidays.”
“That’s great news!” Addie said with a grin. “I can’t wait to get the books for Faith, Holly, and Noella.”
A smile lifted my lips despite my situation. “I still can’t believe you had identical twins. What’s even better is that you named one of them Holly.”
Addie’s smile said it all. “I’ll never forget the look on OG Holly’s face when she picked up my daughter and saw the name card on the bassinet. She and Ellis have always had such a special relationship, and we wanted to recognize that bond.”
Holly Hadley was indeed the real OG of Bells Pass. She was seventeen now, but when she first arrived in town, she had been a scared little girl who had just found out the woman who had raised her for the first six years of her life was her grandmother. She’d been kidnapped as an infant by her grandparents, and her real mother had been searching for her all that time. When Mel finally found her, she didn’t hesitate to bring her home and help her heal. Holly's connection to Addie’s husband, Ellis, was the sweetest and mostinnocent part of it all. When she was little, she was convinced that Ellis was the real Santa Claus because of his stark white hair. They started working together every Christmas, with him as Santa and her as the head elf, and the relationship has lasted for a decade and is still going strong. Mason, Mel’s husband, adopted Holly, but he always says she has two dads, and he proudly shares that title with Ellis.
“How are the girls doing?” I asked to keep the attention off my arm as we waited.
