Page 38 of Three Days of Holiday

“Before we get to announcing the winners, I just want to take a moment and congratulate each one of our contestants for making it this far. You have fought valiantly, and I feel confident that whichever farm wins today is the very best of the best in Maine.”

She paused in her speech as one judge coughed and then reentered the fold. I used the time to glance at Holly. She stood next to a table with her fingers clasped together tightly.

“If I can have all representatives from our top farms please come to the front of the room. I believe the judges are ready to make their announcement,” Betsy continued.

I looked back at my team one last time, each of them wearing a smile, and then found my way to the stage.

13

HOLLY

Hope patted me on the back and then gave me a little shove toward the front. Will stood at the back of the line, the furthest away from Betsy. I wanted to stand closer to her so I could be right next to her when she declared us the winner, but the representative from Uncle Johnny’s Apple Orchard already pushed her way into that position.

I took my spot next to Will, giving him a quick grin. Hopefully no one noticed. Anticipation hung heavily in the air. This may have been a simple orchard competition for some, but it could mean the world to our farm. We needed this win, and from the way the judges talked about my graham cracker chocolate chip cookie s’mores, we stood a good chance.

Nerves racked my skin, and I didn’t know what to do with my hands. The dress I’d worn didn’t have pockets—damn male fashion designers—and I didn’t want to be caught too nervous, so I locked them together. For a split second, I almost grabbed Will’s hand and gave it anaffectionate squeeze but thankfully stopped myself before doing it.

If Hale saw, he might have rushed the stage and killed Will in front of witnesses. In all fairness, it probably wasn’t a good idea to grab my fiercest opponent’s hand. Regardless of how nervous I might be, we were still competitors.

“Remember that we are all winners today,” Betsy babbled on about how we should be proud as the judges took a ridiculously long time to confirm the winner. Eventually it became a steady stream of blah blah to me. My eyes were hard on the judges, trying to see if their gazes landed at one table setup longer than another.

Will repositioned himself beside me, and I used it as an opportunity to glance at him. He stood tall and proud, nothing but calm written across his face. He smiled out at the people who gathered in the room, mostly the other teams and a few top officials, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

Meanwhile, I stood beside him trying my hardest not to fidget and become an absolute mess.

Betsy stepped away from the microphone to chastise the judges quickly and tell them to hurry, and we inched closer to learning the winner of the competition. My heart fell for a moment. What happened to Will and me after I won?

Would he hate me?

Did I have what it took to win? He was the five-time champion, and this was my first year out. I’d bet it, banking on my underdog ability to win, but in that moment standing on the stage I had my first seconds of doubt.

If winning the competition meant losing Will, was a worth it? We hadn’t really talked about what would happen after the competition. How we’d move past it. If we even wanted to. Did I?

When we spoke about our future, it was in an ideal world where we weren’t working for each other’s enemies.

Hopefully, after I won, he’d be a good sport, and we’d figure out what came next for the two of us.

I still didn’t have an idea how I’d date a Causebay and not get myself kicked out of my family, but I wanted to figure out a solution. Something deep in my heart said Will Causebay was worth the trouble.

No, my heart wasn’t just telling me it. It screamed it as if it had stolen Katy’s megaphone and wanted to make sure I heard the message.

Lost in my own thoughts. I almost missed it when Judge number two—the top anchor from the Portland news channel—stepped away from the group of judges and handed an envelope to Betsy as she waited next to the microphone. Someone lowered it, so she no longer had to stretch in order to speak into the device.

Betsy gave a quick thanks and then returned to her position. She fumbled with the envelope and it slipped through her fingers, falling to the floor. She grumbled, bending over to pick it up and then stuck her finger in the corner, trying to open it.

“You licked it?” she asked accusingly into the microphone.

“I wanted it to be official,” one judge yelled from the group. Another one gave a shrug, as if he agreed.

Betsy huffed into the mic again and pulled theenvelope into scraps as she worked to remove the tiny folded-over piece of paper. She shook her head at the ridiculousness at the same time I sucked in my last big breath. It had to last me until she declared a winner.

She unfolded the paper and took a second to read the winner. Her smile was bright as she looked out at her small audience and then turned to face the competitors.

“We waited a long time for this, and I won’t draw out the anticipation any longer,” she said, definitely drawing out the anticipation.

My stomach whirled and twirled, and I focused on another breath so I wouldn’t pass out from lack of oxygen. Only nerves and fear and excitement would topple me.

“This year’s winner of Maine’s Annual Apple Cider Taste-Off is once again Causebay Family Farms. Congratulations!”

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