“Hey.” Molly snapped her fingers a few times, getting Nicholas’ attention again. “What do you think about these colors for lights? Should we do white and green? Or should we just use all three? Red, white and green? Is that too much?”
“You, Ms. Head Elf, believe in the concept of too much?” Nicholas gave her a pretend look of shock.
“You’re right. We should just use all three.” Molly stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed the boxes of lights for the Brownstones. Her arms were full as she searched for an empty box to put them in for delivery.
“Wait a second, 'we'?” Nicholas's eyes narrowed slightly.
Molly grinned at him. “You want to see the business. This is part of it.”
He sighed again.“We’ll see what the house looks like first,” he told her, pulling out an empty box from behind the dried mistletoe. He held it out for her to put the lights in. “Then, we can choose the right colors.” Nicholas turned back towards the doorway. “Did you want me to put these in your car?”
“No. We can walk over,” Molly replied. “It's not snowing today, so it'll be nice.”
“Walk over? But why can’t we drive—”
“The man who wants to limit everyone’s candy canes during Christmas is afraid of a little exercise?” Molly asked, shooting him a grin. She set the box down so she could put on her coat. “Besides, it’ll be fun.”
How to get kids to like math: Make it seem fun
“Fun? Walking down the street in this freezing weather? Yeah, that sounds fun.” Nicholas picked up the box before she could. “Fine. We’ll do it your way. As long as we’re back within an hour. We’ll need to be open again by 1PM.”
“You got it, boss.” Molly smiled to herself, continuing to come up with a plan.
Chapter 9
Nicholas
“It’s so nice to see you again, Mr. Brownstone,” Molly said, embracing a thin older man. “We’ve missed you at Christmas Wishes this year.”
“Ah, you know how it is. The older you get, the less you can stand the cold.” Mr. Brownstone imitated a shiver once he pulled away from Molly’s embrace. “Your parents had the right idea, Molly. Miami might be calling me and the missus’ name pretty soon, too.”
Nicholas took a quick look around the home as Molly continued to make small talk with Mr. Brownstone. They were standing in the living room, and there was a large Christmas tree leaning against a far corner. The tree was decorated with tinsel and what looked to be family photographs, every picture within a snowflake-shaped frame.
Nicholas could smell something sweet coming from the kitchen, and he unconsciously brought a hand to his stomach. It grumbled.
It was lunchtime after all.
Mrs. Brownstone soon appeared with a tray of Bundt cake slices, each one decorated with vanilla-white icing and edible glitter. “You’re just in time, Molly. These are straight out of the oven.”
Molly bounced over to Mrs. Brownstone’s tray, taking a slice of Bundt cake into her hand. “Thank you! This looks amazing!”
“You’re so very welcome,” Mrs. Brownstone said, pride in her voice. “They may not be quite as good as Hannah Johnson’s, but I think there’s something special about homemade Bundt cake.”
Mrs. Brownstone then turned towards Nicholas, offering the tray up to him as well.
Nicholas’ initial response was to say no, thank you.
But his growing hunger got the better of him, and before he even knew it, he was holding a slice of Bundt cake in his hand.
He carefully bit into the slice, and struggled to suppress a moan of delight.
The Bundt cake was delicious.
But he couldn’t let Molly know just how much he’d enjoyed the cake. She’d never let him live it down, not after he’d complained about Christmas sweets. “Thank you, Mrs. Brownstone. The cake is... good.”
“Good? You’re calling cake good?” Molly repeated with a laugh. “Well, well, well. Nicholas Kerstman has a sweet tooth, after all. Or at least the start of one.”
“Nicholas Kerstman?” Mrs. Brownstone set her tray of Bundt cake down on a nearby table. “Oh my goodness. We thought you were some kind of legend. We knew your parents went to visit you for New Year’s, but we’ve never seen you in town.”