The Winter of Candy Canes (A Sweet Seasons Novel) Read online

  Once they made it back home, Candace called Martha to update her. Martha said that she had discussed it with her bosses, and they were willing to let Candace return to work the following Monday.

  As soon as school was out, Tamara came over and brought Candace her books and a get-well card created by the drama class.

  “Your legend grows at school,” Tamara said humorously as she sat down in one of the chairs.

  “How so?” Candace asked with a groan.

  “Apparently, you're a hero. You were run over by an out-of-control mob, and you rescued some little girl, and gave toys to dozens of needy kids.”

  “What little girl?” Candace asked, bewildered.

  Tamara shrugged. “I did manage to track the stories down to a guy named Brad. You know him?”

  “No, but apparently he worked at The Zone over the summer, and he's taking Becca to Winter Formal.”

  “Roger must be heartsick,” Tamara said.

  “Speaking of heartsick. How's Mark?” Candace asked.

  Tamara rolled her eyes. “I had to tell him to back off, that I was definitely not going to go out with him again.”

  “I'm sure that did loads of good for his ego,” Candace said.

  “There's only so much I'm willing to do for my cousin. I think he'll be okay, though. I was a lot nicer to him than that just sounded.”

  “Glad to hear it.”

  “So, do you need help prepping for Wednesday night, or are you even going?”

  “Wednesday night?” Candace asked, at a momentary loss.

  “Hellooo, Bible study. Remember?”

  “I totally forgot.”

  “No, really? I mean, I guess considering the circumstances no one would blame you if you stepped down. Joy would probably love to take your place,” Tamara said with a smirk.

  “That's not going to happen,” Candace said.

  “A little territorial?”

  “Are you antagonizing me on purpose?” Candace asked in disbelief.

  “Of course. I really don't want Joy leading the study. I figure if I push your buttons you'll step up.”

  “Since when does that work?”

  “Oh, I don't know. Are you going back to being an elf?”

  “On Monday.”

  “Then it's worked since you started working at The Zone.”

  Candace stared at her for a minute. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a good thing. You're much more likely to stand up for yourself and fight for what you want now. I respect that.”

  “Yeah, but that implies that I want to lead this Bible study.”

  “Don't you?”

  Candace hesitated. A week before, she would have said no, absolutely not. Now, if she was being honest with herself, she realized she did want to lead it. The first week hadn't been all that bad, but she also knew she could make it better. She laid her head back against a pillow and groaned.

  “Knew it,” Tamara said, and Candace could hear the smugness in her voice.

  “Can you get me the study book and my Bible from upstairs?” Candace asked.

  On Wednesday night, Tamara pushed the passenger seat in her car as far back as it could go so that Candace could ride in the front. It was a tight fit, but she made it and felt triumph in the victory. Unlike the week before, she actually felt prepared, and she had found herself looking forward to the Bible study all day. She was also using it as a bit of a test run. Her parents had told her that they would leave the decision of when to go back to school up to her as long as she went back there before going to work. She figured if she could make it through the study, she would try school in the morning.

  When they arrived at the youth building, Tamara carried her stuff while Candace hobbled in on her crutches. She knew she looked pathetic. The bruise on her cheek was deep purple. There were bruises and scratches on her good leg and on both arms, but the majority of her pain radiated from her injured shoulder. It made walking with the crutches that much more difficult.

  She sat down on the couch and, at Tamara's insistence, put her leg up. Tamara dragged a chair over so she could sit next to her. Everyone else was already there and quickly formed a circle, staring openly at the brace on her leg.

  “I got hurt at work,” Candace started.

  “We know,” Jen spoke up.

  “Oh, okay. Well, then let's start.”

  The focus of the Bible study was on spiritual journeys. They compared themselves to the wise men and shared how their “walk with God” was going. She asked the group members to pinpoint an area of their lives where they knew they had grown over the previous year.

  “I used to smoke and I've quit, mostly. I still backslide some, though,” one of the girls admitted.

  Candace couldn't relate, but she nodded encouragingly.

  “Every time I try to pray I fall asleep,” Jen said with a heartfelt sigh.

  “That happens to me too,” said Tamara.

  “Really?” said Jen.

  “I think most of us have been there,” Candace said. “It's one of the hazards of praying at night in bed.”

  Candace scanned her notes briefly. “So, I have a question. Is everyone happy with where they are on their spiritual journey?”

  Each one of them shook their head no.

  “Well, then I was thinking we should try this week to find one thing we can do to further our growth.”

  There was silence for a minute, and Candace held her breath, not sure if everyone was going to get on board with the idea.

  “Like how can I not fall asleep when praying?” Jen asked.

  “Exactly,” Candace said, relieved at the example.

  All around the circle heads began to nod.

  When the study was done, Candace struggled back to Tamara's car and settled in, happy with how things had gone. Even Joy had seemed to be on the same page.

  “You realize what you've done?” Tamara asked as she started the car.

  “What?”

  “You and I also have to find a way to grow this week.”

  “You've discovered the fatal flaw in my otherwise brilliant plan.”

  “I don't mind you being tough on yourself, but next time can you leave me out of it?” Tamara complained, but her tone was lighthearted.

  “Next time, no growth for you.”

  “That's the spirit. So, you going to school tomorrow?”

  “I guess. Can I count that as my growth moment?”

  “Not even.”

  School the next day took so much out of Candace that her parents urged her to stay home Friday. She went anyway, and it went better than the day before. All weekend she alternated between resting on the couch and practicing on the crutches until she had more confidence. On Sunday after church, Josh brought her a pair of new tights from the costume department, and her mom made sure her costume was in good shape. Monday at school went a lot better, and she headed over to The Zone in the afternoon, tired but ready to get back to work.

  She gave herself plenty of time to get there. Her muscles were so tense they vibrated, but she refused to let it get to her. The attack had been a fluke. She was going to be fine.

  Once in the Holiday Zone, she had some time to kill before her shift started. She hadn't checked out the various vendor booths yet, so she took the opportunity. After inspecting a cart next to the entrance to the maze, she turned around and saw Becca.

  Becca had her head down and was flipping through a huge stack of pages on an oversized clipboard. By the looks of it, there had to be at least a hundred pieces of paper. She finally looked up, saw Candace, waved, and came over.

  “Glad to see you're doing better,” Becca said.

  “Thanks. What is that?” Candace asked, pointing with a crutch toward the clipboard.

  Becca's eyes widened. “Charts, grids, maps, searching zones, employee schedules, statistical models, you know, that kind of thing.”

  “What on earth for?”

  “The golden can
dy cane. I'm going to find it. Then that gingerbread house will be mine.”

  She drifted toward the gingerbread house as she spoke. Her hand descended on the post that marked the beginning of the hedge maze and one of the two security guards stationed next to the gingerbread house stepped forward and called out. “That's close enough, Becca. You know the rules.”

  Becca stuck her tongue out at him before removing her hand and backing ten steps away. Then she raised her fist and shook it. “That gingerbread house will be mine!”

  “They won't even let you in the maze?” Candace asked.

  Becca shook her head. “That's okay. I searched the entire maze before they caught me with this,” Becca said, pulling a little baggie out of her pocket. Inside it was a massive purple gumdrop.

  “That's not from the house!”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Why haven't you eaten it yet?” Candace asked, briefly considering calling one of the security guards over to take it from her.

  “I'm saving it for something … special,” Becca said, gazing lovingly at the gumdrop.

  Candace shivered. She could only imagine what that would be.

  “Give me fair warning before, okay?”

  Becca nodded. “See ya later. I've got more places to search.”

  Candace watched her go. Part of her hoped Becca found the golden candy cane. Another part of her, though, was rising to the challenge. Maybe she could find the candy cane. After all, she had as good a chance as anyone, even if she was on crutches.

  She glanced at her watch and realized she was out of time. She walked over and saw that she would be replacing Lisa. She tensed, really not in the mood to be sniped at.

  “You can go,” Candace said as she walked up.

  “Thank you,” Lisa said, face pale and hair unnaturally stiff in weird places and completely limp in others.

  Candace blinked in surprise. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Lisa shook her head. “A kid threw up on me today. Twice.”

  “Gross!”

  “I need to go shower.”

  “I think there might be something wrong with your hair spray,” Candace said, staring at the mess on Lisa's head.

  “That's not hair spray. It's Lysol,” Lisa said before shoving the candy cane basket at her and staggering off.

  Candace actually felt sorry for her. As much as she didn't like Lisa, she wouldn't wish that on anyone.

  Candace turned her attention to the candy cane basket in her hands. Suddenly, she was aware of the folly of what she was about to do. How was she going to manage the crutches, the candy canes, and the presents? What had she been thinking? What if a little kid accidentally ran into her or kicked her? Worse, what if there was another brat who attacked her?

  “Candace, we got this for you,” another elf said, walking up and carrying a tall stool with a backrest. He helped her hop up on it. Once seated, she was able to dangle her injured leg on the side away from Santa. Next the elf leaned a pole with a plastic hook on the end against the rope next to her.

  “What's that for?” she asked.

  “We put ribbons on the packages, so when you want to give out a present, you just have to hook one with this,” he said.

  “Wow. Thank you!”

  “Thank you,” he said, giving her a little salute before dashing off.

  She turned to look at the stage and thought, Let them come!

  The kids came in a steady stream, but each of them kept a respectful distance away from her and reached to take the candy canes from her fingers. She was amazed at how quiet and well behaved they all seemed. Maybe they were less rowdy on weeknights because they didn't have to wait quite so long in line.

  When her break came, she was surprised to see Kurt walk up. He helped her down off the stool and then walked with her as she tried to limber up.

  “You're doing really well,” he said.

  “Thanks. I have to convince my doctor to let me out of this thing before Winter Formal,” she said.

  “Hey, no worries. I'm sure we'll be fine even if you're still wearing it. Maybe we'll invent the Don't Go Near the Injured Leg dance.”

  “Ha ha,” she said, although she truly appreciated what he said.

  “Everything going okay?”

  “Yeah. I was really nervous when I got here, but I didn't need to be. All the kids have been really good. It's like they're going out of their way to avoid touching me at all.”

  “That's probably because there's a rumor going round that the elf with the crutches uses them to beat naughty children.”

  “That's terrible!”

  “It keeps them from bumping your leg.”

  “I've only been back two hours. How on earth could a rumor start that quickly?” she asked.

  “Maybe because I started it early last week,” Kurt said with a smile.

  “You!” she asked, feeling somewhat angry.

  “Yow. Looks like I'm at the top of your naughty list.”

  “Kurt, how could you? It's not true!”

  “Hey, I didn't want you to come back and risk getting hurt again,” he said, suddenly serious. “I figured anything I could do to keep someone from accidentally bumping you or especially from intentionally hurting you is my duty as a boyfriend.”

  Lying was wrong. She couldn't fault his logic, though. At any rate, the damage was done, and as much as she didn't like admitting it, his tactic seemed to be working.

  “Okay, but if I get any supervisors breathing down my neck, I'm pointing them straight at you,” she said.

  “Fair enough.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose. “You really are an adorable elf.”

  She smiled.

  10

  Candace had Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons off from work. On Tuesday afternoon she made another trip to the mall to buy presents. This time she didn't have her mom or Tamara with her. Mom had dropped her off. It was just her, the shopping list, and the stores. She wore a backpack to carry her purchases, so she still had her hands free to deal with the crutches.

  After much indecision she had decided to buy something cool for Josh and small, fun gifts for Sue, Becca, Roger, Martha, and Pete. As it turned out, small and fun were surprisingly hard to come by without adding the word expensive.

  Pete turned out to be the easiest. She found a book about trains on the discount rack at Barnes and Noble. She also found a book there about the history of chocolate but figured it would be cruel to give it to Becca. Instead, she opted for a small box of sugar-free confections from See's. She thought about writing sugar free in bold across the box with a Sharpie so Gib wouldn't have a heart attack when he saw it, but then decided it would look too tacky.

  For Roger she found a keychain-sized electronic basketball game that seemed perfect. For Martha she got a World's Best Boss mug. It was totally cheesy, but she had a feeling it would make Martha smile. For Josh she got a Make Your Own pizza package, which included a pizza pan and tons of recipes. For the number of bets they had made that somehow involved pizza, it seemed appropriate. She figured she'd write an obnoxious note to the effect that he was going to have to make her pizza.

  When her thoughts turned to a gift for Sue, she remembered that she still hadn't found out why the other girl was so sad and what she could do to help her out. Truth was, Candace had been pretty busy the last week and a half trying to figure out how to help herself.

  She decided to hold off buying Sue's present until she had a chance to talk to her more. That meant that Sue and Kurt were the only ones Candace still had to buy for. She stayed for a while longer, trying to find something for Kurt but finally gave up in defeat and called her mom.

  On Wednesday afternoon before Bible study, she headed back to the mall with Tamara. With only a week and a half left before Winter Formal, it was time to get serious about dresses.

  “So, how freaked are you about auditions in drama Friday?” Tamara asked.

  “Totally,” Candace answered. “You know I'd be happ
y to stay in the background, singing in the chorus or something. I definitely don't want to be front and center.”

  “You always say that and yet —”

  “Hey! I'm serious. No public singing.”

  “What do you think about this?” Tamara asked, pulling a long purple dress off the rack.

  “You always wear purple,” Candace pointed out.

  “And I always look good.”

  “True. Still, it's Winter Formal. Try something more … wintery.”

  “Wintery? That's good. Don't let the English teacher catch you saying stuff like that. She'll bite your head off.”

  “What do you think of this one?” Candace asked, pointing to a rich green velvet dress.

  “Girl, you are so the pot calling the kettle black. If I always wear purple, you always wear green.”

  “Come on, I've got red hair. There are some colors that just don't work for me, and one that definitely does.”

  “That's it. You're not allowed to pick out your own dress,” Tamara said.

  “What?”

  “Nope, forget it. You'll try on the ones I pick for you and buy one of those.”

  “Fine. Then you have to do the same,” Candace said.

  “Fine.”

  Candace went to work and before long had picked five dresses for Tamara to try. “Here you go, white, red, ice blue, forest green, and fuchsia.”

  “I'm so not wearing the pink one.”

  “That's for me to decide, remember?”

  “Fine,” Tamara said with a sigh. “But you get to try on these,” she said thrusting the hangers toward Candace.

  “Gold, black, peach, burgundy, and brown. Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  “They're all short. I was hoping to wear something longer.”

  “Cand, you know I love you, so I'm going to be honest with you. There's no way you're getting out of that brace before the formal. A short dress will be easier, and we can color coordinate that brace somehow.”

  Candace was sick of the brace. It was hot, scratchy, and made movement practically impossible. For a week and a half she had been sleeping on her back all night, unable to roll onto her side. There was no way she wanted to wear it to Winter Formal. However, she wasn't stupid enough to stop wearing it until her doctor gave permission.