The Winter of Candy Canes (A Sweet Seasons Novel)

  Tamara got her phone back. “Well?”

  “This is a disaster!” Candace said.

  “Actually, I think it's hilarious.”

  “You would,” Candace said, making a face even though Tamara couldn't see her.

  “Don't forget, I'm going to be on stage too, and not just in the chorus.”

  “I know,” Candace sighed.

  “And we're going to have months to practice, so by the time we do perform the play, we could do it in our sleep.”

  “I hope you're right.”

  “Of course I'm right,” Tamara said. “You'll see. Talk to you later.”

  Candace hung up the phone and closed her eyes.

  Her mom coughed. “So, you're going to be the lead?”

  “You could hear that, huh?”

  “Tamara's loud when she's excited.”

  “I can't worry about it right now. I just have to stay focused and make it to the New Year.”

  “Sounds sensible.”

  “Mom, what do you think I should get Kurt for Christmas?” she asked.

  “Something recycled?” she suggested with a smile.

  “Somehow I don't think so,” Candace said with a wry grin.

  “How about a gift certificate?”

  “Good, but I was hoping for something more personal.”

  “Tie?”

  “He doesn't really wear them.”

  “Is there an author he likes or a movie you could get him?”

  “I don't know.”

  “He likes history, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then get him a piece of history.”

  “Mom, you're a genius!”

  That night on Ebay, after hours of searching, Candace found just the right thing. It was a letter written by Benjamin Franklin. Moments before she bid on it, though, she discovered in the fine print that it was a reproduction and not an actual original. When she finally did find an original, the two-thousand-dollar opening bid was enough to make her heart stop.

  She thought about continuing on and trying to find something else, but was too discouraged by that point. She was also tired, and she wanted to make sure she got enough sleep before the formal. Frustrated, she crawled into bed and fortunately fell right to sleep.

  13

  The day of the Winter Formal arrived, and Candace could barely keep still she was so excited. It had been agreed that Kurt and Roger would pick Candace and Tamara up at Candace's house. As soon as school was out, Candace and Tamara headed straight there to get ready.

  “What did you have to do to get tonight off?” Tamara asked as they started on their hair.

  “I had to trade my shift tonight for one tomorrow night.”

  “Don't you work tomorrow morning?”

  “Yeah, it's not going to be pretty,” Candace said.

  “I'm thinking not.”

  After applying all their makeup, they were finally ready for the dresses and the jewelry. Tamara finished her look off with a pair of red heels, while Candace had to be content with gold flats.

  Candace sighed as she stared at the brace on her leg. “You know, if I ever find those little brats, they're going to have some explaining to do.”

  “Hey, at least your leg's not broken,” Tamara said.

  “I know, but it feels like it is.”

  “Come on, cheer up. You've done really well with that thing, and I know it's been awful. Kurt doesn't care that you're wearing it tonight, and if you let it bug you, then those bratty kids and their horrible father won,” Tamara said.

  “You're right. And there's no way I'm going to let that happen,” Candace said. “All the bruises have finally gone, and my shoulder's not sore anymore. All in all, I think I'm doing quite well.”

  “You'd have my vote for Christmas queen.”

  “If only they crowned a queen and king at the formal,” Candace teased.

  “I said I'd vote for you; I didn't say I'd actually let you beat me,” Tamara said.

  “Sorry, that's right. You are the Christmas queen.”

  The doorbell rang downstairs.

  “Now, you're sure Roger's clear on the whole not-really-a-date thing, right?”

  “Crystal.”

  “Good.”

  They made their way downstairs, and Candace was gratified not only to see that Roger and Kurt looked great, but also they clearly thought she and Tamara looked great.

  Both guys presented their offerings of wrist corsages. Then Candace and Tamara pinned boutonnières on them. Candace's dad took the obligatory photos, and they were off.

  As if trying to prove that he knew it wasn't a real date, Roger started to take the front passenger seat. Kurt cleared his throat, though, and instead, Roger held the door open for Candace. Then, as though afraid of showing favoritism, he quickly opened the rear door for Tamara.

  Candace saw Tamara roll her eyes, and she stifled a giggle. At least when they arrived at the dance, Tamara had the good grace to accept Roger's arm as they walked inside.

  Candace smiled as she took in the decorations. Fake snow was piled against the walls, and pale blue lights gave the place a winter wonderland sort of feel. She and Kurt got their picture taken and then found a table at the edge of the dance floor. Roger and Tamara joined them a minute later.

  Candace looked around at all the faces, some familiar and some definitely not. Suddenly, her eyes picked out the face she was looking for. “You guys will not believe this,” she said.

  “What?” Tamara asked.

  “Check out Becca,” Candace said, pointing toward the dance floor.

  Becca was a vision of elegance. She was wearing a pale blue dress with white marabou feather trim. Her hair was swept upward and held in place by a pearl comb. She wore long white gloves and had the most serene smile on her face that Candace had ever seen.

  “Wow, she's amazing!” Roger breathed.

  “And she's not trying to make a break for the punch bowl,” Kurt noted.

  “That girl has serious style,” Tamara said. She turned and looked at Roger. “You are totally beneath her.”

  Candace was shocked to hear Tamara say it.

  “I know,” Roger whimpered.

  “But her date is beneath you,” Tamara said. “So, go out there and take her away from him.”

  Roger stood up and moved onto the dance floor. Candace strained but couldn't hear what was being said. A moment later, though, he cut in, and Becca was dancing with Roger.

  “They are cute together,” Tamara said. “Somebody owes me a dance for this, though.”

  “I think that can be arranged,” Kurt said. “First, though, I'm going to dance with the prettiest girl here.”

  Candace blushed as he offered her his hand. She walked slowly, carefully onto the dance floor with him. Then she put her arms around his neck. She tried shuffling her feet, but it didn't work out very well. So they just stood and swayed to the music. Candace couldn't stop smiling. It was the first time she had danced with a guy other than her father. She was wearing a brace, hated the song that was playing, and couldn't move across the floor. Yet somehow it was better than she had imagined it could be.

  When the music stopped, Kurt walked her slowly back to her chair before dancing one dance with Tamara. Roger came back in the middle of the song, looking sad.

  “She's dancing with him again,” he said.

  “Well, technically, he did bring her,” Candace said. “You could dance with Tamara.”

  He brightened at that. When Tamara and Kurt returned, all four of them went back onto the dance floor.

  As the evening progressed, everyone began to relax. Roger and Becca danced several times, and both Candace and Tamara danced at least once with every guy from their drama class.

  At one point Candace found herself sitting with both Becca and Tamara. “Having fun?” she asked Becca.

  “Quite,” Becca said with a gentle smile.

  “You look great. So … poised.”

  “Thank you.
It's good to be able to dress up once in a while. It's nice to be around people who don't know me for the most part.”

  “You mean it's good that nobody's guarding the punch bowl?” Tamara asked with a grin.

  Becca nodded. “I can control myself, you know. It just takes a lot of effort, and most days the effort's not worth it. Sometimes too, it's just easier to be what people expect you to be.”

  Candace looked at her. In many ways Becca had the same problem as Joy and the girls in her Bible study. Maybe everyone had the same problem. There were always other people's expectations to either live up to or downplay. People so rarely got the chance to just be themselves. At The Zone, people expected Becca to be a sugar maniac, and she was. But that wasn't all she was. Sugar mania was just one part of her personality.

  Clearly, she also had a more sophisticated side, which she was showing at the moment.

  “I told you, too much deep thinking hurts your brain and gives you wrinkles,” Tamara teased.

  Candace smiled. “You're right. Less thinking, more dancing!”

  She danced twice more with Kurt and once with Becca's date. Candace didn't know what it was, but she really didn't like the guy. She was glad when Kurt cut in.

  Finally Candace was exhausted. She didn't know how late it was, but she knew she was going to be hurting in the morning when she had to get up.

  “Ready to call it a night?” Tamara asked her.

  Candace nodded, and Kurt was on his feet in a minute. He walked over and talked to Roger and then came back. “We should have brought separate cars. Roger's going to stay awhile longer. I told him to call if he needed me to come get him. And he's got cab money just in case.”

  It had been a wonderful evening, brace and all. When they got to Candace's house, Tamara said good night and drove off in her car. Kurt walked Candace to her door and gave her a kiss.

  “Thanks for a great night,” she said.

  “Thank you. I had a nice time.”

  After Kurt left, Candace made it upstairs and changed in record time. She thought about sending Josh a quick email but was far too tired. She climbed into bed and found herself praying for Roger and Becca.

  Candace woke up, her head throbbing from exhaustion. She felt stiff all over. As she lay there, she began to think that she must have been completely insane when she agreed to swap her Friday night shift for a second Saturday shift. Eight a.m. to four p.m. was looking unbearable. Eight a.m. to midnight seemed impossible.

  She dragged herself out of bed and somehow got dressed and downstairs. Her mom was already there sipping coffee. “You look dead,” she said.

  “I feel dead,” Candace answered.

  “Maybe you should call in sick.”

  “Can't. I did this to myself on purpose. I have nobody else to blame.”

  Her mom shrugged her shoulders. “What doesn't kill you —”

  “Makes you stronger. I know,” Candace said. “But we've already established that I'm dead.”

  “No, you just look that way.”

  Candace fell asleep in the car, and she woke with a start when they were parking.

  “I hate getting up early on Saturday,” her mom admitted.

  Candace stumbled twice on her way to the Santa Zone but was able to catch herself both times. She yawned as she picked up her basket and took her seat.

  “Morning.” An elf named Juliette walked by looking even more tired than Candace.

  “You too,” Candace said, yawning again.

  When the rush of kids arrived, she started to wake up. She was still sore, but at least she was more alert. As she handed out candy cane after candy cane, she thought from time to time about the golden one hidden somewhere in the park.

  As her lunch break drew near, Candace couldn't stop thinking about the golden candy cane. She felt sure it had to be somewhere either everyone went or nobody went. Becca had pretty well scoped the entire place out; Candace had seen her a dozen places that nobody went. Maybe that wasn't the key. Maybe the candy cane truly was someplace everybody went.

  At noon an elf named Teresa came to give Candace her break. She slid off the stool and walked slowly toward the Cantina. Where does everyone go? she kept asking herself over and over. Halfway to the Cantina she stopped.

  Everyone goes through the turnstiles at the employees-only entrance. And that entrance puts them inside the park.

  Candace turned and started walking to the employee entrance, crutches moving a little more swiftly than usual. When she reached the entrance, she stood for a moment contemplating it. Where on earth could someone hide a candy cane so that everyone wouldn't see it? On a hunch she moved forward and inspected the turnstiles themselves. The rotating bars were just wide enough that they could hide a candy cane. She tugged on the end of one of them but there was no give.

  Convinced that she was on to something, though, she went down the row, trying to pull off the end caps of each bar. On the middle turnstile the cap on the third bar she checked had some give. She pulled harder and it came off in her hand. Her heart started pounding and she reached inside with her fingers. They closed around something and she pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. She unrolled it and discovered that somebody had hastily drawn a picture of a candy cane. Beneath it were the words: I already got it. The “i” in it had a little heart drawn over it.

  Candace felt her shoulders slump. She had guessed correctly, but she had been too late. She rolled the paper back up and shoved it back inside. At least she knew she could quit looking. Of course now she was dying to know just who had the golden candy cane.

  She turned and made her way back to the Cantina, passing several groups of searchers as she did. She drew close to Pete and two other guys who were obviously on the hunt.

  “But there's only a few days left to find the golden candy cane!”

  “Think. Where haven't we searched?”

  “I don't know … maybe the Jurassic Park ride!”

  Pete grabbed the guy by his shoulders and shook him hard. “Pull yourself together, man, that's at Universal Studios!”

  Candace bit her lip to keep from laughing. She thought about telling them that it was all over, that someone had found the candy cane, but decided against it. Whoever had found it hadn't made a big public deal about it, obviously wanting people to continue the search. Who was she to deny them the satisfaction?

  The afternoon dragged by slowly, and she watched in envy as four o'clock rolled around and Juliette left to go home.

  The line of kids was starting to get shorter, which hopefully meant less crankiness. Several children earlier in the day had looked at Candace's pile of presents in a way she hadn't liked. She had to shake a crutch at one of them before he moved on.

  At six, someone came to give her a fifteen-minute break. If possible, Candace felt even stiffer than she had when she'd awakened. She ended up just walking slowly around the Holiday Zone for a few minutes, trying to work out the knots in her muscles.

  Candace made it back from break just in time to see three familiar faces approach the front of the line. Sue was there with her younger siblings, Gus and Mary.

  Candace straightened up as Gus sat down on Santa's lap. “And what can I get for you young man?” Santa asked.

  “Santa, can you bring our parents back? They died in May.”

  Candace blinked hard, shocked to hear what the little boy had said.

  Santa's voice was full of sadness when he spoke. “I wish I could, son, but I don't have the power to do that. I know, though, that they're in heaven looking down on you and Mary and loving you both. Someday you'll see them again.”

  He hugged the little boy before he climbed down off his lap, and Mary climbed up.

  “Santa, we don't have a tree or anything, but my sister says we could each ask you for one thing this year. I'd like a new dolly, and Gus would like a basketball.”

  “I'll do what I can,” Santa promised.

  Mary climbed down from his lap and headed toward Candace with
Gus beside her.

  “Merry Christmas, Mary and Gus,” Candace said.

  “Candy Corn!” Mary said, pleased to see her.

  “Not today. Today I'm Candy Cane,” Candace said, forcing a smile. She used the hook to fish a present for each child out of the pile.

  “You sure have a lot of names,” Gus said solemnly.

  “You know, I really do,” Candace agreed. She handed each child a present, and their eyes grew round with excitement.

  Mary hugged hers to her. “Thank you, Candy Cane!”

  “You're welcome,” Candace said, fighting back tears. She wanted to look at Sue but she couldn't. Everything made sense now. Why Sue needed to go to college close to home, why she needed it to be as cheap as possible, why she had latched on to Candace's mom.

  “Why don't you two go down to the nice elf over there and look at your pictures?” Sue suggested.

  Gus and Mary scampered off to do as they were told.

  “I'm sorry. I wish you hadn't heard that,” Sue said softly.

  “What happened to them?” Candace asked.

  “Car accident,” Sue said, her voice strained. “It's just the three of us now.”

  Candace reached out and hugged Sue. After a moment she broke away. “You're getting a backup of people who need candy canes,” she said, sniffing.

  “I'm so sorry, Sue,” Candace said.

  “Thanks,” Sue said.

  By the time Sue turned and walked away, both of them were crying. Now she knew what was wrong with Sue. She just needed to figure out how she could help.

  14

  A little before eight p.m., Martha came up. “We're shutting down this side for the night. There aren't that many kids left in the park who haven't seen Santa.”

  For a moment Candace thought Martha was going to send her home. She was disappointed when Martha continued. “I'm going to move your stool to the other side.”

  “Oh, okay,” Candace said, half falling off.

  “You okay?” Martha asked, eyeing her dubiously.

  “Winter Formal last night. Double shift today,” Candace said.

  “This is exactly why we discourage the double shift,” Martha said.