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“We had a little mishap in the parking lot,” Frankie explained.
Viola was next to arrive, making a beeline to the table where Team Elinor’s house was displayed. “Good Lord above, what happened?” she asked, staring at it.
“The dinosaurs came,” said Natalie.
Elinor looked down at her sad house. “A dinosaur?”
“You have to watch out for them,” said Frankie.
Elinor sighed.
“It’s cute. And unique,” Becky assured her. “People will love it.”
“No one better try to eat it,” said Elinor.
Two little boys ran up to the table. “A dinosaur, Mommy!” cried one.
“Oh, that is fun,” said the mother. “Clever idea.”
“That’s our Elinor, always thinking outside the box,” Frankie said, and brushed a piece of gravel off the roof. “I hope you’ll vote for her house as the best.”
“I want to vote,” said one of the little boys, and Frankie handed him a ballot slip.
“There’s your first vote,” she said to Elinor as the boy’s mother helped him check the correct box.
“Probably my only vote,” Elinor replied.
A loud squeal interrupted their conversation, making almost everyone in the room jump, except Mrs. Graham, who was deaf. This was followed by tapping on a microphone and, “Is this thing on?” which signaled that the party was about to start.
There stood Barbara, in a black dress accented with a red scarf and black high heel boots. She smiled from a tiny makeshift stage at the front of the room right next to where the flag was on display. “Can you all hear me?” she asked.
“Loud and clear,” called someone.
“Good. Welcome everyone to our first annual Mrs. Claus pageant.”
First annual? This was going to become a tradition? Frankie frowned. Of course, Barbara would take full credit as she basked in the spotlight. Ugh.Sharing is caring, Frankie scolded herself.
“We want you all to enjoy looking at our contestants’ gingerbread houses and chatting with them. Cast your vote for your favorite. We’ll be gathering votes in half an hour and tallying them up along with the other votes that have come in earlier. Then we’ll chat with our candidates and announce a winner. As you can see, we have some wonderful entries, and I expect some bidding wars when it comes time to auction off those gingerbread houses. I know you’ll want to be sure to purchase hot chocolate or apple cider from the Boy Scouts booth. And do check out the cookies being sold by the Friends of the Library. And finally, a big thank you to Carly Rae from KZAM for bringing her crew to join us tonight. She’ll be giving our Mrs. Claus candidates airtime so those who couldn’t be here with us won’t have to miss out on anything. Now, let the fun begin.”
A couple of men gave a whoop, and people went back to milling about and visiting. Many were already lining up to visit with the various candidates, and Frankie caught sight of Stef interviewing Mrs. Myrtle.
“Airtime?” whimpered Elinor.
“Just say how happy you are to be in Carol,” Frankie coached her. She caught sight of Mitch at the far end of the second display table, chatting with one of the contestants, and hurried over to him. “Can you come give Elinor some encouragement?”
He looked to where Elinor stood, watching the main door as if considering bolting through it. “Cold feet?”
“Frozen. She’d have been okay if our house hadn’t gotten wrecked in the parking lot.”
“Not good,” he said.
“She’s ready to withdraw, I’m sure,” said Frankie.
“If she’s stressed, maybe she should.”
Frankie frowned at him. “I know she’s going to win. This would be so good for her. Come on, help her out.”
He shrugged. “Okay.”
