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Declan tuned Sally out as they kept pace on the sidewalk, and pulled out his phone to use as a flashlight. They made a right onto 11th, and Declan wished Holly hadn’t put forth that rule about not changing partners. He didn’t want to spend the whole night listening to Sally complaining about Sam. They stopped in front of Hot-Wired Gaming, but there was no carriage waiting. Declan looked up and down the street, but everyone else had dispersed to their own areas to complete whatever task they’d been assigned.
“Especially since Holly doesn’t give Sam the time of day and it kills him.”
That caught Declan’s attention. “Sam’s into Holly?”
“Of course, can’t you tell? He plays it off like they’re friends, but you have to be an idiot not to see the signs.”
“What signs?”
“He’s always touching her when they’re near each other. Physical contact is a huge indicator of attraction.” Sally huffed. “Honestly, he’s hot, but it wasn’t like I wanted a deep, meaningful relationship with him. It’s hard to find a man who has his life together, knows what he’s doing in the bedroom, and has a compatible personality and life goals that fit with yours. Sometimes you just need to scratch an itch, and when you get bored, you move on.”
Sally’s statement landed like a cold brick on his shoulders, weighing him down as he imagined that was exactly what he was to Holly. Someone to fill a void.
“What else makes you think he’s into her?” Declan asked.
“The way he talks about her, you’d think she was a perfect goddess. You haven’t noticed?”
Before he could answer, the clip-clop of hooves preceded a horse-drawn carriage coming around the corner at the same time Sam and Holly followed the way they came, heading toward them.
“Oh no,” Sally murmured, gripping his arm. “I don’t want him to think I care. Please play along.”
“Huh?”
Sally addressed Holly, keeping her hands wrapped around Declan’s arm. “What are you two doing here? I thought each team had their own scavenger hunt list.”
“They do,” Holly said, a pleasant smile pasted on her face. “We just happened to get the envelope that includes a carriage ride too.”
“What a happy coincidence,” Sally said sarcastically.
The carriage pulled to a halt in front of them and the driver stepped down and addressed them.
“Good evening, folks,” the driver said, getting the door, holding it open for all of them. Sam climbed up first and held his hand down to help Holly and Sally inside, but the latter brushed his hand aside. Declan came in after Sally, noting Sam and Holly were already situated across from them, and slid into the open seat next to Sally. Sam shot him a little smirk Declan interpreted as triumphant and resisted the urge to knock the smug expression off his face.
The driver turned around, all smiles while passing back two envelopes. “Hang on tight, everyone.”
Sally took the envelopes, handing Holly the yellow one and keeping the blue.
They opened up the envelopes at the same time, but Sally went first. “When the carriage stops, it’s time to shine,” Sally said, her words coming out in a singsong voice. “Head to the park where the trees intertwine. Ignore the bright glow of Santa’s sleigh, what you need is buried in mountains of hay.”
“The Live Nativity in the park?” Declan offered.
“That would be my guess.” Sally turned to Holly. “Did you make these?”
“My parents did, so this is new to me too.”
“What does yours say?” Declan asked.
“Bear with me as I try to explain the importance of these bags you must claim. The contents inside may be high in the sky, but together you can retrieve it if you know how to climb.”
Holly covered her mouth with her hand. “That doesn’t sound good.”
The carriage driver called out “Whoa!” and the vehicle stopped. To the left was Mistletoe town square and the city park. The driver turned around in his seat. “I’ll wait right here for you.”
“Thank you,” Holly said, standing up. Declan preceded her out of the carriage. His feet hit the ground, and he helped Holly down by placing his hands on her waist and lifting her, his heart racing as she leaned into him with a smile. Declan lowered her to the ground, his body alive with awareness.
Sally jumped out of the carriage without waiting for help and started heading across the street, pausing when she’d crossed to the other side. “Declan, are you coming?”
Declan squeezed Holly’s waist. “See you back here.”
