The Twelve Dates of Christmas (17 page)

I shot Nick a pointed look. He caught the hint.

“Hey, Charlie,” he said. “I was thinking
of going to grab some drinks at the snack table. Want to come along?”

“No, thanks.” Charlie put his arm around me. “I'm not thirsty.”

I debated whether stomping on his foot or elbowing him in the ribs would give him the hint more clearly. Before I could decide, Cam cleared his throat.

“Listen, Charlie,” he said. “Er, would you mind if I borrowed Lexi for a minute? I—I need to talk to her about something.”

My heart leaped into my throat. Well, not really. That would be scientifically impossible. But
something
funny started happening inside of me. Cam wanted to talk to me? That could only mean one thing, couldn't it? My crazy plan must have worked!

“Sure, Charlie doesn't mind,” I said quickly, trying to head off any more goofing around. “Right, Charlie?”

Charlie shrugged. “Sure, I guess,” he said. “But you have to promise to give her back, okay, buddy?”

“Sure.” Cam put a hand on my arm to steer me away from Charlie and Nick. It felt warm and familiar.

We ended up in a quiet corner of the lobby behind the big glass display case full
of firefighting suits and stuff. When Cam turned to face me, his expression was still unreadable.

“Sorry to drag you away from your—your date like that, Lexi,” he said.

“No, it's okay,” I said quickly, my heart beating a little faster. “What is it?”

“I just wanted to tell you something.” He shoved his hands in his pants pockets, looking uncertain. “See, ever since we—we broke up, you've been telling me it's for the best. That you loved seeing me with Jaylene, and that sort of thing.”

“Yes?” I held my breath.

He shrugged. “Well, even so, I still felt kind of, you know, guilty. And worried about you too—being alone, while I had someone new. You said it was okay, and that you were happy just being friends now, but still . . .” Pulling one hand out of his pocket, he rubbed his head the way he always did when he was trying to figure out how to say something. “Anyway, I know you're good at hiding your emotions sometimes, and I just wasn't sure I'd done the right thing. For both of us. For a while there . . .” He hesitated, then shook his head.

I resisted the urge to reach out, grab him by the collar, and yell
Get on with it!
Instead, I just stood there looking at him in what I hoped was an encouraging manner.

“But never mind all that.” Cam smiled uncertainly. “Now I can see that I didn't need to worry. You've moved on. I guess we both have.” He shrugged again. “So it seems like this really was meant to be, you know? I have to admit, it was pretty weird to see you kissing another guy like that. But at the same time, it was like a huge weight off my shoulders.” He reached over and squeezed me on the arm. “Now I don't have to worry anymore about whether we've done the right thing. I'm glad you and Charlie found each other, Lexi. I hope you'll be really happy with him.”

No. My mind refused to take this in. This definitely wasn't what was supposed to happen. . . .

“There y'all are!” Jaylene appeared around the corner of the display case with Charlie right behind her. “Charlie said Ah'd find y'all over here. Come on, they're already shooin' us back in for the second half of the show.”

She grabbed Cam's arm. Charlie stepped forward and took mine.

“Yes, we'd better go back in too, darling,” he said. “We wouldn't want to miss anything.”

I went along with him, my mind completely numb. I didn't even bother to push him away when his arm snaked around my waist again. My eyes and every fiber of my being were fixed on Cam, who was walking with Jaylene just ahead.

I wouldn't have believed it was possible. But it seemed I'd just managed to make things even worse.
Again
.

“Cheer up, Lexi,” Allie said with an anxious smile. “You can't just give up.”

“Why not?” I glared at her across Nick's dining room table. It was Saturday morning, and the three of us were sitting there wiring together a bunch of fresh evergreen garlands. “In case you've both forgotten, the Ball is less than a week away. The fateful twelfth date.”

Nick flicked a juniper berry at me. It bounced off my forehead. “Since when do you have so much faith in her wacked-out theories, anyway?” he demanded. “Usually you're the first one pointing out all the ways they don't make sense. But you're acting like this Dozen Dates thing is, like, the
periodic table of elements or something.”

I sighed. “I don't need a theory to tell me that things are looking hopeless. All I need are my own two eyes. And my own two ears hearing Cam tell me how thrilled he is that I've finally hooked up with someone so he can fa-la-la-di-da off into the sunset with Jaylene, guilt-free.”

Allie and Nick shared a concerned look. “Are you sure you don't want to try talking to him?” Allie suggested tentatively.

“What's the point?” I frowned at the stack of pine fronds in front of me. “I told you, if he finds out everything I've done, he'll totally write me off. I'm sure of it.”

“Well, then I have another idea,” Allie said. “Want to hear it?”

I shrugged apathetically. “Why not? What do I have to lose? I've already lost Cam, my self-respect, my dignity. . . .”

“This one is called the Heartbreak Charm Theory,” Allie said. “I don't think I've told you about it before. But the idea is that guys have a strong protective instinct, and if they think you've been hurt by another guy, that will come out. So for instance, if Cam were to find out that Charlie just dumped you in some totally
harsh way, it'll rile up his sympathy and protective impulses. And if you play it right, that could lead to you two getting back together.”

“Sounds to me like you should call it the Pity Party Theory.” But I couldn't help a glimmer of interest. If any guy would fall for something like that, it was Cam. “Do you really think it could work?”

“Like you said, what do you have to lose?” Nick reached for another evergreen branch. “Want me to see if Charlie's up for a big public breakup scene?”

“No thanks. I've had enough of Charlie's acting skills. Besides, there's not enough time for that.” I smiled. “I have a better idea. . . .”

Later that afternoon, Allie sat on my bed next to the cat and watched me put on a pair of gold hoop earrings. I was already dressed in a pair of nice black wool pants, a warm but attractive wool sweater, and the brand-new pair of snazzy high-heeled boots I'd bought earlier that week with the Christmas money my grandfather in Florida had sent.

“You look nice,” Allie said.

“Thanks.” I smiled at her, a shiver of nervousness passing through me. “Hand me the phone, will you? It's time to call.”

Allie tossed me my cell. I caught it and punched in Cam's number. While it rang, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I'd already planned out what I was going to say. The only question was, could I pull it off ?

“Hello?” Cam's familiar voice answered after a couple of rings, sounding a bit rushed.

“Cam! I'm so glad I caught you.” I put a note of panic into my voice.

“Lexi? What is it?” He was instantly on alert, his voice worried. That was Cam for you. “Is something wrong? You sound funny.”

I shot Allie a thumbs-up. “I—I'm really sorry to bother you.” I did my best to put a little sob into my voice. “But I didn't know who else to call. Allie and Nick aren't answering their phones, and I need to leave for the ceremony soon . . .”

“You mean the tree-lighting ceremony?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

The town's annual tree-lighting ceremony
was the keystone of my plan. Like everything else having to do with Christmas in Claus Lake, it was kind of a huge deal. Everyone in town gathered in front of the town hall, the newspaper showed up to take pictures, and the local Girl Scout troop served hot cocoa and cookies and sang carols. Basically, it was the last big public gathering before the Ball.

As that year's Simpson Scholarship winner, I had the honor of placing the big fancy antique star at the top of the tree. Traditionally, the star-placer got all dressed up—well, as dressed up as you could be and still (a) climb a ladder; and (b) not freeze your butt off—and brought along a helper whose job was to hit the switch as soon as the star was in place. That way the newspaper's photographer could get a good shot of the whole shebang while the star-placer was still atop the ladder. A few times in the past, star-placers had brought along a parent, sibling, or best friend to serve as the light person. But since we were talking about high school seniors here, most of them brought a boyfriend or girlfriend as their helper.

In all the commotion over the whole Cam situation, I'd almost forgotten about
the ceremony until my conversation with Nick and Allie that morning. On the few occasions it had crossed my mind before then, I'd sort of vaguely assumed that Cam and I would be back together in time for him to go with me.

“Were—were you planning to go to the tree-lighting tonight?” I asked Cam. I threw in a sniffle. Allie nodded approvingly.

“Um, sure,” Cam replied. He hesitated. “I'm meeting Jaylene there later. She's going to be a little late, but I was planning to get there in time to see your big moment.”

“Oh.” I sniffled again. “Look, I normally wouldn't ask, especially at the last minute like this, but like I said, I can't reach Nick or Allie, and my parents already left, and I don't know what to do—” Calling upon my honest feeling of desperation at the thought of losing Cam forever, I dredged up another somewhat dishonest sob. “See, Charlie just—just—just
dumped
me!”

“Oh, Lexi!” He sounded genuinely distressed. “I'm so sorry. You guys seemed so happy last night.”

“That's what I thought,” I moaned.
“But I was sitting here waiting for him to pick me up for the ceremony, and then he just called, like, five minutes ago and said he decided I wasn't what he was looking for after all.”

I felt more than a twinge of guilt at the bald-faced lie. Somehow, it seemed even worse than most of the previous semitruths and vague manipulations. But I tamped down the feeling and plowed on. After all, I was in it this far. What was one more thing to keep from Cam if I ever did win him back?

“So now I don't have a partner for the ceremony, and if I show up alone I'll feel like the world's biggest loser, and so I just thought . . . Is there any way you could flip that switch for me? You know, for old time's sake?”

I held my breath. For a second he didn't answer. I shot a glance at Allie, who was hanging on every word of my end of the conversation. She held up both hands to show me that all her fingers were crossed.

“Um . . . ,” Cam said at last. “Wow. I can't believe he did that to you, Lexi. He doesn't even know . . . Well, anyway. I guess—I guess it would be okay. You know,
if Jaylene is okay with it, of course.”

“Of course.” I made my next sniffle especially pathetic. “Do you think she'll let you do it?”

“Let me call her. Like I said, she's going to be late—some relatives are visiting from down South, and they're all having dinner together. So I'm sure she won't mind. I'll call you back in a second, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“Just hang in there, Lexi. It'll be okay.” He hung up.

I hung up too, then stared at Allie. “He's calling Jaylene.”

Allie looked sort of worried. “Do you think she'll say yes?”

“Why wouldn't she? She's never seemed the least bit threatened by having me around Cam before.” I shrugged and set the phone on my desk. “Besides, she's totally clueless about all our weird Claus Lake traditions. She won't have any idea how seriously everybody takes this one, either.”

“But Cam does.”

“Right. With any luck, I'll be able to use that to my advantage. And by the time poor Jaylene shows up, it'll be too late.”