It was the redhead. His cheeks were stained pink, either from the cold or with embarrassment. “Uh, ma’am? Excuse me. Hate to bother you, but I’m supposed to be meeting somebody here and she’s fifteen minutes late and I’m starting to get worried about her. Maybe you know her? Phoebe Huddleston? Works at the courthouse?”

Ivy stared at the young man, who in no way resembled her friend’s fiancé.

Chapter 20

“Are you … Cody?”

“Yeah. I’m Cody,” he said eagerly. “So, do you know Phoebe? Is she okay? I’m getting kind of worried about her.”

Ivy made a split-second decision.

“She’s fine. It’s kind of a long story.” She patted the seat of the bench. “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll explain.”

He perched on the edge of the bench. For the first time, Ivy noticed he was clutching something in his right hand. It was a single, sadly wilted daisy. He tugged self-consciously at the hem of his jacket again.

“What happened to you?” Ivy asked.

His cheeks blazed a deep red and he shook his head in disbelief. “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

“Try me. My name is Ivy, by the way.”

He ran long, pale fingers through the short red stubble of his hair. “Hi, Ivy. Nice to meet you. The reason I was late getting here was, I got T-boned by an elf.”

Ivy struggled to maintain her composure. “Like, a real elf?”

“Okay, it was some hot chick dressed in an elf costume. She was pushing this sort of wagon thing across the square, not really looking where she was going, and I guess maybe I was concentrating on getting here on time … anyway, she basically ran right into me. There was a big vat of hot cocoa on the cart, and of course, it splashed all over my crotch.…” He pointed in the general vicinity.

“Now I look like a loser, and my girl when she gets here is gonna think I peed my pants. Talk about lousy first impressions.”

“I see. Did this elf say anything, after she assaulted you with her cocoa cart?”

“It was technically a cookies and cocoa cart. For some church. I mean, she said she was sorry, like a dozen times, and she kept, like, trying to mop it up, which only made a bigger mess. And then, I guess she could tell I was pretty upset, so she gave me all these cookies.…”

He stuck his hand into his jacket pocket and brought out half a dozen wrapped Christmas cookies.

Ivy had to bite her lower lip to suppress the laughter beginning to bubble up from deep within her chest.

Cody noted her odd expression and for the first time seemed to notice how she was dressed.

“Hey. So, if you’re Mrs. Santa Claus—is that elf, like, part of your posse or something?”

She chose her words carefully. “We know each other, if that’s what you mean.”

“And does this elf know Phoebe?”