Page 205 of Men in Shorts

Once they were all in place, Garen opened the door. The piper went first, playing “Jingle Bell Rock.” Wee Willow followed with a small boom box providing karaoke-style backing music.

They all filed out onto the ice, bobbing and swaying in time to the surprising rendition. Willow showed them where to stand, side by side facing the warm room. Through the wide window, Brodie saw the rest of the curlers watching the ceremony from where they gathered at tables or the bar.

A volunteer dressed as Mrs. Claus went down the line with a tray of whisky drams. Brodie took the offered glass with a bit of trepidation. So much for staying sober for the game.

Garen strode forth, now wearing a stole of sleigh bells in addition to the Santa hat and reindeer antlers. He took a dram from Mrs. Claus’s tray. “It’s been a glorious day so far, but also a long one, so I’ll keep it short. Good curling!”

Brodie raised his glass and shouted, “Good curling!” with the others. The whisky burned going down, then flooded his face with warmth.

Garen shook the sleigh bells around his neck. “Let the finals begin!”

A coin toss gave the Herald Angels hammer in the first end. Brodie shared a surreptitious fist-bump with John at the result. Then he and Duncan walked down the sheet to take their turns as skip.

Halfway there, Duncan asked, “Do you know what you’re doing?”

“In general, or…”

“In terms of skipping. Obviously you know what you’re doing to me.”

Brodie smiled, because Duncan was flirting and because the whisky made that flirtation feel ten times as fabulous.

Luca was waiting for them in the house. “Let me know if you want any suggestions.”

“Thanks,” Duncan said, “but it’s not fair if I just do what my coach says, especially a coach who’s gone to nationals.”

“I’m here to help anyone on any team.” Luca gave a smug smile. “Especially now I’ve beaten Oliver’s.” He went to stand on the carpet beneath the holly-draped scoreboard, leaving Brodie and Duncan alone in the house together.

Duncan sighed. “I’ve not got a single scooby how to start.”

It was tempting to let him flounder and thus seal a Herald Angels victory, but that would’ve been contrary to the spirit of curling. “Well, my team has hammer, which means we throw last in this first end.”

“I understand that much,” Duncan said.

“Our side will try to keep the middle area clear, in case I need to use my last stone to make a draw to the button—that’s the solid circle at the center of the house.”

Duncan laughed. “I thought there was an actual button somewhere the skip had to push. This makes more sense.”

“Anyway, your team want to keep the middle of the house blocked. So ask your dad to put a guard somewhere up there.” He pointed along the line extending forth from the center of the house. “And that is literally everything I know about strategy. I’m winging it the rest of the way.”

“Aye, right.” Duncan winked at him. “Thanks for the tip.”

Brodie headed behind the house, adjusting his halo’s headband. If only he had a Santa hat to cover his ears. With one wink, Duncan had made them tingly hot and no doubt bright red.

All Through the House held the Herald Angels to one point in the first end, then Brodie’s team stole a point in the second end to go up 2-0. Since Duncan and his teammates hadn’t scored, they kept the hammer in the third end. On his last stone, Duncan did a double takeout to score three and capture the lead 3-2.

Brodie had expected Duncan to strut and preen like he’d do after scoring a goal. Yet Duncan celebrated with only a series of low-key high fives with his teammates. Maybe the spirit of curling had taken hold of him, too.

The Herald Angels huddled with Heather before the fourth and final end.

“We’re down one,” she said, “but we have the advantage because we’ve got hammer. We score two in this end and take home that trophy.” She put a hand to the center of their huddle, and in an instant all four curlers followed suit. “Angels on three. One, two, three.”

“Angels!” they shouted, raising their hands high. Brodie’s own ferocious determination—not to mention fatigue—was mirrored in his teammates’ eyes.

Heather accompanied him and Duncan down to the other end of the ice, nearest the warm room, leaving Luca to coach the throwers.

Brodie knew what to do to try to score two: ask for corner guards, one on each side in front of the house, then put other stonesinsidethe house behind those guards, and then…something something…victory!

But Ellie peeled off their corner guards, exposing their rocks in the house, and the Herald Angels’ attempts to replace the guards went awry, and Duncan’s mum—who clearly knew what she was doing—left her team with three red stones in the house before Duncan had even thrown his first.

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