Page 21 of Grinchland
“What do you have in mind?”
TEN
CLARA
If you would have told me thirty minutes ago, when the sheriff was knocking on my door, that I would be standing here, about to negotiate with the Grinch, I would have said you were crazy.
There was no way in Rudolph’s red nose I would have ever thought this would be a possibility. But here I was, with Silas in the palm of my hand.
He must have realized that I wasn’t going to stop until I had all of the town council on my side. George had been easy to convince. He admitted that he missed Christmas and the treats that went along with it. It only took two cookies washed down with my award-winning hot chocolate, and he was ready to sign on the dotted line to reinstate Christmas.
He let me know that it would be harder to convince the other members but not impossible. With a list in hand of the town council and their favorite Christmas festivities, I was ready to take on Silas.
And I think he knew that.
But I was a simple person who preferred to take the route of least resistance. Instead of tromping all over Grinchland trying to find and convince the people in charge to see my side, I’d much rather go to the source. I was being given the opportunity to grow the heart of the person who’d banned Christmas in the first place, and I wasn’t going to let that opportunity pass. It was the fastest and easiest route.
I’d seen the way Isabelle’s eyes brightened when she saw me at school today, and I’d caught her trying to touch my earrings while she stood at my desk. I knew I needed to intervene. Grinchland and Isabelle needed Christmas. And I was certain that if I peeled back the layers of protection Silas had built up around his heart—he’d realize he needed Christmas as well.
But how did I convince the person who had outlawed Christmas in the first place that he actually needed it?
I glanced around, hoping to find my answer. When my gaze landed on the snow globes I’d bought with Abbie, I knew what I needed to do. I was going to have Silas experience all the traditions that I loved. There was no way he could do all these things and still uphold the ban in the end.
I could melt his icy heart. I was sure of it.
“I won’t go behind your back and convince the council to change the bylaws, if”—I held up my finger just as Silas’s eyes narrowed—“you agree to participate in my Christmas traditions.”
He scoffed. “No way.”
I frowned. “Really?”
Resistance was to be expected. Convincing Silas was going to save me time, not be easier. So I shrugged. “I didn’t peg you as a man who gives up.”
“I don’t give up.”
“You’re not going to negotiate?”
He sighed and shifted his weight. “Fine. What are you willing to offer me?”
“Spend the week with me.”
He quirked an eyebrow.
“Doing Christmas things,” I hurried to add. As soon as I spoke the no-no word, he pursed his lips like he was fighting the urge to tell me off. “At the end of the week, if you still hate Christmas and want it banned from your town, then I’ll obey. I’ll take down all of my decorations.” I wrinkled my nose but continued. “I’ll wear beige, and you will not hear another holly jolly word from me again.”
He studied me. I could tell that he was mulling over my offer. I held his gaze, daring him to tell me no. This was the best option for both of us. I was so certain I would convince him to see my side that I almost changed the terms, but then decided to keep it to a week, just to be sure. Two days with me and he’d be dressing in gaudy Christmas sweaters and directing the Christmas choir.
“I have two conditions.”
Whoa. I didn’t think it would be that easy. “Okay,” I said slowly.
“We don’t involve Isabelle. And everything Christmas”—he spat the word like it tasted bad in his mouth—“stays at your house.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “But?—”
“Those are my terms.” He shrugged. “Take it or leave it.”
I frowned. I could fight him on this, or I could accept and spend the week trying to show him why his decision to ban Christmas was the wrong one. From the way his jaw was set and his blue eyes had greyed, I knew it would be better to push him later when he was full of my mulled cider and honey-baked ham.
