The Holiday Swap(51)
“Really? I just assumed you went to tons of Hollywood parties and saw places way more impressive than this all the time.”
“Those kinds of parties aren’t really me,” Cass said—although she had always imagined her sister’s life involved a lot of glamour.
“You’re not at all what I expected, Charlie. Watching you on TV, I just always assumed you were—well, a lot less down-to-earth than you are.” He took her hand and started leading her toward the pool’s gate.
“I’m not really L.A. at heart. I’m from a small town.”
“That’s right. Starlight Peak. I’ve skied at the resort near there a few times—great mountain.”
“Me, too,” Cass said with a longing sigh. “I love snowboarding there.”
“Maybe you can give me a snowboarding lesson in return for the surf lessons.” He had no idea how much she wished for both things to come true. As he lifted the latch of the gate and opened it, Cass took in the perfectly manicured poolside yard. Miguel pointed to a cedar cabana a few steps away.
“There’s a shower in there, towels, everything you need. Now, I have to go prepare everyone for the fact that you’re here.”
“It’s not going to be a problem, is it? I really don’t want to impose.”
“It’s going to be the opposite of a problem. They’re going to be so excited to have you they’ll need a little time to calm down or they’re going to completely weird you out. Plus, my dad always cooks enough for a crowd. Just come up to the house when you’re done.”
* * *
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Twenty minutes later, Cass lingered at the sliding door leading to the kitchen, showered and changed, her still-damp hair drying in natural dark blond waves down her back. Feeling suddenly shy, she almost backed away into the shadows.
But then a voice called out, “Here she is.” Miguel’s sister, Jacintha, had been standing at the kitchen island chopping herbs but now she rushed over to the screen door and slid it open, welcoming Cass inside. Miguel had been pulling place mats and napkins out of a drawer but he abandoned the task to make introductions: his parents, Essie and Javier; his brother, Romero (who went by Ro); Ro’s partner, Anna; Jacintha’s wife, Lila—who was, by her own admission, massively and delightedly pregnant.
“And Ro and Anna’s kids are around here somewhere—twins, Lulu and Ava. Charlie is a twin, too.”
“No kidding!” Anna said with a smile as she chopped vegetables. “Well, our twins are in the side garden, picking chives . . . But they’ve been gone awhile so I should probably go check they haven’t decided to dig up the entire garden.”
Essie shook her fist in mock anger. “They’d better not be,” she called after Anna, then turned to smile at Cass—revealing where Miguel had inherited his endearing dimples from. “Those two are always up to something,” she said. “They keep us on our toes. You must know what that’s like, right? Double the trouble, those two. Now, I’ve just opened a bottle of cava. Can I get you a glass?”
“She doesn’t drink, Mom,” said Jacintha. “Sorry—is it weird that I know that? I read a Q&A with you in People.”
“Oh no, it’s not weird, it’s just—”
“Not true,” Miguel said, handing her a glass of cava. “You should know better than to read those magazines; everything is made up.”
Thankfully, there were no blips after that. Once Cass got used to the chaos—including the twins running into the kitchen with handfuls of lavender, not chives, and clumps of dirt falling all over the floor, to which the adults reacted calmly, cleaning up the mess while Javier accompanied the kids back outside to find their true quarry—she felt like she fit right in.
Essie asked her to help brown the butter for a béchamel, and they carried platters to the table along with everyone else. They were a warm and welcoming clan, and she felt like one of them by the time the sun set over the ocean and they had scraped their plates clean of a delicious linguine with seared scallops and buttery clams, plus a fresh salad redolent with the variety of fresh herbs the twins ended up procuring in the end—none of them chives, it turned out.
“Can you believe it, Charlie, Miguel is our black sheep—the only one who isn’t a doctor?” Jacintha said.
“The only one of us who actually has a life,” Ro added, standing to begin clearing plates, while Anna chased after the twins. He waved Lila away and told her to sit back down and rest when she tried to assist with the table-clearing. Cass stood and picked up an empty platter.
“No, no,” Javier said. “You stay here. Participants in the recipe challenge aren’t allowed to see the ingredients in the staging area.”
“Oh no,” Miguel said, putting his palm to his face. “You said you wouldn’t.”
“What I said and what I intended to do were two different things, son. We have the honor of hosting Charlie Goodwin at our home today—and if you think that means we are going to cancel the Sunday bake-off . . . Well, that’s just crazy. Isn’t it, Charlie?”
Cass was laughing. “Miguel told me about these bake-offs. I’d be happy to participate. How does it work?”
Javier rubbed his hands together. “Two teams, one prize,” he said, as if he were a television announcer.