The Holiday Swap(95)
As Cass, Miguel and his parents settled in the living room with their ciders, Charlie brought a platter over for her dad to arrange the Woodburn Bakery desserts on. “Let me help you with those, Dad,” Charlie said.
“Thank you, my dear,” Thomas replied. “These sweet and salty bars are selling like crazy, Cass told me. And she’s added a cupcake this season that she said she created for your show last year . . . Something boozy, but I can’t quite—”
“Aperol Spritz cupcakes,” Charlie said, smiling with pride. “She’s on fire, I’m telling you.”
“A new era for the bakery,” Thomas said. “Exciting times ahead.”
They turned at the sound of a cane tapping against the floor, and then, “I believe that platter is missing one important element,” said a familiar voice.
“Faye! You know Cass would never let you down.” Charlie lifted a small box and opened the lid, revealing rows of lemon squares. Faye’s eyes twinkled as she lifted one out, took a bite, then whistled softly. Bonnie sprinted into the room and nearly knocked her over.
“Fool dog,” Faye said, fondly. Then, she whispered, “Don’t tell anyone.” Faye dropped her hand and allowed Bonnie to nibble the half-eaten square from her fingertips. Then, she took another square for herself. “Life is too short to wait for dessert,” she declared. “Now all that needs to happen is someone has to give me a great-grandchild who doesn’t have four legs—and then, my life will be complete.”
Thomas laughed heartily. “All in good time, I’m sure.”
“Well, I’ve been tasked with playing Santa this year,” Faye said. “So I best go take my position by the tree so we’re ready once all the guests arrive.”
As if on cue, the doorbell rang. “Come in, it’s open,” Charlie called out. Sasha and her son, Declan, entered the foyer, arms full with gifts and snow in their hair. “It’s really starting to come down out there,” Sasha said. Declan, who was ten, stared into the living room at the massive Christmas tree and the piles of gifts surrounding it. “Wow,” he breathed.
“I happen to know quite a few of those are for you, Declan,” Charlie said.
Declan ran into the living room, without even taking his coat off first.
“Thank you, Charlie,” Sasha said, and for a moment Charlie thought her no-nonsense co-executive producer of the wildly popular baking show Sugar Twins might cry. For weeks, she had been worrying aloud to Charlie about the holidays. “It’s my year, but it’s just me . . . I’m not exactly sure how to pull off a warm and fuzzy Christmas all on my own.”
That was when Charlie had suggested they come to Starlight Peak, a place Sasha had become very familiar with over the past year, especially during the three-month shoot of Sugar Twins.
“This really is a special place.” Charlie and Sasha smiled as they watched Declan continue to oooh and aaah over the gift pile. Sasha handed her son the presents they’d brought and he added them under the tree.
“I was thinking,” Sasha started. “I know most production companies have their headquarters in L.A., but we always said we wanted to be different. Maybe this is where our office belongs. What do you think? Let’s move Hollywood north, and enjoy a little work/life balance? Plus”—her eyes sparkled with the fun and mischievous side of her that Charlie was still getting to know—“we could finally settle on a name for the company: Twin Peaks? Isn’t that perfect?”
“Are you two talking work?” Jake said, taking off his apron as he entered the room. “I let Javier take over,” he murmured to Charlie. “Your mom seems relieved.”
“You’re a good man,” Charlie said, before giving him a kiss.
“I promise, not too much work talk. We’ll save that for the twenty-sixth,” Sasha deadpanned. Then Declan called out, “Mom, look at this!” and she joined her son at the twinkling Christmas tree.
“That reminds me, I have a surprise gift for you,” Jake said to Charlie. “I’ve been hiding it upstairs so you wouldn’t find it.”
“Find it? Me?”
“Admit it, you’re such a snoop, Charlie!” Cass had joined them now in the living room, exchanging a warm hug with Sasha before she and Declan went to get some cider. “She’s always been like that,” she said to Jake. “When we were little she used to unwrap and rewrap half her presents while our parents were working because she couldn’t stand not knowing what was under the tree for her!”
“I’ll be back,” Jake said, and then the two sisters were on their own.
“What’s the surprise gift?” Cass asked.
“I have no idea.” Charlie glanced up the stairs after Jake.
While they waited for Jake’s return, Charlie caught Cass up on Austin Nash’s recent demise—his memoir had been outed by the New York Times as partly plagiarized, including stolen recipes, and Bake My Day had been canceled as a result. “That’s karma for you,” Cass said, chuckling. Then she watched as Jake headed back to the tree to add a small package to the pile of gifts. She raised an eyebrow at Charlie.
“I told you, I didn’t snoop!” Charlie exclaimed. “This past year has taught me to let go of the things I can’t control. Whatever is in that box will be a complete surprise.”