Matt’s chest tightened. “You don’t celebrate Christmas?”
“No, we do,” Leo said. “It’s just . . .” His expression darkened. “Usually my parents go away. Like on a cruise.”
“And they just leave you?” Charlotte gaped at him in horror.
The teenager shrugged again. “Hey, house party, right?” He turned back to his food.
Across the table, Matt met Charlotte’s gaze. It looked like his Christmas mission had just changed.
Three
Two days left. Rowan had forty-eight hours remaining to get out of her rut. She stared wide-eyed into her coffee mug, one eyebrow lifted in defeated skepticism. There was no way she could fix this in two days. It’d been weeks.
The house that had been her aunt’s enveloped her in silence. Normally, it would be comforting. But it was four in the morning and she should be getting ready for work. Instead, she felt frozen in her seat at Aunt Katherine’s breakfast nook.
What would Aunt Katherine do?
That was the question that kept circling Rowan’s thoughts. As far as she knew, her aunt had never so much as burned a cake. She was sure a young Katherine had her share of botched recipes, but stretching back to her childhood, standing on the same bench she currently sat on while helping “Auntie” mix the batter for banana bread, she couldn’t recall a single mishap. Katherine had a gift. Rowan used to have the same gift, but it seemed as if the universe had changed its mind.
Maybe she didn’t deserve it.
She had, after all, been ungrateful. She’d run away to New Jersey after graduating high school, when her aunt gave her job away to someone else. For two whole years, Rowan hadn’t spoken to anyone in her family—other than a few phone conversations with her aunt. But she hadn’t visited, and she hadn’t called nearly as much as she should have. And then Katherine died.
Just like that.
And now Rowan couldn’t even honor her memory by winning the Christmas cheer contest.
She slumped in her seat and laid her head down on the table. The wood felt cool against her skin. Maybe she was beating herself up too much. Maybe it wasn’t really that important.
“Yeah right,” she mumbled into the table.
Still, life had to go on. She was the owner of a bakery—and it was Christmas time. There were two days left until the competition, and four days left until Christmas. Which meant that Elli’s had lots of orders to fulfill.
Good thing Matt wasn’t burning cookies.
Rowan forced herself to get up from the table. She took her mug to the sink and rinsed it out, smiling as she remembered Katherine’s cardinal rule. There was no time to wash it before she headed out, though. She could just hear her aunt chiding her.
She made it to Elli’s just as Matt pulled up in his pickup. Their routine was familiar, comfortable. She wouldn’t change a thing about their relationship. As she slid out of her car, she wondered if he felt the same. Christmas was, after all, prime engagement season. They’d only been together a few months, though. She grimaced. She thought she knew Matt pretty well, but if he planned on proposing . . .
She shook away the thoughts. Her already building anxiety could not get a full grip on her. She wouldn’t let it.
Joining Matt at the Elli’s entrance, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. They were soft, full, and warm. She felt every atom of her skin melting into him, her lips magnetized to his. It felt like it’d been years since their last kiss.
“Come on,” he whispered against her lips. “Time to get to work.”
She pouted. “Just one more minute?”
Grinning, he unlocked the door behind her, then shooed her in. “Nope. It’s time to break that curse.”
Rowan groaned. “I don’t think it can be broken.” Still, she followed him inside.
“I’ll handle the breads and all that,” he said as she hung up her coat.
She lifted an eyebrow at him. “You don’t trust me?”
“It’s not that. I just don’t want you to feel pressured to take care of everything.”
Even though she wanted to argue, she couldn’t deny the little squeeze in her heart at his words. “Okay.”
Matt smirked. “Okay?”
“Yeah.” She donned her pastry chef jacket and rubbed her hands together. Not for the first time ever, she mused, she’d really thrown him for a loop. “Okay.” She glanced around at the kitchen. She didn’t know where to start.
“I’ll let you do your magic,” he said, disappearing into the back hall.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
He closed the office door behind him.
Frowning, she stared. Though she knew it was wrong, everything in her wanted to press her ear to that door and see what he was doing in there. But they were partners—in more than one way. She had to trust him.
She grabbed the ingredients for brownies and spread them out on the stainless steel counter. She couldn’t screw those up. Not very long ago, she’d made her newly perfected recipe for dinner on yet another lonely bachelorette night. She’d spent the evening waiting on drunk customers at the diner in New Jersey that she used to work at. A soft smile touched her lips. She didn’t miss that part of the job, but she had loved that little diner.
It wasn’t her destiny, though.
She set to it, stirring and humming, determined to wow the town with her special brownies. The recipe had even won some blog awards—though she hadn’t found out until a month earlier. She couldn’t even remember submitting it anywhere. Something told her that Matt had done it without her knowing.
Twenty minutes later, when the brownies were in the oven, Matt still hadn’t come out of the office. Rowan hesitated in the middle of the kitchen, debating. Technically it was her office too. Her birthright, even—Katherine had passed the place on to both of them, but she wasn’t Matt’s aunt. She was Rowan’s.
Not that she wanted to stoop down and play that card.
Still, the curiosity was getting to her. From behind the door, she could hear Matt’s muffled voice. He was on the phone with someone. Maybe he was just ordering from their vendors. But then why close the door? There was no reason to shut her out.
If he was going to start the ciabatta, it’d have to be soon. Lips twisted to the side, she wrestled with bursting in or listening in. They’d been dating for several months—six if she didn’t count the two months they were broken up. She’d never had any reason to not trust him.
But maybe it wasn’t about their relationship at all.
Maybe, considering her baking funk, he was looking for another job. Tilly’s Café was going to clobber Elli’s during the contest. And they had seen a decline in business—even if only tiny. If she couldn’t get it together and stop burning things, she’d lose more than her pride.
She sniffed the air.
“Dammit!”
She turned on her heels and darted toward the oven. Yanking the door open, she peered in. What was supposed to be a perfect pan of brownies was an uneven, half-charred mess.
Rowan pulled it out of the oven and tossed it onto the stove. She’d been so preoccupied, she hadn’t been watching the time or paying attention to the scent.
That was it.
She was ruined.
It was all over.
“I’m sorry, Aunt Katherine,” she whispered. She tugged off the pastry chef jacket and tossed it into the laundry bin. Only months earlier, she’d done the same—back when she’d first lost Katherine and found out she and Matt had to take the place over. They couldn’t get along, no matter how hard they’d tried. It was just too painful, given their past. Back then, she’d thought she’d have to go back to New Jersey with her tail tucked between her legs.
If she lost Elli’s after all that, she didn’t know what she’d do. There was no diner in Jersey to go back to. Her old boss, Sean, had sold the building to a certain giant diner franchise and retired on the hefty profit. What had been Sean’s was now a corporate diner with freeze
r-burned food and below minimum-wage pay.
And she sure as hell couldn’t get a job as a pastry chef anywhere—not with her recent trail of failures streaking behind her.
With a sigh, she left the kitchen, relegating herself to the dining room. At least up front she could put herself to use cleaning the cases, mopping the floors and, when they were open, serving customers.
That was the only solution. Matt would have to take over the baking, and she’d handle all of the administrative and customer service stuff.
Tears pooled in her eyes. She didn’t want to give up baking. It was her first love. Her only love, really—no offense to Matt. She laughed ruefully. Without baking, she was nothing.
Just another girl from New England with a useless college degree and a long record of failures.
Rowan watched her only customers for the evening walk to their car. It’d long stopped snowing, so the parking lot wasn’t slick anymore, but she still worried over them like a mother hen. They were elderly, and she couldn’t not watch them. Mr. and Mrs. Kostenko had been coming to Elli’s long before she’d been old enough to talk, never mind bake. Usually they came in the morning for their first cup of coffee of the day, but lately they’d been coming in the evening for dessert instead. Rowan suspected they were going to Tilly’s for their coffee.
She turned back to the empty front room. Though it was normal for Elli’s to have a lull at this hour, the jealous part of her imagined all of her customers over at the new bakery.
Whistling, Matt strolled into the room. He marched past her and flipped their sign to the CLOSED side.
“What are you doing?” she asked, whirling on him. “And where have you been?” He’d disappeared again, this time from the property entirely.
“Just sit.”
“Not gonna happen.” She crossed her arms. “What is going on, Matt? Are you leaving Elli’s?”
He blinked. “What? I’m not going anywhere. Please, sit.” He gestured to a table.
Brow furrowed, arms still crossed, she walked over to the table and slipped into a seat.
“Put this on.” He handed her a blindfold.
Accepting the silky cloth, she eyed him. “Is this some weird submissive thing you’ve gotten into?”
His lips twitched. “No, but maybe we’ll hang onto it for later.” He waved at her. “Just put it on.”
“Just do this, just do that. So bossy,” she said, but slid the eye mask on. The dining room disappeared. She shifted uncomfortably. Her anxiety was at an all-time high lately. The last thing she needed was to be kept in the dark—literally. “Hello?” she called.
“Just one more minute,” came Matt’s voice.
She heard shuffling around, a hushed giggle, the crinkle of tissue paper. Her frown reversed into a smile, lips pressed together to keep herself from uttering a delighted laugh. He was up to something, but it was nothing like she’d thought. It was something for her. Her heart squeezed in her chest, ribbons of delight twirling through her.
“Okay,” Matt said. “Take it off.”
She hesitated. Whatever it was, she wanted to savor it. To delight in the moment completely. Swallowing hard, she listened. Nothing in the room moved. Not a single hint. She sniffed the air. The only thing she could smell was the soft, warm scent of crisp pine, like a real Christmas tree—almost, but not quite. She pressed her lips together, trying to puzzle it out.
“You can take that off now, Ro. Really.”
“Just one more minute,” she said, and he laughed.
When she’d soaked in enough of the velvety darkness and the mysterious sparkling pine scent, she pulled the blindfold off.
The front room had been transformed into the most romantic Christmas settings she’d ever seen. Fairy lights twinkled in the darkness, creating a bokeh effect and enveloping the room in soft light. A small faux Christmas tree stood in the center, white lights sparkling. Red bows adorned its branches, and under the tree were a pile of gifts wrapped in silver paper. She’d had no idea Matt could wrap.
Most surprising of all were the people standing around the tree.
Matt, his little brother Danny, and Charlotte stood in one cluster—and Rowan’s own siblings stood in another. Though Leo and Mia looked slightly uncomfortable, the Christmas magic that glimmered in their eyes was unmistakable. Even Mia, who ordinarily unrelentingly teased Rowan, seemed content to be there.
“What is this?” Rowan glanced from face to face. Her eyes skimmed over a buffet table laden with covered food warmed by Sterno. Several of the dining tables had been set for dinner, with a small Yankee Candle lit in the center of each—Sparkling Pine, her favorite holiday scent.
Somehow, he’d known.
“This,” Matt said, “is the first annual Ellis-Hayes Christmas dinner. And Butler,” he added, gesturing to Charlotte. She grinned, bouncing a little on her heels.
Rowan tilted her head, then her eyes widened as understanding dawned. “Mom and Dad still go away for their annual cruise?”
Leo shrugged and looked away.
“Of course they do,” Mia said. “We all know they never really wanted to be parents.”
Rowan sighed. She’d felt like she and her parents—especially her father—had come to an understanding. But some people just weren’t family people. She peeked at Matt. Someday, she promised herself, she would create her own version of the family she’d always wanted.
Matt removed the lids to the trays containing food. Suddenly her senses were assaulted by all sorts of delicious scents: roasted potatoes, lasagna, ham with pineapples, and baked broccoli topped with cheese and crumbled Ritz crackers. Her mouth watered.
“Charlotte?” She gaped at her best friend. “Did you do all this?”
“Yep!” Tendrils of red hair bounced as Charlotte did a happy dance. She gestured for everyone to go get food.
Rowan let them all go ahead. She crossed the room to Matt and wrapped him in a hug. “Thank you,” she murmured, her head tucked into his chest.
Cupping her head, he stroked her hair. “Merry Christmas, Ro.”
Stuffed from Charlotte’s delicious dinner, and intoxicated by all the good cheer from gifts being opened, Rowan pushed her chair back. “I’ve gotta walk, or I’ll turn into a ball,” she said, slipping into her comfy new UGGs.
She ambled into the kitchen, running her fingers along the stainless steel counters. Katherine would love that her bakery had hosted so much joy in it. Sighing contentedly, she gazed around the room. Laughter drifted in from the front. A soft smile touched her lips. She never would’ve thought her and Matt’s families would get along so well. Even Mia had behaved, keeping her innuendos to herself and focusing on the family activities.
Maybe there was hope for her and her sister, after all, Rowan mused.
One thing had been missing from their dinner, though: dessert. After such a rich dinner, they would need something light. Fluffy, but delectable. Something reminiscent of the holiday season.
She strolled around the kitchen, plucking ingredients that reminded her of winter warmth from the shelves. Cocoa to mix into a mousse, for the nice hot cup she enjoyed after shoveling out her car. Candy canes to crush, to sprinkle along the top. Her entire body started to hum, her mind already concocting the creation as she went into The Zone—that far off rabbit hole she fell into while inventing new recipes.
Matt sometimes called it her Looney Tunes hole.
Her hands got to work, whipping and crushing and drizzling. She grabbed white mugs and filled them with the creamy creation, sprinkled the bits of candy cane on top, and drizzled it with hot fudge. She stuck spoons into each one and arranged them on a tray.
Then, body vibrating with anticipation, she carried it out to the dining room.
“I know Santa’s not real,” Danny insisted. “Just come out with it already.”
Matt sighed. “All right, fine. But can you just play along for Mom? She’s really looking forward to this. She thinks it’s going to be your last Christm
as.”
“You want me to lie?” Danny’s eyes bulged.
“Santa,” Charlotte gently intervened, “is a feeling. You won’t be lying.”
Danny eyed her suspiciously.
Matt turned in his seat, his gaze snagging on Rowan. “What’s this?”
Grinning, she set the tray down on the table. “Oh, just a little something.”
The group passed the mugs around.
“Should I be scared?” Matt asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
“Oh stop,” she said. “It’s broken. I’ve killed the curse!”
“I’ll believe it,” Charlotte said, “when I taste it.” Slowly she lifted a spoonful of mousse to her lips.
Exchanging confused glances, Mia and Leo each took a bite.
“This is amazing, Ro,” Matt said. He pushed his chair back and swept her into his arms, swinging her in a circle. “You’re going to crush Tilly’s with this!”
“What’s Tilly’s?” Danny asked.
“A bakery,” Matt said, “that used to be our competition.”
Bouncing from foot to foot, Rowan tried to sooth her frazzled nerves. The Christmas cheer contest judging had begun. The town clerk had already set out, going from business to business with a panel of judges. Though Matt had decorated the inside of Elli’s and strung up lights outside, she was still nervous.
She’d built on her recipe from the night before, this time putting the mousse into clear tall mugs and alternating red peppermint-flavored mousse and the cocoa mousse, with the crushed candy canes sprinkled on top and a whole candy cane tucked into the side. Silver spoons were the final touch. Any minute, the town clerk would come by to taste her dessert. For all she knew, Tilly had come up with something even more dazzling. After all, Tilly wasn’t burning cakes and cookies.
Matt pressed a hot coffee into her hands. “Here. Drink this. Please.”
She shook her head. “I’m already wired.” She put the tall Starbucks cup down.
“It’ll be okay.” He kissed her temple. “Look. There she is now.”
Swallowing hard, Rowan straightened as the door to Elli’s opened. The bells jingled, but she didn’t need an announcement to let her know the town clerk was there.
Just One More Christmas Page 3
