Page 40 of Cakewalk

“No, no old family recipes. I don’t exactly come from a long line of bakers,” she answered.

“I get it. I don’t think my own mother has ever cooked anything,” Audrey told her.

“So…will you do it? You don’t have to have the idea tomorrow. Just be thinking about what you could possibly come up with.”

“Of course!” Gigi agreed, excited about the prospect. The idea of a new project for her and Holden in the kitchen sent a thrill through her. Just what kind of “trouble” would they be able to get up to now?

She sat and talked with Audrey and Zara for a little while longer before returning to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on the cake she’d been working on. When it was finally complete, she boxed it up, placed it in the fridge, and headed home, excited to tell Holden all about their new challenge.

Climbing the stairs to the loft, she could hear Holden’s voice come and go as if he were on the phone. As she walked into the loft he came into view, reclining slightly in his office chair, laptop open in front of him, phone pressed to his ear.

“Arriving on the twenty-fourth works. We can take care of the tree and all that beforehand, so don’t even worry about it,” he said into the phone. Looking up at her as she stopped right next to him, he ran a hand softly up and down her thigh in greeting, sending shivers up her spine.

Twisting a bit to look at his laptop, Gigi saw an open Word document, but what really caught her attention was that today it wasn’t blank. Had Holden actually written today? She turned back to look at him, her brow furrowed, but a smile tugging at her lips. The smile on his face told her that he knew what she was thinking, and that he couldn’t get off the phone fast enough.

“I don’t know, I haven’t asked her yet,” he told whomever he was speaking to. A wicked grin replaced his knowing smile, and he threw a mischievous wink her way, still rubbing her thigh. “But if you let me get off the phone, I can do just that, and then we can plan from there. Sound good?” He paused, muffled sounds coming from the other end of the line. “Okay, bye, Mom. Love you too.”

Tapping the end button on his phone, he tossed it onto the desk and turned his attention fully to her.

“Hi.” He hauled her into his lap, and she let out a little shriek before laughing. Capturing her laughter with kisses, Holden squeezed her tight.

“Hi back,” she answered. “I take it that was your mom?”

“It was,” he nodded.

“What did she want?”

“She was calling about Christmas, trying to figure out what the plan is.”

“And what is the plan?” Gigi asked, trying to not make it seem like she was at the edge of her seat with curiosity. This conversation was already night and day compared to how the Thanksgiving one had gone, and it made her that much more anxious to know the answers. The idea of spending Christmas here with Holden was something she hadn’t realized she wanted until now.

“Well, that depends on you,” he said, his eyes full of emotion.

“Me?”

“Yes, you. GeorgiaGrace Hawthorne, will you spend Christmas with me?”

* * *

Holden

Gigi’s eyes went wide as Holden asked her the question that had been brewing in him for the last couple of days, making his heart skip a beat. Oh fuck, was that the wrong question?

“Really?” she asked in return, her voice just above a whisper.

“Yes, really,” he told her. How could she think otherwise? “I want you to experience Christmas at Montgomery Manor in all its glory.”

“You make it sound like it’s a big to-do,” she giggled.

“Oh, Christmas here, with my family, is a big to-do. Other than a few years when I was abroad and we couldn't make it back, I have spent every Christmas of my life in this house. And every year we would drive out to this little tree farm and pick out a tree, and then bring it home and decorate it. And by ‘we,’ I mean all five of us squeezed into my mom’s station wagon. On Christmas Eve, dinner was really just a snackfest with all sorts of appetizers, dips, and cookies and such, and we’d sit by the fire while my dad and Uncle Field read A Christmas Carol. Christmas morning was a flurry of presents and laughter. Shortly after that, the men were kicked out so the ladies could make Christmas dinner. We’d usually end up outside kicking around a soccer ball. After dinner, there was either more reading or sometimes we would watch a movie.”

“Sounds amazing!” Gigi gushed. “You must have some wonderful memories!”

“I do. What about you? What was Christmas like for the Shaws?”

“You know, I don’t really have a lot of memories of Christmas as a little kid. I’m sure Santa came, but there weren’t any special family traditions or anything. Our cook was given the day off, so we would go to the country club for Christmas dinner, usually with another family my parents were friends with or one of my dad's clients. After that, we all just came home and did our own thing,” she sighed. “I love that you guys picked out your own tree! Ours just always appeared, set up and decorated while I was at school.”

“You’ve never decorated a Christmas tree?”