Page 48 of Cakewalk

“Oh, absolutely. Our mothers lunched together. We ‘dated’ for three years,” she said, using her fingers to make air quotes around dated.

“Dated?” he questioned, repeating her gesture.

“He broke my heart just before Homecoming in the eleventh grade. Said he just didn’t see us working long-term. Sophomore year of college I found out he was dating the kicker of the football team at Tennessee. They’re married now and have the cutest cocker spaniel.”

“I can’t compete with that story,” he laughed, placing another ornament on the tree.

“I didn’t realize we were competing,” she laughed in return. “Here, do you want to put this one there?” She handed him a small wad of white tissue paper, opened up to display two small figures molded together, both wearing matching red Christmas pajamas. His and Hannah’s names were written on each corresponding figure, with ‘Our First Christmas’ written underneath it. Holden felt the tears prick at the corner of his eyes as he stared at it, not sure what to do.

“You don’t think it’s weird?”

“No, why would it be? She’s a part of your life, a part of you, Holden. I know you miss her, and that you’ll always love her.” Gigi paused, letting her words sink in. He loved that she was so understanding and that she wasn’t threatened by his love for his late wife. She was right—Hannah was a part of him and always would be. Stepping in closer to him, she continued, “I want it on our tree. I think it belongs there.” He nodded, his heart squeezing all over again.

They continued like this for another couple of hours, exchanging stories and loading the tree up with everything they could. When they finally didn’t have anything left to hang, Holden went and turned off the lights in the living room. The glow of the fire was the only thing helping him to find his way over to the plug so that he could light their tree.

“Ready?" he asked, peeking around the robust bottom to see Gigi.

“Yes! Just plug it in already!”

Doing as she asked, he jammed the plug into the socket, and the tree came to life. The bright white lights illuminated the room, reflecting off the balls and the keepsake ornaments that adorned the branches. However, even all those lights were nothing compared to the look on Gigi’s face as she admired their handiwork.

“What do you think, sweetheart?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him so her back was against his chest.

“It’s perfect,” she whispered.

“I think it’s missing something,” he told her.

“What? We put everything on there. What could it possibly be missing?” Her voice sounded panicked, and he could feel her tense up in his arms. He gave her a squeeze before letting her go and reaching over to the couch. Digging in between the cushions, he pulled out the small flat box he’d shoved in there before they had left earlier.

“Here,” he replied, handing her the box.

“Holden,” she said, her panic turning to another emotion he couldn’t quite place.

“Open it.”

She slipped her finger underneath the red ribbon that surrounded the box, letting it fall to the ground. Opening it up, she found a brightly colored cupcake ornament, her name written on the bright blue cupcake liner. She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand as she took it in. Holden’s heart stopped, waiting for her to say something, hoping that he’d done the right thing.

“This is our tree, so it needed a little Gigi on it. I thought nothing was better than a cupcake for Colebury’s cupcake queen.”

“Holden…” she choked out, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. “I…I…I…”

“I know, sweetheart, I know.”

Throwing her arms around him, she crushed their mouths together. She still tasted like chocolate, but now, she also tasted like something else. Like all the happiness in the world. He felt like he could burst from all the love radiating through him right now, making it seem like all was right with the world. With Gigi in his arms, there wasn’t anything else he could ever want.

21

Holden

This was the kind of moment when Holden knew he should be nervous. His parents and godfather were due to arrive any time now, but the only thing he felt was a sense of excitement. Just like a little kid on Christmas Eve waiting on Santa, he couldn’t wait for them to arrive and to meet Gigi. The first time he’d done the meet-the-parents thing had been over a scheduled dinner when Hannah’s parents had come to visit Dartmouth—and he’d been scared out of his mind. He’d had no idea what to expect since every time he’d asked Hannah what they were like she’d simply respond, “They’re parents.” But now, his insides were humming with anticipation.

Gigi, on the other hand, seemed to be distressed enough for the entire state of Vermont.

She’d spent most of the morning rushing around the kitchen, trying to make sure that everything was beyond perfect. The buffet in the dining room was covered in more food than Holden had seen in there in maybe his whole life. Crab cakes, buffalo chicken sliders, chicken parmesan sliders, deviled eggs, sun-dried tomato pinwheels, and mini quiches were just some of the finger foods she’d already laid out, while he knew there was still more to be cooked or assembled. Not to mention the four types of cookies and two types of cupcakes she’d made. For a woman who had almost burned down a building a couple of months ago, she was certainly kicking ass and taking names now.

The crunch of the gravel pulled Holden’s attention away from all the incredible smells wafting out of the dining room and toward the drive just in time to see his dad park their SUV. Running outside to greet them, he was a little taken aback when his godfather marched right past him and into the house.

“Hello to you too, old man,” Holden called after him.