Holly, Jolly, and Oh So Naughty (Festive Flames)
Holly, Jolly, and Oh So Naughty: Chapter 6

“It’s just coffee but instead of caramel, you use the orange syrup, and with two pumps it’s honestly amazing.” Taylor stares at me over the edge of her cup. “Don’t knock it until you try it.”

With only a plain old coffee for myself, I smile at Taylor and shake my head. “I’m good with regular caffeine, thanks, but I’ll try and remember you like yours weird.”

“It’s not weird!” Taylor yelps softly. “You’re just uncultured in the ways of coffee.”

“You know, you might be right. I’ve spent my life in cities with a Starbucks on every corner.”

“Ew,” Taylor groans. “We need to get you into a coffee correction course.”

“Pencil that in for me.” I laugh, waving goodbye to her. Just as I head back to my office, I run into Margret who smiles at me slyly and immediately sets my nerves on edge.

“Yes?”

“So, are you going to give me a hint as to who you are dating?”

“Why does it matter?”

“My life is helping others.” Margret scoffs. “The least you can do is fuel me with the exciting twists and turns in your own life.”

“You just want the gossip so you can smile like that to everyone in town so they know you have a secret,” I say, stopping at my door with one hand on the handle. “So I’m not telling you.”

“Not even a tiny hint?”

“Okay, I’ll give you one.”

It’s comical the way Margret’s face lights up with hope.

“She’ll be at the charity party.”

Margret’s face falls immediately, and she curses me under her breath as I laugh myself into my office and kick the door closed. By the time I reach my desk after a few sips of coffee, I realize Taylor might be right. The coffee here is amazing. I don’t think I can ever go back to what they serve in the city.

Not that I have plans to ever head back there.

As if she could read my thoughts, my cell blares into life, and my mother’s number splashes across the screen. Her calls are becoming impossible to dodge. I can’t do anything on my phone without risking hitting the answer call button while trying to access an app, but if I block her, I know she’ll go as far as to report me missing to the police.

With no patients lined up, I take a chance and answer.

“Hello?”

“James! Oh, my goodness!” My mother’s powdery tones make my chest tighten suddenly, and my heart rate picks up.

“What is it?”

“Is that any way to greet your mother? I haven’t spoken to you in weeks and yet you speak to me as if I’m some cold caller!”

“That’s not⁠—”

“Whatever did I do to earn such an ungrateful son? When I need you the most, you swan off across the country and stop taking calls. Bernice and I are worried sick about you in case something happens. When your own fiancée can’t get in touch with you, it makes everyone fear something is wrong!”

Sagging forward onto my desk, I press my fingers against the bridge of my nose. “Mom.”

“And to think, after everything I have done for you, when I need you the most, you run away. No warning. Just up in the night and disappearing. Do you have any idea what that’s done for my nerves? You need to make this right, understand? You need to come home.”

She pauses for a breath, finally, and I can speak. “Mom. You know Bernice is not my fiancée anymore. She hasn’t been for six months.”

“Oh, nonsense. It’s just a hiccup that will work itself out. I know for a fact that she will forgive you when you come back.”

“I’m not coming back. And even if I did, just because you want something to work out doesn’t mean it will. Don’t you see? Didn’t Dad’s death teach you anything? You can’t plan every single detail of my life, okay? Things change. Disasters happen.”

“Your father would be ashamed to hear you say such things! You should be here with your family, grieving around loved ones, not away in some backwater town doing God knows what. Now, I gave you space and time, but enough of this foolishness, James. You need to come home now.”

“No.”

“What?” Her gasp is so loud I have to jerk the phone away from my ear.

“I said no. I’ve moved on. Changed things. I’m trying to be happy, Mom. I wasn’t happy there. I hated my job. Bernice and I didn’t like each other, never mind love. I… I’m sorry, but I can’t live to make you happy anymore. I need to make me happy.”

“James, are you listening to yourself? Of course Bernice loves you, what a silly thing to say! If you would just come back and speak to her⁠—”

“No.”

“I’m not well, James.”

There it is. When her demands and orders don’t work, Mom never fails to pull out the guilt trip.

“You need to come home.”

“No, Mom. I’m not. And I know you’re not well, but I can’t help you with that.”

“You sullen boy, how can you say something so cruel to your own mother?”

“Mom, it’s not⁠—”

“No, no, you need to come home right now and apologize. To me. To everyone. How damn selfish can you be?”

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Bye, Mom. Stop calling me.”

I don’t hear her last words as I lower the phone and end the call, but I can guess what they are. My next breath is short as the tightness in my chest threatens to overwhelm me. Maybe Dad would be ashamed of me, but I hope he would see the value in my efforts to make myself happy.

To get back what I lost.

Lowering my head, it rests in my palm as I focus on my breathing. I don’t move until the tightness in my chest finally passes and my breathing is a touch easier.

“James?” Margret knocks on the door and pokes her head around. “You got some time?”

“Yes.” I nod quickly, eager for a distraction. “You got a patient for me?”

“One better. I need you to pop over to Sweet Noel and take some pictures of the cake she’s making for the party so we can start advertising.”

Sweet Noel. The bakery I’ve passed countless times but never had the guts to enter. Learning that Lily was making a cake for the charity event was a surprise since she never mentioned it when I invited her to be my fake date. Then again, we didn’t do much talking after her parents entered the kitchen eager to eat.

The bakery is tucked on the corner of the square with golden lights woven around the wooden sign. Fake snowflakes and frosting dot the windows around countless gorgeous cupcakes, muffins, and colorful sponges I couldn’t even name.

I take a deep breath and push open the door. Soft Christmas music dances through the air, weaving between the mouthwatering scents of bakery and sugar. Cinnamon tickles my nose, alongside peppermint and the cozy warmth of rising cakes.

I’m greeted with a glass counter, behind which sit some of the more intricate cakes and tarts, all with their own handwritten cards telling customers what they are. Tinsel clings to the top of the counters, and a few glittering Santas dangle down from the ceiling.

Christmas is a few weeks away, and this is the first time I’ve felt remotely festive.

Approaching the counter, I tap the silver bell. “Hello?”

“Two seconds!” comes Lily’s voice from the other side of a wooden door.

I’m happy to wait but just as I settle against the counter, Lily bustles through the door. Her dark hair is scooped up on top of her head. Flour dots her cheeks and covers her frilly teddy bear apron, and there are colorful streaks on her fingers that I presume to be icing.

Her smile wavers slightly when we lock eyes. “James?”

“Hi.” I awkwardly wave one hand.

“Is everything okay? What are you doing here?”

I laugh softly. “Would it be so strange of me to want to buy a cake?”

Lily smooths her hands down her apron, streaking the colors. “No, sorry. I just didn’t expect to see you.”

“Margret asked me to come.”

Lily’s eyes widen. “What? The cake isn’t ready!”

“No, no, she just wants me to take pictures so she can start teasing it online.”

“Oh.” Lily puffs out her rosy cheeks and places one hand against her chest. “You scared me for a second. Do you want to buy something as well?”

“I would but I didn’t come prepared,” I joke. “Next time, though.”

Lily’s smile is a little shy, then she waves a hand at me. “Okay, come through the back. The cake’s in storage, but you can get your pictures.”

Lily leads me to the back of the bakery where countless half-finished cakes and desserts line trays and trolleys. It’s amazing to see, especially knowing she does all this herself. No wonder she’s award-winning.

“It smells amazing back here,” I say, carefully avoiding drops of flour on the floor.

“Doesn’t it?” Lily beams at me. “I’m in the middle of a commission for a hundred cupcakes for some function in the city, and they changed from lemon to marble at the last minute, so things are a bit hectic.”

“Ahh. I did see that you have quite the website presence. All those glowing reviews—it’s really impressive.”

“Thanks.” Lily smiles wider and her rosy cheeks shine. “It’s hard but it’s worth it. Anyway, the cake’s in here. Take what pictures you need.”

Lily opens up a gigantic freezer and ushers me inside. On a metal table in the middle sit four thick cakes, and their decorations take my breath away. Each layer is themed after parts of the town, and it’s like looking at a detailed miniature reconstruction. From the forest and the inn to the town square, the Christmas fair, and even the gigantic fallen tree that signals the turn into town. It’s all here in extreme detail.

“Holy shit. Lily, this is… this is amazing. You did all this?”

Lily’s fingers twist together as she nods. “Yep.”

“It’s incredible. Your talent is just… simply mind-blowing.”

Her cheeks darken further. “You’re going the right way to a free cupcake.” She chuckles.

Lily leaves me to it, and I take as many pictures as I can, from all angles, so Margret can pick her favorites. I get as close as I dare, wary of disturbing Lily’s masterpiece. While the chill of the freezer was alarming at first, it quickly became comfortable, but it’s nice to walk back out into the heat of the bakery. The tray of blank cupcakes I passed before is now filled with sparkling decorated ones, and I laugh softly.

“You’re fast.”

Lily shrugs at her work station. “All it takes is practice.”

“Lily?”

“Hmm? You get what you need?” She sets down her piping bag and turns to face me.

“Let me take you to dinner.”

Lily’s smile vanishes. “James. I agreed to be your pretend girlfriend and your fake date to the charity event because I know Margret and I don’t want you to lose your job. But that’s it. There doesn’t have to be anything else.”

“I know, I know. Look.” I hesitantly step forward. “I know we have… history.”

Lily’s lips press in a firm line.

“But you’re the only person I know here. I’ve been here a few months but I haven’t really reached out to anyone, and seeing a familiar face, it’s amazing. And I want to thank you for being my fake date, so please, let me take you to dinner. As friends. It can be a chance for us to get to know each other so we can sell this to Margret. She gives me the impression that she’ll be able to sniff us out really fast.”

Lily looks thoughtful for a moment, then her shoulders drop and she nods. “Fair point, actually. Okay. You can take me to dinner. As friends.”

I hold up my hands. “Strictly amicable. Are you free tomorrow night?”

Lily glances at the dinosaur calendar on the wall and nods. “Yes, actually. Emma has a sleepover, so I’ll be free.”

“Excellent!” Those giddy butterflies once again sweep through my gut. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow, then.”

Lily finally smiles again, and its warmth soothes my churning stomach. “Tomorrow, then.”

She does grant me a free cupcake, and I carry it out with me, only to almost lose it when a man shoves open the door to the bakery and nearly collides with me.

“Sorry, pal!” He clasps my shoulder, and I catch a whiff of chalk as we pass by one another. He continues inside as I step out into the frosty afternoon air, but when I glance back inside, my heart freezes.

The strange man is embracing Lily tightly, and all the warmth she left me with vanishes.

Who the hell is that guy?

Could he be… Emma’s father?