Page 58 of A Sudden Romance

When he parked before one of the garages, a van pulled into the cobblestone driveway, likely the event chef, Leticia, just in time to make breakfast.

He unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out to meet her and let her through the front door. While her assistants unloaded her van, he shook her hand. She not only owned the Portuguese restaurant but also offered catering services with a menu beyond Portuguese cuisine.

“Thanks again for giving me this gig.” Suited up in a white chef coat with a hat, she beamed.

“Anytime.” He ushered her in. “Let me show you where you’ll set up.”

She followed him down the hallway lined with abstract paintings Eric’s wife had painted.

“As I mentioned earlier, my assistant will be here in the evenings while I run the restaurant.” Leticia updated him on what to expect during the week her team would be working at The Peak. “I’ll introduce you to two of my servers when we bring in our equipment.”

“I met your assistant last month when I stopped by at the restaurant to confirm you guys were a go for the event.”

They entered the kitchen, and the house surrounded them in a deep quiet. Surely, Iris was already awake. She was a morning person unless all the ladies staying in the guesthouse kept her up late chatting.

“Feel free to use anything in the kitchen.” He leaned against a counter by the glass containers of peppermint bark, toffee, and cookies he’d made Saturday. He’d stick around the kitchen until everyone showed up. So it would be a perfect time to start baking cookies for the evening if Leticia didn’t need the oven. Or he could attempt the new lemon frosting for Iris. He’d been toying with ideas for the recipe.

“I’ll show you to the dining room.” He started toward the main area.

“This is like a winter wonderland.” Leticia waved to the Christmas tree below the stairs, then craned her neck to the snowflake lights dangling from the vaulted ceiling.

“The decorators did a fine job.” He stopped at the dining room entrance. They’d only added lights in the dining room. There wouldn’t be room for a tree since they’d need more tables and chairs to fit the reunion gathering.

After showing Leticia the dining room, he nodded to her workers entering the kitchen. “Your guys need help carrying anything?”

“Nah. They’ve got it under control.” She strode ahead of him, then winked over her shoulder. “Besides, the whole point of our being here is to give you a break, isn’t it? If your bosses see you working, they won’t hire us next year.”

He snorted. “You don’t know the Stones.”

Soon, the kitchen bustled while Leticia and her staff warmed up the breakfast they’d precooked in their kitchen that morning.

That meant he could use the kitchen. So, he whipped up three lemon cookie toppings—a frosting and a thinner glaze icing, as well as a marmalade—plus the basic frostings and icings for the cookies that evening. By the time everyone gathered for breakfast, he had the cookie dough rolled out to chill for an hour before he’d start baking throughout the day.

After dinner that evening, when everyone gathered in the family room, they dimmed the recessed lights to let the string lights on the window and around the tree create the proper feel. Instrumental Christmas music underplayed excited chatter and raucous laughter as they took turns hanging ornaments. Yet Iris’s laughter always stood out, and Sabastian closed his eyes to savor it from the other side of the massive tree.

Eric and Joy’s adorable toddlers kept yanking ornaments from the tree. Eric and Joy did their best to keep them back, and Sabastian kept distracting them with a cookie or candy cane. Still, it wasn’t a long-term distraction. While Joy tended to the triplet boys who wanted her by the tree, Eric had the toddler girls. One of the girls’ lips quivered when her sister snatched her cookie.

“No, Violet.” Eric crouched on the floor to remind the toddler to hand over her sister’s cookie.

Sabastian intervened when little Violet started crying after handing back the cookie to the rightful owner.

In his late forties with his brown hair showing hints of gray, Eric shook his head, smiling. His eyes crinkled at the corners. “These girls are making me look like a grandpa.”

“They’re keeping you young.” Sabastian hoisted Violet, and the little girl’s curls tickled his cheek. “How about we get you your own cookie?”

“Cookies?” She nestled on his hip as he pointed to the cookie table.

“Tell Uncle Sabastian thank you.” Eric’s kind hazel eyes glowed warm under the lights. He had toddlers now because he was having a second chance at life. He’d lost his wife and kids in a tragic accident, but God was gracious when He sent Joy into Eric’s life, giving him a new beginning.

At the cookie table, Sabastian bent to the toddler. “Would you like a ginger snap?” He pointed to one of the brown cookies. “Or this one?”

Not that the kid knew the difference.

“I want that and that... and that.” She pointed to almost all the cookies on the table. Sabastian’s chest bubbled with laughter before he grabbed a sugar cookie. He put it on a disposable plate, then moved to the table with eggnog, hot cocoa, and frosting. Cinnamon and nutmeg scents combined with the soft aroma of pine from the tree, creating the perfect holiday fragrance.

One frosting bowl was almost scraped clean. He’d better get a refill—oh man! He’d forgotten to put out Iris’s lemon ones. He’d secluded them in a far corner of the fridge. No wonder he’d forgotten.

While he spread the cookie, the toddler poked her finger into the half-empty frosting bowl and smothered it all over her lips in her attempt to put it in her mouth. “You like that, don’t you?”

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