Page 23 of Baking it Merry

And rather than pushing her, Tristan stood back and watched as his house transformed into a bit of a holiday wonderland.

But—shockingly—not in an over-the-top kind of way.Daphne set the tone for a holiday party that was going to be elegant rather than obnoxious.

Like her gingerbread house and front porch.

“Faye mentioned that you were having champagne delivered,” she said a few minutes later.“Are you going to set up a bar or something?Are you planning on serving anything else, like hot cider or eggnog or hot chocolate?We only sort of touched on that topic, but never confirmed it for this party.”

Damn.The hot chocolate bar would have been nice.His mother always enjoyed sipping cocoa by the fire during the winter months and she would have loved something so creative here tonight.“It totally slipped my mind,” he admitted.“I’m guessing it’s too late to make that happen now.”

Pausing, she glanced around.“The coffee bar you have is too tucked away to really make a statement.The butler’s pantry is a nice touch for everyday living, but we want everything to be out in the open for your guests to see rather than make them go hunting for it.”Biting her bottom lip, she continued to consider the space.“The sideboard there in the dining room area.Is there an outlet behind it?Can we move it a little?”

“Um…”

Not waiting for an answer, she walked over and began examining it.“Found one!”Then she began moving it and Tristan quickly raced over before she scratched the floor.

“Easy,” he murmured.“No need to damage the place.”

“Oh, stop.I didn’t damage anything.We only need to move this out far enough to plug in a few things.”

“Like what?”

But she wasn’t listening.Instead, she was talking to herself and then pulled her phone out of her pocket and began dictating.“Oversized crock pot filled with cocoa, peppermint spoons, marshmallows, peppermint liqueurs, whipped cream, sprinkles, peppermint sticks, cinnamon sticks, mugs, candies…ladle.”Putting her phone away, she smiled at him.“I don’t suppose you have any of those things, do you?”

“Um…no?”

“Hmm…it will make things a little tight on time, but I think we can make it happen.I can get all the supplies, and I’ll bill you for them separately.If we do it right, we can re-use some items at the office party.”

“Can’t we just buy new things?”

“Some of it we can, but decoration-wise, we can re-use a lot of it.The crock pot, mugs, and whatever leftover toppings we have…”

“I have mugs.”

“Red ones?Santa ones?Anything festive?”

Frowning, Tristan slid his hands into his pockets.“I think we both know the answer to that.”

“That’s what I thought.”Pausing, she walked across the room and began unpacking lanterns and candles.“Can you set up the goodie bags in the butler’s pantry?Toward the end of the night, the servers can bring them out and place them on the island, but for now it would be best to have them just slightly out of sight.”

“Sure.”

They worked for another hour when Daphne declared they were done.“Okay, I’m going to go and do a quick shopping trip for the hot cocoa bar supplies.I’ll be back here at six to finish setting up with the servers.I promise to be out of here before your guests arrive.”

“I think it would be better if you stayed for the entire party.”There.He said it.

Shaking her head, she picked up her coat and purse.“Sorry, I can’t.Besides, that’s why the servers are here.I don’t need to supervise anything.Plus, my friend Sara invited me to her company holiday party, so…I’m going to put on my party dress and enjoy a night out.”

It wasn’t rational, but it really irked him that she wasn’t planning on staying.Were these servers reputable?Could he trust them in his home and to stay on top of things?Did they know what the schedule was?

“I can tell by the look on your face that you’ve got something to say, Tristan.So…out with it.”

It was said sweetly, but he knew she was secretly mocking him.

“I just thought the caterer stayed for the event; that’s all.You never mentioned that you wouldn’t be here.”

Neither spoke for several long moments, and he figured it was only a matter of time before she saw his logic and agreed to cancel her plans.

“The servers are professionals and if I stay, I’m just going to be in the way.All the desserts are self-serve so there is no reason for you to have three people standing around watching all of you eat.Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to the store so we can have the hot cocoa bar.I’ll see you at six!”

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