Page 15 of Holly, Jolly, and Oh So Naughty

“Did Taylor not get in touch with you last week?” Margret rasps. “About the cake for the charity auction?”

From the depths of my overactive mind surges the information on the cake I was hired to make, and a hot flush of foolishness warms the back of my neck.

“Oh, my God, Margret. You’re right, don’t worry. Taylor definitely did call about a cake last week, and I have all the details. It just completely slipped my mind!”

“You had me worried there, dear.” Margret chuckles. “The auction was your idea, after all.”

“I know, I know. I just have a lot of spinning plates right now.” Mainly, the realization that James’sMedical Partyand theCharity Auctionare one and the same. Somehow, I didn’t put two and two together when he was asking me to be his date, but it seems so obvious now.

“It’s a good thing you are doing,” Margret continues. “I’ve always been in support of a free clinic, especially these days. And now that we have this fancy new doctor, I bet he’d be willing to donate a few hours to the clinic too.”

“You think?” I shift the phone against my ear while keeping one eye on Emma. “I mean, a lot of what we have to auction has been gifted by the people, and there’s a few art pieces from the gallery. If you could get Ja— that new doctor to donate some hours, I betthat would ease some of the costs of getting this place up and running?”

“I’ll talk to him,” Margret assures me. “Although after one mouthful of one of your cakes, I’m sure he’ll say yes to anything you ask him!”

I laugh off the compliment, smoothing one hand down my apron. The clinic itself does wonders, but after Emma’s birth and a few health struggles she had in her early years, I racked up medical bills that were painful to pay off. I was lucky, though, that I was even able to, and the thought of a free clinic was something I raised often at the Town Hall.

This year they finally said yes, if I can raise enough money to get it off the ground.

“Okay, so Margret, just to check. Taylor commissioned me for a four-tier cake made from vanilla, lemon, chocolate, and toffee, with a cream cheese frosting and marzipan town trademarks, correct?” I ask while reeling off the order details scrawled on a blue sticky note next to the till.

“That’s the one!”

“Amazing. So, most of the decorating work is done and ready. The cake just needs to be baked and assembled, and then we can freeze it until the party.”

“Is there any chance we can freeze it here?” Margret asks. “I keep thinking about the snow storms and if it’s as bad as last year, then I don’t want the cake to be stuck there with all the snow.”

“Good point. Tell you what, I can build the four tiers here, then send them to you for storage. Then, on the night, I can assemblein-house, and that way, we don’t miss out on the star of the show!”

“Excellent,” Margret croaks. “I’ll send the new guy over to pick it up when it’s all ready. Thanks!”

She hangs up before I can say much else, but as I hang up the phone, my twisting gut suddenly tightens.

The new guy.

She’s going to send James!

Despite meeting him yesterday and agreeing to be his fake date, the prospect of his coming here tomybakery makes my stomach somersault.

Why does that make me so incredibly nervous?

6

JAMES

“It’s just coffee but instead of caramel, you use the orange syrup, and with two pumps it’s honestlyamazing.” 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?”

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