Page 24 of Holly, Jolly, and Oh So Naughty

So, he’s known to them.

Mark shoots me a withering glare, then smiles widely at Hillary. “Not tonight, no. I’m here to collect Emma.”

The heavy realization that I may have just accosted Emma’s father, someone who would be prominent in Lily’s life, weighs on my shoulders, so I head for the stairs and leave them to it.

As I climb, I catch snippets of talk about a daddy/daughter dance that makes Emma squeal excitedly, and my heart sinks.

Fooling myself into thinking I have a chance with Lily is dangerous, but our date went so well that it’s impossible not to get caught up in the old feelings resurfacing with new ones.

And now there’s Mark. Mark who has the family I should have had.

Being forced to leave Lily all those years ago is the biggest regret of my life.

But I’m going to fix it.

Mark be damned.

9

LILY

“Taylor, can you hand me that tray?”

Perched on the edge of the display table, it takes all my strength to keep my balance while holding up the party streamers. I can’t be too irritated at whoever decorated this table since they likely didn’t know how much space I’d need, but it still irks me.

“This one?” Taylor, the receptionist from the medical center, holds up a tray of tiny cupcakes. Each one is decorated in blue icing with edible glitter balls adorning their tops.

“That’s the one. Thank you so much!”

“No problem.” Taylor beams at me as she hands me the tray, then she helps me set it down on the table next to me. “These are prizes?”

“Mmm.” I strain further up the table with one cupcake in hand, placing it on the outskirts of the circular pattern I created with the pink and yellow cakes.

The charity party is due to start any minute now. Even if I’d been on time, I’m not sure I would have gotten all of this done before the launch. I keep thinking of more things I have to do, and the perfectionist in me is really shining.

After placing several blue cupcakes in a line, I straighten up with a groan and press one hand to my stomach. “Oh, I need to work on my core.” I chuckle.

Taylor laughs but she looks quizzical.

“What is it?”

“Well…” Taylor swings her arms back and forth at her sides. “Don’t get me wrong, your cakes are super cool, but why would people bid on them?”

“Ouch,” I tease with a smile. “The cake is just decoration. You bid on a cupcake, and if you win, you then get to choose which cupcake you’d like. Each one has a small poker chip hidden inside which corresponds to one of the gifts donated by people around here. So, the cupcake is just a sweet treat. The real prize is the chip inside.”

“Oh.” Taylor smiles widely. “That makes so much sense. I was like, who even likes cake enough to bid hundreds of dollars?”

“You’d be surprised.” I resume my placement of the blue cakes. “You wouldn’t believe how much people are willing to pay me when commissioning my larger cakes. I like to think it’s because of my talent, but it’s mostly because of laziness. Those people would never do it themselves, so they pay someone else obscene amounts to do it.”

“I’d love to do that,” Taylor sighs wistfully. “But I think my mom would have a heart attack if I told her I wanted to bake for a living.”

“It’s hard work.” Sitting back up, I admire my creation. Up close, it’s just a jumble of colors but from a little further away, the cake display matches the flower display in the town square. “But there’s no other job quite like it.”

Taylor smiles warmly at me, but before she can say anything else, someone deeper into the hall yells her name and she scampers off with a quick wave goodbye.

The charity event is already looking amazing, and once the people are here, things will really get into full swing.

With the lights down low, the dance hall has a warm, nocturnal feel. Black netting covered in silver and gold sparkles drapes in loops across the ceiling, weaving between the old, gigantic chandelier that’s hung in this hall since the building was built. Each table is covered in gold cloth, with tiny little Christmas trees set in the middle and covered in various colors of glitter.

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