Page 30 of A Very Merry Enemy
Small victories.
I’m in the bakery kitchen by five, pulling prepped dough from the fridge and arranging baking sheets. The rhythm is soothing. By seven, I’ve got three hundred gingerbread stars cooling and another batch of peppermint bark cookies in the oven.
My phone buzzes in my apron pocket.
Emma
Congrats! Saw the news first thing this morning. So excited for you!
My brows furrow. What news?
Holiday
Um…I think you texted the wrong person.
Emma
No, I didn’t! Check the town Facebook page.
A second later, she sends a screenshot. I make it bigger and my blood runs cold.
It’s a post on the Merryville Community page with photos of me and Lucas side by side.
Welcome to our newest Cookie Contest team: Holiday Patterson & Lucas Jolly! Can’t wait to see what magic these two create together!
I stare at the screen. My heart pounds so hard I can feel it in my throat.
Holiday
EXCUSE ME? I did not sign up for this.
Emma
What? There was a whole packet that had to be filled out to enter, plus a $250 entry fee.
My hands shake as I type.
Holiday
NO! Who would do this withoutasking? Lucas?
Emma
It would’ve had to have been him. Did you see the prize this year is $5,000?
I freeze.
$5,000.
That money could change everything. It could get me out of my parents’ house and give me a cushion while I wait to hear back from the NYC bakeries. That’s enough money to buy me time to figure out what the hell I’m doing with my life.
But working with Lucas for five weeks? Absolutely impossible.
Holiday
I’m going to City Hall after work to remove my name.
I set my phone down before I throw it across the kitchen.
