Page 13 of The Holiday Swap

“Sorry, Sasha,” she called out. “I should have caught that. Ready whenever you are.” Her confidence was now shot, and a cold and clammy sheen of sweat covered her arms. She was out of her league here. Way out of her league.

“Well, you didn’t write the damn script,” Sasha muttered, giving a pointed glance to one of the headset-wearing men who was also holding a clipboard, looking guilty. “Fine. Let’s go from the top again. Charlie, first pass is daythree. Got it?”

“Got it,” she replied, nodding and clearing her throat. They were counted in again.

“I’m Austin Nash...”

“And I’m Charlie Goodwin...”

“And together, we’re Sweet and Salty!”

Cass smiled, hoping it looked natural. “Welcome to day two of... Oh! I’m so sorry.”

There was shuffling and coughing in the background, and Sasha let out another sigh. Cass was ruining this, and she’d only been at it for about two minutes. “Austin, swap lines with Charlie.” Cass wished she could run off set, straight back home to Starlight Peak. But even if she wanted to, these heels wouldn’t let her get far.

Austin was flawless, of course, effortlessly picking up where she left off. Cass struggled to find a rhythm with the script, screwing up a few more times as they worked through the various intros for the baking competition.

Finally, Sasha called for a break, and Priya came out to freshen up both Austin’s and Cass’s makeup. As Priya powdered away Cass’s nervous sheen of sweat, she saw Austin and Sasha off to the side, talking animatedly but too quietly for her to hear.

Priya followed Cass’s gaze, then harrumphed. “Don’t you worry about him, hon. Sasha knows exactly who Austin Nash is.” Casswas grateful to her sister’s best friend, but she was worried about the secret huddle. Just then Austin glanced over, giving Cass a big smile.

“Happy to pick up the slack,” he said, loudly enough for the rest of the set to hear him. “We’re a team, right, Charlie?”

Cass smiled wanly in response. “You bet,” she replied brightly, feeling a touch better as she imagined throwing one of the whipped-cream-topped cranberry-cloud pies the assistants were prepping into his smug, gorgeous face.

4

Charlie

Tuesday: 11 Days to Christmas...

Starlight Peak

The bakery’s morning to-do list was long and the note from Cass not long enough.

I put the dried fruit in the rum to soak before I left. Walter Demetre, the student who helps me in the bakery—remember him? We used to babysit him and his sister—comes in at 5:45 a.m. Also, Gateau has outdoor cat aspirations, so keep her upstairs during morning rush. xx

Charlie glanced again at the list and the note, and the words blurred momentarily. She sipped at her coffee but scowled whennone of the flavor or aroma came through—it might as well have been hot water. For a moment she indulged her panic that maybe this loss of her senses could be permanent, and a deep feeling of dread settled in. The devastation, both personal and professional, would be...Stop it, Charlie, she silently chastised herself. She had to assume this was merely a temporary side effect of her concussion. Any other outcome was unacceptable.

Shaking off the worry, Charlie took another big sip of the coffee because, even if she couldn’t taste it, she needed the caffeine. Charlie had to convince everyone she was Cass—which physically wouldn’t be hard, but she was fuzzy-headed and hadn’t worked in the family’s bakery since she was a teenager, except for the odd Christmas holiday when she was home early enough to help out. Over the years the two had swapped identities on numerous occasions. Once Charlie had pretended to be Cass at the local fall fair baking competition, because Cass had strep throat and had lost her voice, and brought home the blue ribbon for her twin’s pecan squares. But those times were nothing like this. For one thing, the swaps were brief, and there had never been quite so much at stake.

Charlie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes tightly closed. Her head was killing her. Even the ibuprofen she’d taken an hour ago wasn’t touching the searing band of pain. She was running on no sleep and too much coffee, and couldn’t shake the feeling she had made a terrible mistake in asking Cass to switch places with her. Maybe her head injury was worse than she thought.

It was still dark outside. Charlie hadn’t been back home in almost a year—the show had been incredibly demanding on her time—and she was looking forward to seeing Starlight Peak once the sun came up. She hoped the familiarity of her hometown would be a soothing balm to her rattled nerves.

Rubbing her temples, Charlie surveyed the bakery’s kitchen. Little had changed since she and Cass were kids, helping their parents make and bake the treats for their tight-knit community. At Christmastime, though, the bakery’s production ramped up to a breakneck pace, and today alone she had to make dozens of loaves of the holiday Starlight Bread, along with the regular bakery offerings. She felt pressure against her shins, heard purring, and glanced down to discover Gateau, Cass’s beloved black cat, winding between her feet.

“Are you hungry?” Charlie asked, crouching down to scratch Gateau behind the ears. She was a dog person, but Gateau was more like a dog than a cat—Cass had apparently taught the cat to play fetch with a miniature tennis ball—which Charlie appreciated.

Cass had mentioned something about when and how to feed Gateau, but she couldn’t remember any of it. She looked around, wondering where Cass kept the cat food. She opened the bakery’s fridge and found some ham, which they used for the ham and cheese croissants, and rolled up a piece in her fingers. Glancing at the clock—a cuckoo clock in the shape of a cat, whose eyes moved back and forth with each passing second—Charlie saw it was almost six.

“Let’s get you upstairs. As much as I’d love to fulfill all your dreams and let you outside, your momma would kill me.” Charlie wiggled the ham roll and then called for Gateau to follow her upstairs to Cass’s apartment, which was over the bakery. A two-bedroom best described as “laid back,” not untidy but certainly more cluttered than what Charlie was used to. There were cheerful overstuffed pillows in pinks and oranges, and lemon-yellow drapes that captured the sunlight and spread it throughout the apartment. The apartment couldn’t have been more different from Charlie’s,which featured granite counters, stark-white cabinetry, and modern touches. But this homey space was perfect for Cass, and Charlie suddenly missed her sister and all the time they used to spend together. With a sigh, she put the piece of ham on the floor of the small kitchen, and Gateau happily sat in front of it.

“I’ll find your food later, Gateau. Let’s not tell Cass about the ham, okay? Our little secret.” Charlie shut the door tightly to make sure Gateau couldn’t get out, then went to walk back downstairs. But the quick change of direction made her dizzy and she pressed her hands against the wall.

Charlie waited for the feeling to pass, then made her way down the stairs and back to the bakery. At that moment she heard a soft rap at the front door, and saw a young guy wearing a winter hat peering through the window. He waved when he saw her and she unlocked the door.

Charlie couldn’t believe this was the kid she and Cass used to babysit more than a decade ago. “You’ve grown like a foot since I last saw you!”

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