Page 45 of The Holiday Swap

Essie shook her fist in mock anger. “They’d better not be,” she called after Anna, then turned to smile at Cass—revealing where Miguel had inherited his endearing dimples from. “Those two arealways up to something,” she said. “They keep us on our toes. You must know what that’s like, right? Double the trouble, those two. Now, I’ve just opened a bottle of cava. Can I get you a glass?”

“She doesn’t drink, Mom,” said Jacintha. “Sorry—is it weird that I know that? I read a Q&A with you inPeople.”

“Oh no, it’s not weird, it’s just—”

“Not true,” Miguel said, handing her a glass of cava. “You should know better than to read those magazines; everything is made up.”

Thankfully, there were no blips after that. Once Cass got used to the chaos—including the twins running into the kitchen with handfuls of lavender, not chives, and clumps of dirt falling all over the floor, to which the adults reacted calmly, cleaning up the mess while Javier accompanied the kids back outside to find their true quarry—she felt like she fit right in.

Essie asked her to help brown the butter for a béchamel, and they carried platters to the table along with everyone else. They were a warm and welcoming clan, and she felt like one of them by the time the sun set over the ocean and they had scraped their plates clean of a delicious linguine with seared scallops and buttery clams, plus a fresh salad redolent with the variety of fresh herbs the twins ended up procuring in the end—none of them chives, it turned out.

“Can you believe it, Charlie, Miguel is our black sheep—the only one who isn’t a doctor?” Jacintha said.

“The only one of us who actually has a life,” Ro added, standing to begin clearing plates, while Anna chased after the twins. He waved Lila away and told her to sit back down and rest when she tried to assist with the table-clearing. Cass stood and picked up an empty platter.

“No, no,” Javier said. “You stay here. Participants in the recipe challenge aren’t allowed to see the ingredients in the staging area.”

“Oh no,” Miguel said, putting his palm to his face. “You said you wouldn’t.”

“What I said and what I intended to do were two different things, son. We have the honor of hosting Charlie Goodwin at our home today—and if you think that means we are going to cancel the Sunday bake-off... Well, that’s just crazy. Isn’t it, Charlie?”

Cass was laughing. “Miguel told me about these bake-offs. I’d be happy to participate. How does it work?”

Javier rubbed his hands together. “Two teams, one prize,” he said, as if he were a television announcer.

“Oh yeah, Dad? What’s the prize?” Miguel was rolling his eyes good-naturedly.

“Bragging rights,” Javier intoned, still in a faux-deep voice. The teams were formed: Cass, Miguel, and Essie on one; Jacintha, Ro, and Javier on the other. Anna and Lila opted to watch the twins swim instead—but said they’d be very happy to judge the finished products.

Competition was fierce, and Cass couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so much. By the time she and her team had plated their simple fresh fruit mini crepes with lemon crema—one of the rules was that no dessert could take longer than forty-five minutes to create—her sides hurt from laughing. Jacintha, Ro, and Javier had gone with a chocolate chili mousse. Everything was carried out to the table on the deck for judging. In the end, the twins declared the mousse the winner, “Because chocolate is always best.”

“Sorry, Charlie, better luck next time. We’ll have a rematch when you join us for dinner again,” Javier said, standing to getanother bottle of sparkling water. He caught her eye. “Which I hope will be soon.” She smiled back at him.

“I hope so, too,” she said. It had been easy to forget, amid all the laughter, conversation, cooking, and chaos, that this was just going to be a one-off and she wasn’t going to see Miguel’s family again. She stood and picked up some of the dirty glasses.

“You’re our guest, you don’t have to help clean,” Essie said.

“I insist,” Cass said. “I made most of that mess in the kitchen.”

“It’s true, she’s a lot messier than they make it look on television,” Javier said, and everyone laughed, including Cass. They all made short work of the dishes, and someone suggested espresso, which they took out to the pool so they could watch the twins have “Please, just one last swim.”

It was late by the time they said their goodbyes, and Cass was exhausted—but in a good way. It had been a perfect day, from start to finish.

Cass and Miguel stood in the driveway, between their cars. Ro and Anna had taken the twins home—they had fallen asleep, exhausted and waterlogged, before they were even buckled into their car seats. Jacintha and Lila were still inside, emptying the dishwasher. “I think my parents are watching us out the window,” Miguel said, chuckling. “I’m sorry—I hope this wasn’t overwhelming for you.”

“Not at all,” Cass said. “I loved every second of it. I could do this every Sunday.” Her voice broke and she hoped Miguel hadn’t noticed. But of course he had. He was Miguel. He noticed everything about her.

He stepped closer. “Hey, what’s wrong? You look so sad all of a sudden.”

“I’m just”—Cass swallowed hard over the lump in her throat. She shook her head. “I think I’m just tired. Honestly, I had a great night. It’s just...” She didn’t know how to finish the sentence, but Miguel finished it for her.

“It’s just a lot for you right now. I should have realized that. You keep telling me you’re fine, but injuries like yours take time. And this was a long day.”

“I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world,” Cass said. “But, I really should get going. Early call time tomorrow.”

“Of course,” Miguel said, then glanced at the front window of the house. “Good—they’re gone.” He leaned in and kissed her, slowly and sweetly. And for a moment at least, Cass felt all the sadness and anxiety drain from her body.

He stood on the driveway and lifted his hand as she pulled away; she lifted hers in return. On the radio, “2000 Miles” by the Pretenders was playing, and Cass knew that by the time Christmas day arrived, the distance between her and Miguel would be insurmountable.

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