Page 39 of A Cozy Christmas Escape

They settled into their usual spots and Maureen placed the food in the center of the table before they all began to serve themselves. They chatted while they ate, and Clark was glad to see that she’d made one of his favorites—meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes. His parents filled him in on everything that had been going on since he saw them during their last, weekly family dinner. And then, once they had finished, they both looked at Clark expectantly.

He cleared his throat, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before he shared what he wanted to tell them.

“So, I do have some news,” he said, his voice shaking slightly with nerves. “I started seeing someone.”

His mother let out a small gasp of excitement while his father beamed.

“Well, that’s great to hear,” Kenneth said with a grin.

“It’s still new,” Clark said hastily, not wanting them to get the wrong idea. “We’re still figuring things out and getting to know each other. But I just wanted to let you know before anyone else in town spilled the beans.”

Maureen nodded, and he could tell that she wanted to ask more but was restraining herself. It was moments like this that Clark wished he had a sibling, someone at family dinners that he could count on to take a bit of the focus off him. But thankfully, his mother seemed to pick up on the fact that he didn’t want to say any more.

“Well, if you’re happy, then we’re happy. Isn’t that right, Kenneth?” she asked, shooting her husband a pointed glance so that he immediately grunted his agreement.

There was a brief pause where the three of them continued to eat their meals, and then his mother attempted to change the subject.

“Did you hear that there’s a movie star in town?” she asked, looking at her husband and her son with obvious excitement.

One of the reasons that Clark had decided to not tell his mother who he was seeing was because he knew she was a fan. He wanted to give her time to get used to the idea of him even seeing someone before telling her exactly who it was. And he had to fight back a smile as he thought of just how much she would freak out if he told her just how familiar with the movie star he was.

“I heard that!” his father chimed in. “Heard she’s been traipsing all over town getting to know the locals. Everyone speaks real highly of her.”

“Isn’t that something?” Maureen said wistfully, shaking her head with a far-off look in her eyes. “Valerie Bernard in Snowy Pine Ridge. Maybe if I get lucky, I’ll get to meet her.”

Clark couldn’t hide his grin, so he glanced down at his plate, unable to stop himself from thinking that ifhewas lucky, his mother would absolutely be meeting Valerie Bernard.

* * *

“Here we go, little Gussy,” Mindy cooed to her pup as she put his final leg through the hole of the coat she was wrestling him into. “It’s time to go outside!”

The furry little dog twirled excitedly around her feet, yapping joyfully as she hooked his leash to his collar and then opened her front door. Gus bounded down the stairs in front of her, making sure to keep just close enough so that his leash wasn’t too taught as he trotted into the snow. And Mindy couldn’t help but notice that he was prancing and showing off in his new, bright blue coat.

She looked down at her own body, at the matching coat she’d bought for herself and grinned. The two of them walked through the snow-covered streets of Snowy Pine Ridge, with Gus stopping to sniff every few feet. As they walked, people from the town stopped to say hello to them, and it filled Mindy with a sense of warmth and belonging.

Since arriving a year ago, she had finally felt like she’d found her place in the town. People liked her and liked her business, and especially they liked the way that she and Sarah collaborated to bring them deals between their two bakeries. And Mindy had never lived in a place that felt more like home.

Which made it all the more important for her to finally pick the perfect show-stopping dessert for the upcoming Christmas showcase. Now that Baking Fiend was decorated, and she and Sarah had worked out all of the kinks with the collaborating deals that they’d be offering, her mind was drawing a blank on the creativity front. It had been days that she’d been tossing around idea after idea, and none of them seemed to stick.

Gus barked, his tiny frame jumping up so that he could place his paws on one of the buildings and look in the window. Mindy walked up behind him, trying to see what had grabbed his attention, and then laughed.

In the display case were animatronic kittens riding a train. She reached down to scratch Gus’s ears before they started walking again, but then something caught her eyes. Above the display window was draped greenery and sprigs of holly. The snow had accumulated on it, dancing and reflecting prisms in the twinkling Christmas lights. And suddenly, inspiration struck.

“Individual peppermint and gingerbread trifles!” she exclaimed excitedly, looking down at her dog. “I can make the layers look like the snow and how it sparkles over the town. Oh, Gus! You’re a genius.”

She darted forward, scooping the enthusiastic pup into her arms and holding him to her chest as she walked quickly back toward the bakery, wanting to make a quick tester to bring her idea to life. Less than a block from the shop, she spotted a familiar face and she darted toward them.

“Well, don’t you look excited?” Lacy said with a laugh as Mindy and Gus approached.

Piper, Lacy’s daughter, was strapped to her mother’s chest and tucked inside of her puffy down coat. Only her face was sticking out, and the child burbled happily at the woman in front of her.

“Gus here just had the best idea in the world,” Mindy explained in a rush, laying out her idea to her friend. By the time Mindy was done, Lacy was grinning.

“I’m drooling just thinking about it,” she said, closing her eyes as if imagining the taste. “It’s going to be a hit, Mindy! I just know it. I can’t wait to taste it.”

“Thank you so much.” Mindy beamed. “I’m going to go practice it right now.”

The two women said their goodbyes before heading off in opposite directions. Mindy stopped at her house long enough to get Gus cozy all over again before heading toward the final block to the bakery, and with every step she grew more and more excited. She had to admit, with this new idea spinning in her head, it was the best that she had felt in weeks.

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