Page 16 of Mistletoe Latte

“Beard.” Skylar darted up for a second from her phone. “It’s a Beard award. Don’t you know anything?”

“You caught me. I’m dumb as a post and twice as ugly.” He stared his niece dead on, but she only snickered and returned to her scrolling. With a sigh, he focused on Emma as if Skylar wasn’t there. “You’re a miracle worker. I’ve never had broccoli that wasn’t rubbery and limp.”

Skylar gave a loud cough, unsettling both adults who looked at their hands.

“Dunking it in ice after steaming helps to stop that from happening,” Emma explained. She stared at her nearly drained glass of wine, feeling each bubble race up her spine. Maybe she should have had a half glass instead.

“Know any tricks for making the meatloaf better?”

“You call Gino’s and ask for the large,” Skylar chimed in.

Emma laughed at the momentary tic across Nick’s face before she shook her head. “I thought it was perfect as is.”

“Now you’re blowing smoke up my ass.” He leaned back in his chair. She’d think him annoyed if it weren’t for a little smile dashing across his stoic face.

“I swear, I liked it,” Emma insisted, though he didn’t seem to believe her. “It’s nice to have someone else cook for me.”

He sat forward, the hanging light casting an orange halo off his hair. “You don’t have anyone else in your life? To cook for you. You probably have men. People. In your life.”

“Smooth,” Skylar whispered.

“Not as much. Work took up all my time, and now…” Emma bit her lip and glared at her hands. They did as she told them, prepping and dicing at a speed that could take off fingers. But it was never good enough. “Truth be told, you’re better off asking another chef about your meatloaf problem. I never worked the meat station.”

“Did you do veggies? Do they have one of those?”

“There’s a lot of prep. I’d do whatever I was told by the chef that night. But most of my training was in desserts.”

That perked Skylar up. “Really? Can you make a chocolate cake right now?”

“No, she shouldn’t. She’s a guest, which is that thing where people don’t do work for you just because they can.”

Emma glanced over her shoulder to a dusty flour canister. She could probably do a lava cake while blindfolded. There were a lot of those,crème brûlées, and layer cakes day in and day out without change. She missed the rare days off when it was just her, an oven, and a dozen test recipes at her disposal.

“Where, um, where are you headed once your car’s up to snuff?”

“Maine, to my sister’s.” Who wasn’t happy about clearing out a room for her, but Emma was out of options with barely a penny left to her name.

“That sounds difficult, going cross-country in December.” Nick placed his hand on the table directly across from hers. Only an inch of space separated their fingers. Worry knotted across his lips and scruffy jawline.

“Hey Nick, you’re trending.”

He yanked his hand back and turned to Skylar, who held up her phone. “For what?” He reached for her phone but she pulled it back.

“The hashtag Mistletoe Latte is blowing up…locally. Oh, there’s a video of you throwing some guy out. Here.”

She pressed play on Nick shouting, “We don’t have no mistletoe lattes!” before the voice warped and began to harmonize with sleigh bells set to a man stumbling out the door.

“What the hell?”

“It’s already got a hundred thousand views. Nice.”

“That’s it, I’m banning all cell phones in the cafe until this madness ends.”

“Not sure that’ll work…” Skylar dramatically paused, her scrolling fingers flipping wide like she was spinning slots at a casino. “They’ve found the legend and, oh, there’s a challenge to get the first latte of the season.”

“The legend?” Emma asked, fully lost. She understood not having the ingredients on hand and customers insisting he perform magic for them, but he’d sounded downright offended every time someone ordered it. Now there was a legend?

“It’s a load of hooey,” Nick said, but Skylar peered to the side to meet Emma’s eye.

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