The Holiday Swap
Page 14
A moment later Jake walked out the door and Charlie was alone. It was then she saw Jake’s camera sitting on the counter—he’d been in such a rush to leave he’d forgotten it behind—and the sadness swelled inside her again.
Back in Cass’s apartment Charlie picked up her phone. It had enough battery to turn on now, and she first opened her texts. There she found several unanswered messages from Cass, wondering how things were going at the bakery—and asking Charlie to send the promised e-mail with the PDF of recipes for Sweet & Salty that week. Quickly she clicked over to e-mail and there it was: the e-mail with the recipes, the ingredients lists, everything . . . sitting in her drafts folder. She’d forgotten to send it. Her heart rate sped up as the implications of her error settled in her mind. Without the recipe details and ingredients, Cass had been flying solo. Panic surged through her, and she wished she’d been able to watch tonight’s episode, to make sure Cass had fared okay and Charlie’s career wasn’t in jeopardy.
But she knew if anything had gone sideways, it was entirely her own fault. While she had confidence in Cass’s talents, diving head-first into the world of reality television—alongside a swindler like Austin Nash, and without a plan—was a recipe for disaster. Charlie had now potentially ruined not only Cass’s situation at home in Starlight Peak but also her own career plans.
Feeling shaky, she phoned Cass.
“I’m so sorry,” Charlie said, her voice full of anguish even as she was relieved that she was finally, actually speaking to her sister. “I can’t believe I screwed up so badly. I forgot to send the recipes. I don’t know what’s wrong with me! Are you okay? Is everything okay?”
“Charlie, calm down,” Cass replied, sounding perfectly okay. “Everything is fine. I’ve been managing without the recipes. No need to panic.”
Charlie remained distraught. “I couldn’t find my phone, and then it was dead . . . and I’m just so angry with myself. You’re sure you’re doing okay? I tried to watch the show earlier but—” But I was preoccupied with the drama of my own life. And I let you down.
“Actually, I am!” Cass sounded it, too. “Yes, things were a bit dicey at first, but I’m getting the hang of it. I’ve actually liked developing my own recipes. And Sasha has given me a lot of compliments, so that’s good, right?”
“Really? That’s great, Cass.” Charlie let out a relieved sigh. “What about Austin? Is he making your life miserable?”
“I’m handling Austin. Charlie, you don’t need to worry about me,” Cass said reassuringly. “But what about you? How’s the bakery? And how’s your head? Are you okay?”
“The bakery is good. Walter’s been a huge help, and these recipes are sort of like riding a bike, you know? A lot of it is coming back to me, being home.” Charlie paused but decided not to mention being slightly off pace with the daily quota of Starlight loaves.
“I actually have some really good news. My sense of taste and smell are back. Which means . . . you can come home, and I’ll go back to L.A. to finish the show.” It was hard to ignore how this proposal made Charlie feel—deeply nostalgic for a hometown she hadn’t left yet. Plus, what would be like to say goodbye to Jake? All of it made her feel like her insides were being twisted up. “But thank you, Cass. I really do owe you one.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. “Are you still there?” Charlie asked.
“Sorry, yes! First of all, I’m so glad about your sense of taste and smell. That’s the best news.” Cass paused again. “But—how about Brett? Do you think you got through to him yet?”
Oh right. Brett. “Honestly? Not quite. He still doesn’t seem to understand your split is permanent.” Charlie cringed, thinking of Brett walking in on her and Jake. “I’m sorry, Cass. I know I said I’d deal with it for you, but he’s being incredibly obtuse.”
Cass was silent for a moment. “I can’t believe I’m suggesting this, but I don’t feel ready to see Brett. And, as I said, I’m okay with Sweet and Salty! I’d love to finish what I’ve started, if you trust me enough?”
Charlie was about to object, but she stopped herself. She did trust Cass. Entirely. And as she stared out the window at her snowy and familiar hometown she felt a warmth bloom inside her at the idea of staying a bit longer. There were loose ends she needed to tie up here as well. “I mean, if you’re sure you’ve got everything under control I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad to just stay here. For now,” Charlie replied.
“Okay, so we agree. Let’s stick to the original plan. I’ll handle Sweet and Salty and Austin, you handle Brett and the bakery, and we’ll see each other on Christmas Eve, just like we agreed in the first place.”
11
Cass
Saturday: 7 Days Until Christmas . . .
Los Angeles
Cass was dressed in a deep red waterfall skirt and a silky cream-colored off-the-shoulder top. Wardrobe had also added gold-hued heels that shimmered with glitter, and Priya had chosen a chunky gold bracelet to finish the outfit—and to hide her lack of a wrist tattoo. On the outside Cass knew she looked flawless. And yet, she was still uncomfortable in her “costume.” She was becoming more accustomed to life on the Sweet & Salty set, but these outfits irritated her for their impracticality while also making her feel like the imposter she was.
It was Saturday, and this week they were only getting one day off so they could stay on schedule. At least bakery life had prepared her for working every day of the week. But even Priya was having trouble fully concealing the ravages of not enough sleep all week, along with a bit too much wine with dinner the night before.
“I’m sorry, but these dark, puffy circles are an emergency, level ten,” Priya said. “I’m going to have to break out the big guns.”
“Is that . . . hemorrhoid cream? Never mind. I don’t want to know.” Cass closed her eyes and relived the romantic kiss with Miguel, unconsciously clicking and unclicking the clasp on the bracelet around her wrist as she did.
“So, she has her sense of taste and smell back?” Priya said quietly as she finished dabbing concealer on the dark hollows under Cass’s eyes. “That’s good news.”
“Yeah, it’s a real relief,” Cass murmured.
“But she doesn’t want to come back to L.A. yet? Almost done here, just stay still. Stop playing with that bracelet.” Priya was now applying Cass’s fake eyelashes, a tenuous task that required absolute stillness.
“I kind of convinced her not to. It makes sense for both of us to just stick to the original plan. Logistically speaking,” Cass said. During her call with Charlie the night before she had realized she wasn’t ready to go back to Starlight Peak. To face Brett; and the monotony of holiday orders; and the, at times, tediousness of small-town life.
“For logistical reasons. Right.” Priya chuckled. “You’re sure a certain cute physician assistant doesn’t have anything to do with this?”
“What about a physician assistant?” Sasha’s voice snapped her out of her reverie. “Is everything okay, Charlie? Did you have to go back to the hospital?”
“No. I’m fine. Just . . .”
“My friend is dating a physician assistant,” Priya chimed in. “He’s a bit”—she waggled her eyebrows—“wild in the bedroom. A story for when we’re off the clock, if you know what I mean.” Cass was grateful to Priya for attempting to try and shift Sasha’s focus away from her health, but their boss ignored Priya’s salacious offering. Stepping closer to Cass, she quietly asked, “Did you bring it?”
“Bring what?” Cass replied.
“The bread mask. Come on, Charlie, I’ve asked you three times now. The reason behind your suddenly glowing skin. I need it to prepare for the gala I’m going to tonight.”
The starter mask. Right. “Oh. Shoot. I’m so sorry, Sasha. I ran out.”
Sasha gave her a critical once-over. “Now that you mention it, I can tell. Your skin’s a bit sallow
today. Priya, maybe a bit more of that highlighting veil?” Then Sasha was gone as quickly as she’d arrived, and Cass felt a flare of frustration on her sister’s behalf. Her appearance was constantly dissected. Meanwhile, Austin walked around in his chef’s whites like he ran the place, without anyone commenting on his skin or using hemorrhoid cream around his eyes. It wasn’t fair.
“Don’t listen to any of that, Cass. You look gorgeous, like always,” Priya said quietly, giving her a reassuring smile. Then Sydney was at the door, telling Cass she was due on the set. Time to kick Austin Nash’s smug confidence right out of the kitchen, securing Bake My Day for Charlie.
* * *
• • •
Cass took a last glance at her notes and then stood on her mark beside Austin, her heart hammering as she tried to quell the nervousness she felt every time the cameras turned on.
“All set, Goodwin?” Austin kept his winning smile in place and his eyes on the camera. He reached over and squeezed her shoulder, and she shifted slightly away from his touch. “Makeup seems a bit heavy today.”
Cass ignored the jab, focusing instead on the teleprompter that held her lines. Soon the hosts were counted in and Cass pushed aside all thoughts except for one: You are a badass superstar baker, and never forget it.
The studio was busy, with a packed audience and the contestants back on set. Today’s challenge was a gingerbread croquembouche tower, complete with spun sugar tendrils that delicately wrapped around the pastries. All Cass had to do today was judge the contestants’ creations, as the assistants had prepared the sample tower with very little input from Austin or Cass. This was another surprise to Cass about reality television . . . just how much help Austin and Charlie received when it came to creating their masterpieces. The two of them created the recipes, but much of the labor fell to the assistants. Cass wondered if that had ever bothered Charlie, who was not one to shy away from hard work.
Cass invoked her sister’s poise and read her lines flawlessly, hitting every beat. She even tossed in a well-timed joke at Austin’s expense, and saw Sasha try to hide her smirk as Austin stumbled ever so slightly on his next line. Then the hosts had a break as the four remaining contestants started working on the recipe, the cameras moving to capture the fast-paced energy of the bakers as they tried to re-create the croquembouche tower in half the time it actually took to do it well. Another mirage of television: everything looked more frenetic during these test kitchen tapings because contestants were not given the time for errors or missteps, of which there were always a few.
Austin and Cass had to come on camera a few times during the baking race, to make it seem as though they had been carefully watching and scrutinizing the process from beginning to end. Soon they were down to the last five minutes on the clock. Cass and Austin moved back to their marks to get ready for the frenzy they were expected to whip up as the timer counted down.
“And . . . stop!” Austin said. “Step back from your towers, bakers.”
Now Austin and Cass were on the move, the cameras following them as they walked from one taped X on the floor to another, in front of the workstation of the first contestant, a twenty-five-year-old named Dani who had a custom cake shop in Idaho. Cass and Austin evaluated the croquembouche—a valiant effort, though it leaned ever so slightly to the right—and offered first impressions of the confection, which were already prepared and on the teleprompter.
Dani looked petrified, though she tried to hide it behind a wide smile as she moved to serve the dessert on the gold-plated dishes that were used for judging. Except Dani didn’t get to serve anything. Cass, who swept her hand in front of the pastry tower as she delivered her line, did not feel her bracelet release from her wrist until it was too late. The bracelet crashed into the top of Dani’s slightly short and somewhat leaning tower of pastries. For a split second it seemed the bracelet might only have taken off the top two rows, which meant they could edit out the flying bracelet and Cass’s loud gasp. But then the already leaning tower toppled sideways, and the entire dessert ended up on the floor on top of Cass’s too-high heels.
Austin laughed and clapped Cass on the back, wheezing out, “Good one, Goodwin!” Dani stared at the mess on the floor, her hands holding a few of the croquembouche pastries she’d managed to catch before the tower collapsed. And Cass, horrified, felt she might throw up. Especially when Austin pointed to her arm—glancing at her smooth, clear skin on her wrist—and said, “Hey, where’s your tattoo?”
Cass’s eyes shot to Priya, who looked stricken.
“Wrong arm,” Cass mumbled, reaching down to retrieve the bracelet, which she quickly secured on her other wrist.
Sasha was barking orders, a few of the other contestants were comforting Dani, and the assistants swept in to clean things up and try to salvage the dessert so a judging scene could still be filmed. Cass wanted to cry as she watched everyone clean up her mess. So much for not ruining Charlie’s career.
* * *
• • •
“I don’t know about this, Priya.” Cass stopped a few feet from the store’s front door, trying to stall.
All Priya had said to her after the show wrapped for the day was, “Come with me and don’t ask any questions.” She was so glad to be off the set that she followed Priya without another word. Until they had arrived at their destination and Cass realized what Priya had in mind.
“You’re just going to have to trust me,” Priya said, opening the door and gesturing for Cass to go inside. With a sigh Cass stepped into the shop, where tattoo art lined every wall and the constant low buzz of the tattoo gun filled the room.
Near the back of the room a guy was seated on a stool, bent over the upper arm of a young woman where a half dozen deep black swirls peppered her otherwise unmarked skin—the beginnings of an octopus, it seemed.
Cass did not want to get a tattoo. Yes, she was doing her best to play Charlie, but this was taking things too far.
“Hey, babe,” the guy said, looking up at Priya from the tattoo he was designing.
“Hey, Jason,” Priya said. “This is my friend Cass. The one I called about.”
Jason, who had tattoos on nearly every visible part of his body from the neck down, grinned. “Nice to meet you, Cass. I’ll be ready for you in a few minutes, okay?”
“Oh, okay. No rush. At all,” Cass said, squeaking the words out.
“Relax. Take a breath.” Priya led Cass to a chair, then sat beside her and patted her knee. “I won’t let Jason get near you with that gun. I have your back, remember?”
“But . . . then why are we here?” The buzz of the tattoo gun was back, the sound like mosquitoes circling Cass’s head.
Priya picked up a magazine on the table in front of them. “To get you a tattoo.”
“Priya, what is happening?” Cass was frustrated now, her patience waning with every passing second.
“Jason is an amazing artist,” Priya said. “He did Charlie’s tattoo. And a few of mine.”
“You have tattoos?”
“Only in places you can’t see.” Priya winked. “Anyway, he’s going to do a temporary one for you. Of Charlie’s tattoo. So we don’t have to worry about your clumsiness and flying bracelets taking down croquembouche towers.”
“Oh,” Cass said. She let out a deep breath.
“Did you actually think I was bringing you here for some real ink?” Priya laughed, shaking her head. “I do think we should have some fun, though, and send Charlie a picture and tell her you two now have matching tattoos.”
“She’ll never believe it.” Cass had never really considered a tattoo, and Charlie couldn’t wait to get one when she moved to L.A. Sometimes Cass wondered if Charlie had done it as a way to ever so slightly change their physical appearances—as a mark of her individuality. Fair enough, because while there were plenty of awesome things about being an identical twin—not the least of which
was the benefit of being able to switch places—it could be hard at times to always be viewed as a packaged deal.
“She’d probably be pissed.” Priya chuckled. “Especially if she thinks I put you up to it. I doubt she’ll believe it for long, but it might be fun to mess with her for a few minutes? That girl needs to chill out sometimes.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Cass said. Charlie’s ambition had never been something she’d hidden, and even if her intensity was at times hard to deal with, it was one of the things Cass admired most about her sister.
“I love her. She’s a really good friend.” Priya set the magazine on her crossed legs. “And spending time with you this week . . . I mean, I know you two have really different lives, but you’re similar in a lot of ways, too. How hard you both work, for one thing. But sometimes I wonder if Charlie’s as happy here as she could be, you know?”
Cass nodded, although to her it seemed as though Charlie was doing exactly what she wanted to be doing. But she realized she didn’t know for sure. Charlie’s life had seemed so perfect on the outside she had never thought to ask.
* * *
• • •
“It looks so real,” Cass said, staring at the exact replica of Charlie’s tattoo that now adorned her wrist. It was a Gemini twin sign, with two intersecting triangles (which reminded Cass of the mountains of Starlight Peak), and a thin circle overlay. It was beautiful and simple, and Cass liked the way it looked against her skin more than she’d expected.
“That’s what we wanted.” Priya held up two fingers to the bartender, and soon they had replenished cocktails in front of them.
After Jason put on Cass’s temporary tattoo—which took all of ten minutes, involved zero pain as promised, and would last about two weeks—Priya decided they needed to celebrate her new ink with a few drinks. The restaurant was busy and the bar area particularly packed, but Cass was feeling relaxed for the first time all day despite the somewhat claustrophobic room.