How to Bake the Perfect Christmas Cake (Home for the Holidays - Book 2)

by Gina Henning

  I’m a popcorn aficionado. I’ve been making popcorn for years. It’s a really healthy snack and goes great with wine. One of my newest popcorn rituals is playing a game I made up called “can she do it” in which I try and unload the entire dishwasher and reload it before it’s time to dump the popcorn. This takes some skill but is quite fun.

  The popping of the kernels draws me back to the stove. I take out my big silver bowl from my bottom cupboard next to the stove and get my salt shaker ready. Ready. Jack said to text when I was ready for more. I’m going to let him sit on it for a while before I respond. I haven’t figured out exactly what I want to say or text. Do I want to change the subject or keep going? I dump the popcorn into the bowl and salt it up. I toss the popcorn in the bowl a few times, intermittently dashing salt here and there. When it’s the perfect balance of salt to kernels ratio, I go back to the living room with my wine glass in one hand and the bowl in the other.

  My phone is dark. I lower my shoulders and sink into the couch. Time for a fun show. I click through the channels until I settle in for some Downton Abbey. Watching DA makes me feel refined, but the idea of sexy banter with Jack is pulling me towards my phone. I take another swallow of my Carmenere and channel my inner flirt.

  I’m ready. I text Jack.

  Jack: Took you long enough. How much wine have you drunk?

  I flutter my eyelashes. As if it’s the wine talking and not my own personal courage? How inconsiderate.

  None. I text and toss my hair as I take another swig of my wine.

  Liar. Jack immediately texts back.

  Maybe, but you have no way of proving me wrong. I purse my lips to the side. I wish he were here to do just that.

  Jack: If I were there what would we be doing?

  Eeek…he does want to go there? I grab the green bottle and pour a healthy amount into my glass. It is healthy because red wine is good for you. I’m thinking about my heart. I’ve read only a kajillion articles about how red wine is really good for you. I think I should print all of these articles out and make a binder full of them and then take a fun photo of myself drinking and make it into a book. Ha! This would make for a hilarious gift for Brianna for Christmas. I laugh and take a sip of my healthy drink. I cut my eyes to my phone.

  Jack: Lauren…don’t get shy on me now.

  Me: I’m not.

  Jack: Well…

  Me: Well, we would be dancing…

  Yes, yes dancing, very good, it’s a little provocative but not too much. I’m comfortable with this response.

  Jack: Dancing in my lap or in the kitchen?

  My jaw drops to the floor. How can he even participate in this type of sexting from an airplane? Surely he must be as turned on as I am? I place my phone on the couch. I don’t want the screen to get wet from my hands. I stare at my background image of Brianna and I making obnoxious duck faces until it fades to black. The sounds of knocking are coming from my door and I jump.

  I swipe my phone back up and bring it with me to the door, this is my method of protection against any criminals. I could quickly call the police to alert them of any type of would-be intruders. I’m sure they will get here before anyone could possibly break in…at least I would hope so.

  I stand on my tiptoes and peer through the peep-hole. A tall man is staring in front of my door. A tall guy with blond hair and a big grin. I nod my head back for a second and slide the chain off the hook and turn the deadbolt.

  “Jack!”

  “So, about that dance.” Jack pulls me into him and kisses me hard. We’ve only been away from each other for a few hours but the kiss is like an unquenched thirst. He presses his lips against mine and parts my mouth with his tongue. Pushing it in, I taste his minty tongue. I love how his mouth is always so fresh. He closes the door shut behind us and presses me against it as he switches the deadbolt to the right. He’s searching my body with his hands like he’s trying to find a key. The key to my heart? I’m not sure. I pull away from him for a second and stare up at him.

  “I thought you were on a plane?”

  “I couldn’t do it. I rescheduled my flight for a red-eye tomorrow morning.” Jack says as he brushes some hair off my face. He kisses me hard again. It’s so passionate. I can’t even catch my breath. I pull back.

  “Well where have you been for the last few hours?” My eyebrows squish together. I’m happy Jack is here, no doubt about it. But if he didn’t get on the plane, then why didn’t he come here and be with me instead of tempting me with those texts?

  Jack laughs and grabs my hand. He leads me to my couch, picks up my glass of wine and takes a sip.

  “I went to work at a coffee shop to take care of a few things so that I could stay here longer with you,” he says, rubbing his thumb over my lip. I want his thumb and the rest of his fingers over my body. But I need more answers first.

  “What coffee shop?”

  Jack raises and eyebrow at me. “The Starbucks on 10th. Lauren, do you actually want to hear about my work or do you want to work those hips of yours for me?” He pulls me into his lap. My chest tightens, my face is hot and the blood is rushing rampantly through my veins.

  “Dance for me, Lauren.” Jack breathes into my neck.

  I lean in close to his face and then whisper into his ear. “Starbucks…What did you get?” I’m going to draw this out.

  Jack grins at me. His eyes are flickering. “A very hot coffee.” He slides me from his lap and places my legs on the couch. I’m flat on my back. “It was so hot.” Jack slips off one of my shoes. “Then I…” he says into my ear as he removes the other shoe. His face is over mine. “…drank it really…” He lightly brushes my lips with his and then moves his mouth to my neck. “…slowly.” He kisses my neck, softly, and then unbuttons my blouse. His mouth makes its way to my breasts, his hands are over them and his mouth is right above my bra.

  “Lauren, do you like to drink hot coffee?” Jack looks up at me. I’m trying to control my breathing.

  I manage to breathe a “Yes”.

  Jack’s mouth is back up to my neck again. “I thought so.” He is working his mouth up to my ear.

  “Do you want some hot coffee right now?” Jack whispers into my ear.

  “Yes.” I manage.

  Jack laughs and I shake my head.

  “I mean no…unless you aren’t talking about coffee?” I’m so confused. I sit up and pull my blouse together.

  Jack is smiling at me. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to talk about coffee or not.”

  I crinkle my eyebrows. “Of course not, well, I mean I do. Well, not coffee, but I was curious about your day.”

  “I’m curious about yours too. Especially about your dancing.” He grabs my foot and runs his fingers over my toes. They curl back, unfortunately I’m ticklish.

  I pick up some popcorn and toss it at him. Jack cocks his head to the side and catches the kernel in his mouth. As if he’s a professional popcorn catcher.

  “Impressive.” I say and take a sip of wine.

  He raises his eyebrows at me as he chews. “I’m sure I could impress you in more satisfying ways with my mouth then popcorn catching.”

  I choke on my wine and then swallow. Jack takes the wine, finishes the remaining amount. He raises his glass to me. My eyes widen, yes, definitely more wine.

  Chapter Six

  “Oh, he’s tall. I always hate when you meet celebs and they turn out to be tiny versions of their screen self.” Brianna says as we both drool from afar at Tyler Florence. Tyler Freaking Florence. I’m pretty sure Freaking is his middle name, at least it’s what I’ve always called him.

  “Yeah, I’m sure if Tyler Florence was shorter you wouldn’t be interested,” I say and shove her arm. We both laugh. Brianna tosses her long black hair over her shoulders. She is the epitome of glamour. At 5’8”, she has always towered over me and it doesn’t help that she always wears four-inch heels. I mean I get it, I like the extra height as well, but when Brianna puts on those stilts, she is
like a giant. Like Susan in Monsters vs. Aliens, except not blond and I’m not an alien.

  We are about fifty places back in the line. I left work two hours early for this prime spot. Fifty, maybe more, other hot and bothered women are in front of me and my Tyler Freaking Florence. I mean like “my” in my fantasy land. Obviously, he’s married and I’m in a relationship too.

  Jack. He left so early this morning. The hours have dragged on today, like the last few days before summer vacation. I can’t wait to see him again. I’ll be flying home this weekend, for my annual Christmas visit. This will be a very Merry Christmas for me. Especially if it includes even an ounce of Jack’s mouth. My face is hot.

  “Are you all right? Your cheeks look really red. You’re not that nervous, are you?” Brianna asks. She squeezes my arm. I’m wearing my black button-down dress with a thin blue belt and my lacey black tights. This outfit says professional but yet fun, to me. I wish this store had a coat check. I am warm. I focus on the snowy exhibit and pretend I’m lying in the cold white fluffy blankets that are decorating the store. There is an ice-skating scene on one of the display tables. It has several miniature figures dancing along the ice.

  “Yes, of course.” I narrow my eyes at her, as if I couldn’t handle meeting Tyler Florence? I mean really? “I was thinking about Jack.” I say. I glance at Brianna’s attire, of course she grew up in Baltimore and always talks about how she can handle the cold more than me. She purposely left her coat in the car, so her sexy outfit wouldn’t be covered. She is wearing a light plaid mini-skirt with a red lacey blouse.

  “Oooh, was it a mini sex-dream?”

  “No, I was just thinking about how sweet he is.” I smile. “Did I tell you he sent me an ornament to work today?”

  “No, what was it?” Brianna cocks her head and peers down at me.

  “It was four birds with headsets.” I crinkle my eyebrows.

  “Headsets? Like the kind you wear at work?” Brianna squints her eyes at me.

  “Yes, exactly.” I nod my head.

  “That’s freaking weird, Lauren. Has he given you anything else?” Brianna grasps my arm, like she wants to coax me as if I’m under duress.

  “Yesterday he sent me a bottle of wine and an ornament matching the label.”

  “Well, if he’s sending wine, I’m okay with that.” She lets go of my arm. “Wait, what kind of wine?”

  “Three French Hens winery.” I laugh.

  “Were there any other gifts?” Brianna cocks her head to the right.

  “Two hawks flying together.” I smile.

  “Two hawks?” Brianna squints her eyes at me. “What were they, Christamassy or something?”

  “They were two hawks on a ceramic circle with a blue ribbon around the circle.”

  “Um, okay, that’s kind of strange.” Brianna jerks her head back. “Unless, you have a thing for hawks and I’m a bad friend and have forgotten this?” Her eyebrows furrow together.

  “No, you haven’t forgotten. Over Thanksgiving I made a silly statement about Jack watching me like a hawk, so I’m assuming that was the significance of it.” I comb my hair over my shoulder with my fingers.

  “Wow, I’ve got to help you out with your game.” Brianna shakes her head at me. “But what’s the significance of two? Are you also a hawk?” Brianna inspects me. “You guys don’t have like hawk costumes or something and this is some new age cos play?”

  I laugh. “Only the beaks.” I shove her arm. “I’m kidding, come on, Brianna, you couldn’t actually see me in a hawk costume?” I glare at her.

  “I don’t know, sometimes you just don’t know everything about a person.” Brianna tsks.

  “Right…Anyways, on Sunday he gave me a tree ornament.” I place my finger over my lip. I’m assuming he either had it prior to leaving Texas or he bought it at the Christmas tree farm while I was in the ladies.

  “Okay, so he gave you a tree, now two hawks, some wine, and some phone birds, what’s next? A nest to go in the tree to hold all the birds?” Brianna laughs at her own quasi-funny joke.

  “No, Sherlock, I think he might be doing his version of the Twelve Days of Christmas?” I nod my head at my conclusion.

  “Nice. Just be careful, you know those long-distance things never work out.” Brianna says.

  I shove her arm. “Wow, thanks for the positive vibes, Bri.”

  “Hey, I’m only being real with you. You know I think it’s great that you are having fun, I just don’t want you to get hurt.” She touches my arm. “It’s wise if you stay realistic about things, m’kay?”

  “Okay, stay realistic.” I air quote. “This is coming from the voice of reason herself.” I jerk my head back. We move up a few more feet. Our books are in our hands, opened to the signing page. Both of our names are printed on pink Post-its so Tyler will know who to inscribe the book to. I’ve got two books, one for me and one for Megan. She’s going to be thrilled. It will be like collecting the final piece of the McDonalds Monopoly game for her. She literally has every single other Food Network TV Stars books, even the originals like Sara Moulten and David Rosengarten, signed.

  “Exactly, I haven’t always been realistic and I’ve gotten hurt. Besides, you just got that huge promotion, what are you going to do about it?” Brianna stands on her tippy-toes to scan the crowd. Tyler is taking his time with each person. Taking photos and chatting it up. I hope by the time he gets to us he is still feeling this social.

  “Well, I told Javier that I want it. It’s a hefty salary increase even without me countering and it’s a huge promotion and puts me on a completely different level with the company and anywhere else I would work in the future.” I rub my lips together.

  “Which is why you shouldn’t go all in with Jack. You have to weigh up who is doing the most risking in any relationship.” Brianna cocks her head to the right and nods at me like she is agreeing with herself. Which is a bit arrogant.

  I shake my head. “I know, Bri, I will be okay. So, how are things with Owen?” Time for a subject change. The topic of Owen typically monopolizes our conversations and I’m not sure why today should be any different.

  “I don’t know. Ever since we got back together, things have been really different.”

  “In what way?” I shift the two books to my other arm. For being cookbooks, these seem even extra thick and heavy.

  “I can’t quite place my finger on it yet. But something is off. I’m not sure if he is trying too hard to make it work or if something else is going on. Anyways, we are supposed to get together after this. Do you want to come with us for drinks at Ravens?”

  “Thanks but I’ve got to get stuff ready for this weekend.” Weekend of more Jack. I haven’t looked forward to seeing anyone, since well ever. I enjoy visiting with my family, but this is different. I mean typically people don’t come to visit me. I’m always the traveler as I’m the single one etc. Blah blah blah. I get it, people.

  “Oooh more hawt sex-dream fillers?” Brianna laughs and we are only three people away from meeting Tyler Florence.

  I laugh too and focus my attention on my favorite television chef. Jack is my favorite chef period, he made me a grilled sandwich over Thanksgiving…Mmm I wish I could taste that melted mozzarella now. I wet my lips. I focus on Tyler, he seems so confident and calm, which I am not. My nerves are starting to show. My face is hot and it’s not because of a Jack. Little beads of sweat are popping up around my hairline. I blow air up to my eyebrows. Cool down, Lauren, you can do this. I hadn’t thought about what I would possibly to say to him. Shiat. I don’t want to sound like some crazed fan who is so overwhelmed by his presence she can’t find words. Think Lauren think!

  Shiat. I shake my head and bite my tongue. Maybe I can ask him about his favorite recipe in the book or something along those lines? I cast my eyes in Brianna’s direction.

  “What are you going to say to Tyler Florence?” There is only one person standing between Tyler Freaking Florence and us. I inhale and exhale slowly.
Deep breaths, long, soothing breaths, this is no big deal. I try to find my happy place. My comforting place. A place where this moment will seem like not a big deal. A place I can relax. My go-to relaxing place is the beach. I imagine myself there. I glance back in Tyler’s direction, oh crap. I don’t want him to see me in a bathing suit. My breathing gets heavier. I blow out through my mouth. I shake my head. No, I’m not on the beach. I’m in a line, this is no big deal. I can handle this. I’ve handled much more dramatic situations.

  “What am I not going to say? Everything! I’m going to tell him that you have a binder of all of his appearances, loads of newspaper and magazine clippings with quotes from him. Then I’ll tell him that you have a tattoo of his face on your right butt cheek!” Brianna laughs hard. She winks at me and then sashays up to sit down with Tyler Florence. I’m left standing at the front of the line. The next person to sit with Tyler Florence. The sounds of the panic attack fairy begin to play. I shake my head as if I can shut off the noise, the sounds only I can hear. I take another deep breath and this time I count slowly in my head in Italian. I glance in Brianna’s direction.

  Brianna seems like she is chatting with an old friend. She and Tyler take turns laughing and then they both look at me and smile. Wow, awkward. I know Brianna didn’t tell him any of that stuff, one because it’s all a lie and two because she knows I would kill her. But why are they smiling at me? I smile back, flashing all of my teeth. My mouth feels dry. I lick my lips. Tyler is still watching. I hope he realizes I’m not trying to be flirty, but rather my mouth is dry. Surely he knows that, right? Well, I guess he wouldn’t necessarily know any of this. I look over to the left and then back at the table. Brianna is getting up. It’s my turn.