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

by Gina Henning

  But alas this is for another day. Not today. No, today is full of Christmas Eve Eve fun and making new traditions.

  The car slows down and to the right I see Spec’s, the bright lights with the big white bunny on display, who could miss it? Further, it’s possible that I could be going in there to purchase some gourmet ingredient. Hopefully, Aunt Minnie won’t ask. I mean, I know I can legally purchase alcohol but I feel uncomfortable doing it in front of Aunt Minnie. Maybe she will stay in the car instead of coming in with us. There is the issue with the cat.

  Jack finds a parking spot underneath a large lamp post and glances in the back seat at me and then the cat. The cat is doing a big stretch with its back arched up so high it seems like it could reach the roof of the car. Jack cringes as the cat barely misses his leather seats.

  “Aunt Minnie, do you want to stay in the car with the cat, while Lauren and I run in?” Jack places his arm on the back of her arm rest. I’m not sure if this is to block her expression from my view or him trying to be kind with her.

  “Stay in the car? And what? Be mugged? Certainly not. Both George and I will be coming in.” Aunt Minnie releases her seat belt and reaches into the backseat and in one swoop grabs George, I guess this is his name, since no one else in the car is named George. George purrs like he is in heaven to be in Aunt Minnie’s arms again. I can understand this as I would like to be in Jack’s arms again. As in right now, yes right now, I want to be snuggled up next to him, nuzzling into his neck and smelling his scent. His woodsy lemon fragrance which is obviously only amplified by his own pheromones. Because there is no way a cologne would smell this good on its own accord.

  Jack hops out of the car and rushes around to the passenger side of the car and tries his best to open both car doors simultaneously. I’m not mad or bothered if he is attempting to make me an equal to his aunt. It’s not a big deal. First of all she is older, second of all, I can open my own door and, third of all, she is carrying a random cat.

  “What kind of store is this? Spec’s Liquor. Oh. Humphh.” Aunt Minnie holds George closer.

  Obviously further judgment has begun. I mean, really it’s not like we are stopping off at the liquor store so I can get a vat of cheap vodka to fill up my flask or something. I am preparing a gourmet recipe which includes a special liquor and it’s not a big deal. Of course I am also going to pick up some wine too. For tonight and Christmas, especially since I’m sure I will be seeing Aunt Minnie during Christmas dinner. I can only imagine what kind of atmosphere I will encounter. I’ve already got to deal with my family having an issue with Jack, and now we have to deal with his side of the family. What are we, the Montagues and Capulets? I don’t think so, this is no tragedy. In fact we are working on a positive outcome, especially with the amount of money that has been deposited into Jack’s bank account and he made me a co-signatory without any hesitation. I think I would have hesitated over it. Actually, I know I would have.

  Jack pushes open the door to Spec’s Liquor and gourmet food. I glance over the aisles of alcohol and a store clerk approaches us.

  “Something I can help you find?” The clerk asks and then narrows his eyes on George. Of course, cats are not allowed in this store.

  “Humphh, no, I have no need for anything in this store.” Aunt Minnie clicks her tongue and moves away from the clerk and goes towards the greeting card rack.

  “Yes, I need a bottle of Grand Marnier,” I say with an excessive amount of gratitude for the clerk not saying anything to Aunt Minnie about the cat.

  “Sure, follow me,” the guy says and I do as asked, unaware if Jack is with me or not. All I want is my small bottle of Grand Marnier and of course a few bottles of wine and out of this store immediately.

  “Here you go, this is our Grand Marnier section, are you looking for a particular one?” the clerk asks. He seems kind but I’m catching the vibe of hurry-up-and-pick-whatever-it-is-you-want, because it’s Christmas Eve Eve and I’ve got somewhere to be.

  “Well, it’s for a cranberry relish, would you recommend any of these?” I ask.

  “Yes, this is perfect for that.” He hands me a small bottle with raised eyebrows, the kind of eyebrows that say something without any words actually spoken.

  “Thank you, I need to grab a few bottles of wine and I’m good to go.” I take the bottle from him and turn to head towards the cabernet sauvignon section.

  “Hey are you the elf that was on TV with your family?” The clerk scratches his head.

  “Elf?” I squint my eyes. Little beads of sweat pop up along my hairline. “Nope. Not me.” I continue on to the wine section and grab two and then a third because I am as Shakespeare would advise “to thine ownself be true”.

  I trot up to the cashier only to realize Jack is on my heels.

  “Let me get these, my little elf.” Jack says and grabs the bottles from my hands. I sigh and I let him place the four bottles on the checkout area and move to the right of him. I will be paying for these. Even if he is a millionaire, technically at this point.

  The cashier smiles and greets us with a hello, but my eyes are on the card swiper. I’ve got my debit card out and ready to go. Like I’m at an old western showdown, I’m not even waiting to draw, I already have my weapon in hand and it is inches from the swiper.

  Jack glances at me with a mysterious grin on his face. Without any chance to really contemplate this, he has his arms wrapped around me pulling me into a very non-PDA-friendly kiss. The earth is dissipating beneath my feet. Like quicksand I’m sinking, right here at the register on actual linoleum. I don’t even know if the cashier is watching because my eyes are closed. I’m swept away into Jack’s tender kiss land. And then he pulls back and I shake my head to alert myself to the present. The clerk is handing Jack a receipt.

  “Um what just happened?” I pull back in amazement. Did Jack seriously kiss me as he paid for my groceries again? Of course, I enjoyed the kiss. I did. But this buying business needs to be remedied. He pulled this same move over Thanksgiving. Well, not the exact move, no kissing had occurred and we weren’t exactly a thing. But still he sneakily paid for my groceries. I’ll win the next battle of the register for sure.

  “That, Lauren, is called passion.” He leans in and kisses my lips again as if he is sealing a promise to me. He grabs the brown paper bag with his left hand and wraps me into his body with his right hand. We traipse over to Aunt Minnie who seems to semi-entertained reading the greeting cards, there is even a smile on her face.

  “Are you ready to go, Aunt Minnie?” Jack asks as he pulls my hand to his lips and kisses it. It’s almost as if he is kissing my lips again and I’m melting, but I know I have to stay focused and centered, because I need to have my A-game on around Aunt Minnie.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The brake lights of the car fade into the night sky and I close the curtain. I’m disappointed I won’t be seeing anymore of Jack tonight. I get it, he has to get Aunt Minnie settled. Fulfill all of his good nephew duties, but I had hoped we would have more Jack-Lauren time prior to the big family festival of events over the next two days. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and then finally Christmas. A day I have always looked forward to, but now I fear it and every awkward moment it might bring. I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but things were already tense with the Jack money issue and everybody giving me their thoughts about how I should handle things. Now we are adding another person who doesn’t seem to have any issues letting people know exactly how she feels into the mix. I can only imagine what it will be like with both my grandmother and Aunt Minnie in the same room.

  My eyes are tired and strained. Speaking of which, I need to figure out exactly what I need to get for the Red Velvet Cake. I need it to be a success. After the pecan pie turned out so great, I would hate to fall from grace and not make the perfect Christmas cake. Especially since the last cake Jack had on Christmas Eve was made by his mother.

  Scents of cookies and vanilla make me happy as I stride into the kitchen.
Megan has her Rudolph apron on and she has the jingle bell scrunchie in her hair. Always trying to be the good child. My mom bought me a Frosty the Snowman apron, but I don’t feel up to wearing it. Honestly, I’m not sure when I would ever have the desire to wear it. Besides, who makes a white apron for cooking? This makes no sense, the point of an apron is to catch all the mess, but if it’s white then it most likely will be stained and then what? You wear a stained apron? I don’t think so. I know if I wore the Frosty apron it would surely get splattered by cranberries.

  “Well, look who decided to finally show up.” Megan drops an eye onto her Santa cookie and grimaces at me.

  “Merry Christmas to you too, Megan.” I stick my tongue out at her.

  “Oh, Lauren, don’t you think you are a little too old to be sticking out your tongue?” Megan raises an eyebrow at me.

  “Age is just a number, besides if you want to talk about being too old for things, putting out cookies for Santa seems a bit much, no?” I swipe a cookie off the perfectly decorated platter and take large bite.

  “Lauren, shh. You know you aren’t the youngest member of this family…Ahem!” She nods her direction into the living room, where Winter and Raven are running after the train as it works its way around the entire room. My mom has the most elaborate train set I have ever seen. I mean it’s better than the trains at Macy’s. She sets up little villages all over the house too. Of course they are themed, she has different eras and different geographic locations as well. It’s really impressive. The music changes as the train makes its way into the various depots. Lights, music, themes, it’s totally my mom’s thing. You would have thought she came from a theater profession, with all of her showy décor.

  My mouth forms an “o” and I flitter my eyelashes in acknowledgment. I don’t want to spoil Christmas or Santa for my niece and nephew. I didn’t realize they were still up, I guess this is part of my brother Luke and Aurora’s free-range parenting-style. Letting their children roam free without any real restrictions on life. I know I don’t have any kids yet, but I cannot understand the concept of this parenting. Parents are supposed to enforce the rules. There are rules in life, pretending or teaching as if there aren’t any seems like a hindering education, if you ask me. Which of course no one has because why would they? I’m singl— Well, I’m not single technically, I do have a boyfriend or a man-friend. I don’t like man-friend. It sounds creepy. Jack is by no means a boy, but what other title could he have, my partner? I don’t know.

  “Yoo-hoo, Lauren! Do you have everything ready for tomorrow?” Megan is staring at me with a tube of frosting in one hand and an iced sleigh cookie in the other.

  “Everything?” I wrinkle my eyebrows, what does that mean? Everything? I’m not Santa Claus, I’m not delivering presents.

  “Yes, are your presents ready and do you have the ingredients for whatever it is you’re making?” She shakes her head in annoyance.

  “My presents? Oh crap, I might not have gotten you everything on your list.” I smirk.

  She squirts some frosting at me. It’s one of those aerosol cans and reaches my hair.

  “Megan!” I shout. And grab a handful of her white homemade frosting from the bowl and smush it all over her face.

  “Oh it’s on!” Megan declares and grabs another tube of frosting, she’s double-fist frosting. I grab the bowl and the spatula. I will frost her to oblivion. She will be the epitome of frosting when I’m through. I lunge at her and thwap a big helping of white frosting on her hair. I’m blinded by the blue frosting she has squirted in my eye.

  “I can’t see, Megan! Why would you do that?” I’m wiping my eye with my hand but nothing is working. I fumble around the kitchen looking for a towel, when I feel one placed in my right hand. I turn my head in the direction of the towel giver. From my one clean eye, it’s very easy to make out the big man looking down at me with disappointment.

  My dad.

  “You girls are too old for this.” He shakes his head in disapproval.

  “That’s what I was trying to tell her.” Megan begins. I’m wiping frosting from my eye, but it’s not clearing so I walk to the sink and try and deluge it with water.

  “You were trying to tell me? You started this!” I shout with my back turned. I can almost feel the heat from her anger on me.

  “Start this? I’m trying to make things nice. I’m trying to help you.”

  “Help me with what?”

  “Help you not make decisions you might regret.”

  “What decisions?” I continue dousing my eye with water. I can almost see again.

  “Lauren, making the cake and making a mistake about your career. I don’t think you are thinking everything through.”

  I can’t see her, but not because of the frosting. I have regained full vision. I can’t see her because I’m facing the sink. She is behind me physically, but I know she is not behind me mentally. And this really hurts. I place the towel in the sink and march out of the kitchen as fast as I can. I can’t deal with this situation. I need to escape into a deep sleep.

  ***

  Despite Megan’s warning, I’m going to attempt to bake a Red Velvet Cake with Jack. I’m not sure what Aunt Minnie is up to, but I will carry on as planned. My mom’s trunk is filled with the ingredients to bake the cake along with her hand-mixer, a large bowl, and three nine-inch pans. I’ve got everything and Jack’s present is wrapped up and ready to go. I didn’t open the present Jack gave me yesterday, because I was too upset and wanted to crash into my bed after my conversation with Megan. I put it in my purse and decided I would open it before meeting Jack at his house.

  I parked my mom’s car a few houses up from Jack’s. The brown paper package is in my purse, I need to get it out and figure out what yesterday’s gift was. I sigh. I’m not sure why I’m worried. The paper is rough on my hands as I rip it enough to slide the box out. I lift up the white lid and inside is a meadow scene filled with fashionably dressed frogs hopping over each other. I laugh. Of course, now I need to find out what is inscribed on the back. “Hide-and-Seek might be your preferred game, my heart is leaping for you.”

  My eyebrows raise and my chest tightens. I let out deep breath. Right, off to bake a cake. Hopefully, I’m not overstepping any unseen boundaries on Jack’s heart by initiating this Red Velvet Cake being made. I turn the key to the right and signal. I’m veering my mom’s car away from the curb and creeping down the road three more houses. If any of Jack’s neighbors have seen this, they might be a tad concerned. Oh well.

  I put the gear in park and pop the trunk. I’ll leave the gift in the car until later. I have all of the ingredients and baking wear in a box for easy transporting. Good planning on my part. I close the trunk and beep my mom’s clicker. The car is locked and I am officially making my way to the door of Jack’s two-story historic house. The siding is beige and there are four white columns on the porch along with a brick trim on the roof and porch. I’ve been here before, but this time is different. It’s almost like I’m Julia Roberts about to stand in front of Hugh Grant and say “I’m just a girl wanting to bake a Red Velvet Cake with you.”

  I shuffle up the sidewalk and shift the box to my left arm to free up my right hand. My index finger is hovering over the doorbell as Jack props open the door.

  His eyebrows squint at me and he reaches for the box. “So you’ve decided to move in?”

  I laugh. “Noooo, I um wanted to see if you were in the mood to do some baking?”

  “Baking with you?” Jack cocks his head to the right, nodding for me to enter. “Always.”

  I cross the threshold into Jack’s house. Aunt Minnie is sitting on the couch with the cat next to her and is reading a book.

  She glances in my direction.

  “Hi, Aunt, Ms.”

  “Lauren, you can call me Aunt Minnie, Merry Christmas Eve.” Her lips form two straight lines with a hint of a curve at the end. If I wasn’t inspecting her so closely, I think I might have missed the possibility
of this being a smile in my direction.

  I beam back at her. “Merry Christmas Eve.” I follow Jack through the living room and into his kitchen. It’s stark, almost like the one at the retirement community. Except it isn’t a whitewash snowstorm. The colors are grays and blacks, industrial and manly, it’s the epitome of Jack. He places the box down on the granite counter and turns around.

  “So what are we baking?” His icy blues are sparkling at me.

  I eye the floor for a second. Lauren, be brave, you’re already here with the ingredients.

  “I have the ingredients and thought maybe we could make a Red Velvet Cake.” I raise my eyebrows and hold my breath. I can’t breathe until he responds.

  He gazes into the box and takes my hand. Jack squeezes my palm and pulls me in close. Our lips are centimeters apart. “There is nothing I’d rather do than make a Red Velvet Cake with you.” He kisses me.

  I lean back and point towards the living room. “Your Aunt Minnie is in the other room.”

  “Exactly.” He kisses me again. “Lauren…I.” He releases me and steps towards the box. “Let’s get started.”

  Okay, not sure what that was all about, but I’ll press on. I dig into the box and pull out the recipe I printed off. It has over five hundred four-star reviews so I’m confident this cake is a winner.