by Kris Jett
“Um,” Amber darted a glance at Nick and he looked a little uncomfortable. Probably from the “meet women” line. It made her want to laugh. “Yeah. I’m just here for the holidays.”
“Well, you’re in for a good time and you’ll be able to take your new talents with you to make the best cakes ever at home. If you’re ready, let’s get going. Come on guys, follow me,” she told them. She led them to a kitchen in the back of the shop with a large metal table with stools and a row of blue aprons hung on the wall. “Here you go, put one of these on,” she said with a nod to the aprons, “and grab a seat.”
Nick and Amber slipped their coats off and pulled the aprons off the hooks. As they slid them over their heads and tied the backs Nick said, “I don’t need help meeting people or anything. I mean, she made that sound like I did.”
“I know,” Amber said with a grin. “You met me.”
Nick returned her smile and they joined the other two couples around the table. One appeared to be a mother and daughter and the other was a couple who said they’d been married for twenty years.
Eileen set out four pre-made cakes and each couple took one to work on. Amber and Nick’s cake was a marbled chocolate and it smelled delicious. Eileen chatted on about how she got into baking and when she first opened Patterson’s as she demonstrated rolling out fondant. They all mimicked her movements and rolled, cut, and placed, the fondant on the cake.
Nick picked up a scrap of fondant Amber had cut away and popped it into his mouth. “I never understood why we put this on cakes. It’s not all that tasty.”
“It’s more so meant to be pretty,” Amber told him. “And hey, we might need that. Stop eating our supplies.”
“Like this?” he teased and put another chunk of fondant in his mouth.
“For not liking the taste, you sure are eating a lot of it,” Amber said.
“Less eating, more decorating, Nick,” Eileen called out.
Nick and Amber exchanged glances and Amber whispered, “troublemaker.”
The group were all given piping bags filled with fresh buttercream and Eileen showed them how to adorn the cakes with rosettes and shells. Amber was in heaven. She worked on a cluster of pink and purple roses on top of the cake while Nick decided to try his hand at a rosette border along the bottom.
“Nick, try to hold your bag at more of a forty-five degree angle,” Eileen called out from across the room.
Nick bit his bottom lip as he concentrated extra hard on his work. Amber thought he looked so cute with such a serious face on.
Eileen walked from couple to couple, offering tips and when she reached Nick and Amber’s cake she stood close to Amber and watched. “Beautiful job, Amber. You’re good at this. Have you decorated cakes before?”
Amber blushed. “A little. Just at home by myself.” She had moved ahead of the class a bit and added elaborate green petals to her flowers.
“Well your work looks professional. Your roses are perfect.”
“Thanks,” Amber said and glanced at Nick. He had a huge smile on his face.
Nick leaned in and whispered in Amber’s ear. “Our cake is by far the best.”
“It’s your border,” Amber whispered back. “Pulls the whole cake together.”
Nick swayed left and playfully bumped Amber with his hip. She smiled to herself as she readjusted her hands on her piping bag and decided to add extra details to the side of the cake.
For probably the tenth time today since Nick picked her up at her cabin, Amber thought about how much more fun it was hanging out with Nick instead of sitting around all day waiting for her parents to come home. They hadn’t even bothered to ask her what she did all day yesterday and she didn’t bother to tell them. Yesterday was amazing. She had the best time decorating the Christmas tree at Starlight with Nick, Diedre, and Jessie. Diedre was one of the loveliest and kindest women she’d ever met. And Jessie was so funny and drop-dead gorgeous. She had these amazing big brown eyes and long wavy brown hair. Amber couldn’t believe she didn’t have a steady boyfriend. But maybe the single men scene in Snowy Ridge wasn’t too expansive. Or maybe Jessie just didn’t want to date anyone right now. Amber wasn’t going to pry but Jessie did mention that she wasn’t bringing anyone to Christmas dinner this year so she knew she didn’t have a special someone right now.
Speaking of Christmas dinner, Amber wracked her brain for an idea of how to approach the subject with her parents. She knew they would be averse to it. They don’t like to celebrate the holiday period let alone with a bunch of strangers they didn’t know. They would never agree to go and they would try and tell Amber she couldn’t go either. But Amber knew she wouldn’t miss it. Whatever she had to do she was going to get to celebrate Christmas at Starlight with Nick. And it would be the best Christmas she ever had.
Amber stood back and surveyed her work. “There. What do you think?” she asked Nick.
Nick looked over the detail she had just added. “I think you and I need to chuck it all away right now and go into business decorating cakes. It’s obviously our calling.” He twisted his lips and tilted his head as he re-examined his border. “Well, you’re calling anyway,” he added.
Amber unconsciously reached out one hand and rubbed Nick’s back. His eyes flicked up to hers and he leaned in toward her like a cat, wanting to continue being pet. This moment, being here with him, felt so nice and she didn’t want it to ever end.
Chapter Eight
Nick was a rational person. He always reasoned everything out and the thing that made the most sense would be to not fall for a girl who was only in town for another week. Obviously, that would be foolish. But his brain and heart must not communicate much because that is exactly what was happening. How else could he explain how excited he was to be headed to Amber’s cabin to bake Christmas cookies? Yesterday they were decorating cakes at Patterson’s and today they were going to be baking sugar cookies. He was becoming a regular Betty Crocker. His friends would die of laughter if they knew how he was spending his afternoons this holiday break but he didn’t care. He couldn’t wait. When Amber invited him to come over to make cookies he immediately said yes. Of course, she could have suggested they do just about anything from crochet a couch cozy to make pipe cleaner napkin holders and he probably would have been all in. Amber was a magician and he was under her spell.
He might have played it up a bit with just how much he liked the cake decorating the day before which prompted Amber’s invitation. It was fun enough decorating the cakes, he guessed, but the real attraction had been spending time with her. He liked listening to her talk and hearing what she thought about different things. He liked the way she looked at him so intently when he was talking, like she didn’t want to miss a single word. And he loved seeing her smile. He would do anything for her to smile at him. So now here he was, at Amber’s doorstep, with an arm full of red and green sprinkles and candies to decorate Christmas cookies with.
Nick rang the doorbell and a moment later Amber pulled the door open.
“Come in,” she said breathlessly. “I was just checking the dough. I’ve had it resting in the refrigerator so it would be ready when you got here.”
Nick walked in and looked around. The place was just as Amber had described. Warm and homey and knick-knacks everywhere you looked.
“Here, let me take your coat and hat,” she said, holding an arm out to him. Amber had her long hair swept up into a high pony tail and looked comfortable in a t-shirt in jeans.
Nick set the supplies on the foyer table and slipped out of his winter wear and handed it to Amber. “You started without me?”
“Not the fun part,” she promised. She grabbed Nick’s hand and pulled him toward the kitchen.
He wanted to walk slower just so he could hold her hand longer.
“Hey,” she said when they reached the kitchen, “you didn’t tell me what you got on your finance paper.”
“I just found out this morning actually,” Nick said with a smile. �
�Got an A. A for the class too.”
“Congrats! That’s awesome.”
“Thanks, I was pretty happy.”
“You get extra icing on your cookies,” she teased.
“You’re too kind. And I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Here, put this on,” she said and handed him a red and white candy cane striped apron. She was wearing a green elf printed apron herself. “Aren’t these aprons a kick? I found them in a drawer.”
Nick shook his head and grinned. Amber looked adorable in her apron. He didn’t think the candy cane one would suit him nearly as well. He thought again about what his friends would say if they could see him as he tied the apron behind his back.
“So do you want to work in finance after you graduate?” Amber asked as she poured cookie cutters out of a bag and onto the counter.
Nick thought about this. “Yeah. I think so. I mean, I always knew I wanted to work in business but lately I’ve been thinking more and more about becoming a financial advisor. I think I’d like helping people plan their futures.”
“That’s cool.”
“Back up plan, become a famous science fiction writer,” he added. Nick immediately wondered if he shouldn’t have shared that. It really wasn’t something he talked about with people and it might make him seem not so serious.
Amber stared at him. “Really?”
Nick smiled. “Well, maybe not. It’s a stretch. I’ve always loved to write though. Just for fun. Short stories and stuff like that.”
“I’d love to read some,” Amber said excitedly. “And I really do mean that. I’m an avid reader.”
Nick studied Amber’s face. He’d never shared anything he wrote with anyone. But with her he just might. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll let you read something some time.” Nick rubbed his hands together and surveyed the kitchen counter top. “All right, what do we do first?”
“First, we wash our hands. Then we work with the dough.” Amber and Nick washed and dried their hands and then Amber dumped a cup of flour on the clean counter and spread it around. “Now we take a good chunk of dough and roll it out. Have you ever rolled dough?”
Amber held a rolling pin out to Nick and he took it. He flashed to making Sunday morning biscuits with his mom when he was a kid. She always let him roll out the dough. “Sure. I’m a pro.”
Nick put a ball of sugar cookie dough on the floured spot before him and rolled it out.
“Not too thin now,” Amber said, standing close to Nick.
Nick breathe in and could smell the sweet scent of Amber’s shower gel lingering on her skin. He turned the rolling pin sideways and continued to roll gently.
Amber reached out and touched Nick’s hand. “That looks about right. Now the fun part.” Amber scooted the cookie cutters toward Nick and begun to cut out bell and star shaped cookies.
Nick picked up a stocking cookie cutter and cut out a few cookies and placed them on the baking sheet. He picked up a piece of cookie dough scrap left on the counter and popped it in his mouth.
“Hey, you’re always eating our supplies,” Amber teased. “We’re going to use the dough scraps to make more cookies you know.”
“This one too?” he asked as he popped another piece into this mouth.
Amber laughed and placed a candy-cane shaped cookie on the baking sheet next to one of Nick’s stockings. She glanced up at Nick. “You have flour on your face,” she said and pointed.
“Yeah?” Nick asked and swiped at his cheek with the back of his hand. “Where?”
Amber reached up wiped Nick’s cheek gently with her hand. He covered her hand with his own and they stared at each other. He felt like they were both thinking the same thing and he slowly leaned toward Amber and she moved toward him. Just as their lips were about to brush the front door slammed open.
“What’s going on here?” a man bellowed.
“Shit,” Nick yelled, practically jumping out of his skin.
“Dad!” Amber said.
Her dad? Oh great, Nick thought. Nice way to meet Amber’s parents.
Amber’s father was a tall man with dark hair the same color as Amber. He looked tired and slightly annoyed that Amber and Nick were making a mess in the kitchen. A woman, Amber’s mother Nick guessed, walked in and set her briefcase on the floor near the door.
“Oh. Amber. You have company?” her mom asked.
Amber grabbed a dishtowel and wiped her hands. “Hi Mom. Dad. This is Nick.” She handed Nick her dishtowel and he quickly wiped his hands too.
Amber’s father moved closer to Nick and Amber but didn’t speak.
Nick could feel the tension between him and Amber’s father. He put his hand out toward him. “Nice to meet you.”
Amber’s dad sucked his teeth and then slowly accepted Nick’s hand. Amber’s Mom joined them in the kitchen.
“Baking? Now Amber? We’re about to have dinner.” She held up the plastic bag of take-out food for proof that dinner time was indeed near. To Nick she said curtly, “hello.”
“Sorry,” Amber said. “I figured you’d be working late again. You’ve been doing that lately.”
“Not tonight,” her dad replied.
Amber looked between Nick and her parents like she was trying to figure out what to do. Nick hated that she was struggling with this and wanted to make the situation better.
“You know, Amber, we can always finish these another time, right? Eat dinner and I’ll talk to you later.” He started to take his apron off but Amber grabbed his arm.
“No, wait,” she said to Nick. To her parents she said defiantly, “we’re going to finish making our Christmas cookies. Eat without me.”
Amber’s mother’s eyebrows shut up. Nick could see instantly that she was ticked her daughter didn’t do exactly what she wanted immediately. Amber’s dad had looked pissed the whole time. Nick thought he wasn’t too thrilled to have found him standing in his kitchen about to kiss his daughter so he wasn’t going to be feeling too fondly toward Nick any time soon.
Amber’s mom locked eyes with her husband. He gave her a tired shrug. Amber’s mom returned her gaze to Amber. Amber didn’t budge.
“Fine,” her mom said. “We’ll eat in our room. That will be…different.”
With that, Amber’s parents left the kitchen and headed down the small hallway.
Amber and Nick looked at each other. That was intense.
“Ready to bake?” Amber asked.
Chapter Nine
Amber seriously considered staying in her bedroom until she heard her parents leave for work. No matter how long that took. But she knew she’d have to face them eventually so out for breakfast she went.
“Good Morning,” she said when she walked into the kitchen. She didn’t have a real plan for what she would say to her parents that morning. Apparently the pretend like nothing happened tactic was the winner.
Her dad was sitting at the table with an egg white omelet and newspaper in hand. Her mom was sitting across from him, working on a grapefruit.
Amber poured herself a bowl of granola and joined them at the table. She knew that they weren’t happy with her and normally this would really bother her. But she felt differently when she woke up that morning. For the first time that she could remember, she didn’t really care. She was tired of them always trying to steer her life. So what that they didn’t like that she had someone over. Oh well, get over it, she thought. She was an adult.
Nick had texted her first thing that morning with a picture of him eating one of the cookies they had made for breakfast. He was so adorable. She was about to pull up the picture on her phone to look at it again when her mom interrupted her thoughts.
“Are we going to talk about last night?” she asked.
Here it comes. “What about last night?” Amber asked. Might as well play the ignorance thing for as long as possible.
Her dad folded his paper and set it on the table. Both of her parents were looking at her.
“What?” she
asked. “You guys are trying to make me feel like I did something wrong. I’m allowed to have friends. I’m allowed to bake cookies. There shouldn’t be a problem here.”
“Who was that guy?” her mom asked.
Amber frowned at her mom. “I told you. His name was Nick. I met him at the Starlight Pub. He’s a dishwasher there. He’s really nice. You’d like him if you had stuck around to chat for a few minutes last night.”
Amber’s mom turned toward her husband. “He’s a dish washer,” her mom said, stressing the last two words.
“I heard,” her dad replied.
“What? Why are you guys acting like this? What’s wrong with being a dishwasher?” Amber was suddenly feeling very irritated. She pushed her bowl of cereal away from her. She wasn’t hungry any more.
Her mom sighed. “Amber, we know you’re meeting boys at school and you might even be dating. We get that. It had to happen eventually.”
No, they don’t know, Amber thought. She hadn’t dated anyone at school. Amber had only ever had one sort of boyfriend her senior year in high school. His name was Jake and they’d only dated about three weeks. Amber kept it secret from her parents because she thought they would freak out. Kind of like they were doing right now.
“But…?” Amber prompted. “Go on, I know you’re just dying to say something else.”
“There is no reason to speak rudely to your mother young lady,” her dad scolded.
Amber crossed her arms over her chest and fidgeted in her seat. She wanted to leave the table. This whole conversation was ridiculous. She couldn’t believe her parents were getting so worked up over her baking cookies with a guy. They were acting like they found her shooting up heroine in a grungy back alley.
Amber’s mom swallowed and licked her lips. She folded her hands on her lap. “What I basically wanted to say, Amber, is that you’re going to be going back to school in mere days. It’s probably not the wisest investment of your time to spend it with a young man you’re never going to see again. And one who is,” her mom paused, looking for the right words, “let’s say, not of your same caliber.”