by Terra Kelly
“What are you doing tomorrow?” She opened her mouth and then closed it. “My cousin and I are making a special yule log.”
“What’s so special about it?”
“I guess you’ll have to find that part out tomorrow.” I laughed and sat my napkin on the table. “Free cake. Who doesn’t want free cake?”
She shook her head and I could tell she was holding in a smile. “Fine, but only because I want free cake.”
On the way to the restaurant I was playing an inner battle in my head. I really didn’t want to go on the blind date. Now, as I walked Holly out, I felt happy. My sister knew me too well.
My new challenge: find a way to make Holly appreciate her name and the holiday season.
Once she had a bite of my special spice cake, I had a feeling I’d start to change her mind.
Four
Holly
“So, how did it go?” Nova sat a mug of hot chocolate down in front of me. “Tell me everything.” She flashed the biggest smile and plopped down on the chair.
“You seem too giddy right now. You knew his name already didn’t you?” I rolled my eyes and wrapped my hands snuggly around the mug.
“Well, yeah, but–”
“No buts, you suck, Nova.” I tried to hide my smile but it was hard. My friend was the sweetest soul, you couldn’t stay upset at her for long. “Now I have to go to his place to make a yule log.”
“Wait, what?” She leaned forward in her chair. “Elaborate.”
“I made it clear I hate Christmas. He shared his love for the damn holiday and then invited to bake with him and his cousin.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Not much else to tell.”
She swatted at my arm. “That’s a lot. When is this baking date happening?”
I held my index finger up. “Not a date. I’m just helping bake a yule log. There’s a big difference there.”
“Is there though?” She winked and hopped up to head over and help a customer.
I leaned back in my chair. No, there wasn’t a difference. Nova was right, it was sorta, kinda a date. I took a sip of the hot chocolate and almost moaned out loud. The hot chocolate was damn amazing.
As Nova made her way back over to my table I asked, “Do you know what makes a yule log so special?”
“The sponge recipe of course.” She sat a to-go container down with one of her special donuts. “You’ll have to tell me what recipe he uses.”
I brought the container close to my nose and inhaled the aroma. “Yeah, okay.” I started walking toward the door. “Maybe. I may forget.” It was fun to fuck with her since she held back on Noel’s name the other day. She balled up a napkin and threw it at me as I walked away. “Thanks for the treat.” I giggled and dodged the flying object as I ran out the door.
On the way to my car I tried to reason why I shouldn’t be helping make a yule log. The number one thought, I really was not a fan of the holiday season. Someone who liked decorating and baking the special treats should be helping. Not someone who specialized in the words bah humbug.
“Holly, I’m so glad you came. Come on in.” Noel stepped to the side. “Are you ready to be wowed by a yule log recipe?”
“Um, how do you want me to answer that?” I stepped inside and stood by the door feeling a tab bit uncomfortable. I mean, I didn’t know the guy technically and yet, I was now at his house to help bake a recipe I knew nothing about.
“Trust me, this is going to be fun.” He placed his hand on the small of my back. I wasn’t prepared for how my body would react to his touch. All the holiday talk made me feel more annoyed. Then his hand touched my body and I felt warm heat move down my back and straight to my core.
“If you say so.” I stepped into the kitchen. “I thought your cousin was helping, too.”
“Yeah,” he let out a heavy sigh and reached for something on the counter. “He drove all the way here from Wilmington and had to turn back around immediately. There was an emergency at his cafe.” He handed me fabric that was bright red and had candy canes scattered all over.
“Oh no, I hope everything is okay.” I sat my coat on the back of the kitchen chair.
“He just called twenty minutes ago. Everyone is safe, but his wife, Alyssa had to get ten stitches.” He walked over to the counter and stirred something in a mixing bowl.
“Wow, I’m glad she’s okay.” I held up the fabric and realized it was an apron. “I should let you know, I’m a messy cook. This may get messy. Is that a problem?”
“Not at all.” He continued stirring. “I thought you would enjoy the holiday cheer as you helped me bake.”
“Red is not really my color.” I tied the apron around my waist and stepped closer to him. “Tell me about this special recipe you’re making?”
“We’re making.” He corrected and handed me a spatula. “It’s my award-winning spice cake recipe.”
“Award-winning, huh?” I should’ve known the moment I glanced up at him I would be fucked. “This exact recipe has won awards?” I pointed at the batter and tried to look away from his chocolate colored eyes, but they were too damn mesmerizing. Suddenly, my mind wandered to inappropriate thoughts.
“This exact one.” He repeated and grabbed some cinnamon.
I took a moment to glance around the kitchen. “Wait, you have a Christmas tree in here.”
“Um, yeah. I have one in every room.”
“Every room?” I stopped stirring and took a step back. “Why?”
“Why what?” He continued to measure out the spices. “It’s a fun time of the year.” He had a measuring spoon full of cloves he dropped into the batter. “It’s also the only time of the year I can say screw it to my man card status and do whatever I want.”
“You really do love everything about Christmas don’t you?”
He sat the measuring spoons down. “It’s easier to show you that answer.” This conversation was so weird. For years I avoided talking about Christmas. Now I was standing in a kitchen where a damn Christmas tree was decorated. Not just any tree, it was full size and had wrapped presents underneath. He held out his hand. “I won’t bite.”
“The jury was still out on that one. I don’t know you yet.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “We don’t need to see the trees in the bedrooms,” I said as I walked by him.
“Right, no bedrooms allowed.”
Dammit, this guy had piqued my interest.
This shouldn’t be happening.
I hated everything about Christmas…or did I?
Five
Noel
“Tree five and six are in the two bedrooms.” I pointed down the hallway.
“You have a tree in the bathroom,” she said and sounded shocked. “This is not normal.” She laughed and shook her head before starting to head back into the kitchen.
“So you say,” I teased and grabbed the spatula. “You’re a Scrooge remember? All decorations are too much in your eyes.”
“I wouldn’t call myself a Scrooge.” She moved her finger around a small pile of cinnamon on the counter.
“No?” I leaned against the counter. “You don’t decorate, hate your name, and you almost canceled our blind date when you found out my name.”
She sighed heavily and walked around the counter to sit down on a barstool. “Listen, I’ve just never been in the festive mood. That doesn’t make me a Scrooge.” She rested her elbows on the counter. “That’s a bit harsh.”
“Is it?” I knew Scrooge was the perfect word. “Scratch that question.” I walked over to my phone and pulled up Christmas music on an app. “Plus, we need to finish this sponge.”
“Is it called cake or sponge?”
“I think they’re interchangeable, right?”
“Maybe.” She scrolled on her phone. “Yeah, I guess it is. Americans tend to say cake more.”
“Well, it is a special sponge recipe that is perfect for my spice cake.” I handed her a zester. “Want to do the honors?” We needed to add the zest of one orange to the recip
e. “I’ll measure out the flour.”
“So, do you have a culinary background?” She picked up an orange.
“No, self-taught.”
“Really? Have you worked in a restaurant before?”
“I wish. The only time I baked with other chefs was when I helped my friend Kris in a baking competition.”
“Kris?” She laughed and clanked the zester on the side of the bowl. “Like Kris Kringle?”
“Um, no. Like Kris Gray.”
“Does he love Christmas just as much as you do?”
“No, but his new girlfriend does.”
“Now I’m afraid to ask what her name is?”
“Millie.” I poured the first cup of flour in the bowl. “See, not everyone has a name that screams holidays.”
“Good.” She hopped up and walked around the counter. “You had me worried there for a moment.”
“I think Kris was named after his father. No relation to the big guy up at the North Pole.”
She pushed at my arm. “Now you’re just mocking me.”
I held my hands up. “No, I’m not.” It was hard to hold in my laugh. “Okay, maybe just a little. What about you?” I asked and stirred in more flour. “You seem to understand a lot of baking terms. Do you have a culinary background?”
“No. I’m a food blogger.”
I stopped stirring and turned to face her. “Really?”
“Yeah, why?”
“No reason.” I suddenly had a crazy idea. Since my cousin had to leave unexpectedly, I still needed someone to help me at the local holiday competition. What if Holly helped me? It was a long shot since Holiday was in the title and she hated any kind of celebrating. I waited to say anything. It was better to find the perfect moment and pop the question.
My mind was reeling as we continued to mix up the batter and then I carefully spread it out evenly around the prepared sheet pan.
My sister had set us up on a blind date for a reason. She knew something I didn’t about this chance meeting. Peyton did have awesome women’s intuition. A part of me regretted asking Holly over to make the yule log. The other part of me wanted to know everything about this woman.
Holly tried to make everyone believe she hated Christmas. Her eyes told a different story as we walked around my house looking at all the trees and colorful lights.
I placed the pan in the oven right as Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree started playing through my small phone speakers. “Oh, I love this song.” I reached my hand out. “Dance with me.”
“I don’t dance, Noel.” She placed her hands on her chest.
“That can’t be true.” I moved my hips back and forth to the beat. “This song makes everyone dance.”
“Not me.”
“What are you afraid of?” I surprised myself with that bold question.
“Who said I was afraid?” She rolled her eyes.
I stopped dancing and rested my hands on the counter. “Sorry, that was rude.”
She hopped off the stool. “I think I should go.”
I followed behind her as she made her way to the front door. “Wait.” I placed my hand lightly on her arm. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Please stay.”
She had her hand on the door handle. “Why?”
“So you can taste the cake you helped me make.”
“Or should you be saying sponge?”
I laughed at her question and could feel the tension drop by several degrees. “No, cake.”
“I’m guessing there’s a reason you call it cake?”
“It goes with my nickname.”
She rolled her eyes. “Alright, I’ll bite. What’s your nickname?”
“Mr. Spice Cake.” She was laughing so hard, she had to rest against the door. She finally stopped laughing and rested her head back against the wood surface. “Stay. Please.”
She looked up at me. “Only if you promise to not make me dance?”
“Cross my heart.” I traced an X across my chest.
She wrapped her hand around my wrist and tugged me back toward the kitchen. “Do we add frosting to the outside of the cake?”
“A lot.” I let her continue to drag me into the kitchen. “We need to make it look like a log.”
“Now this I gotta see.” She dropped her hand and went over to sit down on a barstool.
“And taste.” I checked the cake in the oven.
This woman continued to surprise me.
She tried to act like she didn’t care about Christmas but I knew that wasn’t true.
I planned to make her fall in love with the holiday season. First up, a homemade yule log.
Six
Holly
One week later…
“What is that?” Nova pointed at my purse. She lifted it up to get a closer look.
“Excuse me.” I grabbed it and sat it on my lap. “And hello to you, too.” It had been several years since Nova and I had spent any time together. We were best friends in high school. Then I moved away and we started to only talk about every six months. Now that I was back home it was like old times again.
“Nope, you can’t get out of this one.” She pointed at my purse. “Talk, woman.”
“Fine.” I sat my purse on the table. “It’s a damn Santa pin. You happy?”
I ended up staying at Noel’s house for another four hours the other night. We decorated the yule log. Laughed. Talked. Then he cooked me dinner. As I was walking out the door at the end of the night, he had to stop me. I had forgotten to take the festive apron off. The moment I handed it back to him, I felt a sense of loss. Like maybe I was missing something. When I got home that night, I dug through my jewelry drawer and found the brooch from my aunt. It was a large Santa holding a red bag overfilled with presents.
“But…you hate Christmas decorations?” Nova leaned in closer to get a better look. “Wait…”
“A girl can change her mind.”
“You’re not any girl.”
I sat up. “What’s that supposed to me?”
“I just mean, your house has no sign of the holiday season.”
“That doesn’t mean I hate Christmas.”
“Then why do you avoid decorating?” I placed my arms on the table and rested my head on them. “Holly, quit mumbling and lift your head up so I can hear you.”
I glanced over at her and sighed. “It was easier to avoid everything Christmas, than answer too many holiday related questions because of my damn name.”
“Awww, Holls.” Nova reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Who cares what your name is. You can’t deny yourself happiness because you hate being asked questions about your name.”
She was right. I let myself get wrapped up in the politics of it all. I forgot about the true meaning of the holiday season. Then Peyton walked into the coffee house at the perfect moment and set me up on a blind date.
It was weird how everything seemed to be happening for a reason.
“Shit, you’re right.” I dropped my forehead onto the table and banged it up and down a couple times.
“Stop, stop.” She had her arm wrapped around my shoulders. “So what are you going to do about it?”
“I have no idea.” I placed my hand over hers and rested my head on her shoulder. “I need to go home and take care of a few things.”
“Do you have Noel’s number?”
“No. We didn’t exchange numbers.”
“When I see Peyton next I’ll get it.
“Don’t be Mama bear and try to intervene.”
Nova threw her hand over her chest. “Holly, why I never.”
I pushed at her shoulder and hopped up. “And that’s my cue to leave.”
There was a sense of relief after talking to Nova. It felt good to have my dear friend who was always open and honest back in my life. I was feeling a little nervous what she would say to Peyton.
Two days later…
I was sitting on my couch reading a book. My eyes were slowly drifting in and out when
a knock at my front door brought me out of my sleepy state. I peeked out the front window and saw a man standing on my porch. Not just any man; it was Noel.
I swung the door open. “Hi.”
“Hi.” He sprinted down the steps and grabbed a Christmas tree resting against his car. “I hope it’s okay I stopped by unannounced?” He carried the tree up the steps.
“Um, yeah, it’s fine.” He was walking right toward me with the big tree. I quickly moved to the side. “Why do you have a tree and why are you taking it into my house?”
“A little birdie told me you needed one.” He sat the tree down in my living room and ran back out to his car.
I knew he meant Nova. Peyton probably came into the coffee shop and they both proceeded to chat about how to get involved.
“How are we supposed to decorate–” I spun around to come face-to-face with Noel. He was walking through the door holding a big box. “Oh…”
“I have that covered.” He sat the box down and clapped his hands together once. “What are you doing right now?”
I looked over at the tree and back at him. “Um, decorating a Christmas tree?”
“Want some help?” He opened the box and pulled out a couple strands of lights.
“Do you want to help?” I glanced in the box. There were multi-color lights and several different ornaments.
“Well, it would be boring decorating all by yourself.”
I sat down on the edge of the couch. “Noel, who told you I needed a tree?”
He sat down beside me. “Why? Are you mad?”
I wasn’t mad. I was touched.
“No. Not even a little bit.” I turned to face him. “Why did you volunteer?”
“Is this where I tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?”
“Pretty much.”
“Well, I missed you.”