Page 10 of Cakewalk

“Sugar Honey Iced Tea!”

Holden tried to bite back a laugh at her way of avoiding saying ‘shit,’ but it managed to escape anyway. Leave it to this cute little thing to find polite ways to swear.

“I can at least go inside and get my things, right? Or do I have to head to the motor lodge in just what I have on?” she asked, looking down at her yoga pants and T-shirt, covered in not only cupcake batter but also soot.

“I’ll have to ask about getting your things, but if you’d prefer…” he started, before pausing to get his words right. He had no idea why he was about to offer her a room in his house, but he was. He enjoyed being alone. Enjoyed keeping the world away. With Gigi in his house that was never going to happen. But he couldn’t let her leave either. Clearing his throat, he started up again. “If you’d prefer, the big house does have five bedrooms. And there is one at the opposite end of the hall from me that connects to the bathroom, so you’d have your own space.”

“Really? Holden, I couldn’t intrude like that!”

“It’s fine. There’s plenty of room.” Gigi’s face lit up a little at his words, and a smile started to tug at the corner of her pretty pink lips. Why did he want to kiss them so bad? He was a married man—he shouldn’t be thinking of his tenant like that. You were a married man, he corrected himself. Hannah’s been gone for six years…

“We’re just going to have to set some ground rules.”

“Like?” she asked, looking at him like he might pull the rug out from under her.

“Like the only time you’re allowed to use kitchen appliances is if I’m home. And the fire extinguisher remains on the counter at all times,” he answered, laughing a little.

The look of defeat washed over Gigi faster than anything Holden had ever seen. He’d meant it as a joke, but everything about her body language currently told him that to her, it most certainly wasn’t one. What had gone on in her life that she lacked any kind of confidence?

“Gigi, it was—”

“No, I think that’s more than fair. I did almost burn down your hundred-something-year-old house. But I promise I’m not an idiot! It was an accident and—” she rambled.

“Gigi, I know it was an accident. Accidents happen. No one thinks you’re an idiot. Now you sit here, rest, do what the EMTs tell you, and I’ll go ask the chief about getting your things to move you into the big house,” he said, turning to head toward the carriage house where he could see the chief talking with her crew. Throwing a look back over his shoulder, he saw Gigi shudder, and she let out what must have been a sigh of relief. His heart ached a little, watching her like this, and he wished there was more that he could do to make her understand that he didn’t blame her. He just wasn’t sure he had the emotional capacity for it.

5

Holden

It was another two hours before the chief would allow Holden to go into the carriage house to grab Gigi’s items. She tried to insist that she could do it, but the chief had put a stop to that immediately, telling her that she wasn’t allowed since she’d already inhaled too much smoke. It hadn’t taken him very long to get everything she needed, since the only items it seemed she had unpacked were the toiletries in the bathroom. Once he’d gotten everything into the big house and Gigi had been officially released by the EMTs, they both made their way inside.

“Well, this is it. Montgomery Manor, as we call it,” Holden said, suddenly feeling like he was thirteen and having a girl over for the first time. “Like I said the other day, it was built in 1853. There are five bedrooms and two bathrooms. Awkward note about that—both bathrooms are upstairs.”

“That’s…odd,” she responded, seeming to relax a little. Her eyes still had a concerned look to them, like she was still feeling guilty about the accident and was worried that she was putting him out.

“Yeah, it’s not something I’ve ever understood, but it’s been that way my whole life, so at this point I’m just used to it.”

“Did you grow up here?”

“No, this place belongs to my godfather. I grew up just across the border in New Hampshire, but I spent every summer here,” he told her. “So, I know this weird old place pretty well at this point.”

“I’d say so.”

“This is the living room,” he said, stepping out of the entryway and into the large room that took up most of the front of the house. The two large bow windows were surrounded by built-in bookshelves and sat across from a large fireplace. “Then through here is the dining room.”

They walked into the connected room heading to the back of the house. The old house was the exact opposite of an open floor plan, but the idea of tearing down the wall between the two rooms just seemed like too much work. Holden watched as Gigi’s eyes went wide, taking in the massive oak table that seated twelve as well as the built-in buffet that ran along the entire length of the wall that was shared with the living room. The room was massive and largely unused for years. Caulfield had stopped hosting dinner parties after Aunt Viv had passed, but no one could seem to find a better use for the space, so the table remained.

“Please don’t think I’m crazy, but you know what this kind of reminds me of?” she asked, pointing to the buffet, holding back a giggle.

“What?” he asked, curious to see where her mind was taking her.

“All the arches in the buffet make me think of the opening to The Muppet Show. You know, where each Muppet is in their own little alcove swaying back and forth?” she said, mimicking the motion of the puppets from their childhood.

Holden barked out a laugh, realizing she was right. “I’ve never noticed that, but now I don’t think I’m going to be able to think of anything else.”

“Sorry. It’s beautiful. I don’t know why my mind went there.”

“I like that it did,” he said, giving her a gentle smile. He liked seeing this side of her. One that was a little more relaxed. She was letting her real personality show through, and damn if that didn’t make her even sexier. He didn’t need her getting sexier. “This is probably what you’re most interested in though.”