Page 49 of Cakewalk

“Yeah, yeah,” the tall, wire-thin man called back without even bothering to turn around. His salt and pepper hair was a little longer than Holden was used to, but at least from the back it seemed to suit him. “I want to meet this southern beauty who managed to remove your head from your ass.”

Holden looked to his parents, both of whom shrugged in response. Everyone had always told him that he was the spitting image of his father, a fact that he’d always taken pride in, since Heathcliff was usually regarded as a good-looking man. These days his long beard disguised most of the resemblance, but he knew that if he were to shave, it would be like looking at his father in the mirror. Except for the eyes. The piercing blue eyes were the only part of his mother that he’d inherited, her fair hair and skin losing the genetics battle to his father’s dark ones.

“He’s been like this the whole drive up,” his mother said. “You know how he gets.”

“How are you, son?” his dad asked, embracing him. The contact felt good, and Holden wondered if it had always felt like this and he just hadn’t realized it, or if this was one more thing the magic of Gigi had changed.

“I’m good. Although maybe a little worried about Gigi being left alone with him. She was already nervous enough about all this.”

“Well then, let’s go save her,” his mom suggested.

Holden and his father grabbed their suitcases, and he gestured for them to lead the way. The three of them made their way inside just in time to find Gigi standing in the living room, wide-eyed and slack-jawed in front of Caulfield, frozen in place, a tray of mugs in hand.

“I should take that before you drop it,” Holden said, rushing over to her. She managed to hand him the tray, and he stole a quick kiss from her, not caring in the slightest that they were on display for his family.

“Stop hoggin’ the pretty girl,” his godfather said, shooing him out of the way. “Young lady, I’m Caulfield Montgomery. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“GeorgiaGrace Elyse Hawthorne, née Shaw, as in Shaw Investments, not Shaw flooring, that's a whole other set of Shaws…” Gigi rambled. The words tumbled out of her mouth so fast, in such a thick southern accent, that it caught even Holden off guard. “And the honor is mine, Mr. Montgomery.”

“Oh my dear, Mr. Montgomery was my father. You may call me Caulfield. Or even just Field like this one does.” He gestured to Holden with his thumb, a large smile taking over his face.

“And these are my parents, Heathcliff and Catherine.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both as well. I made hot chocolate,” she said, gesturing to the tray he’d taken from her and set on the table. He could tell she was still nervous, so he walked over to her, taking her hand, hoping that it would be of some comfort. She let out a small sigh while giving his hand a squeeze, and he knew he’d made the right call.

“So, Holden tells us that you’ve found a love for baking?” Catherine said, grabbing a mug and sitting in one of the chairs by the fire.

“Yes. I kinda fell into it, actually. I took a class years ago on cake decorating, but skipped the learning to bake part,” she answered, as she and everyone else followed Catherine’s lead in sitting down. “I had a bit of a rough start, but I think I’m doing pretty well now. I hope y’all don’t mind, but I have a couple of new cupcake flavors that I need opinions on, so I figured I could try them out on you.”

“What did you end up making other than the Arnold Palmer ones?” Holden asked.

“You made an Arnold Palmer cupcake?!” Caulfield exclaimed, pushing up out of the chair he’d just sat in and hurrying into the dining room.

“I made those, plus an espresso bean cupcake—so think a chocolate cake with espresso mixed in, with a mocha frosting, and chocolate sprinkles and a chocolate covered espresso bean. I thought since it’s a coffee shop, that maybe a coffee inspired item would be more appropriate.”

“Heath! You gotta try this thing, man,” Caulfield called out.

“On my way!”

An awkward silence fell over them as Heathcliff joined his best friend in the dining room, and Holden searched for something to say. Every time he opened his mouth to say something though, he stopped himself, not wanting to say the wrong thing. He wanted to put Gigi at ease, to make her feel like part of the family. One look at her and he could tell what she was thinking. That she wasn’t good enough and that she was ruining his family holiday. Think of something, dumbass. Don’t just let her sit here and think she did something wrong…

“Why’s it so quiet in here?” Caulfield asked, walking back into the room with a plate full of food. “Catherine, bust out the photos!”

“Photos?” Holden asked, looking between his parents and Caulfield, all of whom suddenly had very guilty looking grins on their faces.

“Oh, good idea!” Catherine said, reaching for her tote bag. As soon as Holden saw the spine of the mint-green photo album, he knew exactly where this was going.

“Oh no, put that away!”

“What is it?” Gigi asked.

“Holden’s greatest hits!” Heath said, coming out of the dining room with plates of food for himself and his wife.

“No, no! The greatest hits album has no place seeing the light of day on Christmas!”

“I’m confused,” Gigi said, looking at him like his whole family was speaking in Russian.

“You see, Gigi, Holden is an only child, with parents and godparents who are only children,” Heathcliff explained. “So we have albums upon albums of photos of him. At one point in high school, his Aunt Viv thought it would be a good idea to pick out the best of the best photos and put them all in one album for easier viewing.”