Mason wished he could go back in time and sucker-punch himself the moment he impulsively hugged Brianna when he’d found out he’d won the bid to cater dessert for the Candy Cane Ball. It had happened all too fast to think much about it, so when Brianna had jumped at him in excitement, he’d appreciated her shared enthusiasm. There had been nothing romantic in the embrace for either one of them since they were both in love with other people. In fact, Brianna was hoping to be engaged by Christmas. But it must have looked bad. And like the idiot he was, he hadn’t done a good job explaining the situation to Ruth or reassuring her but had jumped right into telling her the news about the bid.
She should have known that he wasn’t the kind of guy though. Moreover, hadn’t she just told him earlier in the week that she would be happy for him if he got the catering job?
Why couldn’t she just talk to him about everything so they could figure it out? He hated that she was barely responding to his texts and had excused herself from their date.
Now, he was sitting alone in a chair near the buffet table eating too much and trying to decide if he was more upset with himself or with her. The music his mom had playing wasn’t helping. When “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” ended and Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” came on, he started to wonder if the playlist was a conspiracy.
Movement caught his eye and he looked up to see Lori coming toward him, carrying a chair. “What’s the matter, Mason? You’re glaring at those olives on your plate like they’re trying to kill you.”
Mason straightened and set the plate down on a nearby side table. “Nothing at all, sister dear.”
“Really? Then why isn’t Ruth here? You told me you were bringing her.”
“Something came up.”
“What’d you do?”
Mason groaned and got up. The noise in the living room from the kids playing, and adults trying to talk over them and the music was grating on his nerves almost as much as Lori was. The kitchen was quieter. Unfortunately, though, Lori had followed him.
He ignored her for a moment and reached into the cabinet next to the sink where his mom always kept a selection of pain relievers. After taking four Advil, he turned and submitted to the inevitable. Meeting Lori’s watchful eyes, he said, “I hugged my employee in front of Ruth.”
“The hot one?” Lori’s voice was pitched higher than usual with surprise.
“I don’t know. I guess she’s hot.”
“Why’d you do that?”
Mason spread his hands in a gesture of appeal. “I was just excited about something. And I didn’t know Ruth had come in.”
Lori frowned. “Blockhead.”
Stung by the truth of her statement, he said, “Hey, this is all your fault anyway. You’re the one who convinced me to submit a bid for the Candy Cane Ball. If I hadn’t gotten it, everything would be fine right now.”
“Ah.” From the tone of her voice, she understood all the pieces he’d left out. She absentmindedly picked up a gingerbread man and bit off its head. A moment later, she swallowed and pointed the cookie at him. “Why didn’t you guys submit a bid together? What’s better than chocolate or cookies?”
“What?”
“Chocolate and cookies.”
His eyes widened as the brilliance of her idea swept over him. “Why didn’t you suggest that a couple of weeks ago when it would have been helpful?”
“Maybe it’s not too late.”
Nodding, he said, “Maybe. It’s not like I’ll be making money on this gig anyway. It’s all about exposure. I’ll see if I can make it happen.” But just as he began to get hopeful, he realized that would only solve half of his problem—and that was only if he could make it happen. “How do I fix the hugging thing?”
Lori smirked. “Maybe she won’t care so much about who you hugged as long as you’re kissing her.”
Mason narrowed his eyes at her. “Yeah? And just how do I make that happen when she’s mad at me?”
Shrugging, she said, “I can’t figure out everything for you.”
Mason folded his arms across his chest and tried to find inspiration in the tile pattern on his mom’s kitchen floor. It wasn’t exactly helpful.
Giving up on that part of the problem, he pulled up the email he’d gotten from Sharon and asked if her she would consider including Ruth’s cookies as part of a package deal with his chocolates. He hoped she would respond soon because it was eating him alive to not be able to fix things with Ruth.
Anxious and unable to relax, he decided that his best course of action was to go home and get some sleep. Between his regular work at the shop, getting things ready for the catering job, and figuring out his personal life, the morning was going to take every bit of energy he could muster.
He said goodnight to everyone, pausing to kiss his mom on the cheek.
“You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah, sorry. I have to get up really early in the morning.”
She nodded and hugged him. “Okay. But you need to take a break soon. You work too hard. I can see the strain in your eyes.”
He wasn’t about to tell her what was really stressing him out. And Lori had better keep her big mouth shut about it. Not that he had much hope for that.
“I will. I’m going to be even busier for the next week but I’m closing the shop down on the twenty-third since the ball is that night and I’m not opening back up until after Christmas. I promise I’ll take it easy then.”
“Okay then. And you’re coming over here to spend Christmas Eve with us, right?”
“Who else would I spend it with?” But even as he reassured her, he thought of the only other person in the world he’d want to spend it with. “Good night, Mom.”
“Good night.”
As he drove home, he kept thinking about the combination of chocolate and cookies. He could think of dozens of mass-market combinations and even some gourmet examples. It was a match made in heaven. What would his chocolate and Ruth’s cookies be like together? He suspected that it would be phenomenally good—two very different desserts, each with their own qualities and strengths, complementing each other. A match made in heaven, right?
Back at his apartment, he plugged his phone in next to his bed and checked his email, just in case. When he saw that Sharon had already responded to his email, he opened it up and urgently scanned her response.
She was excited about the possibilities. As he read on about how she’d gone back and forth over which of them to pick, he felt a swelling of pride in how complementary Sharon was about Ruth’s cookies and how well they’d been received the last two years. She wanted to know specifics but was definitely interested.
“Perfect,” he said out loud. Then he stared at his screen and tried to decide whether he should call Ruth tonight or tell her in person tomorrow.
Deciding that she just might be excited enough to give him a hug made his mind up for him. Besides, he needed to get a more definite answer before he said anything. It would be awful if he got her hopes up just to have them dashed again. That was absolutely definite. He might be frustrated with her reaction and the way she had shut him out but he didn’t want her to hurt anymore. He loved her too much.