cookies and recipes. There was only rule, and that was that they couldn’t bring the same kind of cookie two years in a row.
For Amelia and Maddie, this was a welcome challenge. For Cora, not so much.
She let herself into Amelia’s warm house and hung her coat and scarf on the hook, noticing that most of the guests had already arrived by the number of boots lined up on the mat. She added hers to the mix and walked into the living room, where her sisters, cousins, and their cousins were either gathered around the fireplace, or visible in the adjacent kitchen.
“Merry Christmas!” she said, feeling the anticipation of a fun night ahead. The Christmas tree was small and simply decorated, but it was still beautiful, and from the mantel hung two stockings, no doubt for her and Matt, even if he lived at the house he’d purchased when he returned to town over the summer.
“Get a glass of wine and join us!” Bella called over cheerfully. On the coffee table was a whole spread of snacks, complements of Amelia no doubt, because even though all the girls brought cookies to swap and take home, that didn’t mean they ate them at the party.
Well, maybe a few.
Cora walked into the kitchen and set her two boxes of cookies on the table with the others, wondering if her ginger snaps and jam thumbprints would hold up to some of the more ambitious creations that she personally couldn’t wait to taste.
“These must be yours,” she said to Maddie, who filled them each a glass of wine. There was no doubt that the coconut snowball cookies decorated to perfection to look like the top of a snowman were the work of the baker in the family.
“I’ll admit that I did use this year’s cookie swap as a way to test some new recipes. Promise you’ll give me your honest opinion?”
“Don’t I always?” Cora said, which received a little pinch of Maddie’s mouth.
Maddie was honest, always. Britt pretty much too. Amelia and Cora being sandwiched in the middle of the sibling order tended to be more inclined to go with the flow and keep the peace.
“Speaking of honesty,” Maddie said when Amelia joined them at the table carrying a bowl of what Cora recognized as her famous spinach dip. “How on earth did you pull this altogether? You’ve been at the café since the crack of dawn.”
“Candy closed up,” Amelia said humbly, even though they all knew just how much work it was to run your own business, plus host a group of women, even if most of them were family and therefore forgiving. “And I would have left earlier, if a certain handsome someone hadn’t stopped by.”
Assuming that her sister meant her boyfriend, Cora said, “Did Matt help set up, then?”
“I was referring to your handsome someone, Cora. This was my first proper look at Phil Keaton, and I have to say, he might just be the best Christmas present you’ve ever received.”
Cora felt her cheeks burn. “Please. He’s just a…” She didn’t know what he was. He wasn’t a friend. But he wasn’t more than that either. “He’s just passing through town. He’s just here for the holidays.”
But she hoped that wasn’t true at all.
So much for honesty.
“Well.” Natalie came into the kitchen with Gabby and poured herself a glass of wine. “If you don’t want him, you can send him my way.”
Cora felt her cheeks flame. She had the sense that Natalie was only half-joking, and her back was against a wall now. She’d have to come clean about her feelings, put her real hopes out there, even if she didn’t dare admit them even to herself.
It was Maddie who came to her defense, saying, “Well, I’m just happy that you’ve found a nice guy, Cora, and at Christmastime, too! It was meant to happen for you of all people at this time of year.”
“Of course, we always thought you and Bart would be sort of a cute couple,” Gabby said as she reached over and snatched a cookie.
Cora shook her head. “Bart only sees me as a friend.”
“You so sure about that?” Gabby raised an eyebrow as she munched on a chocolate-covered gingersnap.
Cora thought about her banter with Bart, the ease, the way he’d carried that tree all the way up to her living room. And never did tell her who sent it.
A thought took hold as her breath caught, and she hoped the other ladies wouldn’t notice the emotion