Sabrina steps in close, her eyes slit to nothing. That gardenia perfume of hers is so overpowering my skin threatens to break out into hives, and I can already feel my throat locking off. It’s a bit ironic that I’m not allergic to a single thing, but in all the years I’ve known Sabrina, she’s elicited this very reaction in me whenever we’re in close proximity. A part of me still wishes New York were a prospect as far as housing for the viper in front of me goes. But I could never do that to Graham. Not now anyway.
“Ida Bergman works at Peabody’s Bookstore,” she spits out every word as if it were venom.
Bookstore?Bookstore! My eyes round out for a moment, but I force them to return to their natural size as to not incite suspicion. My breathing grows erratic, and like a trained Navy SEAL, I command my body to take soothing, even breaths. Sabrina Jarrett is a master at smelling fear in people.
“Oh, really?” I give a few innocent blinks, praying that any skills I might have in the drama department quickly come to the forefront. “Do they need a platter of cookies? Brownies maybe for the employees?” I steal the moment to take a few trotting steps to the other side of the counter. I figure there’s safety in a few hundred pounds of marble between us. “Just about every business on Main Street is having a holiday party this week. You’ll have to excuse me. I need to get these cookies in the van and drive them over to the Boys and Girls Club.”
Sabrina takes a few stalking steps in my direction. Her jaws set on a scowl, her eyes burning their venom right through me. “Sources say they spotted the two of you leaping around Peabody’s, then skipping up and down Main Street holding hands like a couple of teenagers. Is that true?” That last sentence comes out as more of a roar, and I flinch as if she struck me.
“No, not at all!” Darn her book club posse for monitoring the mean streets of Gingerbread. “I simply went into Peabody’s to pick up my yearly donation for the children’s ward at the hospital. Graham happened to be there, and he helped me carry out several bags of books. There was no way we could have been holding hands. Our arms were full of enough parchment to furnish an entire Alaskan wilderness.” A thought comes to me. “You know all about that toy drive. Your dad plays Santa for the event every year and distributes the gifts himself. And doesn’t your mother read the children on the unit the Christmas story?” I coo as if I just saw Noel’s sweet face for the very first time.
Her lips pull into a line. “I don’t care about any of that. I care about Graham and me—as in the super couple you promised me we’d be. Didn’t you win some ridiculous trophy for being the world’s most prolific matchmaker? My relationship is falling apart at the seams. Do something!”
I swallow hard for two reasons. One, Sabrina Jarrett is yelling at me in a threatening tone. And two, I think I may have just forfeited my title as world’s best matchmaker.
“Actually”—I hold up a finger, backing up as she slowly edges her way toward me—“I never said I was prolific. And if they were handing out trophies for such a thing, I’m pretty sure all I would come away with is a participation trophy. You know, the kind you get for just showing up?” Right about now, I’m wishing I had a very tangible trophy that I might use to knock her over the head while I make a run for it.
Sabrina bares her fangs at me, growling the way Noel does when I try to hide her teddy bear. “Listen up,Missy”—she makes my name sound like a putdown—“I’m this close to tripling your rent myself if you make one wayward move toward my boyfriend.”
Her boyfriend? Wow, it looks like I really did a bang-up job on one end of the equation—the psychotic end that goes by the name of Sabrina Jarrett. She’s obviously in love enough for the both of them. Just perfect. I’ve inadvertently gifted poor Graham a lifelong psychotic of his very own for Christmas. “Come up with some way to get that boy to have a conversation with me. Each time I call he won’t pick up. I’ve sent a thousand text messages, too! And yesterday when I was coming out of the tree lot, I spotted him and he took off in the otherdirection! Sure, he was chasing that demented overgrown rat the two of you are warring over—and you will so win once I get him back. I assure you of that.” She gives a feverish nod as if to sweeten the pot. “But as for now, our relationship is at a standstill.” Her chest bucks, and I’m half -convinced the leather seams on that skintight jacket are about to burst. “You have to find a way to make this work again.”
“Okay!” I pick up a spatula as if it were a weapon, and it may have to be. “I know what I need to do, and it just might get the train back on track. But you have to listen to me very carefully.”
Her mouth gapes as she nods frenetically. “Yes, anything.”
“Good.” I tick my head to the side, shocked at how easy that was. “I will speak with Graham. It’s vital for me to do so if I’m to ascertain exactly what might be going awry. Don’t worry. I’ll be covert. Sometimes men are simply aloof and have no idea that they’re doing something wrong.” I wince because pretty much everything I’ve just spewed from my lips is a bald-faced lie. “And then I need you to drive out to Holiday Orchards and find his brother.” His brother? I have no clue where my mouth is about to take this, but I’m praying it’s someplace where I get to keep my teeth. I wouldn’t put it past Sabrina to employ those stilettos against me.
“His brother?” she spits the words out like she might be sick.
“Yeah, you know. Divide and conquer.” I’m pretty sure that’s not how divide and conquer works, but, let’s face it, Sabrina isn’t even getting a participation trophy as far as IQ scores go. “I’ll talk to Graham and see what I find out, and you talk to his brother. There’s not a person on this planet who knows Graham better. They grew up together. He’s practically an insider.” Okay, so I’ve just added another bald-faced lie to the collection. So sue me. And I’m starting to believe when this entire fiasco blows up in my face, Sabrina might just go and do that.
“Just know this”—my voice hikes a notch as if I were dishing out a threat of my own—“my investigation might take some time—so don’t be surprised if my assessment takes a little longer than anticipated.”
“Like how long?”
I give an uncertain shrug. “Aweek?” That will buy me all the time I need with Graham right up until he boards his private jet back to Manhattan. Oh my goodness! Does Graham have a private jet? Honestly, that just might be a game changer. Maybe I should knock some sense into Sabrina with this spatula after all. There’s no real reason to continue on with this farce—with the exception of the bakery. I openly scowl at the marble island. If it wasn’t for Holly, I might actually play Jarrett roulette with it.Triple my rent.I’m going to kiss Graham twice as much today just to spite her.
“A week?” She shakes her head as if it were a deal breaker.
“If you want to speed things along, then I suggest you spend all the time you can with Tanner. And if you can’t find him at the orchard, he’s probably in Cater. If I were you, I’d practically shackle myself to the man. And—for the sake of your love life and my reputation as the world’s most prolific matchmaker, I’ll do the same with Graham.”
She comes in close, her eyes widening like twin hard-boiled eggs as if she sees right through my little boyfriend-snatching scheme. Not that he was ever hers for me to snatch. Nope. It turns out, Graham has been mine all along. At least that’s what my matchmaker instincts tell me.
“Perfect!” she bleats so loud it sounds as if a bomb just detonated in the kitchen.
“Perfect?” I squeak with disbelief.
“It’s genius actually. The more time we spend with the Holiday boys, the quicker I’ll get my clutches on the right Holiday altogether.” She scrambles toward the café. “I’m headed out to find Tanner asap. And if you’re smart, you’ll be with Graham within the next ten minutes.” She turns, and that narrow-eyed glare of hers is right back on me. “You have until Christmas Eve to repair what’s broken. Or you can kiss your little bakery goodbye.” She takes off, and I place the spatula over my heart and let out a sigh of relief.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I fish it out. It’s a text from Graham.
You up for a quick walk around the lake? Noel says she likes it better when you hold the leash.
I can’t help but laugh when I read it. I text right back.Meet me at the Boys and Girls Club in fifteen minutes. It’s a date.
What Sabrina doesn’t know won’t kill her. But as soon as she finds out, she just might kill me—and my little bakery, too.
* * *
