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Dear Santa,Save me from another awfulman...
Shae Kenney stoodon the porch of her cousin’s place in Atwater Village, freezing her ass off. Thanks to good old climate change it had been between eighty and one hundred degrees in Los Angeles clear through the end of November. A few days ago, though, the temperature had dropped and they were back to the cool winter nights a desert climate called for. She thought her trench coat would be enough. But the drive over to Keira’s house was so short it took the whole ride for the heat to really kick in and then it was time for her to head right back out into thecold.
“Fuck.” She shivered and hit the doorbellagain.
“Coming!” she heard her cousin yell inside. The door flew open and Shae was bathed in the smell of Italian food and the sound of Christmasmusic.
“Hi!” Keira beamed in her usual chipper way, a common trait amongst most Kenneywomen.
“Hey!” Shae met her smile and stepped inside. She couldn’t help eyeing the Christmas decorations that hung from nearly every square inch of available space. “It’s so Christmasy in here! You two weren’t playing when you said you were going to do it up thisyear.”
“Thanks. There’s mistletoe in every room.” Keira shrugged, sticking out her tongue. “All the spontaneous smooching helps keep my mind off thewedding.”
“Aren’t youexcited?”
“I am, but I think Mom and Mrs. Song are a little more excited than Daniel and I combined. They just asked if they could sing a duet at the reception.” Her cousin’s wedding was just a few weeks away. It would definitely make for a memorable New Year’s Eve, but what had started out as a small, intimate ceremony had ballooned into a full blownthing.
“A duet ofwhat?!”
“They haven’t decided yet, but they’ve been bonding over karaoke and realized they missed their calling as the next hot thing in girl groups. I just want my man to whisk me away from all this,” Keirawhined.
“You two are so cute. It’s ridiculous. Everything will be fine. Just tell them no to the singing and let them do an extratoast.”
“Oh, good call. I saw your text about the shoes. I’m glad theycame.”
“Oh I’m all ready, baby. Ugh, you guys are really making me feel like I need to decorate. I might just get a fake tree this year. I should do something.” This was the first year in a long time where Shae actually felt like celebrating the holidays. Hopefully she could rise to the occasion and inject some Christmas cheer back into her own life. Being inside Santa’s Village, otherwise known as her cousin’s house, mighthelp.
“I brought your favorite, the vanilla mousse filled, and I slipped two of the salted caramel in there for Daniel when he gets back.” She handed over the plastic container filled with her gourmet cupcakes. The plan was to rotate who was responsible for which parts of the menu for their weeklyPRINCE CHARMING: New Zealandviewingparties.
Shae always handled dessert. It had taken a few years, but her bakery Sweet Creams was finally making a nice little profit. Never understatement the power of refined recipes and socialmedia.
“Oh, thanks. I’ll put these on thetable.”
“Don’t worry. I made extra for Meegan,” Shae said as she followed Keira to their open concept living and dining room. It looked like Mrs. Claus had gone on a decorating bender. Shae loved it. The doorbell rang again before she could shed herjacket.
“It’s me!” their friend Meegan called through thedoor.
“I’ll grab that.” Keira slipped around her and headed back to the front of thehouse.
Shae dropped her jacket on the back of a chair and made herself comfortable on their sectional. She could hear Meegan and Keira talking down the hallway, but she was too lazy to get up. She was pooped. She’d been working her ass off all weekend and this upcoming week was looking pretty packed aswell.
She had to do all the regular baking for her storefront and she had orders for office parties, two birthdays and a regular customer that liked to have her own personal stash on hand when she wanted to hide from her kids. Shae caught her brain running through the rest of her schedule and had to force herself to stop. This was her night off. Instead of thinking about cupcakes and tarts, she pulled out her phone and opened MATCHED, the dating app her friends had convinced her tojoin.
After her divorce from Harvin, Shae knew it wouldn’t be easy to get back into the dating scene. Extra hard considering she and Harvin had gotten married almost right out of high school and she’d never actually been in the real dating scene before that. She just didn’t think it would be this difficult to find a halfway decent guy to enjoy her free time with. So far she’d been on two okay dates, five miserable dates, and one date with a guy she was convinced should be serving a lengthy prison sentence. She’d also been stood up twice. Needless to say she was still on thehunt.
“I brought salad!” Meegan announced as she came into the room. Shae looked over her shoulder. Keira was carrying the salad in question while Meegan pumped her fists in the air above her head. She collapsed on the couch next to Shae and lightly swatted her thigh. “What’s up? We didn’t see you lastweek.”
“I know. I had to bake a bajillion cupcakes for a wedding, but I gotpaaaaid.”
“Oh good. Did you bring more cupcakes tonight?” Meegan asked as she cupped her hands under her chin and batted hereyelashes.
“Yes, she did,” Keira laughed. “You canrelax.”
“Oh! Where arethey?”
Keira came over and sunk down on Shae’s other side. “On the table.Patience.”
