Page 44 of Holiday Crush

“Technically, baking or business is supposed to be in my blood. Our house always smelled like cinnamon and sugar during the holidays.”

“That sounds heavenly,” Ivan gushed.

“I guess so.”

“Don’t be Scroogey, and whatever you do, don’t tell me you don’t like Christmas.”

“I like Christmas fine,” I assured him with less enthusiasm than he was hoping for, judging by his frown. “But I’m not a kid anymore. I don’t get excited about Santa Claus or presents under the fuckin’ tree.”

Ivan sighed wearily. “That’s…sad.”

“Why is that sad?” I snorted. “You aren’t really expecting Santa and his reindeer to make an appearance on Christmas Eve, are you?”

“No, but the holidays are still magical.”

“How? It’s commercial madness. Corporations want you to think it’s all about peace and goodwill, but they really just want you to buy shit you don’t need.”

Ivan glowered. “That’s a very pessimistic view.”

“It’s reality, Ive. Money makes the world go round.”

“So does hope,” he argued. “I have a lot of stress on my plate at the moment, worrying about Stacy and the baby, and the business. But this…” He extended his arm, gesturing to the box of decorations and the snowflakes hanging from clear string on the ceiling. “This gives me hope.”

“Paper snowflakes?”

“And Mariah Carey and these hats, and the tree I need to decorate, and the lights I’ll put up tomorrow, and the gifts I need to wrap. Thisis‘peace and goodwill toward all’ season, and I’m going to enjoy every tinseled, glittery, peppermint candy cane bit of it,” Ivan declared vehemently. “Starting with these fabulous snowflakes.”

“And how many of these fabulous snowflakes are we putting up?”

“Hmm, two hundred…give or take a few,” he replied.

“Two hundred?” I gaped incredulously. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me?”

“I know that sounds like a lot of snowflakes—”

“It sounds like a blizzard,” I deadpanned.

He chuckled. “Or a winter wonderland.”

“We have that outside.”

“No, we don’t. We haven’t had any snow yet—not a single flurry. And last year we didn’t get any wintery weather until mid-December. These snowflakes set the mood. Ambience is extremely important. I want our customers to be dazzled with holiday cheer. They may walk in bleary-eyed and half-asleep, but they’ll walk out of here with a piping hot cup of caffeine and a smile. They’ll remember how nice that felt and hopefully, it will make them return the next day. Or even later that afternoon.”

I furrowed my brow thoughtfully. “All because of snowflakes.”

“Yep.”

“Does it work?”

“Sales were up twenty percent last December from the previous one, so…yes. The trick will be to do the same this year on my own.”

I stepped off my stool and dragged it under a barren section of ceiling. “Why don’t you hire another employee? Mazie’s cool, but you obviously need help.”

He hopped down to grab another stack of snowflakes and refill his apron pocket with thumbtacks. “We’ll be fine. A new hire is not part of the plan. Neither was my partner getting married and pregnant in the same year. Talk about a surprise. Stace always said she didn’t want kids…or a husband. That was supposed to be me.”

“You want to get married and have a family?”

“Are you proposing?” he asked, fluttering his eyelashes.