Now he looked confused. “And you’re upset because . . . ?”

This was it. Tell him now, Charlie.

“Is it because of Brett?”

Charlie shook her head. “No, this has nothing to do with Brett.”

“Then what’s wrong? Please, tell me, Cass.”

Tell him.

Tell him, Charlie.

“Nothing’s wrong, Jake. I’m . . . I’m just really happy, for the first time in a long time. And that scares the crap out of me.”

His face lit up. Then he kissed her again, before saying, “I’m really happy, too. And for what it’s worth, I’m also scared out of my mind.”

“You are?” Her throat constricted. This was wrong, and yet . . . she just couldn’t stop. It felt like the first real thing that had happened to her in a long time. Yes, she knew her time in Starlight Peak—and with Jake—would have an inevitable end, and soon. But Charlie wasn’t ready to face that yet, as unfair as that might have been.

“We can be scared together. Deal?”

“Just . . . don’t let me go, okay?” Charlie’s voice was a whisper, her mind swirling with the seismic shift of the evening.

Jake pulled her back to him and wrapped his arms around her, starting to spin them around in another slow dance. She closed her eyes again and gave herself over to the moment. “I’ve got you, Cass Goodwin. I’ve got you.”

19

Cass

Wednesday: 3 Days Until Christmas . . .

Los Angeles

Cass couldn’t count now how many times she had taken out her phone to call her sister and tell her the awful news: the Bake My Day job was being given to Austin, and there had never been anything either of them could have done about it. But she couldn’t stand the idea of breaking her sister’s heart. Not yet. For the past twelve hours she had been wracking her brain, trying to think of a way to fix things for Charlie.

But there was no way to fix this. She could hear Sasha’s voice in her head. Please don’t make us regret giving you the host job over Charlie. And then Austin’s snide response: Well, then good thing it wasn’t up to you, Sasha.

It was over for Charlie. Still, that morning Cass had risen early as usual and started to dress for work. It was supposed to be what Sasha referred to as an “easy day”—a little B-roll, some production stills and teaser videos for the promo of the finale of the holiday baking marathon, and a team meeting. “Charlie, let’s have a chat, just you and I—tomorrow afternoon?” Sasha had said to Cass the night before as she prepared to leave the set. Cass had known that would be the moment Sasha delivered the terrible news.

Which was why this morning Cass had decided not to go in to work. She had left a voicemail for Sasha, when she knew she wouldn’t be in yet, telling her she was sick.