Charlie was paralyzed with indecision. Should she go hide upstairs to avoid being seen? Should she go out there and just blurt out the truth? Jake (and Cass) might never forgive her, but she didn’t see how this could end in any way other than sheer disaster.

Jake had moved his hands from Cass’s arms back to his pockets, and Charlie could tell from his posture that he knew something was wrong. His shoulders rolled forward, his head was dipped. Cass, for her part, looked mostly confused. Then she pointed to the bakery, and Jake nodded, and then just stood there as Cass smiled, gave him a small wave, and headed for the door. He briefly glanced at her as she made her way to the front door, then shook his head and walked in the other direction.

“Jake. I’m so sorry,” Charlie whispered. She was so busy watching Jake retreat that she was still crouched in front of the doorway when Cass pulled it open, and she tumbled out onto the sidewalk.

“Charlie?” Cass said, looking with concern at her twin lying in the snow.

Cass kneeled down and pulled her into a tight hug. “Are you feeling better? How’s your head?”

“I’m fine. But . . . why are you home? Why aren’t you on set?”

“We have a lot to talk about,” Cass said, finally releasing her sister. Charlie’s stomach filled with dread as she took in the expression on Cass’s face. There was something wrong. “But let’s go inside first, okay?”

• • •

“What did you say to Jake?” Charlie asked once they were back in the warm bakery. She was preoccupied about how he’d looked moments before as he walked away from Cass.

“Yeah. That was weird,” Cass said, looking outside to where Jake had stood moments before. Charlie cringed and shrugged her shoulders. “What, Charlie? Why was that weird?”

“Like you said, we have a lot to talk about.” Charlie took a deep breath. “But you aren’t supposed to be back for two days. What’s going on with the show? Did it wrap early? Why didn’t you call me to say you were coming home?”

Cass paused, then said, “I’m not on set because I called—well, you called—in sick, and then some . . . other stuff happened.”

Charlie looked her sister over. She looked tired but otherwise she seemed perfectly fine. “What’s the matter?”

“Charlie, I’m not actually sick, but I—”

Just then Walter came out from the kitchen. “Cass, I have some less than fantastic news . . . Oh, hey, Charlie!” Seeing the twins standing together in the bakery stopped him short. Then he strode over and held out his hand to Cass, blushing slightly. “Charlie! Welcome home.”

Cass didn’t miss a beat, reaching out to shake his hand. “Thanks, Walter. It’s good to be home.”

Walter grinned at Cass, until Charlie said, “So, what’s this ‘less than fantastic news’?” and his smile dropped.

“Right,” he said, giving Charlie—who, of course, he still believed to be Cass—a worried look. “I think something’s wrong with the starter.”