Cass smiled. “Speaking of surprises . . .” She retrieved a slender, wrapped package from her bag and handed it to her sister.

Charlie ripped off the paper. “A cookbook! And . . . Oh, Cass.” Her breath caught. “These are our recipes.”

“I collated all the recipes from Woodburn’s, plus the ones from the Sweet and Salty baking marathon. It was a tough time we went through, but so much good came from it. I never want us to forget that.”

Charlie happily flipped the pages. “This is so great, Cass. The German Chocolate Switcheroo is my absolute favorite.” She looked up at her twin. “Thank you.”

“Are you crying?” Cass reached out and wiped away a tear streaming down Charlie’s cheek. “What’s going on?”

Charlie shook her head. “Nothing. I was just thinking about our crazy swap last year and how it was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Being you made me realize what I really wanted my life to look like.”

“And being you did the same for me,” Cass said, her voice full of emotion, too. “And I’m so happy we’ve found a way to be together more often now, with the show.”

Charlie glanced over at Jake. “Hey, I need to do something before everything begins. You okay?”

“I am,” Cass said. “Just have to change.”

“I left the garment bag for you on our bed,” Charlie said, and Cass murmured her thanks before heading upstairs.

“Everything alright with you two?” Jake asked when Charlie joined him.

“All good. Just twin stuff,” Charlie said. “I wanted to give you something, before all the holiday chaos starts.” They were alone now, everyone else having moved to the kitchen or having joined the snowman-making outside. She reached under the tree and pulled out a rectangular box, tied with a green silky ribbon. “Merry Christmas, Jake.”

He untied the ribbon and took off the box’s lid, staring for a long moment at what was inside. A baked dog bone cookie with Big Sister written in white icing.

“Sharon made it, but I decorated it,” Charlie said. “It’s for you. Well, it’s for Bonnie, but the message is for you, obviously.”

Jake finally looked at Charlie and she saw . . . disappointment. Her heart sank.

“Who told you?” he asked, heaving a frustrated sigh. “I swore everyone to secrecy! Was it Miguel? Gran?”

“Told me what?”

He reached under the tree and handed Charlie his gift-wrapped box without a word. She opened it and inside rested a small golden dog tag. “What’s this?” she asked.

Before Jake could explain Faye walked back into the room, followed by the rest of the holiday guests, some who still had rosy cheeks from being outside. Suddenly the large living room was crammed with people. Charlie felt like she couldn’t get quite enough air.

“Gran, did you tell Charlie about the puppy?” Jake asked Faye.

“I most certainly did not,” Faye retorted.

“Puppy?” Charlie asked. She glanced at the dog tag again. “You got me a puppy?”