Cass gazed at the colorful, creamy confections before her, and then selected a cannoli, biting into it and murmuring, her mouth still full, “This is heaven,” to Fabrizio’s obvious delight. “I don’t ever want this night to end.”

• • •

It was past midnight by the time Cass and Miguel arrived outside Charlie’s building. They had walked through the streets slowly, talking and laughing and completely focused on each other. Charlie now knew that Miguel was the youngest of three kids, and that his entire family was in the medical field; his older brother, Romero, was a cardiovascular surgeon; Jacintha an obstetrician; and both his parents had been family doctors before they retired. Miguel joked that he was clearly the “underachiever of the family,” but that he’d chosen to be a physician assistant because it offered better balance.

“I still get to surf,” Miguel had told her. “And read, and do yoga, and go out for dinner, and enjoy my life. They all think I’m crazy, but I don’t care. So what if I’m the black sheep of my family? I love what I do, but I’m not willing to give up everything for it, you know?”

Cass nodded, thinking about how the bakery wasn’t quite like being in a surgical suite but was all-consuming nonetheless.

Now that they stood outside Charlie’s building, Cass felt she didn’t want the magic of the evening to end. It had been the perfect first date. Her first, first date. In a few seconds it would be over—and she didn’t want it to be.

“Thank you,” Cass began. “Tonight was . . .”

Miguel was quiet, waiting for her to finish her thought. He stood close, and then smiled.

“Perfect,” Miguel said, echoing her thoughts. “Tonight was perfect.”

“It was.”

“Thank you, Charlie.” But before she could experience a hit of guilt at her sister’s name, Miguel’s lips were on hers. She lost herself in the kiss, which was, not surprisingly, also perfect.

After a few moments Miguel broke the kiss, and Cass found herself slightly off balance, her lips tingling from the delicious pressure of his mouth on hers. With a shy smile, Miguel handed her one of Fabrizio’s business cards. Cass looked from the card to his face.

“Flip it over,” he said. Miguel’s phone number was written on the back. “I hope you’ll call me. I’d like to do this again.”

“I will,” Cass said. Miguel leaned in and gave her another soft kiss. Then he stepped backward down the sidewalk for a few steps before giving her a final, dimpled smile and turning around to walk home.

As Cass was unlocking the door to her sister’s apartment, her mind full of thoughts of Miguel and their perfect first kiss, her phone rang. She dropped everything. “Charlie!” The dreamlike bliss she’d been feeling evaporated the moment she heard her sister’s voice.

“Cass, we need to talk.”

10

Charlie

Friday: 8 Days Until Christmas . . .