Sweet Dreams on Center Street (33 page)

Chapter One

Once in a while, if a woman is really lucky, the
perfect day she envisioned turns out to be just that. This was going to be one
of those days, Cass Wilkes thought as she set the platter of carved turkey on
her dining table.

She surveyed her handiwork with a smile. Everything was “Martha
Stewart lovely,” from the china and crystal to the Thanksgiving centerpiece
she'd bought at Lupine Floral, and her old Victorian was filled with the aroma
of herbs and spices. The dining-room window framed a greeting-card-worthy winter
scene: her front lawn with its trees and shrubs draped in frosty white and the
snow-capped mountains looming beyond.

The snow had done what good snow should do; it had stopped in
plenty of time for road crews to clear the way for travelers. Unlike this time
last year, the town of Icicle Falls was humming with visitors looking for a
holiday getaway. Good for business, especially when you owned a bakery. This
weekend, gingerbread boys and girls would march out the door of Gingerbread Haus
in droves and money would march right into Cass's bank account—a good thing,
since she suspected she was going to have a wedding to pay for in a year or
so.

A whoop of male excitement came from the living room, followed
by cheers. The football game on TV was nearing its end and obviously the favored
team had scored a touchdown.

“Okay, that's everything from the kitchen,” said Dot Morrison,
Cass's mentor and former boss, as she placed on the table a serving bowl heaped
with stuffing, along with another full of mashed potatoes. Normally Dot would
have been celebrating with her daughter, but Tilda was on patrol, keeping Icicle
Falls safe from…who knew? Their town wasn't exactly a hotbed of crime.

Dot had dressed for the occasion, wearing jeans and a white
sweatshirt decorated with a turkey holding a sign that said, “Think outside the
box. Serve ham.” Dot, owner of the Breakfast Haus, had encouraged Cass to think
outside the box years ago, even lent her money to start her bakery. Cass owed
her Thanksgiving dinners for life.

“Get those clowns in here,” Dot said. “There's nothing worse
than cold food.”

Cass could think of a few things—taxes, yeast infections,
exes.

Oh, no, she wasn't going to ruin a perfectly good holiday with
even a hint of a thought about her ex-husband. That man, that self-centered,
undeserving rat who'd tried to lure the kids away this weekend with a trip to
Vail, who… No, no. No thoughts about Mason. It was Thanksgiving, after all, a
time to count her blessings.

Three of those blessings were sitting out there in the living
room—her kids, Danielle, Willie and Amber. Dani's boyfriend, Mike, was there,
too, tucked beside her in an overstuffed easy chair built for one and perfect
for lovers.

Twenty-year-old Dani was Cass's oldest and her right-hand woman
at the bakery. She'd inherited Cass's passion for creating in the kitchen, and
after a year of community college had opted to work full-time at the bakery. “I
can learn more from you than I can from any college professor,” she'd told Cass.
When it came to baking, well, what could Cass say? Dani was right.

Amber, fifteen going on twenty, sat curled up on one end of the
worn leather couch, texting. A few months earlier she'd been adding to Cass's
gray-hair collection, hanging out with the kind of kids no mother wanted her
child to be with or, worse, become. Thank God (and possibly Cass's pal Samantha
Sterling) Amber had changed direction and found some new and improved
friends.

Willie, Cass's high school jock, was sprawled on the floor,
holding the favored stuffed animal of high school boys everywhere—a football.
The only trouble she had with Willie was keeping him full. The boy was a
two-legged locust.

Then there was her younger brother, Drew, who'd come over from
Seattle. Recently divorced (was this tendency toward divorce something in their
genes?), he'd been more than happy to spend the weekend. He'd never had kids of
his own, so she'd shared. He'd made a great uncle and a better father figure
than her ex.
No, no, no. Not giving him so much as a
thought today.

Cass stood in the archway like a lady butler and announced,
“Dinner, guys.”

Of course, no one was listening. Another touchdown happened in
TV Land. “Yay!” whooped Mike.

“My team sucks,” Willie muttered, giving his football an
irritable bounce.

“My dinner's going to suck if you don't get out here and eat it
right now,” Cass warned.

“The game's as good as over anyway,” Mike said, demonstrating
good boyfriend etiquette. He stood, pulling Dani up with him. He was a big boy,
a former football star and her son's new hero. Mike was currently employed at
the local hardware store, which, as far as Cass was concerned, was perfect. Once
he popped the question, he and Dani would get married and live in Icicle falls,
near family and friends, a win-win for everyone.

“You're right,” Drew agreed. He shut off the TV and led the
parade to the dining-room table.

Unlike Cass, who only had to look at a cookie to gain five
pounds, Drew was tall and reedy, and well-dressed. Her brother had always been a
better dresser. And better-looking. But he couldn't cook, and when he came to
town he was her best customer. He was also her best friend and her biggest
fan.

The only ones missing as everyone settled around the table were
Cass's mother and stepfather, who were with his family in Florida. But Mom and
Fred planned to come out for Christmas, and if Cass had to choose she'd rather
have her mother with them for that holiday.

Drew reached for the turkey and Cass rapped his hand with a
serving spoon. “Grace first, you heathen.”

Willie snickered, which earned him the privilege of offering
thanks. He barely had
amen
out of his mouth before
he was into the dressing, piling it high on his plate.

Any other day she'd remind him that other people might actually
want some, too, but not today. Thanksgiving was for feasting and she'd made
plenty. Besides, she planned on taking an extra serving herself.

For a while conversation consisted of comments like, “Pass the
rolls,” and “Where'd the olives end up?” As plates and then stomachs filled, new
topics arose: whose fantasy football team was going to win, how well Cass and
Dani's new gingerbread necklaces were selling, Dot's upcoming bunion
surgery.

Then it was time for pie. In spite of how crazy-busy Cass had
been with work, she'd managed to bake pumpkin, pecan and her brother's favorite,
wild huckleberry. “This will be enough for me,” he joked, grabbing the whole
pie.

With dessert came another tradition, one Cass had started when
the kids were small.

“Okay,” she said, “it's gratitude time. Who wants to
start?”

Gratitude.
Sometimes the challenge
to be grateful had been as big as the word. Often she'd been a world-class
hypocrite, encouraging her children to look on the bright side while she
indulged in resentment.

It seemed as if she'd spent most of her married life in that
particular mental state. She'd resented Mason's decision to join the navy when
they were engaged and she was pregnant. They'd barely set up housekeeping when
he shipped out the first time. He'd missed his daughter's birth; her childbirth
partner had been her mother. Better her mother than his, she'd told herself.
That was something to be grateful for. And she'd been grateful when he got out
of the navy. Not so much when he went back to school and neglected his family
for his studies. Not so much when he carved out a career that seemed to keep him
gone more than it kept him home. Mason had been determined to find the path to
success, but that path left little room for his family. She was the one who'd
always been there to soothe every heartbreak, puzzle over every math problem,
cheer at every ball game. And what had
he
done?

Gratitude, remember?
Okay, she had
something to be grateful for. She wasn't with him anymore.

“I'm grateful for something,” Dani said. She reached into her
jeans pocket, pulled out a diamond ring and slid it onto her finger.

“Oh, my gosh, you're engaged!” cried Amber.

Cass set down her fork and gaped. Of course she'd known this
was coming, but she was a little shocked that her daughter hadn't told her
before everyone else. “When did this happen?” she asked.

Dani was beaming now, her brown eyes sparkling with excitement.
She looked at Mike and they shared the smiles reserved for a man and woman in
possession of newly minted love. “Last night. We wanted to wait and surprise
everyone.”

Well, they had.

“Don't know how surprised anyone is,” Dot said, “but I think
you made your mother's day.”

Of course she had. Why was Cass sitting there like a turkey on
a platter? She jumped up and went to hug her daughter and her future son-in-law.
“This is wonderful. You two are going to be so happy.”

How could they help but be? Unlike her mother at that age,
Danielle had been wise and thoughtful when selecting a mate. She hadn't rushed
into a relationship with her hormones on fire and her brain dead from smoke
inhalation. She'd held out for the man who would be perfect for her. They even
looked
perfect together, Mike with his dark hair
and eyes and that big frame, her with her lighter coloring and sandy hair and
perfect willowy figure. In their wedding garb they'd look fit for the top of a
wedding cake.

“This calls for more pie,” Drew said with a grin, and helped
himself to another piece.

“I'm going to be a bridesmaid, right?” Amber asked her
sister.

“Of course,” Dani said.

“You'd better dig out your Armani,” Cass said to Drew. “Dani's
going to need you to walk her down the aisle.”

Dani's face lost some of its bride-to-be glow and she bit her
lip.

“Hey, I'm fine sitting in the front row with your mom,” Drew
said quickly. “I don't have to be the one.”

Oh, yes, he did. Who else was going to? Oh, no. Surely not…

“Actually, I was hoping Daddy would walk me down the aisle,”
Dani said.

The undeserving absent father? The man who had been M.I.A. for
most of Dani's life? Cass fell back against her chair and stared across the
table at her daughter.

Dani's cheeks bloomed with a guilty flush and she studiously
avoided her mother's gaze.

“Daddy?” Cass echoed. It came out frosted with scorn.
Way to be mature and poison your daughter's happy
moment,
she scolded herself.

With her sunny disposition and eagerness to please, Danielle
was normally easy to get along with, but now her chin jutted out at a pugnacious
angle. “I know he'll want to.”

Oh, he always
wanted
to be there,
but he never had been.

Until lately. Now that their children were practically grown.
He and his thirty-two-year-old trophy wife, Babette, seemed to think they could
lure the kids over to Seattle any time he swooped in from searching the globe
for oil for Exxon and buy their affection with shopping trips and Seahawks
tickets.

Obviously it was working, and that made Cass want to break the
wishbone she'd been saving into a thousand pieces. This wasn't right. How to
make Dani see that, though?

She cleared her throat. “You know he travels a lot.”

“I know,” Dani said, “but we want a Christmas wedding and he'll
be here for Christmas.”

“Christmas Day?” Willie made a face.

Dani looked at him in disgust. “What, are you afraid Santa
won't come?” To the others she said, “Actually, we thought the weekend
before.”

“That's not much time to plan a wedding,” Dot pointed out.
“What's the rush?”

Now Mike was beaming like a man with a big announcement.

“Because Mike got a job as assistant manager at a hardware
store in Spokane,” Dani announced for him, “and when he moves for his new job I
want to go with him.”

Everyone at the table got busy offering Mike
congratulations.

Except Cass, who was truly in shock. They'd be moving away. Her
daughter would be moving away practically the moment after she got married. The
vision of Dani raising her family here in Icicle Falls, of someday taking over
the bakery, went up in smoke. It was all Cass could do not to cry. She pushed
away the plate with her half-finished pumpkin pie and hoped nobody asked her
what she was thankful for.

“Anyway, we just want a small wedding,” Mike said. “Nothing
fancy.”

Nothing fancy? Dani had always wanted a big church wedding.
What happened to that?

“And I know Daddy can come that weekend,” Dani said.

“You already talked to your father?”
Before you even shared the news with me?

Hurt welled up in Cass, giving her the worst case of heartburn
she'd ever had.

“Just to see if he was going to be around,” Dani said quickly.
“I thought maybe everyone could come up and stay for Christmas.”

“Here?” Cass squeaked.

“Whoo boy,” Drew said under his breath.

“There's no room,” Cass said firmly. No room at the inn.

“You could probably put them up at Olivia's,” Dot said.

Thank you, Dot. Remind me never to invite
you over for Thanksgiving dinner again.

“Dani, you know how crazy it gets this time of year,” Cass
said. “I'm sure most of the B and Bs are already booked solid with people coming
up for the Christmas festival that week.”