“What? No, of course I am.”
Shit. That backfired.
“Holy shit! It is you!”
“That’s crazy,” I deflected.
The twins shared a glance.
“I think you’re busted, Elle,” Bea said.
“You kind of suck at lying,” Delilah added.
My cheeks burned, and I let out a nervous laugh. “I . . . it’s definitely not me.”
“Uh-huh,” Bea said, smirking. “Your face says otherwise.”
I looked away, pretending to admire a particularly extravagant light display. I’d started Après Brie as a fun way to document my culinary journey, never imagining it would gain any real traction.
“Okay, fine,” I admitted, sighing. “It’s me. But please don’t tell anyone.”
“Why?” Delilah asked, genuinely curious.
“Because if the Hawthornes find out, they will fire me,” I said, glancing around nervously. “Even if I’ve never said anythingmean, I . . . some of the comments could be taken the wrong way.”
Mia gave me a sympathetic look. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us. Right, ladies?”
Bea and Delilah nodded in agreement, and I felt a wave of relief. We continued down the street, the conversation shifting to the competition again, but my mind lingered on the account. I’d have to be more careful in future.
We approached the courtyard in the center of town, where mostly couples held hands as they skated around a small ice rink or cozied up around several firepits, sipping cocoa and roasting marshmallows from a street vendor.
“I would kill for s’mores right now,” Bea announced.
So, we hopped in line to procure some dessert treats and took up a few chairs around a vacant propane firepit.
“So . . .” Delilah said, blowing on her charred marshmallow. “Speaking of secrets, I heard a rumor that Charlie Hawthorne’s been gallivanting around town recently with a new mystery woman.” She turned her long marshmallow roasting stick toward me like a microphone. “Care to comment?”
“Absolutely not,” I told her, hiding my blushing cheeks behind my cup of cocoa. “That’s expressly against myNDA.”
Bea snorted. “That’s a yes.”
“You know they shared a bathroom at the inn when she arrived,” Delilah tossed out, smirking at me.
Mia almost dropped her graham crackers. “Hold on. What?”
“Well, not at the same time,” I laughed.
“Strangely, they both came back that night of the blizzard at almost the same time,” Delilah added.
“How do you know?” I said, outraged. “I didn’t think anyone was still awake.”
Bea pulled a marshmallow off her stick to build her s’more. “Sounds like an admission to me.”
“We’re all friends here now, right?” Delilah prodded. “So, let’s have it. No more secrets, Elle. Did you bang the golden boy?”
I shoved a whole smoking marshmallow right into my mouth and felt it singe my tongue. “No comment,” I mumbled around the gooey ball of molten sugar.
Guess I wasn’t as under the radar as I’d thought. Still, just the mention of Charles brought a smile to my face. And a warm feeling that hadn’t gone away since the night we’d met.
