Christmas at the Candied Apple Café Read online

  Ha.

  She stumbled into someone, yelping as she lost her balance. The boxes started to slide as the man caught her and a child’s hands tried to catch the boxes and keep them from falling.

  She looked up into eyes the color of a winter sky. Grey and blue mixed together, she felt a jolt of awareness before she stepped back and righted the boxes she was still holding.

  “Here’s one,” the little girl said. She had thick, dark- brown hair that curled around her face and her eyes were a deep chocolate brown.

  “Thanks,” Iona said, smiling a little ruefully at him. Her mom was right. Not for the first time either.

  “You’re welcome. Iona Summerlin?” he asked. His voice was rich and deep, brushing over her senses like the blast of warmth from a roaring fire.

  “Yes … how did you know?”

  “Mads Eriksson. We’ve spoken several times on the phone,” he said. Of course, he was here.

  “I wasn’t expecting you,” she said.

  “My assistant said you were busy and she wasn’t kidding. If there is a break in all this perhaps we could talk?” he suggested.

  He was persistent. She liked that in a businessman. Her father, who was the one she judged everything else, including herself, by would be impressed. She’d looked at the website for the Loughman Group. Knew that Mads was the youngest CEO they’d ever had. He had taken the company from stagnating in a crowded market, to making it a unique and sought-after property group. She had noticed that his brother was also an operating director. No under-achievers in that family.

  “I might be able to swing fifteen minutes,” she said. “Why don’t you two grab a table in the Café and I’ll join you after I deliver these?”

  She noted the self-satisfied look in his gaze. He’d gotten the meeting he wanted. But it was on her turf, so she’d be in a better position to stress the items they weren’t willing to back down on.

  “Sounds good to me,” he said. “Come on, Sofia.”

  “Sofia, for helping me out, why don’t you take one of these Advent calendars as a thank you?”

  She looked up at her father and he nodded.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “Now you’ll be able to count down until Santa arrives.”

  Sofia shook her head. “I don’t believe in Santa.”

  Iona noticed the fleeting look on Mads’ face but it was too quick for her to really analyze.

  “That’s fine. It’s still a box of lots of chocolates.”

  “I like candy,” Sofia said.

  “Me too,” Iona added. “Can I get you two something from the café? We have a rich seven-layer chocolate cake that is better than you can imagine. Hot chocolate, coffee, tea, cookies, brownies are available too.”

  “Coffee for me,” Mads said.

  “Hot chocolate,” Sofia said. “And cake, if I’m allowed, Papa?”

  “Cake would be fine,” Mads said.

  “Great. I’ll see you two in a few minutes.”

  Iona turned away from the father and daughter and concentrated on weaving her way through the crowded shop floor to the registers, to stock the advent calendars on the countertop behind the staff.

  “I thought you’d deserted me,” Nick said.

  He was one of their new hires for the season. A college student who was hardworking and happy and that they would let take shifts around his courses.

  “Never. There are too many people here to leave you all alone.”

  “Good. Once I know the products better, I might be able to handle it.”

  “Well, I’m going to get Hayley out front here to help you,” Iona said, waving to Hayley to join them. “She knows the products better than anyone.”

  Nick turned to help another customer as Hayley arrived behind the counter.

  “What’s up?”

  “Mads Eriksson is here. He wants to have a chat and I told him I don’t have a lot of time, could you work back here while I do that?”

  “He must really want us to be partners with his hotel chain,” Hayley said.

  “I think so too. It’s good for us and seeing the shop so busy gives us a better place to start negotiating from,” Iona added.

  “It sure does. Okay, I’ve got this. Go and do your thing,” Hayley said.

  “I intend to. Also, Nick is newish so he might need your guidance on some of the products,” Iona said.

  “He’s in good hands,” Hayley replied. “Go work your magic.”

  She wished she did have magic, but everything she’d gotten had been from working hard and trying to prove to herself that she was just as good at business as her father was.

  Chapter 2

  Sofia watched Iona as she approached their table with a tray of hot drinks and snacks. He hoped it was only his imagination but he thought he saw a wistful longing in his daughter’s eyes.

  He got up and went to Iona. “I’ll take that.”

  She gave him a smile and tipped her head, the bells on the end of her hat jingling as she did so. She handed him the tray. “Thank you. Hey, before we get back over there, what’s the deal with Santa and Sofia?”

  “She … her mom had been sick with cancer since Sofia was two and she died last Christmas. It just sort of turned into a thing in kindergarten where she thought if she asked Santa to cure Gill then she’d get better. Gill passed away two days after Christmas.”

  “Oh, Mads. I’m so sorry,” she said, squeezing his shoulder. “I won’t bring Santa up again.”

  He glanced over at Sofia, who was playing a game on his phone. She often logged onto his device whenever she wanted to play. “It’s okay if you do. I think she’s trying to figure out what’s real and what’s not.”

  “Fair enough,” Iona said. “I know asking about that probably wasn’t what you anticipated at the start of our meeting but I wanted to be careful about what I said around her.”

  Mads nodded. “Fair enough. Does this mean you see me as a person now and not a corporate entity?”

  “I already did. Part of the reason I took your call was to see what you could bring to the Candied Apple Café, not what the Loughman Group could,” Iona said over her shoulder as she walked toward the table.

  The fur-lined, red velvet skirt she wore swished back and forth around her legs and he noticed that the bells on her hat were still jingling. The customers in the café all smiled as she walked past and for the first time this December, he felt like smiling himself.

  Sofia put the phone down as he arrived at the table and Iona took the smaller mug of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and red and green colored sugar, placing it in front of Sofia, then added the slice of chocolate cake. She put a mug down in front of his spot and then took the last mug for herself.

  Sofia held the cocoa loosely in her hands, one of her inky black curls falling over her eyes as she leaned forward to blow on the hot drink. Losing her mother had been a deep blow to her and Mads had wanted to protect his daughter from ever experiencing that kind of heartbreak again.

  He’d had to make choices when Gill had died and one of them was no more pretending with his daughter. He’d had enough of doctors who made promises that couldn’t be kept. Nurses who had told him things to make him feel better that weren’t based on truth. But he’d never expected that reality to kill her joy of Christmas and he’d been struggling this holiday season, since she’d been very vocal about not believing any more.

  But he’d worry about that later. He was here for business. The sooner he got this finished, maybe he’d be able to do something with Sofia that would help to get her into the holiday spirit.

  “How’s the cake, Sof?” he asked as she finished her first bite.

  “Yummy,” she said, turning her attention to it. He’d allowed her nanny Jessie to run into the Ralph Lauren Polo store a block or so away to pick up an order she’d placed and Mads knew she’d be back soon and then he’d be able to talk to Iona about the Loughman Group’s proposition.

  “Glad to hear it
,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

  “Iona, darling, the shop looks fabulous,” an older woman, probably in her sixties though she looked more like she was in her forties, came over to their table. She had the same reddish hair as Iona but it was shot through with strands of gray. Her hair was pulled back at the nape in a chignon and she had on a slim-fitting sheath that flattered her figure. She wore a strand of pearls and arrived on a wave of expensive-smelling perfume.

  “Thank you, Mom,” Iona said, standing up to hug her mother.

  Mads stood up as well.

  “Mom, this is Mads Eriksson of the Loughman Group and his daughter Sofia. Mads, this is Valentina Summerlin.”

  “Very nice to meet you,” Mads said, holding out his hand.

  Valentina placed hers in his fingertips first, which left him trying to awkwardly shake it. He let it drop as she turned to his daughter. “Aren’t you cute as a button?”

  Sofia just smiled up at her. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “Mom, would you like to join us?”

  “Just for a moment, darling,” Valentina said.

  Mads offered her his chair and then turned to find another one and went to retrieve it. When he returned, Valentina was talking to Sofia. Telling her about a breakfast with Santa on the coming Saturday.

  ”You and your father can come as my personal guests even though the event is sold out. I’m sure you want to get your wish list in early.”

  “I don’t believe in Santa,” Sofia said, putting her fork down.

  Valentina looked over at him but before she could speak, Iona put her hand on her mother’s wrist. “It’s just a fun holiday breakfast, really. And she didn’t mention that you get the chance to help out some kids by bringing toys for the NYC Children’s Foundation.”

  “That sounds like fun. What do you think, Papa?” Sofia asked him.

  “We’ll see,” he said.

  “I hope to see you there? Is it okay if I believe in Santa?” Valentina asked.

  “You’re entitled to believe in anything,” Sofia said. “That’s what Papa says.”

  “That’s very wise.”

  She smiled over at him. “My Papa is the best dad in the world.”

  “Yes, he is,” Valentina said. “Not all papas listen to their daughters.”

  Iona raised both eyebrows at her mother and she just pursed her lips. “I should be going. I hope to see you both on Saturday.”

  ***

  Iona walked her mom out of the Candied Apple Café. “Sorry about that darling. I just wanted to make sure that little girl knew how lucky she was to have a good father.”

  “Mom,” she warned her mother. Her father had been very hard on Iona growing up. He’d expected her to be at least as good as Theo had been, and her younger brother was very good at most things he’d attempted. “Dad was doing the best he could.”

  “He was. But he could have been more … understanding at times. I know he feared that you’d be too much like me.”

  “Like you?” she asked. “Maybe he didn’t think the world was ready for two Wonder Women.”

  “Probably he was afraid I’d turn you towards charitable foundations instead of a profit-generating company. You know he wanted you to take over Summerlin Industries.”

  “I know. But it wasn’t for me,” she said. She and her father had had a strained relationship. And though she’d tried to always pretend she understood, she never really had. She had worked hard and had craved some sort of praise from him that had never come.

  Her parents’ relationship had been strained because of her mother’s desire to give away all his money, as his father liked to say. And her mom’s desire to protect her children from his fierce temper. She’d been torn between wanting to be her own woman and rejecting her demanding father and that need for his approval. She knew that had been reflected in the men she’d dated.

  “I’ll see you on Saturday,” Iona said.

  “Darling, Theo is bringing Nico,” her mom replied.

  “Well, I’m happy for them.”

  “I am too. My sweet baby boy is happy,” Valentina said. Her mom hadn’t been overjoyed at first that Theo had fallen in love with Nico — the man the matchmaker had chosen for Iona —but that had more to do with seeing one’s child unhappy than with Theo’s preferences. Her mother had always wanted them to be true to themselves.

  “Thanks for letting me know,” Iona said as her mom left. Sofia and her nanny were walking out as she went back inside, and Sofia waved at her as they passed.

  She stood there in the middle of the Candied Apple Café and just let the rush of people, the Christmas music, and the smell of chocolate soothe that part of her that was wounded. She had so much, so many blessings. She was so lucky.

  Now she had to go see if she could talk Mads into giving into Hayley’s kitchen demands. Something she suspected he wasn’t going to go for. He struck her as a man who came to the bargaining table with a list of things that he wouldn’t settle for. And having Hayley approve the kitchen staff at each location didn’t seem like the kind of control that he’d concede to.

  Mads was talking to Carolyn, the assistant manager of the retail operation, when Iona approached. He ended the conversation and turned toward her.

  “I see you are getting the scoop from Carolyn?” Iona remarked.

  “Nothing gossipy. I wanted to know what she thought made the Candied Apple so popular,” Mads said.

  “What did she say?”

  Mads put his hand on her elbow and she felt a little tingle of awareness shoot up her arm as he drew her away from the counters, toward a quiet area of the store.

  “She said she couldn’t put her finger on it, but she said that you and your partners created an atmosphere that was welcoming to the customer and that you made coming to work fun.”

  Iona hadn’t heard that before. “That’s sweet. Carolyn is a godsend. She’d been working for a high-end retailer when we hired her and she had a lot of insights into how we should set up the retail section. I don’t know what we would have done without her.”

  Mads nodded. “I think you’ll find that is the same ethos that we have at the Loughman Group. We prize our people over the bottom line. Of course, we want to make a profit but we’ve found — as I’m sure you have — that staff who feel like they are a part of the business enjoy their jobs and work harder.”

  Iona had to smile at the way he said it and if she hadn’t read that statement on their website, it might have had a bit more impact. But she also could tell from the tone of his voice that he was sincere. “I like that. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why we are entertaining your proposition.”

  “Good,” he said. “Why don’t you show me around the store? I know you mentioned being on a tight schedule so a quick tour will be fine. I believe Lexi is working with you to set up another appointment.”

  She showed him around the store, careful to keep the focus on business, but she liked the easy charm he had and how he understood that the customer came first. In the ten minutes she’d allotted for them to talk, she had to stop several times to help a customer with a product and Mads just stood there watching.

  She was afraid she might have given him some sort of insight into the business she hadn’t meant to, but honestly, how could it hurt him to know how much the Candied Apple Café meant to herself and her partners?

  “Sorry, I’m out of time, but I do look forward to talking to you again,” Iona said at last.

  “That’s alright. When you come to the Common I’ll show you around. I think it will help you to see what a good fit our two companies are.”

  She just smiled and waved as he said goodbye. She wasn’t going to allude to anything yet. One lesson that she’d learned from her father that had stuck was to never show her cards to someone sitting across the negotiating table.

  ***

  Saturday dawned blustery and cold. Perfect for getting in the mood for Christmas. Iona was having a tree delivered later that evening
but this morning she had the “Brunch with Santa” her mom had organized for Catholic charities.

  Iona checked her phone, hoping for an urgent message from Cici or Hayley that would have given her the perfect excuse to skip it but there was just a cheery photo of Cici’s baby Holly sleeping in their group chat.

  Iona was one of Holly’s godmothers — Hayley being the other — and she admitted she was in love with the tiny baby. Cici having a baby had kind of awakened something unexpected in Iona. She’d never thought she wanted a family, preferring business and, given her track record with men, that was a good thing, but holding Holly had made her feel … well, like maybe someday if the right guy came along, she’d consider having a family.

  She texted back a bunch of emojis and then mentioned the Santa brunch thing in case Cici wanted to bring Holly. She’d be so cute and would provide a distraction from her brother and his new boyfriend. She still felt kind of like something was wrong with her that even a matchmaker couldn’t find her a guy.

  Which was fine.

  Really.

  She had enough to keep her busy at work. The Candied Apple Café made her happy. She hopped out of bed, showered, and dressed in a pair of red and white striped leggings and an oversized cream-colored sweater. She braided her hair before putting on her knee-high black boots, grabbing the large Land’s End tote full of dry goods to be donated at the breakfast and headed out the door.

  She pushed the button for the elevator and heard someone coming behind her, and glancing over her shoulder, she was surprised to see that it was Mads and Sofia.

  “Hiya,” she said. “I guess we’re neighbors.”

  “Hi back. We just moved in back in September,” Mads said.

  “I think you’ll love the building,” Iona said. She couldn’t help but notice how the gray argyle sweater Mads wore brought out the stormy gray color in his eyes.

  “Some of the kids in my class live here too,” Sofia said. “Are you going to the breakfast thing with your mom?”

  “I am,” Iona said. “Are you guys?”

  Sofia got a stubborn look on her face before turning her head down to look at her feet. “Yes.”

  She glanced at Mads and he shrugged. “We are trying to do new things this year and seeing Santa isn’t a bad idea.”