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First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2017

Copyright © Katherine Garbera 2017

Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

Cover photographs © Shutterstock.com

Katherine Garbera asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008277857

Ebook Edition © November 2017 ISBN: 9780008142537

Version: 2017-11-14

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Epilogue

Also by Katherine Garbera

About the Author

Recipes

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

Christmas is such a special time of the year for my family. My parents were married on Christmas Eve and this year will celebrate their 50th anniversary. This book is dedicated to Charlotte and David Smith for showing me that the best things in life always start with love, laughter and family.

I’d also like to dedicate this book to my family and it’s a large one, so please indulge me this list of those who I keep in my heart. Rob, Courtney, Lucas, Bobby, Josh, Tabby, Donna, Scott, Emily, Linda, James, Ryan, and Katie.

Chapter 1

Christmas was the most special time of the year. This year, Iona Summerlin had poured all of her energy into making the Candied Apple Café a Christmas wonderland. She’d started from the storefront windows all the way through the shop. Her theme had been the “magic of Christmas”. Standing underneath the iron-worked apple that hung in front of the shop and watching as one of the crew on the lighting team she’d hired placed a large Santa hat on the apple, she couldn’t help but smile.

The windows had been inspired by Frosty the Snowman and how the magician’s hat had the power to bring him to life. Iona and her design team had come up with a group of kids in one window and a group of adults in the window on the other side of the door that were both looking at a very plain shopfront. Every thirty seconds a wind blew through the scene and stockinged caps, berets, and top hats settled onto the heads of the different characters while the backdrop changed to a magical wonderland of the Candied Apple Café with different chocolates and other offerings, including their famous Minty Cocoa.

Snow fell lightly on the sidewalk outside of the Candied Apple. “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” could be heard from the shop each time the door opened and Iona stood next to her very best friends in the world. They were being photographed for an article about the hottest holiday places in Manhattan. And Iona knew she should be satisfied, but she was already thinking about next Christmas, and the things she wanted to implement for next year.

This holiday season they were competing with the big guys on Fifth Avenue with their window scenes, so she’d pulled out all the stops to make sure their customers got the maximum holiday experience.

And it felt like her work was paying off. Two different companies had contacted her about partnering with them for the New Year. One was a luxury resort chain, which even Iona admitted was a long shot. The chain had only twenty resorts worldwide and in each resort they offered their guests a one-of-a-kind experience and retail options that weren’t available everywhere. So, signing with them would give the Candied Apple an opening into the luxury clientele market that Iona thought would be wonderful. She had a few concerns, though, given that Hayley Dunham, their head chef, was particular about who she allowed to make chocolates for their shop. So far, the chocolatiers she’d used were just herself and one apprentice.

The other option was a developer who was interested in helping them open a second location in Manhattan down in the old meat packing district, which had become a trendy food mecca.

“This is so perfect, Iona. I love the ‘magic of Christmas’ and I think you have really captured it,” Cici Johnson said, coming up to her and looping her arm through Iona’s. Cici was a few inches shorter than her. Her friend and business partner had an easy smile that matched her curly brown hair. She usually wore horn-rimmed glasses but had contacts in today as they were doing a photo shoot for Manhattan magazine.

They were all dressed like … well Mariah Carey in her All I Want for Christmas video because it was sexy, Christmassy, and she wanted the promo she’d arranged to be as enticing as it could be.

Hayley joined them, linking her arm to Cici’s. Hayley had blonde hair that she’d had in a pixie cut but was starting to grow out. The three of them smiled at each other. Some days, it was almost more than any of them could believe. Of course, they’d had the dream of the café becoming a success but there were times when it was still hard to believe it was finally happening.

“Same. I just love it. This morning I stood out here with Lucy for a good ten minutes just watching the windows change.”

“I’m glad. I already have some ideas for next year.”

“Let’s get through this Christmas season first,” Hayley said.

Iona’s watch pinged and she glanced down at the device, which was linked to her smart phone.

“Oh, crap.”

“What?”

“I’m supposed to be changed and on my way to meet Mads Eriksson from the Loughman Group.”

“If you miss it, then it wasn’t meant to be,” Hayley said. “And then I don’t have to figure out how I’m going to train other chefs to make candy my way.”

Iona had to smile at the way Hayley said it. It wasn’t that her technique was different to other chocolate makers, it was that Hayley used her gut instinct to create unique flavors. She spent a lot of time coming up with them. Her objection to opening even one other location was quality control.

“Don’t worry. The Loughman Group of hotels aren’t going to scrimp on quality. It’s one of the reasons why I’m even talking to them,” Iona said. “I better reschedule this afternoon’s appointment, though.”

She stepped aside and made a quick call and cancelled the appointment for this afternoon. She knew her focus needed to be here at the Candied Apple Café. This was what had brought them to the attention of the luxury hotel chain.

Eriksson’s assistant said she’d get back to Iona with a new time and Iona turned back to her friends. They were both so happy. Cici was a new mom with a cute newborn at home waiting for her, and Hayley was engaged to a man that Iona knew loved her friend very much.

“What are you doing?”

“Just thinking how blessed we are,” Iona said, coming back over to them. “I want you to know, Hay, that I wouldn’t agree to anything that would compromise our vision for the store.”

Hayley hugged her close. “I know. But we have to think about the bottom line.”

“We do, but we aren’t in this for the money,” Iona said.

“I don’t like it when you say that,” Cici said, adjusting the red velvet Santa hat on Iona’s head. “I like it when we have a healthy profit. Makes my job much easier.”

“Money is good. It’s just not what drives us,” Iona said.

“Exactly,” Cici and Hayley said at the same time.

Then they all high fived each other.

“Do that again,” the photographer said. “Girl power.”

Girl power.

“More like woman power,” Iona said.

“Woman power, then,” the photographer said.

This shop had come out of the three of them dating the same guy and finding out about it. These women were her heart sisters and meant more to her than she could say.

***

Though it was only three days after Thanksgiving, Christmas was everywhere and Mads Eriksson, who wasn’t Scrooge by any means but really could do with some productivity from his staff, didn’t like it.

He kept his office neat and clean with only a small silver frame on his desk that held two pictures side by side. One of Gill from before she’d gotten sick and Sofia’s current school picture. He looked down at his two ladies and wondered if he was making the right decisions for his daughter.

“Hong Kong on line one,” his assistant said via the intercom.

“Thanks, Lexi.”

He knew he had to take the call, but hesitated, reaching out to brush his finger over Gill’s cheek and then turned away, reaching for the phone. God, he missed her. He tried not to. He knew that she was gone but there were times when he ached for her.

It had been a year but the pain hadn’t lessened at all.

Death was permanent so why did it keep surprising him? No matter how many times he thought he’d made peace with Gill being gone there was always something unexpected.

Always.

Dammit.

He had business to conduct. He was good at his job and he didn’t want to find himself in the same position as Amherst, having to justify his qualifications to the board of directors. He had to either motivate the Hong Kong General Manager or find a replacement; something he really didn’t want to have to do this close to the holidays.

He had said he wasn’t a Scrooge but firing someone in December really would make him feel like one and give him one more reason to hate this month.

He finished the call with a stern warning just as a text message notification popped up on the bottom of his computer monitor. His assistant, the usually efficient and seemingly unsentimental Lexi, had ”elfed” herself and made that her photo on the company server, so each time he got a text, instead of seeing a professional image, he had one of her with a striped elf hat on.

LEXI: Your three o’clock has cancelled. Can you squeeze in a meeting tomorrow morning?

She sounded like her normal, efficient self but all he could see in the company chat window was that stupid elf photo.

Mads suspected Iona’s cancelation of the meeting had more to do with cold feet than timing. He’d been cultivating the relationship with her since the end of August and she was very cautious about getting involved with another brand. He didn’t blame her.

The Candied Apple Café was unique – a combination of handmade chocolates in the European style with locally sourced ingredients. Their chocolate chef was the daughter of famed frozen-food guru Arthur Dunham. Unlike Dunham Dinners, the truffles and chocolate treats she created for their shop were anything but run of the mill.

He heard the third partner Cici Johnson was a wiz at numbers and she had to be good to have managed to show a profit at that high rent location on Fifth Avenue as quickly as they had. Part of it was Iona’s marketing strategy. She knew how to get attention and had used some events and advertising that was out of the box.

He was impressed with the three of them and wanted them to be part of the Loughman Group properties. But she had canceled. He glanced at his watch and then at his calendar.

He didn’t have any more meetings this afternoon, which made him think of something that his dad used to always say to him and his brother when they were growing up. The fish aren’t going to jump in the boat unless you’re on the lake.

The lake he needed to be on was on Fifth Avenue.

He looked at the chat window and tried not to grimace. He knew he was borderline Scrooge this year, but still. It was …

Frustrating.

He wasn’t in the mood for Christmas. Normally, he would be able to tolerate it. But not this year. It was the first without his wife and frankly he had lost the ability to pretend. To be fake happy and act like a jolly fat man might bring his daughter toys. But nothing, no amount of prayer or belief, had been able to save his wife.

MADS: No. I’ll stop by the Candied Apple Café and see her. Has my daughter been dropped off yet?

Lexi opened the door to his office and poked her head inside. No elf hat in real life. Instead she wore a cream-colored silk blouse and her short blonde hair was neatly styled around her face. No hat elf or otherwise was on her head. She gave him her usual cool, professional style and he had to admit, it was exactly what he needed. He’d scheduled as many meetings as he could for December. He needed to stay busy.

“Sofia and Jessie have just arrived at the hotel and they were planning to tour the gingerbread kitchen with Chef Gustav. Should I have her come up here instead?” Lexi asked.

Each year the New York Common created a gingerbread version of the Upper East Side neighborhood where it was situated. And this year was no exception. The display would be installed over the coming weekend and have a grand opening on December 1st.

Mads stood up and walked around the desk, smiling at his assistant. Jessie was his daughter’s nanny. “No. I’ll go and meet them. Thank you, Lexi.”

“For what?”

“Putting up with my grumpiness.”

“You weren’t grumpy to me, Mads,” she said gently.

“I was grumpy in my head at you,” he said.

“Well, I think that’s allowed. What did I do that bothered you?” she asked.

“Nothing. It was me. Text me if anything arises this afternoon. I’m going to try to get Iona to take a meeting with me at the Café.”

“Of course. Have fun.”

“It’s the beginning of the biggest shopping season of the year and I’ve just committed to taking a six-year-old to a candy store; fun’s not the word I’d use.”

Lexi laughed as Mads walked past her and out of the office.

He took the elevator down to the lobby and listened to the jazzy Christmas music. He exited just as “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” began to play. He hurried his steps, weaving neatly through the crowds; he’d sent his driver a text message to meet him out front. He saw the waiting car and made his way to it.

He had no idea what Iona Summerlin looked like, but he looked forward to meeting her. On the phone she sounded sophisticated, professional, and occasionally she was a little self-deprecating. In fact, he was looking forward to meeting someone who was as focused on business as he was.

Walking through the lobby of the New York Common, the luxury hotel refurbished from its 1920s glory to a fully fitted, five-star resort, Mads Eriksson couldn’t help feeling a sense of pride. As CEO of the Loughman Hotel Group he’d been instrumental in buying the old resort from the family that owned it and restoring it to bring it up to the Loughman Group standards.

It was one of only fifteen properties owned by the group. Each was unique, with bespoke luxury indigenous to the country and city it was from. There were some features, like the high-end retail options, which were offered at all Loughman properties. Mads and the board had a strict policy of exclusivity with each of the vendors who were in their properties.

***

The Candied Apple was slammed with customers and everyone was working behind the counter. According to the buzz she heard around the shop and in the back in the café, the windows were a big success. Cici had left after the photo shoot to go back home to her baby, Holly. She was only two months old and Cici was trying to balance working with being a new mom.

Iona had jumped behind the counter, having grown up working in her family’s department store so she’d cut her teeth working on the register and customer service. And they’d run out of the advent calendars filled with unique chocolate treats for each day. Iona had worked with a designer to make sure the boxes matched the windows on the storefront.

Iona wove her way through the crowd to the storeroom behind the kitchen where the boxed Advent chocolate calendars were stored. They had three more shelves of them and though they were already a few days into December, the boxes proved to be a top seller.

She jotted a note on the huge whiteboard that they used for inventory counts that Hayley might need to do more chocolates for the advent boxes.

Then she took a huge armful, trying to balance the chocolates while opening the door with one arm. Her mother was always scolding her for trying to carry too much in one trip, but it worked.

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.

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