Christmas With the Calvins Two: Charlie and the Toy Factory

Chapter One

The day began in the ordinary way. Holly Green woke in a rush as her repeatedly snoozed alarm finally managed to wake her. She'd hurried to ready herself for work and made it with a minute to spare. This had always been how Holly's mornings started. She never wanted to wake up in the morning and lose whatever it was she'd been dreaming about. Still the mornings always came, and the previous night's dream would dissipate like smoke up a chimney with every charm of her cellphone's alarm.

While at work, Holly quickly wrapped an apron around herself and started on her tasks. It was the end of October which for a bakery meant the start of the holiday season. Halloween preparations were in full swing. Customers were coming in with tons of cookie and cupcake orders for parties or trick or treating. Today it was up to Holly to make sure everything was executed perfectly.

"What's the plan today, Boss?" Holly's co-worker, Rachel, poked her head into the back kitchen and waited for an answer.

"Well we should be getting a lot of order pick ups today. I know they filled most of the orders yesterday, but it would really help if you could man the counter while I finished whatever's left." Holly told her.

"Okay." Rachel shrugged cheerily before bouncing back out into the customer facing area of the bakery to open for the day.

Rachel busied herself with the usual morning routine; wiping down the counters, unlocking the front door, and straightening the displays. In the back, Holly started a batch of cupcakes. She had time to gather all the ingredients and mix together a batch of batter before the bell dinged over the door outside. Holly could hear Rachel talking to first customer of the day as she began scooping cupcake batter onto cupcake tins.

Several hours later, the bakery case out front was nearly empty and Holly had managed to dwindle down the ever-growing list of orders. The Afternoon baker, Kevin, had arrived and he started whipping up batches of cookies, brownies, and cakes to refill the bakery. After exchanging pleasantries with Kevin, Holly began the next special order on the list.

"Hey, Holly?" Rachel poked her head into the kitchen once more.

"Hmm?" Holly glanced up at the door, the measuring scoop in her hand was mounded over with flour.

"Do you know where the order for last name 'Miller' is? The customer's here to pick it up but it's not out here in the ready for pick-up fridge." Rachel bit her lip and frowned with concern. She hoped that the order had been completed and was just in the wrong fridge.

"Miller?" Holly repeated. "Sounds familiar..." Holly set her measuring scoop down, creating a small cloud of flour around her. She reached for the list of completed orders and quickly skimmed it. "Hmmm, it's not on the completed list." She handed Rachel the list so that she could read it for herself.

"But if the name sounds familiar..." Rachel said, reading the completed list for herself. Holly practically read her mind and searched the list of orders that were yet to be completed.

"Here it is, at the top of the list. Four dozen assorted sugar cookies for Laura Miller." Holly confirmed. "It's actually the order I'm working on now."

"What do we do?" Rachel asked looking more worried than before. "Will you talk to them? You're better at this sort of thing than me."

"Sure, I don't mind." Holly agreed. She wiped her hands on her apron and stepped into the bakery. The customer in question was patiently browsing one of the display cases while he waited for his order. He looked to be roughly Holly's age; late twenties or early thirties. He had a round face and the early signs of laugh lines around his mouth and eyes.

"Uh, are you Laura Miller?" Holly asked. The man laughed and then noticed the lack of baked goods in her hand.

"No, Laura's my mom. I'm Charlie." He explained. "Is there something wrong with her order?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Miller but..."

"It's Calvin." He interrupted her politely.

"I'm sorry?" She'd though he'd said his first name was Charlie.

"My last name is Calvin, not Miller. My mom got remarried when I was little." He told her. "You're Holly Green, right?"

"I, ah, yeah. How did you...?" Holly couldn't help but blink at him in confusion. Had she met this man before?

"I guess I look a little different now and it's been a long time." He shrugged. "We went to school together, but I moved away after High School. I went to Canada to help my Dad."

"With his toy making business. Now I remember." Holly nodded. "No one forgets the kid who gets to take the whole month of December off of school."

"It wasn't always as glamorous as it seemed." He scoffed.

"Are you still in the toy making business?" She asked him.

"I guess you could say that. Things are about to get pretty busy for us, So I always come home to see my mom, sister and stepdad around this time." Charlie said. "When Lucy, my sister, was little I used to take her trick or treating. Now we throw a Halloween party instead."

"Which would explain the cookie order." Holly nodded.

"Right, the cookie order." Charlie remembered. "Was there a problem with the order?"

"Unfortunately, it's not finished yet." She apologized. "I'm so sorry, what time is your party at?" Charlie checked his watch.

"The party doesn't start for a few more hours, but I have a bunch of errands to run before then. I'm not sure I would have time to come back." He frowned.

"Your order is the next one on the list. I was just about to start it. I'm afraid we may have taken on a few more orders than we could handle." Holly apologized again. "Since it's our mistake, I'd be more than willing to complete your order and deliver it personally."

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that." Charlie shook his head. "Maybe I could just rearrange a few things..."

"Charlie," Holly placed a hand on his shoulder. "What time should I deliver the cookies?"

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" He smiled.

"I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I did." Holly assured him. She walked towards the cash register where she always kept a small notebook. She handed the notebook and a pen to Charlie.

"Alright. Well, in that case please let the owner know that you saved the night. My sister is really picky about her cookies and you guys are her favorite bakery in the world." He told her, while writing his mother's address on the notebook.

"You just did." Holly said, collecting the notebook from him.

"What?"

"I own this bakery." She explained. "Did you think you were the only one who could inherit a family business?" She smirked.

"Well, I haven't exactly inherited my dad's workshop yet." Charlie sighed. "But how did you come to own a bakery? I remember when we were kids you used to say you were going to be what was it...a police officer-princess?"

"A police officer-Jedi­-princess." She corrected him. "Then there was ice cream truck driver and a whole other list of fantastical careers. But my grandparents built this bakery from the ground up and my mom took it over when they died. When her and my dad died, I couldn't bare to let it go. So it's just me and my small staff of five. Which is why it's so important that I get back in there and keep working on your order. Wouldn't want to ruin your Halloween party."

"Of course. I don't want to hold you up any longer and I still have those errands to run. I'll see you around six?" Charlie verified.

"See you then." Holly nodded.