Christmas at the Candied Apple Café

“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.