12. Mallory
MALLORY
That afternoon, Mal stood in the kitchen with Katie by her side, considering a couple of different gingerbread recipes.
Because they had missed their Thursday baking session last night, Mal had invited her to come today, since Annie was working.
“Do you remember if your mom’s gingerbread was soft and thick or thin and crispy?” Mal asked Katie.
“Thin,” Katie said after thinking about it a moment.
“And did you decorate them with frosting?” Mal asked.
“No,” Katie said. “They were red and sparkly.”
“Red sugar, I’ll bet,” Mal said, pulling out a drawer and bringing out a stainless container. She sprinkled a little into her palm. “Like this?”
“Yes,” Katie said, nodding, a little smile lighting her face.
“Okay,” Mal said. “Last question. Were they spicy?”
“I don’t know,” Katie said, frowning.
“That’s okay,” Mal told her. “We’ll start off less spicy and then we can taste the dough and add spices if we want.”
“Okay,” Katie said.
“Let’s do it,” Mal said. “Want to put on the radio?”
“Okay,” Katie agreed with a smile, hurrying over to get a little Christmas music going in the kitchen.
Soon, they were measuring out dry ingredients while Burl Ives sang “Holly Jolly Christmas.”
They had decided to make another nice big recipe so that they could share again. For Mal, it was normal to make large quantities, but she could tell Katie was getting a little bored and retreating into herself again.
“Should we stop for a snack break?” Mal offered.
“Okay,” Katie said, looking up with renewed interest in her eyes.
“Excellent,” Mal said heading over to the opposite counter. “These are so good dipped in chocolate.”
She brought back a plate with two soft pretzels and then headed over to heat up a small dish of chocolate.
“You dip pretzels in chocolate?” Katie asked.
“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Mal said with a smile.
“Are these the pretzels you and my dad got?” Katie asked.
“No,” Mal said. “Those were really good, but I do my own Philly style, just like my mom used to do. They’re smaller and a little saltier. I made them after your dad dropped me off. The Amish pretzels got me in the mood for my mom’s version.”
She brought over the dish of warm chocolate, and thought about what else she could do to make the snack more fun for Katie. On a whim, she grabbed a jar of the broken candy canes she had crushed up earlier for the coffees.
“Do you like peppermint?” she asked.
Katie nodded.
“Okay, perfect,” Mal said. “I’m going to try something different.”
She poured the chocolate in ribbons over the two pretzels and then spooned a nice sprinkle of crushed candy cane on top.
“Pretty,” Katie said.
“It is, isn’t it?” Mal said thoughtfully. “We’d better see how it tastes.”
She peeled the pretzels apart and handed one to Katie.
Katie took a small bite and then a bigger one, closing her eyes.
“Do you like it?” Mal asked.
Katie nodded her head up and down, her mouth too full to answer.
Mal took a bite and was transported. It was a delicious flavor combination, the salty, buttery soft pretzel with the sweetness of the chocolate and the zip of peppermint.
She’d had chocolate-dipped hard pretzels before, but this was something very different.
It made her think of Christmas and football games and friendly gatherings on cold nights.
“This is soooooo good,” Katie said before going in for another bite. “It’s kind of like the hot cocoa with a candy cane at my grandma’s house.”
“It is a bit like that,” Mal said, smiling.
“You should sell these at the bakery,” Katie said.
Something began to occur to Mal and she grabbed a knife, then cut her pretzel in half.
“Should we give some to Annie?” she asked Katie. “See if she likes it too?”
“Definitely,” Katie said.
Abandoning the gingerbread, the two of them hurried out to the front with half a chocolate peppermint soft pretzel on a plate for Annie.
“Annie, Annie,” Katie yelled.
Annie jumped and then smiled when she saw the little girl.
“Hey, Katie,” she said. “What’s up?”
“We have something new for you to try,” Katie told her.
Mal couldn’t hide her smile. It was so good to see Katie excited like this, and talking freely with Annie.
A couple sitting by the big front window looked over and smiled. It was Gert and Howard Allen, her friend Quinn’s parents.
“Awesome,” Annie said. “What is it?”
“Here,” Mal said.
“It’s a soft pretzel with chocolate and candy cane bits,” Katie told her, holding out the plate.
“Wow,” Annie said. “That’s the most Pennsylvania thing I ever heard.”
Mal laughed, though Annie was right. Soft pretzels and Hershey’s chocolate were synonymous with Pennsylvania. And in this case, the candy canes were local too.
She found herself holding her breath as Annie took a bite, and watching carefully as she chewed, her eyes opening wide in appreciation.
“What do you think?” Katie asked.
“It’s amazing,” Annie said, covering her mouth as she finished chewing. “It makes me think of Christmas, and pretzel day at school, and Sunday football, all at the same time.”
“What’s that?” the lady by the window asked. “Is it for sale?”
“Gert,” her husband said, chuckling.
“It looks yummy, Howard,” Gert said with a smile. “I want to try it.”
“It’s not for sale,” Mal said. “But I’d love to bring you a free sample, if you don’t mind letting me know what you think.”
“I’ll never say no to a free sample,” Howard said with a smile.
Mal and Katie hurried back to the kitchen. Mal grabbed another pretzel and drizzled chocolate over it. Then Katie sprinkled on a spoonful of candy cane.
Mal cut it in half and gestured for Katie to bring it out, expecting the reserved little girl to shake her head and follow in Mal’s shadow.
Instead, she took it proudly and rushed back to the front.
“Here you go,” Katie said, placing it on the table for the Allens without a hint of shyness.
“Thank you, young lady,” Gert said.
The couple lifted their pretzel halves and touched them together in a pretend toast before they each took a bite.
“Oh, that’s magnificent,” Gert said a moment later. “You know, it makes me think of the peppermint ice cream in a chocolate dipped cone my mother used to buy me after ballet class when I was a little girl.”
“Tastes like a baseball game to me,” Howard said. “The guys would love this. How much for a dozen?”
“She just said they’re not for sale, Howard,” Gert scolded him before taking another bite.
“What do you call it?” Howard asked.
“A jingle bell knot,” Mal said impulsively. “And I’d be glad to take an order for you, Mr. Allen.”
“A jingle bell knot,” Katie echoed softly, looking up at Mal with a wondering smile.
By the time Harrison came for Katie, they had given out several more samples, and taken three more orders for the new treat.
“How did the gingerbread go?” Harrison asked.
“We’ll make that next time,” Katie said dismissively. “Try this.”
She handed him a sample from the platter at the counter, and Mal found herself holding her breath again, though by now everyone who had tried the new treat loved it.
Harrison popped it in his mouth and then hummed over it as he chewed.
“So good,” he said, shaking his head. “Makes me think about Christmas when I was a little kid for some reason.”
“Do you think they’re good enough to be the signature holiday treat?” Mal asked.
“Yes,” he said, his face breaking into a rare smile. “This is it, Mallory. You did it.”
“It was just a snack,” Katie said, jumping up and down a little. “It was just a snack for us during our gingerbread making.”
“I got lucky,” Mal agreed. “All those times I tried to come up with something special and I couldn’t. I guess all I needed was a day with my baking partner for the right inspiration.”
She looked over at Katie, who offered her a smile, and Mal felt happiness bubble up in her chest.
Did I really earn smiles from both of the dead-serious Laws today?
“This was a good session,” Harrison said.
“I had another idea,” Mal told him. “But if you guys have other plans, it’s not a big deal.”
“What?” Katie asked.
“I’m going over to my dad’s now,” Mal said. “I was going to bring him some of your baklava, Katie.”
“Yes, and the new treat,” Katie said, her eyes filled with excitement.
“I’m also going to try and convince him to put out the Christmas decorations,” Mal said. “He’s been feeling a little down, but I think he’ll regret it if he doesn’t do our tradition.”
Harrison nodded, his serious expression telling her he understood—of course he did.
“Anyway,” Mal went on. “I wondered if you two might want to come with me.”
As soon as the words were out, she felt foolish. Harrison had the whole farm to tend to. And Katie didn’t want to spend her evening visiting someone else’s dad.
“Can we, Dad?” Katie asked right away.
Harrison’s blue eyes went to Mal, his expression so intense that it almost hurt to look at.
But she couldn’t have broken his gaze, even if she had wanted to. She was transfixed, a haze of confusing emotions rising in her chest.
“We’d love to,” Harrison said, tearing his eyes from Mal’s.