Baking Love (8 page)

“Maybe next time, you’ll get all ten on the first try.”

“Punk.” They walked back to the seating area, where Kate was quick to meet Eric’s gaze again. “Sorry, Jess,” she said, without taking her eyes off him. “Eric ruined our chances of scoring a spare.”
It’s so much fun to mess with this man.

“You ruined your own chances,” he retorted. “You could’ve knocked down all ten pins with one roll, but you didn’t.”

“Next time, wait your turn to bowl.”

“Next time, bowl your turn faster.”

“Y’all sound like an old married couple,” Mark laughed. “Eric, do you and Cecilia rant and carry on the way you and Kate do?”

Eric’s brows flinched. “No.”

“Oh.”

Their seating area fell silent.

“Eric,” Jess quickly said. “What are your and Cecilia’s plans for after graduation?”

Thank you, Jess.

“Cecilia is going to work for her dad,” Eric answered. “Once we find out what city we’ll be in, I’ll apply for jobs.”

“You mean it could be somewhere other than New York?”

“There are offices around the country, so it’s possible.”

“Why can’t Walter go ahead and tell you where she’ll be working?” Kate asked. “Graduation is only a couple of months away.”

“Things are volatile within the company at the moment, so he can’t say for sure until they settle out.”

“Ah.”

Eric crossed his arms over his chest. “What about you, Kate? How’s business at the bakery these days?”

“It got a big boost when Cecilia walked through the door.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah. She ordered an eight-tiered wedding cake.” Kate frowned. “You saw the sketch.”

“I saw it, but I didn’t count the layers.”

“Tiers.”

“Right—I didn’t count them.”

“Why not?”

“When I looked at that cake, I saw ‘nice’ and ‘tall’.”

“Sounds about right,” Jess muttered.

“Besides, the cake has to be big,” Eric added. “We sent out six hundred invitations.”

“Six hundred?” Kate and Jess exclaimed in unison.

“Yeah.”

“You know six hundred people?” Jess asked him.

“Not really. The majority of the invitations went to Walter’s business associates. Loraine and my parents invited a bunch of their friends, too.”

“Did you and Cecilia invite anyone?” Kate asked. “You know, since it’s
your
wedding.”

“Yeah, we did. Plus, a lot of our friends are in the wedding.” He glanced up at the monitor. “Hey, it’s my turn.”

Eric went to bowl, and Kate turned to Jess. “I can’t believe they invited six hundred people.”

“That certainly does explain the cake.”

“Mark, did you get an invitation?” Kate asked.

“I hope so,” he said. “I’m a groomsman.”

Kate and Jess exchanged confused glances, then Jess looked at Mark. “You’re a groomsman? Since when?”

“Since Eric asked me this afternoon.” Mark smiled sheepishly at Jess. “Sorry I didn’t tell you before now.”

“Isn’t it late in the game to be adding groomsmen?” Kate asked.

“He didn’t add,” Mark clarified. “He replaced.”

“Who’d he replace?” Jess asked.

“Matt.”

Kate froze.
Matt is the guy from the tavern. Surely my incident with him didn’t have anything to do with this sudden reshuffling of groomsmen.
She forced a casual note to her voice. “Did Eric say why he replaced Matt?”

“Yes,” Mark replied. “I’m just not sure I’m supposed to tell you.”

Eric came back to the ball rack. “We should’ve gone to see a movie instead of going bowling.”

Mark glanced up at the monitor. “Three, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t sweat it, man.”

Eric retrieved his ball and returned to the lane.

“Out with it,” Jess hissed at Mark.

“I don’t think I should say anything.”

“Oh, I think you should—and hurry up. Eric will be back in a minute.”

Mark sighed. “Fine, but don’t tell him I told you this part.”

“Fine.”

Mark met Kate’s gaze. “Eric kicked Matt out of his wedding because Matt harassed you at the Wynnfield Tavern. Eric told him their friendship was over.”

“Whoa,” Jess whispered.

Kate stared at Mark, unseeing.
Eric did that for me? Why? I could understand if Matt had harassed Cecilia, his fiancée—but me? I’m just his friend.

“Keep this on the down-low,” Mark quickly added.

Eric took his seat. “What are you guys talking about?”

As Kate waited for someone to answer, a new thought popped into her head.
If Mark is attending to Eric on his wedding day, how will he also be attending to Eric’s wedding cake?
“Wait a minute,” she said. “Mark, if you’re going to be Eric’s groomsman, how are you also going to help me and Jess with his wedding cake?”

Surprised filled Eric’s face. “How’d you know Mark is going to be my groomsman?”

“He just told us,” Jess replied flippantly. “Yeah, Kate, how
is
that going to work?”

Eric glared at Mark. “Did you tell them anything else?”

“Uh,” Mark stuttered.

“Eric,” Kate interrupted. “What time do you need Mark on your wedding day?”

Eric met her gaze and stared blankly. “What? I have no idea.”

“Well, what time does your wedding start?”

“I don’t know, Kate.”

He’s getting frustrated, which makes two of us.
“You don’t know what time your own wedding starts?” she asked in disbelief.

“Why don’t
you
know?” Eric snapped. “I mean, how are you planning to deliver the wedding cake to the reception site if you don’t even know what time the wedding starts?”

Damn, you’ve got me there.
“No one gave me a time when we met at the bakery, and I haven’t had a chance to ask Loraine since then.”

“Why not? You were both at the pre-rehearsal.”

“I saw her twice, and both times, I got distracted.”

“How in the world did Loraine Prescott distract you?”

Stop putting me on the defense.
“Not that it’s any of your concern, but the first time I saw Loraine, she was showing me how ridiculously far the cake table will be from our van—from
your
wedding cake. The second time I saw her, she was appointing me to stand in for Cecilia as
your
bride. So let’s just say the opportunity never presented itself.”

“Ah.”

“What’s your excuse?” Kate crossed her arms over her chest. “Why don’t you know what time your own wedding starts?”

“I don’t
need
to know until the day of, or maybe the day before.” Eric paused. “What’s wrong with the placement of the cake table? You can’t carry a cake that far?”

 “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Then why did you mention it?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

“Hope you don’t drop anything.”

Kate’s arms flinched.
No, I can’t kiss him—and I can’t strangle him, either, so I’d better leave him alone.
She took a deep breath. “Would you please try and remember if you’ve heard anyone say what time your wedding starts?”

Eric sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe five o’clock.”

“Five o’clock,” Kate repeated. “We’ll go with that. Thank you.”

Jess turned to Kate. “Mark should have enough time to help us with the wedding cake beforehand.”

“Yeah. We should be fine.”

“Now that I think about it, I remember something else,” Eric piped up.

“Do we want to hear this?” Kate muttered.

“We’re taking photos before the wedding.”

You’ve got to be kidding.
“You’re doing what?”

“Isn’t it bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding?” Jess asked.

“If we take photos ahead of time, people won’t have to wait as long for the reception to start once the wedding is over,” Eric explained.

Bet that selfless idea didn’t come from Cecilia.

“Can I bowl your turn, Kate?” Mark asked.

“It’s my turn again?”

“Yeah. I’ve already bowled Jess’s turn and my own.”

“You have?” Jess asked him.

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t even see you get up.”

“Thanks.”

“Eric,” Kate said, trying to get back on track. “What time are photos?”

He stared at her.

“Right, you don’t know.”

“Why does it matter?” he frowned.

“I want to make sure there’ll be enough time for Mark to help me and Jess before he has to help you on the day of your wedding.”

“Fine. I’ll let you know about photos next week.”

“No, this is too important to wait. We need to find out tonight.”

“How am I supposed to find out tonight? Cecilia’s in Paris.”

Kate smiled sweetly. “Her mother’s not.”

“What?” Eric popped up out of his chair. “You want me to call Loraine just to ask her about photos?”

“I’m happy to ask her if you don’t want to. Pull up her number in your phone, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

“This is absurd! Why do you even need Mark’s help with the wedding cake?”

Anger gripped Kate, and she flew out of her own chair. “You of all people should know the answer to that question! Hell, you helped me and my grandma transport and assemble dozens of wedding cakes the summer you were home from college.”

Eric leaned toward her, leaving their faces only inches apart. He grinned. “
That
was a good summer.”

Kate bit her lip to keep from smiling.
Yes, it was.
Eric might’ve just gained the upper hand in this argument by assuaging her anger, but she wasn’t about to let him know it. “Look,” she pleaded. “Your wedding cake is a big deal because of the people involved and because it’s the largest cake Jess and I have ever made. We want to do everything we can to improve our odds for success. That includes bringing Mark with us, even if it turns out to be overkill.”

Eric’s expression softened. “I see.”

Kate looked away. “A lot could go wrong, and I’m afraid something will,” she quietly confessed.

“Kate.”

With hesitation, she shifted her gaze back to Eric. His eyes were warm. “Nothing’s going to go wrong.”

“How do you know?”

He smiled. “Because you’re the best.”

So are you. I should’ve told you I loved you when I had the chance.
Eric’s smile slowly faded as they held each other’s gaze in silence.

Please don’t marry Cecilia.

“I’ll call Loraine for you.”

Kate blinked back tears. “Thanks.”

While Eric made the call, Kate sat back down beside Jess. She calmed herself, then replayed her conversation with Eric in her mind. She cringed.
I should’ve stuck to my plan.
She leaned toward Jess. “I probably shouldn’t have told Eric his cake table will be ridiculously far from our van.”

Jess clicked her tongue. “Probably not.”

“Do you think Cecilia will pull this wedding cake out from under us now?”

Jess’s eyes twinkled. “No. Eric won’t let her.”

“Okay.” Eric’s voice sounded, and Kate straightened in her chair. “Photos are at three-thirty, and the wedding is indeed at five.”

Kate forced a smile. “Thanks.”

He snapped his fingers. “I forgot to ask Loraine if she’d reposition the cake table.” He waved his phone in the air. “I’ll call her back if you’d like.”

Cue New Kate.
“That won’t be necessary.” Kate glanced up at the monitor. “Looks like it’s still my turn.” She stood up and retrieved her ball from the rack.
Bowl your frames as fast as possible so the evening will end sooner and you can stop pretending to be someone you’re not around Eric.

At least, until the next time you see him.

Saturday, March 17

Kate and Jess sat at the work table, staring at each other. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize this before now.”

“Don’t feel bad. I didn’t realize it, either.”

Kate looked down at the piece of paper in front of her, which contained the timeline she and Jess had just laid out for making Cecilia and Eric’s cakes. “So up until today, we were planning to carry the wedding cake tiers from the van into the banquet hall on the day of the wedding, when actually, we’re arriving at the Wynnfield Estate the day
before
the wedding.” She met Jess’s gaze. “We’re going to need somewhere to keep those cake boxes overnight.”