Chapter 7
Sundays were my favorite days of the week. Without the early morning business rush, we didn’t need the staff we did on weekdays, so it was usually my day off. Char’s was Saturday, and the rest of the staff traded out weekends so the scheduling was fair. I did have one or two who preferred to work weekends, which made it easy as well. They were the ones who filled in for me and Char so we could take a much-needed break. As much as I loved to bake, I needed days to clear my head and get out of the kitchen. The reprieve kept us both from burnout.
Most Sundays, I would find something to do outside of Novel Books or the café, but while the bookstore staff knew well how to change over the décor from Halloween to Thanksgiving, Char and I had a tradition of holiday decorating the café ourselves.
The urns in the courtyard would remain as would the floral decorated pumpkin by the register, but the orange, purple, and green twinkle lights would need to come out of the trees in the courtyard and the windows of the store. We also had cornucopias and colorful gourds that we would place on shelves around the shop along with the display books.
“I talked to Declan and Michelle about the changes to the menu. I’m prepping the crescent roll dough the day before, and they’ll bake them before lunch.” Char’s turkey salad crescent rolls were a hit every Thanksgiving season. The rolls were shaped like cornucopias and baked, then stuffed with Char’s recipe for a turkey salad that contained dried cranberries. The only sandwich that was as popular was one she’d stolen from home in England, and that was her Holiday Feast sandwich which contained all the traditional components of a British Christmas dinner. It was rich but so good!
“I saw Mia adding it to the chalkboard. She’s also putting up the apple cider cake as our ‘Cake of the Month. ’”
Char stood at the base of the ladder coiling the lights. “We need to talk about December’s cake. Have you had any ideas?”
“I’ve narrowed it down to a spice cake with eggnog buttercream and an orange cranberry that’s topped with a white chocolate ganache.”
“Ooh,” said Char. I knew she’d love that one. She adored Jaffa cakes and chocolate oranges. It made sense that would be the one she’d gravitate toward. “Maybe we should declare it a tie and offer both. Is it the same orange sponge recipe you had for the creamsicle cake two summers ago?”
“Yes, but with a cranberry filling instead of vanilla. I’ve also added the Christmas designs we worked on to the binder, so we can take preorders now. I’d rather be able to stay on top of those rather than having everyone putting in their orders at the last minute.”
“Agreed.” She continued to loop the lights over her wrist while I removed them from the tree. Thankfully, it wasn’t supposed to rain until tomorrow and the day wasn’t freezing, but cool with a nice breeze.
“Elizabeth!” I pivoted on the ladder.
“Mary? I didn’t know you were going to be in town today.”
“Dad had a client he met early for golf, then Mom’s joining them at the club for lunch. I told them I was going to the library to study. It’s not like they track my whereabouts anyway.”
I stepped down and hugged my little sister. “I’m glad you’re here. I hope you don’t mind helping us change over decorations. Then, we can hang out—watch a movie or whatever you want to do.”
Char hugged Mary as well. Then flashed me a wicked grin. “Lizzy, you never told me what happened at Gigi’s birthday party. She was in the shop Friday and told me to tell you ‘Thank you for being a lifesaver. ’”
“Gigi? The girl you introduced me to?” asked Mary.
“That’s her.” Char practically sang the words. She was totally throwing me under the bus.
I leveled what I considered my shut-the-eff-up glare at Char. “Gigi’s brother came in before Halloween to order her a birthday cake. He also invited me to the party. Anyway,” I climbed back up the ladder, “It was a clusterfuck.” Thankfully, no one was nearby to hear me swear. “She hadn’t invited her friends for fear of her brother’s reaction to some of them, so it was just me, one of Will’s friends, his sister, their cousin, and Jane.”
Char’s eyes widened and her eyebrows drew down. “What was Poison Ivy doing there?”
“Jane? As in our sister-from-hell Jane?” Mary leaned against the tree so she could see my face.
“Yes, that Jane exactly. She’s dating or is engaged to Will’s friend Charles Bingley, who’s also the counsel for Pemberley Books. At least, he mentioned she was his fiancée at the gala.”
“So, you had a lovely time,” Char said drawing out lovely so it was sarcastic. We’d joked often when I’d moved to London how Americans rarely said lovely in a manner that wasn’t full of sarcasm where the English used it frequently and with its true meaning. By the time I’d moved back to the States, I’d been indoctrinated and used lovely often and not sarcastically.
I shook my head. “It was one of the most awkward evenings of my life. Will stared at me most of the time. I swear, Char, he was judging everything I said, everything I did, what I was wearing. He must despise me for maintaining Novel Books’ success.”
Mary frowned. “Why would he have a problem with that?”
After quickly explaining the connection, I handed Char the last of the lights in my hand and stepped down from the ladder to work on the trunk.
Char shifted closer. “Lizzy, what if that isn’t it at all?”
“What do you mean?” asked Mary. “If he wants Novel Books, why would it be anything else?”
“Well, before he found out who Lizzy was at the gala, he’d bought her a drink—an expensive one—and invited her to talk on the balcony. He was supposed to return after seeing to whatever his aunt wanted, wasn’t he?” She turned to me at the last.
I lifted one shoulder. “Yeah, so?” While I folded the ladder and moved to the next tree, Char hurried to my side.
“So, what if he stares at you because he’s intrigued? What if he was interested from the moment he met you, but Poison Ivy shocked him with who you are?”
I stopped two steps up the ladder and surely gaped at her. “No way.”
“I’m serious. Gigi has said her brother can be awkward and stuck up his own ass, but what if he’s never liked someone or been attracted to them the way he is you?”
“He’s got to be in his thirties—”
“Thirty-two,” said Char without missing a beat.
“How do you know that?”
She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I Googled him.”
“Are you kidding me?”
She lifted her hands. “Why haven’t you ? Aren’t you the least bit curious?”
Mary, whose head had whipped back and forth as we talked, held up her hand. “I am.”
“Well, I’m not,” I said, starting to unwind the lights from the branches of the next tree. “I see no point in looking him up on the Internet. What do I need to know about how much money he makes, or if he was Forbes magazine’s Man of the Year.”
“Whatever you think of him, I’m willing to bet he likes you.”
Mary nodded. “I agree.”
I scoffed and handed Mary the lights. “If that’s true, he can like all he wants. I’m not interested.”
“I call bullshit.” My insides jumped at Char’s decisive declaration.
When I stepped back down to the ground, I propped my hands on my hips. “What makes you say that?”
“Because you’ve never cared what someone has thought of you until him. Someone could say your ass is as big as a barge, and you’d roll your eyes and laugh. This time, you’ve developed a loathing for the bloke unlike any I’ve ever known.”
Mary laughed. “She has a point.”
“No, she doesn’t. But since you’re speculating, I’ll put a few things to rest. Yes, I find him hot, but no, I’m not into him. I’m also not going to date him. His friends would bore me to tears. His cousin is friendly and more my type, but that would mean I’d be forced to see Will at every holiday. No, thank you! No matter how much I like Gigi, I won’t put myself through that.”
Char leaned against the brick wall. “Might be different if you were part of the family. I doubt he’d tolerate Jane and how she treats you.”
I shook my head. “I think you’re reading more into it than what’s there.” Way more!
“Maybe, but I doubt it. You’ve never been good at noticing when someone’s into you.”
Since I’d just unwrapped the last of the trees, I glared at Char and Mary before I strode inside. I loved Char, but she was completely and totally wrong about William Darcy. He didn’t like me, he wasn’t attracted to me, and I had no interest in him! But Mary taking Char’s side was completely out of the blue. She was supposed to be loyal to me. She was my sister.
I walked inside the door, and my world went black as I ran into a dark wall of cotton and wool. “Watch out.” Strong hands took my shoulders and shifted me back. “You okay?” I blinked. Richard Fitzwilliam stood in front of me, his lips curved into an amused smile.
“I’m so sorry. You didn’t have a coffee or anything that I spilled.” I started scanning his clothes and the floor. “I’ll replace it—get you something better. I’m so sorry. I’m never this clumsy.”
“No, I was waiting to collect my drink. I have to admit I was hoping to run into you, though not literally.”
I stepped back. “You were?”
“Yes, I wanted to thank you for Gi’s cake. Darce commented that you made it yourself, and I’m sure you have employees who could’ve done it for you. I know it meant the world to Gi since she thinks so highly of you.”
“It was no biggie,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I still work in the kitchens most days, and I love making cakes. I’m glad I could bake it for her.”
“Richard!” called Mia at the counter.
“Can we sit down and talk for a moment?”
I nodded as he stepped over to pick up his to-go cup, his head turned to see my answer. “Yes, that’s not a problem.”
Char lifted her eyebrows from where she waited near the door with Mary.
“Give me five minutes,” I mouthed with my hand up and all five fingers displayed.
After a nod, she and my sister disappeared into Novel Books. We had a storage closet for decorations in the bookstore’s huge stockrooms.
I accompanied Richard to a table. “Hey, do you want to be a guinea pig?”
He laughed. “Is that a trick question?”
“Are you allergic to anything?”
“No.”
“Hold on.” I rushed into the kitchens and cut a slice of the cake I’d baked this morning. When I returned, I grabbed a fork and a napkin from the buffet that held sugar, cream, napkins, and utensils for the patrons and placed them in front of him.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a prosecco cake with prosecco buttercream. I’ve been working on it for a while now but haven’t ever gotten it quite right. I could use an impartial opinion on it.”
“What’s the filling?”
“A blackberry and prosecco jam.” I bit my lip as he put the fork into the cake and a fluffy piece clung to the tines.
As soon as he began to chew, he moaned. “Wow, Elizabeth, this is incredible. Will it be a regular offering on the menu?”
“No, I come up with different holiday specials during the year. This one’s for New Years.”
“Ah, which explains the prosecco.”
I nodded. “The trick was the fresh fruit on top. I’d had a champagne and strawberry cake last year, which was difficult as well. I prefer to use local produce and farms if I can. Do you know how hard it is to find a local greenhouse that produces berries in the winter?”
He chuckled. “I’d have no idea. I’m a marketing guy, remember.”
“So, nothing you’d change or nothing that sticks out that I’d need to know about?”
“Honestly, it’s probably the most amazing cake I’ve ever eaten—aside from Gi’s birthday cake.”
The restlessness in me calmed. I’d been playing with the recipe, perfecting it, for months. I’d had the idea during the summer when we’d had a huge shipment of blackberries. I’d made the jam and it’d been stored in the freezer since. I’d just needed the cake and some fresh blackberries for the garnish.”
He straightened in his chair and ran his hand through his hair. “So about why I wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh, I’d almost forgotten. Is something wrong?”
He frowned. “Nothing’s wrong per se. I just wanted to ask you to be kind to my cousin.”
I straightened. What was he talking about? “Why would I be unkind to Gigi? She’s amazing and kind of like a little sister.”
He gave a shake of his head. “I didn’t mean Gi.”
This time it was my turn to frown.
“I mean Darce. I know how he may seem, but he’s not as confident as you might think. There’s little he shares with anyone besides me and Gi, and he doesn’t even share everything with us. I know Gi is always worried about him because he spends so much time alone. He hasn’t had a serious relationship with a woman since college. He was eighteen at the time, and it didn’t take long to find out she was using him for his name and the family money.”
I couldn’t help but cringe. “I’m sorry that happened, but I don’t understand what that has to do with me.”
Richard exhaled. “Look. I’m convinced he likes you, but by the way you behave around him, I’m also convinced he’s put one or both of his ginormous feet in his mouth. When and if he approaches you to go out or whatever, I’m just asking you to be kind.”
“You expect me to accept?” Did I have a stamp across my forehead that said, “William Darcy likes me?” Not that I believed it one bit, but why else would Char and Will’s cousin both believe the same thing?
“Not unless you want to,” he said. “I’d just prefer he not get his heart stomped to death.”
“You might not be able to prevent it. He could like someone else entirely.”
Richard gave a tight curve of his lips. “I doubt it. If Caroline or Jane had been leaving the other night, he wouldn’t have helped them with their coat. He would’ve had Mrs. R. walk with him to the door and she would’ve helped them with their coats. If you haven’t noticed, he didn’t have Mrs. R. accompany you, and he held your coat for you.”
“Maybe he doesn’t feel threatened by me. Jane would toss that Charles guy in a heartbeat if she thought she could date your cousin, and I imagine Caroline isn’t much different. She clung to his arm for the entire night, and frankly, she may as well have been Freddy Kreuger with the way he looked at her. If you ask me, he appeared terrified.”
Richard grinned. “It’s hysterical, isn’t it? I shouldn’t be amused by his pain, but I can’t help it. If he’d just tell her to remove her spiky claws from his arm and to get out of his house, he’d be free of her—for a few weeks at least. I will say that he’s never given her any kind of encouragement. Whatever she thinks she sees is all in her head.”
I laughed. “I can believe that.”
When Mary returned with the leaf garlands, I bit my cheek.
“I understand if you have work to do,” said Richard. “I’ve said what I came to say, but I’m going to finish this cake if you don’t mind.”
I started. “Of course, I don’t mind.” I waved Mary over. “Richard Fitzwilliam, this is my little sister Mary. Richard is Gigi’s cousin.” I said the last while leaning in toward Mary.
He nodded. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Mary smiled. “It’s nice to meet you too.”
With a wave, we went to the window and began hanging the garlands around the edge.
“You haven’t mentioned your birthday in a while.” Mary’s eighteenth birthday was at the beginning of December, and I fully expected her to show up on my doorstep with all of her belongings. “What’s the plan?”
“I’m going to be staying at home for a while.”
I paused and frowned. “What do you mean you’re staying?”
“Something is going on, and I want to know what it is.”
My hand went to Mary’s arm, to turn her a little more in my direction. “What’s that mean?”
“I don’t know yet, but when I do, you’ll be the first person I tell.”
I frowned as I returned to the garland. “I better be.” I didn’t like Mary waiting. Yes, she was still in high school, but at eighteen, she could get away from my parents and their toxicity. What could possibly induce her to wait?
I’d have to keep asking. The sooner Mary got out of that house, the better.