Chapter 2
Rafe
I’d had women claim me before but never with the kind of pissed off enthusiasm as the cute, curvy baker who shoved a polka dot apron at my gut.
“Whatever you say, boss.” I shook out the apron and attempted to tie it behind my neck. My fingers fumbled with the narrow strap.
“Let me.” Jojo brushed my hands away and secured the apron.
Her fingers brushed the back of my neck as she did. Heat prickled my skin. Then her hands dropped behind my waist, tying the other strings there.
She stepped back, her cheeks flushed and evaluated the carnage. “The top two tiers are ruined. They’ll have to be remade from scratch.”
“So, what can I—” I started.
“Let me think.” She put on a pair of rubber gloves and started picking up chunks of cake that had landed all over the table. “I can fix the two fake tiers with a little bit of frosting, but we’ll need to recreate the spiders since your stunt smashed them to pieces.”
“I said I was sorry.” I’d meant it too. It was my fault we’d ended up in this situation.
I’d checked the springs on the coffin before I brought it into the house, but I should have done it again before the lid opened.
Now I’d be paying the price at the beck and call of the brunette baker for as long as she needed me to make things right.
Jojo had cleared the remnants of cake from the table and clamped her hands to her hips. “Can you make a list?”
I glanced around, not sure if she was talking to me or someone else.
“Well?” Her brows arched and those pretty brown eyes stared up at me.
“Me. Oh, yeah. Go ahead.” I pulled out my phone and clicked on my notes app.
She started rattling off a list of supplies. “We’ll need cake pans, my mixer, all the ingredients to bake two more tiers and whip up some more buttercream. Supports, the spider molds, chocolate…”
I typed as she spoke. When she was done, I had a list that was so long I had to scroll down to see everything.
Lacey hadn’t said much since Jojo knighted me as her assistant. She slipped a key from her keyring and handed it to me. “Y’all can work here as late as you need to. I’ll check in when I’m done with my other event.”
“You really think I’ll be able to pull this off?” Jojo asked. For the first time, I sensed a vulnerability behind the brusque facade.
“Yes.” Lacey rushed over and gave her a hug. “If anyone can do this, it’s you, girl. Do you need help with the kids tonight? I can run them over to my place. Bodie’s home and wouldn’t mind watching them.”
“They’re at their dad’s this weekend.” Jojo stepped back and sucked in a deep breath. “The only thing I’ve got going on is this wedding and my normal shifts at the Burger Bonanza. I’ll let them know I might need a backup.”
Lacey nodded. “Good luck, though you won’t need it.”
Jojo stood by the table until Lacey disappeared through the doorway.
Then she faced me, hands on her hips again. “She’s wrong. We’re going to need every bit of good luck. Help me put the cake you didn’t destroy in the cooler, then we’ll need to go pick up those supplies.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Usually, I’d be tempted to take charge, but I was smart enough to know when to shut up and do what I was told.
Ten minutes later, we locked the front door and made our way down the front steps toward the parking lot. I immediately headed toward the hearse I’d arrived in while Jojo walked toward a compact so small that I’d have to dislocate a shoulder to fit inside.
“Come on, I’ll drive.” I gestured toward the hearse. I’d rented it from a guy in town and thought it would be hysterical for the bride and groom to leave the reception in that instead of a limo.
“You want me to ride in a hearse? That’s got bad juju all over it.” Jojo didn’t break her stride.
“The back’s pretty much empty. We’ll have a lot more room to haul your stuff.” I stood by the driver’s side door and waited.
She let out a huff. “Fine.”
Sensing that I’d won one battle but was still losing the war, I raced around to open the passenger side door for her.
She slid onto the black velvet seat. “So this is what it’s like inside one of these.”
“Nicer than you thought, right?” I shut the door behind her, not waiting for a response.
Within minutes, I was pulling out of the lot. Just as I pressed on the gas, a black cat raced across the drive. I slammed on the brakes and instinctively threw my arm in front of Jojo.
“Oh no. Was that a black cat?”
“It only counts if you’re superstitious. Which I’m not, by the way.” I eased my foot onto the gas again, and the hearse moved forward. “Where to, boss?”
“First, we need to stop by my place, then we’ll need to pick up some extra things from the store.” She looked over her shoulder, checking out the back. “This seems like an appropriate vehicle for a cake murderer.”
“Technically, it was more like a skeleton-assisted cake slaughter.” I glanced over in time to catch her bite back a grin. We might have gotten off on the wrong foot but maybe she’d eventually see a little humor in the situation.
“Turn right up here.” Jojo pointed to an upcoming intersection.
“How long have you been making wedding cakes?” If we were going to spend the next several hours together, it would be nice to get to know each other beyond cake murderer and baker.
“A few years. Ever since Lacey decided the only way to save Ido was to make it into a wedding destination.”
“Ido seems like an odd place for that, doesn’t it? Though my buddy’s fiancée was excited when she found the location.” I could have built them the perfect haunted house set in Dallas, but they wanted something more realistic and the Phillips House in Ido, Texas checked off all of their boxes.
“There’s actually a lot to do around Ido. We’ve got a Fall Festival that brings people in from all over this time of year. Last fall we were even crowned the most romantic small town in Texas.” Her chin thrust forward, making her look adorable and daring me to challenge her.
“Is that so? Anything fun happening around Halloween?” It was my favorite holiday and if I’d been home this weekend instead of standing up next to my best friend, I would have turned my front yard into a spooky forest like I did every year.
It gave me a chance to have a little fun and test out props and effects.
“There’s a Trunk and Treat around the square downtown and Taylor Grove is having haunted trail rides all weekend.”
“That sounds like fun. If we get this cake rebuilt in time, maybe you’ll still be able to make it.”
Jojo leaned halfway across the front seat, her expression dead serious.
“We’ll be lucky if we get this cake done before the photographer arrives tomorrow morning.
And that’s if we stay up all night. Do you have any idea how many hours of work you ruined?
This cake was supposed to be my ticket to building my business. ”
“I’m sorry.”
She crossed her arms and slumped back against the seat. “You wouldn’t understand.”
I was about to tell her I understood better than she might think but my phone rang. My buddy Luke’s number lit up the screen.
“Hey, how’s the groom doing this afternoon?” I held my phone to my ear so Jojo wouldn’t hear the whole conversation. I didn’t want to risk having her spill the news that the cake had been damaged.
“Pretty good. Listen, I finally heard from Charlice’s great-aunt.
She found the cake topper her parents used at their wedding.
I’m going to head that way to pick it up then I’ll drop it off at the house.
I want it to be a surprise. Can you let the cake person know they’ll need to work it in?
” Luke sounded surprisingly relaxed for someone who was about to tie the knot.
“Yeah. I’ll make sure she knows.” I shot a glance at Jojo who had her back turned toward me and was staring out the window.
“Thanks. Hey, when you’re done setting up the stuff you brought let me know. Maybe we can head out to the rehearsal and dinner together.”
My gut rolled over. If Jojo needed my help to fix the cake, there was no way I’d be able to spare the time to go to the rehearsal and dinner that followed.
“Um, about that. I ran into a bit of a snag with set up. How pissed would Charlice be if I didn’t make it tonight?”
“I think it will be okay. You know what you’re doing. It wasn’t that long ago we went through your rehearsal.” Luke went silent. “Shit. Sorry, man.”
A dull ache throbbed in my chest at the mention of my wedding that never happened. It had been nine months. Long enough that everyone else had stopped thinking about it. Not long enough that I had. “It’s okay. I’ll let you know if I get done in time.”
“Thanks. I’ll talk to you soon.” He disconnected just as Jojo directed me to pull into the driveway of a tiny one-story cottage.
“What was that all about?” she asked.
I brought the hearse to a stop and shifted to face her. “Sounds like Luke found the cake topper Charlice’s parents used on their cake and is hoping you can incorporate it into the decorations.”
“Seriously? The bride already approved the design. I can’t change the whole top tier on the fly.” She unbuckled and shoved the door open.
I caught up with her on the small front porch. “It would really mean a lot to him. He wants to surprise her.”
“A lovely gesture that would have been totally possible if he’d brought it up a week or two ago.” She pushed the door open, and I followed her inside.
“Just think about it, okay?”
She held my gaze for an extra-long beat. “You’re a real glutton for punishment, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
She pulled open the door to a small pantry. Cake pans in various sizes filled the shelves. Clear bins held small jars of food coloring and sat next to containers of plastic cake columns and supports. A fifty-pound bag of flour sat on the bottom shelf.
“You can start by grabbing that.” Jojo gestured to the big bag.
“This is the punishment part, isn’t it?” I squatted down and tugged the bag from the shelf.
Her lips tipped up in a devilish grin. “We’re just getting started.”