Chapter 39
39
DORIE
I pulled up to Kaisen’s mansion in Cape May, my new SUV packed to the brim with everything I needed to bake seven multi-layer cakes and decorate the groom’s cake. When I went into the bakery this morning, I was ready to work. Unfortunately, my oven was not. It was irreparably broken. It was done. It gave up the ghost and there was no coming back. So, not only was the bakery business fucked, but I had to get Eliza’s cake done. There was no way she’d find someone else to make the cake she wanted on a week’s notice.
It was a disaster. Eliza’s wedding was this weekend, and I had no time to waste. If I didn’t get these cakes baked tonight, I wouldn’t have time to ice them before the big day. I couldn’t throw together some store-bought mixes and hope she wouldn’t notice it wasn’t the cake she dreamed of.
Kaisen was waiting for me on the front steps. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I felt bad for backing out of our dinner date, but this was a priority.
“Hey,” he said. “I’ve got the double ovens going inside. Everything’s going to be fine, Dorie. We’ve got this.”
I let out a shaky breath. “I hope you’re right. Because if we don’t pull this off, Eliza might actually kill me. What countries don’t have extradition policies?”
He chuckled. “She’s not going to kill you. And even if she tries, I’ll protect you.”
I managed a small smile, though my nerves were still frayed. “You’d better.”
“Okay, tell me what to do,” he said.
I used the key fob to open the lift gate. “I am so glad you have a big kitchen. I’ve got a ton of stuff.”
He grabbed a couple of the larger boxes from the back of the SUV. “Lead the way, Chef.”
I grabbed another box and we went inside.
Kaisen’s kitchen was already warm from the preheated ovens. He had clearly prepared. The countertops were gleaming. The center island had been cleared. The coffeemaker, toaster, and everything else had disappeared. It looked like one of those pretty test kitchens. I was almost afraid to bake in here. My bakery was always a mess—flour dusted every surface, bowls piled up in the sink, and ingredients scattered everywhere. This kitchen looked like it belonged in a magazine.
“Where do you want this?” he asked.
“Just set it on the counter,” I said, moving quickly to unload the box. “I’ll need to get started right away if we’re going to get all these cakes done.”
Kaisen watched as I began organizing everything, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “Tell me what to do first.”
I glanced at him, surprised by how serious he looked. “You really want to help?”
“Of course,” he said, stepping closer. “Just tell me what you need.”
I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. First, I’ll need you to measure out the flour and sugar for the first batch. And make sure you sift the flour—it’s important for the texture.”
“As soon as you tell me what sifting is and how to do it, consider it done,” he said.
I couldn’t help but laugh. The poor man was so far out of his element.
I handed Kaisen a measuring cup and a sifter, trying not to grin at the look of utter confusion on his face. “Alright,” I said, setting a bag of flour in front of him. “This is your mission. Measure out three cups of flour, then pour it into the sifter. The sifter is that thing that looks like a metal cup with a handle. Got it?”
He picked up the sifter, turning it over in his hands like it was some kind of alien artifact. “Okay,” he said slowly. “And what does this do exactly?”
“It gets rid of lumps and makes the flour lighter,” I explained, already measuring out my own ingredients for the next cake. “Just hold it over the bowl and twist the handle. It’s not rocket science.”
He gave me a mock salute. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
I shook my head, hiding a smile as I cracked eggs into my mixing bowl. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him pour flour into the measuring cup with all the precision of someone defusing a bomb. He got to three cups—mostly—and then held up the sifter like he was presenting Excalibur.
I loved that he was taking all this so seriously.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Over the bowl,” I said, nodding toward the empty mixing bowl in front of him. He positioned it, twisted the handle, and nothing happened.
“Is it broken?” he asked, frowning.
“You have to actually turn it,” I said, trying not to laugh.
He started aggressively cranking the handle. Flour exploded out of the sifter in a cloud, dusting the counter, the floor, and even Kaisen’s T-shirt. He stood there blinking, his face and hair speckled white like he’d just been caught in a snowstorm. For a moment, there was silence. Then he looked at me, his expression deadpan.
“Is this how it’s supposed to work?”
I burst out laughing. “Not exactly,” I managed to say between laughs. “But you’re getting there.”
He grinned, brushing the flour off his shirt with exaggerated swipes. “I think I’m making it much more complicated.”
“Here, let me show you.” I stepped closer. “Gentle twists,” I instructed, demonstrating the motion. “No need to go full drill sergeant on it.”
He followed my lead. He nodded as he got the hang of it, and when he finished, he looked at me with a proud smile. “How’s that?”
“Perfect,” I said, giving him a thumbs-up. “You’re officially a sifter now.”
“Glad to have passed the first test. What’s next?”
I handed him a whisk and a bowl of softened butter. “Mix the butter and sugar together until it’s light and fluffy.”
Kaisen was a surprisingly good assistant. He followed my instructions to the letter, measuring ingredients, mixing batters, and even cracking eggs without getting shells in the bowl. As we worked, the panic that had been gnawing at me slowly started to fade. When Kaisen tried to whisk batter with far too much enthusiasm, things got wild once again. Batter flew everywhere.
“You’re supposed to whisk it, not attack it,” I teased, wiping a bit of batter off his cheek with my thumb.
He grinned, catching my hand and pressing a kiss to my palm. “Sorry, Chef. I’ll try to be more gentle.”
We flirted and talked as we worked. I tried to explain Eliza’s cake. I had a feeling he wasn’t really seeing what I was trying to describe. That was fine. He would see.
“And the groom’s cake?” he asked.
I pulled the first cakes from the oven and put them on the cooling racks. “Cullen’s not really a cake guy, so I’m doing something simple. Chocolate with a whiskey glaze. Nothing fancy. I went rogue.”
Kaisen poured us each a glass of wine with the first cakes done. I felt myself finally starting to relax. The sound of the rain tapping against the windows made everything feel okay. I rotated the cakes from the oven to cool, jotting down notes on sticky notes to keep track of everything.
Kaisen watched me for a moment, then gestured to the groom’s cake. “Can I try decorating it? I mean, it doesn’t need to be perfect, right? Cullen doesn’t even eat carbs.”
I hesitated, then shrugged. “Sure, why not? Just don’t go crazy.”
He grinned, picking up a piping bag and squeezing a glob of frosting onto the cake. I watched as he attempted to create some kind of design, though it looked more like a child’s finger painting than anything else. I couldn’t help but laugh, shaking my head. This could be a new trend in groom’s cakes—let the best man decorate it.
“You’re terrible at this,” I said, taking the piping bag from him. “Here, let me show you.”
“Okay, okay,” he said. “I can do that.”
We both knew he couldn’t, but I was happy to let him try. He went back to icing and I grabbed a sticky note to jot down another note. I started doodling my designs, my mind wandering as I sketched. Before I knew it, I’d drawn a little picture of the two of us—me with a piping bag, him with a glass of wine. It was silly, but it made me smile.
Kaisen noticed and leaned over to look. “What’s this?” he asked.
“Just a doodle. Don’t overthink it.”
He studied the drawing for a moment, then grabbed a pen and added his own touch—a terrible sketch of Rick, my cat, between us. I laughed, shaking my head. “That’s the worst cat I’ve ever seen.”
He grinned, but there was something in his eyes—something I couldn’t quite place. It was almost like uncertainty, like he wasn’t really feeling the little sketch. But before I could say anything, he seemed to snap out of it, his smile returning.
“I have something for you,” he said, setting down his wine glass and reaching into his pocket.
I raised an eyebrow, watching as he pulled out a small velvet box. My heart skipped a beat as he opened it, revealing a pair of stunning diamond earrings. They sparkled in the light. They weren’t anything garish. Very elegant. Classy. Beautiful.
“Kaisen, these are… they’re beautiful.”
He smiled. “They were my mom’s. I wanted you to have them.”
I felt tears prick at the corners of my eyes as I took the box from him, my fingers trembling. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll wear them,” he said.
I nodded, quickly putting them on and turning to the nearest reflective surface to admire them. They were perfect. I turned back to Kaisen, my heart swelling with emotion.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice thick. “I love them. They’re stunning.”
He kissed me. It was soft, sweet, and full of promise. When he pulled away, I felt a warmth spread through my chest, but there was still that flicker of uncertainty in his eyes that I couldn’t ignore.
“Kaisen,” I started, my voice hesitant. “What’s going on? You seem off.”
He shook his head, forcing a smile. “It’s nothing. I’m just tired. And I have an early morning tee time with Cullen and the guys tomorrow.”
I studied him for a moment, trying to read the expression behind his eyes. He was pulling away. I didn’t know how to stop him. He gave me this beautiful gift and he was pulling back.
“I think I’m done here,” I said with a smile. “I’ll let you go to bed.”
“You should stay,” he said. “Spend the night.”
I wanted to say yes. I really did. But something felt off. The way he was looking at me, the way he seemed to be holding back. It made me uneasy. I wasn’t the type of person who needed to have the conversation. The one that involved “what are we” and “where is this going.” I didn’t need that.
“I should probably get going,” I said, forcing a smile. “I have an early morning too. I can have Toby pick up the cakes tomorrow once they’ve had a few hours to cool.”
“Alright. Be careful driving home, okay?”
“Always.”
He walked me to the door and gave me a kiss.
The uneasy feeling that started in the kitchen only grew on the way home. Something was wrong. I just didn’t know what. The light caught the diamond in my ear. Why give me diamonds and pull back in the same sentence?