Chapter Eleven
Bobbi
After TJ’s gone, I stow the tools and head to Ivy and Tony’s mansion. Thankfully my cousin’s off today, so I won’t run into him and have to suffer another you’re dating wrong lecture. Ivy and her best friend Yuna became my good friends, and their daughters Katherine and Lilian treat me as an honorary auntie. The two have been begging me to show them how to bake cookies. Apparently, nobody else will do. “You have the best bakery in the world! Oh please, oh please, oh please!”
When the two little angels put their hands together and looked up at me with all the earnestness in the world, I promised to stop by today. They’re just too adorable, and I love children.
The mansion Tony built for his wife is in a quiet area with tight security. It’s enormous, but—unusually for Los Angeles—doesn’t have a pool. The reason being that Ivy almost drowned twice. Although she can swim now, the experiences are still too triggering for him. There is, however, a very shallow water garden covered with lotus blossoms.
I park my Tacoma, which looks out of place among sleek European cars that cost more than most houses, then head to the door. The housekeeper, Felice, lets me in.
Once I’m inside the foyer with a cathedral ceiling and brilliant crystal chandeliers, I can hear the faint sound of the pianos. Ivy has two—a white Steinway baby grand and a B?sendorfer Imperial concert grand that Tony specially commissioned for their first wedding anniversary. It was handcrafted in Austria with a tiger lily—her favorite flower—and entwined TI embossed on the side.
“Yuna and Lilian are here,” Felice says as she gestures me toward the music room.
“Thanks.” I flash her a quick smile and head down the familiar corridor. One side is made entirely of windows that face the garden, and I look at the stunning flowers and lawns that seem to spread out endlessly. Tony spares no expense to please his wife, and a pang pierces my heart.
I’m not envious of Ivy’s wealth, but I would die for the kind of connection she has with her husband. And their beautiful children. Tony fell in love with her at first sight, and he’s been crazy about her ever since. For him to make a promise to his wife and break it would be unthinkable. Nothing short of death could keep him away from her.
I, on the other hand, sort of have…Noah. Who puts no weight on his promises to me. Or his professions of love. Then there’s Lorcan…who is obviously unhinged because just what kind of weirdo breaks into the house of a woman he only met once through a dating app? And Joey, who only met with me so I’d sleep with his boss’s son and have a baby. What a creep.
When I walk into the room, a tiny strawberry blonde and an even smaller dark-eyed brunette squeal. “Bobbi!”
Their gazes are bright as they rush me in their pink tutus. Tiny tiaras sit on their heads, and they wrap their arms around my legs, hugging me. I crouch down and embrace them, one in each arm. They smell like baby powder and innocence.
“Hey, girls!”
“Hi!” Ivy stands up from behind the B?sendorfer, her gray eyes warm. She’s pulled her reddish golden hair into a top knot, which exposes the delicate line of her neck and the smooth slope of her shoulders. She looks casual and at home in a loose gray V-neck shirt and cropped teal pants.
Next to her, Yuna waggles her long fingers. Unlike Ivy, her auburn hair is unbound, and she’s in a stunning crimson dress that matches her take-charge personality. I’ve never seen Yuna in anything but beautiful clothes and the most fashionable shoes. Today’s no exception.
“Bobbi, how do I look?” Katherine spins, her hair flying everywhere.
“Look what I can do!” Lilian leaps around, her arms up in the air.
“Amazing, both of you.” I make sure to keep my tone and expression serious and admiring, even though I’m dying with laughter at their antics. Over by the pianos, Ivy and Yuna smile and shake their heads.
“I’m going to be a Sugar Plum Fairy!” Lilian declares.
“Me too!”
“I thought you wanted to be Cookie Fairies?” I say.
“We can be both!” Katherine says.
“Our grandmama said so!” Lilian adds.
I laugh. Yuna’s mother, a formidable woman, took it upon herself to sort of adopt Ivy as her own child and considers Ivy’s twins her own grandkids. Which was nice because Ivy’s mother passed away a long time ago and Tony’s mother is a sociopath. If Margo Blackwood ever came near the girls, I’d have to drag her away by the hair—she’s just that insane and dangerous.
“Girls, ready to bake some cookies?” Ivy says.
“Yes!” They dash out of the music room, squealing.
“Thank you for coming over. They’re exceptionally energetic today.” Yuna sticks her tongue out with her eyes rolled heavenward, then laughs.
“You know they’re going to get high on sugar, right? I can’t imagine them not gorging on the cookies after we’re done baking.”
“Oh, I know. But by then, Declan and Tony should be here.” Yuna gives me a wink.
“Are the boys out with their fathers?” I say.
“Yes. Thank God.” Ivy sounds sincere. “While the girls want to be Sugar Plum Fairies, the boys want to be Jedis.”
Yuna rubs her forehead. “It didn’t help that Mom had her assistant buy them light sabers. She doesn’t know what it’s like because she’s in Korea most of the time.”
“They broke Yuna’s favorite tea set,” Ivy whispers to me.
“Oh.” Although Yuna loves her coffee, she occasionally likes to sit down and enjoy tea with a slice of cake. And she takes out one of her numerous fancy tea sets, even if she’s drinking alone.
“They don’t make them anymore.” Yuna’s shoulders sag. “I checked everywhere.”
If she can’t get it, then it really isn’t available. There’s nothing her fabulously wealthy conglomerate father wouldn’t get for her.
The girls are already in the kitchen. Felice must’ve laid out everything we need when I arrived because the counter is littered with baking sheets, a bag of flour and so on.
I show the girls how to mix everything together—and teach them the most important lesson: follow directions and don’t improvise until you have the basics down. Knowing Katherine and Lilian, they’d dump two bags of sugar into the bowl because, hey, we’re making sugar cookies.
We get the gobs of dough onto the sheets and turn on the oven. When it’s been preheated I carefully help each girl load her sheet into the oven and soon the kitchen starts to smell like cookies—all warm and sweet. When the timer dings, I pull out the sheets and let the cookies cool while the girls vibrate with anticipation, their eyes glued to the freshly baked goodies.
“You’re a goddess,” Yuna says, propping an elbow on the marble counter and resting her chin in her hand.
“It’s just cookies.” I start making the royal icing myself. I was planning to teach the girls, but they’re too distracted. They’ll be more than happy to help decorate the cookies later.
“Yeah, but I can’t do them. Mom tried to send me to a cooking class, but I totally said no.”
“Why? I thought you always wanted to cook better.” Ivy reaches into the wine cooler and pulls out a bottle of Riesling. “Want some?”
I nod, and Yuna makes a gimme gesture. Laughing, Ivy pours three glasses. One of Yuna’s nannies pours milk for the girls in clear plastic cups because of course they’re going to want something now that we’re drinking.
We toast. “To friendship,” I say.
“And surviving another weekend,” Yuna says, making big eyes at the girls.
We clink glasses. Lilian and Katherine bump cups and laugh. I take a sip of the wine—crisp without being too dry. Tony doesn’t keep bad wine.
“Anyway, tell me why you didn’t take the cooking class,” I say. Yuna always has a good reason for what she does, but I can’t think of anything in this case.
“Oh, she was trying to pad my bridal résumé.” Yuna rolls her eyes. It’s no secret her parents were trying to set her up with a man of their choosing. She ran rather than submit to their selection, which is how she ended up marrying a former underwear model.
“Don’t you regret it now, though?” Ivy teases. “I mean, poor Declan. Deprived of awesome Korean food.”
“Nope. Mom sent someone.”
“Another of her ‘spies’?” I ask.
“No, the chef from my parents’ house. That’s how I know they love me.” Yuna grins. “But enough about my past as a marriageable item. How’s your lease thing going? Did you finally get to renew it at a fair price?”
“Ugh. No.” I take a swig of the wine. “Floyd came to the bakery on Friday to tell me he wants fifty percent more and…”
Ivy frowns. “And…what?”
“And I have to make him and his fiancée an engagement cake,” I spit the words out. “He’s going to marry Reggie.”
Ivy’s face turns bright red. “What?”
“Who the f…”—Yuna’s eyes slide to the girls—“who does he think he is?” she asks in a low hiss. “Why should you make anything for that horrible human being?”
“My landlord and God’s gift to women? I don’t know. He’s convinced the reason I’m refusing to bake them anything is because I’m jealous.”
Ivy looks completely lost. “Jealous…?”
“Yeah. That he’s marrying Reggie,” I say.
“Eww. He’s so gross!” Ivy scrunches her face.
Yuna makes a gagging sound. “He makes Jabba the Hut look like a catch!”
There’s nothing like the support of good friends. “Then he accused me of creating some kind of health crisis. He’s claiming he’s gluten intolerant.” I roll my eyes.
“He’s such a piece of work.” Yuna purses her lips. “And I can’t believe he’s threatening to raise your rent by so much.”
“He thinks he can intimidate me, which is ridiculous.” I cock my hips as I consider how short and pathetic he is. “But I do hate the idea of having to move to another location. I’m in the best place I could be right now.”
“Then don’t. I’ll cover the increase,” Yuna says.
The offer, given so quickly, is kind of stunning. But at the same time I should’ve expected her to want to help. Yuna can never sit by when one of her friends is in trouble. Still… “Thank you. But no, I can’t let you do that.”
She shrugs. “It really isn’t that much money.”
“Yuna’s right.” Ivy pats my forearm gently. “You shouldn’t have to move just because your landlord is a creep.”
“Yeah, but it’s the principle of the thing. I don’t want him profiting unjustly.” I’d rather give the money to TJ to fortify my home as he sees fit.
“But you shouldn’t have to move unjustly, either.” Ivy’s tone is soothing—and slightly coaxing. “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.”
Yuna drums on the countertop. “Wish I could find a way to force him to sell the building to me. Then you could have a lifetime of free rent and I could have a lifetime of free cake. Seems like a fair trade.”
I laugh. It’s so great to have people on my side. I never had close friends as a child because we had to move constantly for Dad’s jobs.
“Actually, Tony tried. But Floyd won’t sell. He doesn’t have anything else left.”
Yuna shakes her fist. “I want to kick him where it hurts. Then he really won’t have anything left!”
“Target’s too small, so the chances of you missing are high,” I say. “I’d hate for you to kick into thin air and pull something.”
“What’s too small? We can have TJ take care of it if somebody’s bothering you,” Tony says as he walks into the kitchen. He puts a hand on Ivy’s shoulder and kisses her.
“Welcome home,” Ivy says at the same time Katherine runs over, her arms stretched upward. “Daddy!”
Laughing, he picks her up as though she weighs nothing. Lilian dashes over as well, and he swings her up, making her giggle.
You wouldn’t think a billionaire could be unhappy. But when I first met Tony, that’s what he was: the most miserable looking rich guy on the planet. But now his eyes are full of laughter, shining with adoration for his wife and children. And Yuna’s kids too, who he treats as his own niece and nephew. He doesn’t care that the kids are touching his four-figure shirt and pants with sticky fingers. Or that Katherine just grabbed his hair.
Wistfulness swells. If I’d touched my dad’s tie with sticky hands, he would’ve pulled away with a disapproving frown. He hated any possibility of not looking his best. Although I’m an adult now, there’s a little girl inside who wishes I’d had a better father, one who put me first, not his hair or clothes.
“Where are Declan and the boys?” Yuna asks.
“Getting ice cream,” Tony says, his eyes stretching comically upward as Katherine tugs on his hair.
“What about us?” Lilian whines.
“That’s why I’m here! To take you out for ice cream,” Tony says.
“Yay! Uncle Tony, you’re the best!”
“Daddy, I love you!”
He smiles like he’s just inherited the world. “Let’s go get changed real fast first, okay? Have fun, ladies!” he calls out as he carries the girls away.
“Thanks, love!”
The vibrancy sizzling in the air vanishes, leaving nothing but peace and silence. “Wow,” I say.
“Yeah. Whirlwind of energy. I love them, but I also enjoy my adult-only time.” Yuna sips her wine.
But I already miss the boundless vigor of the children. I sigh with longing.
Ivy peers at me. “You okay?”
“Just sad at being alone,” I blurt out, then bite my lip. I sound too envious, which isn’t right. Ivy and Yuna fought for and earned their happy marriages. In my case… Well, I never got a chance, but it makes me feel small and petty to feel this sharp pang over the fact that they have loving families like I’ve always wanted.
“You are not alone,” Yuna says. “You have us. And wasn’t there something about a date yesterday?”
Ivy leans forward. “Wasn’t that guy supposed to be the perfect hottie? The one who would make you forget all about that shitty ex of yours?”
“Yes. But I should’ve known he was too good to be true.” I take a big swallow. “Talk about embellishment.”
Yuna frowns. “Everyone embellishes a little. Even my parents spruced up my bridal résumé.”
“I find that hard to believe. You’re perfect,” I say.
She scoffs. “They said I was ‘biddable.’”
Ivy and I chortle at the idea. “So what did he lie about?” Ivy says, turning to me.
“Everything! His profile was, like, at least an eight. He was barely a two!”
Yuna cringes. “That awful?”
“He apparently had pro-level movie makeup applied and used professional lighting and stuff to make himself look about a billion times better. And I thought he was maybe a four when I first saw him. But the real problem was he kept opening his mouth. It cut that four in half. And get this: he didn’t even want to date me! He was trying to find someone to sleep with one of his boss’s sons and get pregnant. And to top it all off, the boss turned out to be Ted Lasker and the son turned out to be Noah!”
Ivy and Yuna’s jaws drop in unison. It’s almost comical.
“Why am I having such terrible luck? I didn’t think it could get any worse after Lorcan Duncan.”
Yuna’s eyes widen as she covers her mouth. “Oh my God. Lorcan Duncan?”
I just swig more wine.
“I’m sorry. It was my fault.” Ivy shakes her head ruefully as she turns to Yuna. “This happened while you were in Korea visiting your family last month. I told Bobbi to be open-minded when she wasn’t sure about seeing him.”
“Still. Lorcan Duncan? I mean, just the name…” Yuna cringes.
Ivy shrugs helplessly. “I thought it’d be unfair to judge him when it was probably his mother who had bad taste.”
“Yeah, and Bobbi would’ve been stuck with a mother-in-law with shitty taste. Friends don’t let friends marry into families with shitty taste.” Yuna shudders.
I sigh. “I just feel stuck. And frustrated. Why is it so hard? All I want is a loving husband and family. I’m not asking for the Nobel Prize!”
“Maybe dating apps aren’t the way to go.” Ivy purses her lips. “Isn’t Lorcan, like, the third guy you’ve tried?”
“Fourth,” I mutter.
“I’m so sorry.” Yuna pats my hand. “Nature abhors a vacuum. You need to manifest your dream husband so you quit attracting trash to fill the slot.”
“Believe me, I’m game. But how?”
“A vision board full of hot men?” Ivy says.
“I have one of those already.”
“Which is obviously defective,” Yuna says firmly. “If it weren’t, you would have had at least a couple of acceptable dates.” Her eyes narrow in thought.
I watch her and wait. She always has either the most outrageous or the most amazing ideas. I’m praying for the latter.
“I know!” she says snapping her fingers. “You need a vision object.”
“Uh… Okay. What is that?”
“Another way to manifest your desires. I’ve read about them. They’re for people who live in tiny homes and have no space for vision boards. You have the space, but your vision board is worthless. So I say a vision object will work better. Since you want to get married, you should get something that symbolizes matrimony.”
Ivy purses her lips. “Like a wedding dress?”
Yuna nods. “Or a ring.”
“Isn’t that kind of extreme?” I ask, wary.
“No, because you’re trying to have a physical representation of your future.” Yuna taps the rim of her glass. “The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Let’s say you see a ring so beautiful and perfect, it calls to you and makes you go, ‘Oh my God, this is it.’ Imagine how much that feeling of excitement will stay with you when you wear it on your finger as a constant reminder of the future you deserve.”
I cock an eyebrow. “So all the single guys will assume I’m married.”
“Annnd any guy who approaches you will probably be a cheating jerk. Or someone trying to break up your ‘marriage.’” Ivy shrugs helplessly. “Kind of counter-productive.”
Yuna blinks, seemingly nonplussed for once. “All right, fine. Get a super pretty chain and put the ring around your neck. Then you can look at it as often as needed, but most importantly, you’ll constantly feel it against your bare skin. Every time it happens, you manifest the qualities you want in your perfect husband. And the universe will give you the man of your dreams and he’ll propose to you with a ring just like your vision ring—or better.”
“I don’t know.” Yuna’s idea is pretty wild as manifesting goes. And insanely expensive. “A ring is way more than a simple vision board.”
Yuna scoffs. “Don’t settle because you’re afraid you can’t afford it. Remember, you are going to spend the rest of your life with this man. You deserve the best.”
The words sink in, and I let my mind process. Maybe I wasn’t getting the best men because I was afraid and uncertain after the pain of Noah’s callous treatment. He’s never apologized for not showing up for the bakery opening, and it’s possible that subconsciously I haven’t been able to bring myself to be brave and embrace all the possibilities like when I started Bobbi’s Sweet Things.
“If I didn’t have to go see Jin,” Yuna says, referring to her brother, “I’d totally take you to Peery Diamonds right now.” She reaches into her purse and pulls out a black AmEx. “Here. Take this and go get yourself the perfect husband. My treat.”