15. Lottie
LOTTIE
Girls’ Group Chat
Lottie: Okay, I’m taking matters into my own hands. We need a wedding cake, and we need it fast. But do we need just one? Two? How about a classic vanilla with raspberry and lemon filling? Or maybe a red velvet? Come on, Meg and Sam, I need a sign of life and a direction to bake in!
Meg: Cake? Meh. I’m a zombie at this point. Maybe a cake made out of brains.
Sam: Yes, brains sound about right. Especially considering that little Willow has eaten all of my brain cells.
Lainey: My baby has eaten my brain, and it’s not even here yet. Send help.
Charlie: You ladies are scaring the ovaries right out of me.
Keelie: Still having a great time with Bear! Babies are for the birds.
Lottie: You all are impossible! Fine, brain cake it is. Just kidding... but seriously, we need to decide soon.
T he next day I get to the bakery early and help with the pre-holiday hustle and bustle—and yes, Valentine’s Day is almost as big of a holiday as Thanksgiving and Christmas.
My best sellers are the baskets I put together, some with conversation heart cookies—of which I now read each and every conversation on those cute cookies myself—iced heart-shaped sugar cookie baskets, cupcake baskets filled with adorable pink and red frosted red velvet cupcakes and vanilla cupcakes with cute silver, pink, and red, sprinkles, and baskets filled with my heart-shaped glazed donuts with sprinkles.
Okay, so there’s one more basket that outsells them all—a basket filled with naughty conversation heart cookies.
Who knew Carlotta could start such a lucrative yet lascivious trend?
Speaking of the naughty devil, I finished up at the bakery at ten-thirty so that I could have plenty of time to head to Hollyhock to meet up with Shelly Everly—who not only happens to be my suspect, but also happens to be babysitting Carlotta for the afternoon for me.
And since Noah was at the shop when I was ready to leave, he decided to come along with Lyla Nell and me.
The three of us make it to Hollyhock in record time, and as soon as we step into Cupid’s Sweet Concoctions, it’s like stepping straight into a Parisian café.
“Wow,” I breathe out the word as I take it all in. The scent of fresh baked cinnamon rolls enlivens every last part of me—especially my appetite and that of the twins since they’re both kicking away as if having a tantrum until they get their hands on something sweet to eat. And I’ll make sure they get exactly that.
“Pretty! Pretty!” Lyla Nell cheers and claps while firmly strapped into her stroller.
“This is way out of my league,” Noah says, ticking his head to the side as he takes in all of the wonder right alongside me.
Crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling like glittering sugar satellites and cast soft sparkles over the entire establishment, including the glossy white marble flooring. The walls are painted in soft cloud-gray and trimmed with gold, while the tables and chairs are cushioned in delicate pastel pinks and baby blues.
The place is packed and the staff is busy flitting between tables while wearing adorable pink and blue smocks, each topped with a chef’s hat that only seems to add to the elegance.
“Oh my word,” I say, a little dazed by all the razzle-dazzle. “This isn’t the cozy café vibe I’m used to back at my own bakery—this is dessert royalty. If my bakery is a warm hug, Cupid’s Sweet Concoctions is a three-tiered diamond tiara.”
Noah leans in. “And ten bucks say the prices will reflect just that.”
“ Mommy, gimme cake, donut, cookies ,” Lyla Nell moans as she tries her best to reach out and snatch everything off the nearest display rack. And Noah wisely moves the stroller back a notch to avoid an avalanche of sweet treats.
Lyla Nell isn’t the only one mesmerized by the giant sugary displays of perfection. They have rows of extravagant desserts that look more like edible art. Raspberry mille-feuille—a tower of puff pastry filled with decadent frosted droplets and raspberries interspersed, strawberry and lavender pavlova—a meringue-based dessert that resembles a fluffy cloud of perfection, a towering caramel praline mousse, and, oh heaven, a chocolate ganache cake with a delicate scattering of candied rose petals. And that’s just the display in front of me. There’s at least a dozen more.
“This is gorgeous,” I whisper. “No wonder this place is packed.”
Before Noah can say a word in response, a familiar tall blonde with her hair swept back, wearing a pink smock and chef’s hat over a long red velour dress, greets us.
Venus Finnigan looks like a fairy right out of a storybook and it’s fitting, considering this shop looks as if it were ripped right out of an enchanted fairytale itself.
“Venus,” I say as we exchange a quick hug, or as much of a hug as my belly will allow. “Noah and I thought we’d drop by, especially since Carlotta would be here with Shelly Everly. And let me tell you, I’ve never been so impressed with a bakery in all my life.”
She chortles at the thought. “Well, thank you. But I’m afraid Shelly showed up early to do her work, and she and Carlotta took off about an hour ago,” she says apologetically.
“Just my luck.” I wince over at Noah. “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about whatever havoc Carlotta was about to wreak. It looks as if the shop survived her terror.”
Venus laughs. “True, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying on her part. She whipped around the place like a hurricane and I had two staff members follow along and quickly fix all the displays she nearly toppled. But please stay and have something—it’s on the house. Anything you like.” She gestures toward the display cases and my stomach growls in anticipation of just about anything on the menu board.
“We’ll accept, but only if you’ll join us,” I say, giving her an all-too-innocent smile. “You look like you could use a break.”
Venus gives a gracious nod. “How could I resist?”
She leads us to a table near a bay window filled with every treat imaginable and it only makes my tummy rumble all that much more. Not to mention Lyla Nell is nearly jumping right out of her stroller trying to get at the display herself. There’s no way Noah or I am about to unleash her from that seatbelt. There aren’t enough staff members or parents on hand at the moment to stop that mini tornado.
Venus produces a couple of menus for Noah and me, and we quickly peruse them. I can’t help but marvel at the fact that not only is there an extensive menu, but the prices are so shockingly expensive.
Noah raises a brow as he glosses over the menu and I don’t need to be a mind reader to know he feels the same way. Although he did call it.
Seventeen dollars for a slice of cake—and that’s on the low end. Thirteen dollars for a single cupcake? My jaw almost hits the marble floor.
And yet it does beg the question if I’m underselling every single one of my own baked goods.
I’m about to narrow my decision just as a smattering of miniature pink and red stars appear in the empty seat to my right. And one of the sweetest treats of all materializes before me—Sweetheart the cute ghostly pooch.
“ Ooh .” I make big eyes at Noah and motion for him to give me his hand.
Noah understands all too well that it means there’s a specter among us, and if he wants to hear what they have to say, then he needs to be touching a piece of my flesh. I’m sort of a conduit in that way.
Venus eyes our hands for a moment. “Oh, is this a date?” She gasps with a smile before quickly sucking in a breath. “Wait a minute. I thought you married the judge?” She cringes and touches her fingers to her lips with a look of regret. “I’m sorry. Sean tried to explain it to me once, and I’ll admit, I couldn’t keep it straight.”
“That’s okay,” Noah assures her. “A lot of times, I can’t keep it straight. Lottie is married to Everett Baxter. Although Lottie and I are still very much family.” He pulls my hand his way and plants a kiss on the back of it. Clearly, he enjoys mucking up the already mucky waters. And I shoot him a look because of it.
“So, who’s treating us?” Sweetheart growls in that Carlotta-style bark of hers. “This place isn’t half bad. It almost looks like Paradise. Though I think they could stand a touch more velvet on the walls.”
I’m pretty sure Carlotta would agree. She’s tried to line her own walls with velvet more than once.
“So, has anything caught your eye?” Venus asks.
“Try everything,” Noah and I say in unison, and we all share a laugh—with Lyla Nell’s being the loudest, and perhaps the cutest.
We put in our orders, Cupid’s own chocolate love potion cake for me, the caramel praline mousse for Noah, and a delicate sugar-dusted heart-shaped cookie for Lyla Nell.
Within seconds our treats arrive and the smell of rich chocolate and buttery pastry nearly makes me pass out with delight. And I don’t waste a second digging in. That first bite is pure bliss, and I can’t hold back a very unladylike groan.
I do realize we’re here to figure out why Romeo and Juliette have landed in the morgue.
But with a cake like this, the dead will have to wait.