Chapter 4 #2
Normally, I might have waited until closer to the party, but since I had another reason for wanting to make a trip to the furniture store, I was taking care of things early.
With my iPad in hand, I walked behind Kara as we left the shop. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said. “Enjoy your date tonight.”
Kara grinned. “Oh, I intend to. Talk to you tomorrow morning.”
“And you better come with all the juicy details.”
She rolled her eyes as I shoved my key into the lock and closed my shop. “Yeah, yeah.”
As Kara took off toward her car, so she could head home to prepare for her third date with a guy she’d recently met, I walked in the opposite direction to visit with Joyce and hopefully get a glimpse of Hawk. There was no guarantee that I’d see him, but a girl could hope.
On my way, I saw Brenda leaving the art gallery. She offered a wave. “Hey, Chloe.”
“Hi, Brenda. How are you?”
Appearing flustered, she let out a sigh.
“I’ll be better when the spring sports season is over, and I don’t have to run out of work multiple times a week feeling like a chicken with its head cut off.
If it’s not Jennie’s volleyball match that I’m heading to, I’m running off to Jason’s track meet, which is where I’m going now.
But first, I’ve got to stop and pick Lucas up from daycare. ”
I couldn’t imagine the chaos. Brenda had two teens in high school and a four-year-old. Sending a sympathetic look her way, I replied, “Oh, boy. That sounds like a logistical nightmare. Don’t let me keep you.”
“Yeah, I’ve got to get out of here. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye!”
Brenda hurried off as I continued my stroll to the furniture shop. As eager as I was to be where Hawk was, I didn’t feel the need to rush myself. The weather seemed to have officially turned, and I no longer needed to wear a sweatshirt outside.
I stepped through the front door of the store, my eyes darting to the back wall, where I expected to find Joyce. She wasn’t there, and neither was Dale. Deciding to go in search of her, I walked halfway through the showroom to the opening in the wall on the left that led into the next showroom.
Just as I looked to my left, I heard sounds on my right. My eyes flew in that direction, where I found Joyce directing Dale and Hawk, who were holding either side of a coffee table. “I think it might show better on the other side.”
Dale’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Woman, we just had it on the other side.”
“I understand that, honey, but until I saw it here, I couldn’t be sure which would be better,” she argued.
Hawk dropped his gaze to the ground and looked like he was fighting not to break into a fit of laughter, which I thought made him even more handsome. I wasn’t so lucky, and a giggle escaped from me.
Three sets of eyes flew in my direction. Dale’s expression softened, Joyce was exuberant, and Hawk was caught off guard.
“Chloe!” Joyce declared, moving toward me with her arms outstretched. Once she was hugging me, she asked, “What are you doing here so early?”
“It’s the time I told you I was coming,” I replied. “But if you’re in the middle of something, I can come back tomorrow.”
Whispering in my ear, she said, “I’m teasing. Just play along.”
Joyce loosened her hold on me and stepped back, offering a wink. Oh boy, she was up to something, and I got the feeling it had something to do with Hawk and me.
“This is perfect timing,” Joyce said loud enough for her husband and Hawk to hear. She glanced back at them. “You can set that down there for now. We’ll finish up in a minute. Chloe’s here to talk about Gus’s cake, and we don’t want to waste her time.”
“I thought you already ordered the cake,” Dale chimed in as he and Hawk lowered the coffee table to the ground.
Joyce rolled her eyes. “I did. But I only picked out the flavors we wanted, as well as the size.”
“Is there something else?”
My eyes slid to Hawk. He was looking at me and appeared a mix of amused and uncomfortable. I smiled and shrugged innocently. Hawk looked away.
Damn.
“The design, Dale. You forgot about the design.”
Recognizing it’d be better if I just did what I came to do, I jumped into the conversation. “I did some brainstorming since Joyce confirmed you wanted me to do the cake. And I came up with a few ideas for you to check out.”
“Alright. Let’s see what you’ve got,” Dale said.
While Dale moved toward Joyce and me, Hawk stayed back. Granted, I understood this cake was for Joyce and Dale’s great grandson, but I didn’t think they’d mind if Hawk had come closer to us to see what I’d come up with. In fact, I suspected it was precisely what Joyce would’ve wanted to happen.
Ignoring my desire to have that man close to me, I focused my attention on the iPad. “Alright, so I’ve got three different choices for you. Either jungle animals, under the sea, or a color theme.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Dale lamented.
I smiled, turned the iPad toward him, and pointed to the first idea.
“If you wanted to do the animal theme, I could put together something that looks like this. I could give it a safari animal feel, which might work well with the summertime. Of course, considering it’s summer and Joyce mentioned an outdoor pool party, the underwater theme is another option.
I’d probably do an ivory-colored frosting on the cake and top it with cute sea creatures, like an octopus, turtle, seahorse, and a starfish.
I could also add some seashells, kelp, and bubbles. ”
“Oh, these are both wonderful,” Joyce marveled.
I liked them best for a first birthday, and I was partial to the under the sea theme. But I knew either would come out great. Even still, I wanted them to have all the options.
“Well, not to make things more difficult, but I could do something simpler and make you a cake that sticks to a specific color theme—blue, green, whatever you prefer.”
Dale hummed and considered the options. Joyce’s fingertips were pressed lightly against her lips. “I just don’t know. I love them all, but it’d be far too much cake. What do you think, Hawk? Which do you like best?”
“Pardon?”
“Which of these cakes would you choose for Gus?”
Hawk hesitated, his eyes narrowed on Joyce. I imagined anybody else would’ve cowered from that look, but Joyce didn’t back down. In fact, she didn’t take her eyes off him until he released a breath and made his way in our direction.
When he came to a stop beside us, I lifted my gaze to him, presented the iPad to him, and scrolled through the possibilities. He shifted his attention between the iPad and me several times before he said, “The underwater theme.”
My belly flipped. That was precisely the one I wanted to make.
Beaming, I looked at Joyce. “What do you think?”
She glanced at her husband, who smiled at her, and they both nodded. “Let’s do it.”
“For what it’s worth, I’ll make sure there’s a matching smash cake,” I told them.
“What’s that?”
“Well, the cake I’m going to make is for all your guests,” I explained. “The smash cake is just for Gus. It’ll be a small cake without fondant or any tough stuff on it for him to just dig his hands into and get all over his face.”
While Gus’s grandparents looked delighted, it was Hawk’s expression that held me captive. His features had softened, and it was as though he was envisioning a little boy making a mess with his very first birthday cake.
“That sounds like fun,” Hawk said, his voice low. “Should make for great pictures, too.”
I grinned, feeling the warmth move through me. He not only chose the same cake I thought was best, but he also said something sweet with that tenderness in his expression. “It usually does. Even if the special cake looks fantastic, it’s the smash cake that leads to the most smiles.”
“We’ll be sure to take a ton of pictures,” Joyce assured me.
“Perfect.” I had three satisfied stares pointed in my direction. And since I’d had a nice interaction with Hawk, I decided it was best to quit while I was ahead.
“Well, now that I know what you want, and we’re all set with the plans for Gus’s cake, I’m going to head home.”
Hawk seemed to snap himself out of whatever thoughts were consuming his mind and took a handful of steps back from me.
Joyce stepped closer, winked, and placed her hand on my arm. “Thank you for coming by to do this, Chloe. You made it a whole lot easier on me.”
I nodded. “You’re welcome, Joyce. I’ll see you all later.”
Joyce and Dale were the only two who said goodbye, but that didn’t mean I left disappointed. Because my eyes shifted to Hawk before I walked out, and he dipped his chin as one half of his mouth quirked with a smile.
My belly flipped again.
Then I turned and scurried out of there before something could happen to ruin that small hint of progress.