Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
CHLOE
“Do you realize we were both single for the longest time, and now we’re both spoken for?”
At Kara’s question, I looked up from where I was arranging cakes in the display case while she frosted a batch of cupcakes. “What?”
She grinned at me. “Us. We’re both in committed relationships now after being single for so long.”
I smiled back at her. “You’re right. And I have to tell you, I’m so glad that’s the case, because I’d probably be jealous hearing all about you and Brett if I didn’t have Hawk.”
Kara laughed, returning her attention to the cupcakes. “That’s fair. I think it’d be the same for me. I’ll be honest, though, I was worried.”
“About what?”
“How things were going to turn out for you,” she clarified, her voice soft. “A week ago, you were in a very different place.”
Was I ever, I thought.
A week ago, I’d been feeling nothing but devastation, despair, guilt, and remorse.
As someone who prided herself on her ability to do whatever was necessary to be successful in other aspects of my life, it had frustrated and saddened me to know there wasn’t anything I could do to fix what had happened between Hawk and me.
Though he struggled to see it the way I did—even now that we’d worked it all out—the truth was that I was the happiest and most fulfilled I’d been when I was with him. And when things took that downward turn, I became someone most people wouldn’t have recognized.
“You aren’t wrong about that. I’m so glad we worked everything out, because I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.”
“I’m happy that you’re happy.”
I’ll bet she was. My patience had worn seriously thin for those three days. Laughing, I said, “You’re just relieved I’m not being set off by every little thing in this shop.”
“That, too. But mostly, I’m happy for you. For both of us. Though there is one thing I’m jealous about.”
I closed the display case and stood. “What’s that?”
“I’m going to finish frosting these cupcakes and take my lunch break without my guy. Yours is right down the road.”
Biting my lip, I shared, “He’s joining me here today.”
“That’s so unfair.”
I understood her frustration. I’d be the same way if the roles were reversed.
I felt a bit spoiled having Hawk so close. I could, within reason, go and visit him at any point throughout my workday since he was right down the road. Hawk was able to do the same with me. And we hadn’t allowed anything to come in the way of that over the last week.
It was wonderful.
We had lunch together every day, and we’d gotten together for dinner for all but two days.
Hawk had made it clear he’d been worried about how I’d feel being in a relationship with him, given his aversion to public places.
But he had no reason to be concerned. The time we spent together felt special, even if we weren’t traipsing all over town.
I suspected the time would come that we’d want to take that step, but for now, we were content just being with one another, having fun, and getting to know each other better.
Grinning, I moved toward Kara, hugged her from behind, and said, “I promise Hawk and I won’t do too much smooching if you come back, and he’s still here.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’ll just have to find ways to make up for it with Brett later tonight.”
I squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. “See? That’s the spirit.”
Just then the door opened, and two customers walked in. I turned fully to face them as they approached the counter. “Hello, sir. How can I help you?”
“I’m looking to pick up a treat.”
I nodded in understanding. “Okay. Sure. Is this for a special occasion, or are you just interested in something sweet for yourself?”
“Neither, actually. There’s no specific occasion. I just wanted to take dessert home for my wife.”
Warmth moved through me. It seemed the happy relationship vibes were in the air, and we were well past Valentine’s Day. “Absolutely. What does she like?”
“She loves chocolate, but I was hoping for something more than just plain chocolate cake.”
With the perfect idea in mind, I asked, “Would she like a fruit filling in chocolate? I have black forest cupcakes, which are chocolate cupcakes, juicy cherry pie filling, and a sweet and light whipped cream frosting topped with shaved chocolate and a cherry.”
The man’s lips tipped up in a handsome smile. “That sounds like something that might become her new favorite.”
I grinned. “One for each of you? Or would you like extras?”
“One for each is good. It’ll keep them special.”
My heart.
I didn’t know if it was because I was feeling all warm and fuzzy inside now that Hawk and I had gotten so serious, but I loved this.
Obviously, it was always nice when anyone came in wanting to buy cake for someone else, special occasion or no, but this particular scenario made me feel something else.
It felt like something Hawk would do—something he’d already done when he made sure to make dinner that included potatoes.
The thoughtfulness was what I loved so much.
I got the cupcakes packaged up, and after the gentleman paid, I directed my attention to the customer behind him.
The woman stepped forward and jerked her head toward the door. “If that wasn’t the sweetest thing…”
My eyes rounded. “I was thinking the same. How can I help you?”
“I need to order a cake.”
“Sure. When do you need it for?
“We’re hoping to have it for the end of July.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem at all.” I reached for my notepad and a pen. “And what’s the occasion?”
The woman smiled. “We’ll be having a retirement celebration. I mean, what better way to say celebrate the end than with a cake.”
I laughed. “You’ll get no argument from me, considering I celebrate everything with cake. And what’s the name?”
“I’m June. But since I’m only in charge of ordering and unsure who’s going to be picking up, you can put it under Hicks.”
I jotted down the name. “Okay, and how many people will be at the party?”
“Oh, jeez. I’m not sure about the final count yet. I know there are a lot of people who intend to celebrate, but I don’t know that number yet. Can I get back to you on that?”
Waving my hand in the air dismissively, I said, “No problem at all, June. Alright. What about flavor and style? Are you looking for a tiered cake with fondant? Sheet cakes with frosting? Do you want fillings? If you do a tiered cake and want fillings, we can do different flavors. For example, I recently did a two-tiered cake that had white cake on both layers with different fillings. The top layer had a chocolate mousse inside, and the bottom layer had my fresh berry filling.”
“Wow, that sounds delicious. And it’d probably be good to have some variety, right?”
I nodded. “Generally, that’s a good idea, especially with a lot of guests.
The cake also doesn’t have to be tiered, either.
If you want something fancier than a sheet cake without going tiered, we can do some specialty round cakes.
I can still do all the same fillings, and sometimes, it allows for more variety.
So, if you did something like this, for example, you could have a white cake with that fresh berry filling.
Then, if you’ve got chocolate lovers, we could do a chocolate ganache.
Both can be dressed up for the occasion, so no worries there. ”
June’s eyes were wide, and she appeared to be a bit flustered. “Oh, I feel overwhelmed now. I just don’t know what to do.”
“How about this?” I countered. “I have some pricing sheets you can take with you that’ll have all the options for size, flavors, and fillings.
And it does note how many people each size cake will feed.
I can do just about anything, so you’ve got a lot of options.
We do sell sample boxes as well, if you wanted to try a few different cakes before making your final selection. ”
“Maybe we’ll have to do that. I think that would be a wise idea. I guess I’ll review the options with everyone involved in the planning, then I’ll come back to officially place the order. But the time frame will work, right?”
Nodding again, I confirmed, “Absolutely. We can definitely get it done for the end of July. I’d just need to know the details by at least a month ahead of time.”
June smiled. “Great. Thank you so much…”
“Chloe.”
“Oh, you’re the owner?”
“I am.”
“Well, it was lovely to meet you. I’ll be in touch.”
At that, June turned and walked out.
Five minutes after that, Kara said, “Alright, I’m done with these cupcakes. I’m going to take my lunch break now.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be here.”
Kara took off while I did some cleaning. Hawk would be here soon, so I wasn’t going to get into a big project, but I also didn’t want to stand around doing nothing.
It wasn’t even two minutes into my cleaning when the door opened again. A huge smile formed on my face at the sight of who had walked in.
“What are you guys doing here?”
My sister had walked in with our best friends—Savanna, Harper, Tessa, Lark, and the newest addition to our group, Olivia.
Harper answered, “We’ve missed you lately.”
“I saw all of you when we went out for Archer’s birthday,” I reminded her.
“Yeah, but that was a while ago,” Savanna argued.
My eyes narrowed. “Not really. Has there been some other outing I’ve missed?”
Lark sighed loudly. “I don’t know why everyone is trying to skirt around the issue. We’re here because we heard you have a man, and we want to know how things are going with that.”
Leave it to Lark. It was rare that she ever held back. If there was someone who could cut to the chase and get the ball rolling on anything, it was her.
“You want to know about Hawk.”
“You don’t mind sharing?” Tessa asked, a bright smile on her face. “That’s great. We thought we could have cupcakes and conversation for lunch today.”
Laughter spilled out of me. “So, I get cupcakes and conversation with all of you, but I get cupcakes and kisses with Hawk.”
“Chloe?” Mia called.
“Yeah?”