Chapter 32 Phoebe #2
“I absolutely love the work you do. If you’d done the cinnamon and brown sugar flavor combination in your cupcakes, you would’ve won.
You have the full package, and I wish you’d given it to us in that final round,” she says.
“Shoot me an email with links to your website and social media. Maybe we can work together in the future.”
When I accept Biff’s hug, he whispers, “You had my vote. I understood what you were doing, and you did it perfectly. You’re on the right track. Good luck.”
Paulie doesn’t have much to say, and I’m glad because all I want to do is join Ollie and the rest of our people.
“I’m sorry, Phoebe. You deserved to win,” he says as I nestle against his chest.
“It’s okay. The money would have been nice, but we’ll be okay. Felicia wants to chat with us about maybe working together.”
“OMG, that’s awesome, Phoebe!” Shelby says from beside us. I was so lost being held by Ollie, I didn’t even notice my sister approaching.
I look around and see that Andie is taking pictures of our bouquet from every angle before it’s cut up for the audience to sample.
She’s not the only one. Members of the audience and production are snapping pics too and must be asking for our info because when Colby hands her a stack of the business cards we keep in one of our bins, a bunch of hands reach out to get one.
It’s possible we could end up making more than the $10,000 we hoped to win based on new business booked.
“Birdie wants pizza and to talk wedding plans. How about we go to my house?” Daphne says.
Liam and Mallory say they’ll pick up pizza and subs and meet us there.
“Wedding plans?” I ask, leaning my head back to look up into Ollie’s face.
He flushes slightly. “We had a group text going and had some ideas to get us married sooner rather than later.”
I’m trying not to be angry at Ollie and my sister for commandeering my wedding, but I thought it would be something Ollie and I could plan together.
“Am I going to get an invitation so I know when and where to show up?” I want to take back my words when I see the flash of hurt in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Ollie, I didn’t mean it. This isn’t the time and place to discuss it. Can we table it for later?”
At his stiff nod, all I want to do is wrap my arms around him and make it all better. I hope I can.
Andie’s cut up the cupcakes into sample pieces, and a production assistant is sticking a plastic fork in each to make it easier for folks to eat them.
The wedding cakes are sliced too, but it seems like everyone is gravitating toward our tray first. I’m pretty sure it’s because they know they like chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting—it’s comfortable.
And that’s okay. Colby put a stack of our cards on the table, and people are picking them up when they get their sample.
We need to put him on our marketing team.
We make quick work of packing up and bid farewell to Carla, who says she’ll keep us apprised if the show gets picked up and becomes available to watch. We thank her for the opportunity and head to our cars.
As we drive off campus, Ollie glances at me.
“I’m sorry you didn’t win,” he says. “I thought your treats were the best of the whole competition.”
Sighing, I lean my head against the headrest and turn to look at his handsome profile.
“Thanks. I should’ve been more adventurous with our flavors. But the audience seemed to like what we had, more than either wedding cake, and we gave out tons of business cards, so maybe our loss will still turn into a win.”
“Did me springing the wedding stuff on you screw you up?” Ollie turns to me with a sorrowful expression. “That last thing I want to do is add stress to an already stressful situation or make you unhappy. I got carried away. I’m sorry.”
“Can you pull in here?” I point to a mostly empty parking lot and a spot in the corner, facing the woods. “So we can talk.”
Ollie pulls his SUV into the spot I pointed to and turns off the engine. He turns to rest his back against his door and faces me.
“Why the sudden rush to get married, Ollie?”
He reaches out and takes my hand. “Because I love you, Phoebe, and I can’t wait for you to be mine.”
I pull my hand from his grasp. “Yours? Like a possession? A trophy?”
The shock on his face is like a splash of cold water to mine.
“Wha…what? Cupcake, no! Why would you think that? That’s not true!”
I start blinking rapidly to hold back the tears suddenly flooding my eyes. “Because you’re suddenly being jealous and possessive! After we got engaged, you were weird with Stone. You’re racing to the altar, and you’re so focused on it, you’re not even including me in the planning!”
He runs a big hand through his hair. In frustration?
“Because I thought you didn’t care. I thought you only wanted to be with me.
I was trying to make it simple for you. I’m not trying to possess you.
Yeah, I’m jealous of Stone. You guys are obviously friends, and I don’t want you to like him more than me.
I’m in a rush to get married because I’ve waited two years for you to notice me as a man and want me, and I’m scared to death you’ll change your mind and see me as the boring nerd I am and realize you can do so much better.
And…and I just love you, Phoebe. We’re going to have an incredible life together, and I can’t wait to start it. ”
“Oh, Ollie…” I whisper. How could he ever think I wouldn’t want to be with him? It’s all I want.
“I’ve never cared about wedding planning before because I never expected to get married.
But…but when Biff asked me if I would have these cookies at my own wedding shower, I began to imagine what it would be like to plan things together, not necessarily have all the bells and whistles, but make decisions together and do this as a team. I feel like I’m on the bench.”
A tear slides down his cheek, and I reach up to gently brush it away.
“Phoebe, the last thing I’d ever want to do is hurt you or make you feel like you’re not included or your opinion doesn’t matter. I said something to your sister, Daphne overheard, and it snowballed from there.”
I chuckle because I know how the Daphne Morris snowball is once it gets rolling down the hill.
He hands me his phone. “Read the texts and see our plans. Anything you want to change gets changed or rescheduled. The only detail I care about is that at the end of all of this, we’re married.”
I read through the texts, my heart growing lighter as I see each thing fall into place and where Ollie has offered his opinions and vetoed suggestions. At every step of the way, he thought about what would make me happy and what he thought I’d like.
Handing back his phone, I lean across the center console and give him a lingering kiss that steams up the windows of his Suburban.
“Looks like we’re getting married next Saturday,” I say with a grin on my kiss-swollen lips.