Chapter 3
Jojo
We got what we needed from my place, and I gave Rafe directions to the Burger Bonanza so I could pick up the supplies I needed to make more chocolate spiders.
Thankfully, there were only a couple of cars in the parking lot.
I’d probably be able to get in and out without anyone making too much of a fuss.
The owner and my boss, Helmut, was standing in front of the griddle when I walked into the kitchen. “What are you doing back so soon? I thought you’d be out for the rest of the night.”
“We had a little snafu,” I said.
“We?” Helmut stiffened as Rafe came in behind me.
“Helmut, meet Rafe. He’s the best man and is doing his damndest to send me to an early grave this weekend.” I kept moving toward the small area next to the kitchen where Helmut let me prep my cakes.
Rafe thrust his hand at Helmut. “She’s joking. There was a slight accident with the cake and I’m helping her fix it. Whatever it takes.”
“You want me to take him out back and rough him up a little?” Helmut narrowed his eyes. He might be a bit of a hardass at times, but he’d always stood up for his employees.
“No. I need all of his limbs in working order.” While the two men sized each other up, I filled a bin with the items I needed to take back to the Phillips House.
“What about a thumb? Think he could spare one?” Helmut picked up his chef’s knife from the counter and waggled his brows at Rafe.
“We can’t afford to risk getting blood in the buttercream.” I added powdered sugar to the bin. “Have you seen the spider molds I was using the other day?”
Helmut’s shoulders sagged as he set the knife down. “I shoved all that stuff on the top shelf of your cabinet.”
“Thanks.” I went in the back room to get my things, stopping in front of a tall ladder that stretched from the floor to a hole in the ceiling. “What’s going on back here?”
“Damn condenser’s leaking again. They won’t be back until Monday to fix it,” Helmut called out.
“Let me help.” Rafe came toward me, ducking to walk directly under the ladder on his way.
“Do you have a death wish?” I clamped my hands to my hips and stared at him.
“What? The ladder?” His eyes crinkled at the edges. “It’s only bad luck if you walk under a step ladder. And don’t tell me you believe in that?”
I shook my head. “Don’t you think you’re tempting fate?”
“Nah.” He reached up to pull down a container of molds. “Is this what you need?”
“Yes.” I took it from him and returned to the other room.
He followed but stopped when he noticed my sketch notebook open on the counter. His thick fingers flipped through the pages. I tried to ignore him while I gathered the rest of my things.
“These are amazing, Jojo. Are all of these your original ideas?” He’d stopped at the sketch of the Halloween cake.
“You think I’m stealing cake ideas from someone?” Rolling my eyes, I tucked a bag of melting chocolate into the bin. “Is it too hard to believe that a waitress from some podunk town in Texas might be capable of some creative cakery?”
“No, that’s not what I mean at all.” His finger traced over the page.
“Hand me that container of salt, please?” I held out my hand.
He passed the salt, but someone must not have tightened the lid after using it. The top slid off and salt poured onto the floor.
I snagged the container, shook some into my hand and tossed it over my left shoulder. “You really are trying to kill me, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, because I want to have to fix the cake all by myself.” He gave me a smile that at any other time might have incited me to climb him like a tree. “Where can I find a broom?”
“You know what? Just forget it.” I tightened the lid and shoved the salt into the bin. “You’re not taking this seriously, and I can’t afford to have anything else go wrong.”
I moved past him to the cleaning closet and grabbed the broom. Then I took my frustration out on the kitchen floor, sweeping the salt into a pile with short, angry strokes.
Rafe reached out and took hold of my arm. “Hey. I know how big of a deal this is.”
“Do you?” I snapped. He couldn’t have any idea how huge of an opportunity this was for me.
According to Lacey, he was uber successful and probably made a mint working on huge events.
All I wanted was a break. The publicity we’d received since Lacey had gone all-in on weddings had been great, but this cake was my chance to show what else I could do.
He tilted his head and nudged my chin up to meet his gaze. “Believe it or not, I really do. I’m sorry I messed things up for you. I just don’t know how to handle it when I can’t immediately fix things.”
His finger lingered under my chin, and I stared up into those beautiful blue eyes. Either he meant what he was saying, or he was one heck of an actor.
“I’m going to make this right. I promise.” He crooked his pinky finger and held it out. “I pinky promise.”
“You think that’s all it will take?” As much as I wanted to write him off as a spoiled success, I couldn’t.
“Give me another chance?” He wiggled his pinky. “I take my pinky promises seriously.”
“Fine.” Looping my pinky around his, I gave him a hesitant smile. “Now let’s get this stuff back to the Phillips House so we can get started.”
He let go of my pinky and grabbed the bin from the counter. As we exited the back door and started walking toward the hearse, thunder boomed overhead.
“I thought it wasn’t supposed to rain until after midnight,” Rafe said.
The first drops started to fall. I pulled the back door of the hearse open so he could set the bin inside. “At least we don’t have to carry a cake through the rain. That would be a nightmare.”
“Yeah. I bet.” Rafe settled the bin next to the supplies we’d grabbed from my place.
As I moved toward the passenger door, my phone pinged with an incoming text.
Lacey
Bad news. Power is out at the Phillips House. You need to find somewhere else to fix the cake.
Me
What happened?
Lacey
You won’t believe me if I tell you.
Me
Try me.
Lacey
A bunch of birds sitting on the line disturbed an old nest by the transformer. It had some kind of metallic ribbon in it, and when it got knocked loose, the transformer blew.
Me
Unbelievable.
Lacey
Told you so. They won’t know the full damage until they get out there but figure it’s going to be at least four to six hours minimum.
Me
I’ll figure it out.
Lacey
You always do. XO