Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
“SWEET DREAMS BAKERY, home of the incredible red velvet dream cupcakes,” Alysse spoke into the phone. It had been the longest three days of her life and now that it was almost closing time on Friday afternoon she wanted to get out of the bakery and go back to her home and hide away.
But she couldn’t do that because her home was now filled with memories of Jay. She couldn’t believe he’d left her once again. Worse, that she was still in love with him.
“Hello,” the caller said. His voice was very familiar.
“Toby?”
“Yes. I have a dessert emergency,” he said.
“An emergency?” she asked. “What kind of emergency?”
“It’s Molly’s parents’ anniversary and I told her I’d order a replica wedding cake and deliver it to the Hotel Del Coronado tonight by six.”
“Toby! I can’t make a replica wedding cake in four hours,” she said.
“It doesn’t have to be huge or perfect or anything like that. I just need something. Maybe two layers.”
“Two layers. I don’t know. I have some cakes that I baked for a wedding tomorrow that I could use. If you want me to do this, you have to come down here with a photo so I can decorate it properly.”
“Fine, but then I need you to deliver it because I have to get back to their party, which you are invited to, as well. Dress fancy.”
Her brother was a lunatic. “I am supposed to bake a cake, haul it across town for Molly’s parents and get dressed up, too?”
“Yeah. Is there a problem? Mom said she’d drop off your dress.”
“Isn’t that great. Anything else?”
“Nope, that’s all. Will you bring Jay with you?” he asked.
She bit her lower lip. “I think he’s busy tonight. So it’ll just be me.”
“I was wrong about him,” Toby said. “I’m glad you gave him a second chance.”
She wasn’t. Hell, that was a lie, of course she was glad she’d given him a second chance. The last two weeks of her life more than made up for the previous four years of being alone. The only bad part was that they weren’t together still.
“Don’t forget the photo.”
“I’m emailing it to you. Check your phone,” Toby said. “Thanks, sis, you’re a lifesaver.”
“Yeah, right. Love ya.”
“Ditto,” Toby said, finishing the call.
She opened the attachment on the email from Toby and was taken aback by the cake they’d selected.
It matched the one from her wedding to Jay in Vegas.
There was no way anyone in her family could know that because they hadn’t attended the ceremony or even seen the cake, but it made her tear up as she looked at it.
She put two more cakes in the oven to replace the ones she was using for Molly’s parents. And then got to work decorating a cake that made her heart break.
She finished the anniversary cake just as her mom came through the back door with a garment bag over one shoulder. Alysse was alone in the shop because Staci had gone to L.A. to do some more prep work for her audition on Premiere Chef.
“Hello, honey,” her mom said, coming over and giving her a kiss.
She kissed her mom hello then shooed her hand out of the frosting bowl as Candi swiped her finger through it. “You look nice.”
“Thanks. Toby is in the hot seat tonight,” her mom said. “Molly just found out about this last-minute stuff with you. She was not pleased.”
“He should have said that he asked me to do it a while ago,” Alysse said.
“He couldn’t lie to her. Would you lie to Jay?” her mom asked.
“No,” she admitted. But apparently she had no problem lying to the rest of her family. She hated that she hadn’t told her mom or brother that she and Jay weren’t together anymore, but she was so afraid of looking stupid.
She put the cake in the van while her mom tidied up the kitchen. Then she got dressed in a pale yellow dress that she knew hadn’t come from her closet. Her mom loved buying her things and, to be honest, Alysse didn’t mind.
“Okay, I’m ready to go.”
“You look beautiful, sweetie.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
When they arrived at the hotel Toby was waiting in the lobby. “I need Mom to come with me. Will you take the cake down to the beach?”
“Sure,” she said. “I need a valet cart though. It’s kind of big.”
“No problem,” Toby said. He took care of getting her a cart and helped her with the cake. Then he hugged her close.
“What was that for?”
“Just because I love you,” he said.
“Love you, too, Tobe. But if you make me do this again I’m going to strangle you.”
“I will never ask you to do this again,” he promised.
As she followed the path to the beach she couldn’t help but remember the last time she’d been here, supposedly trying to rekindle a romance and instead finding Jay waiting for her.
She wished that would happen again. But she knew that she would have better luck wishing for snow right now than Jay being here with her.
She got close and saw that the beach was set up for a dinner party with tables and chairs and in the middle a dance floor with a table nearby that she assumed was for the cake.
A man stood there with his back toward her.
He wore a formal jacket and there was something distinctive about the breadth of his shoulders.
She stopped abruptly and stared. “Jay?”
He turned around and a cascade of emotions ran through her. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you,” he said.
“Waiting for me?”
“Yes. I set this up. I wanted to do things right this time.”
“I’m not entirely sure what you mean,” she said.
He came to her and took her hand, leading her to the middle of the dance floor.
“I was a coward for leaving again. Even as I walked out of your door I knew I loved you, but I was so afraid to stay. Afraid I couldn’t be the man you needed me to be,” he said.
“What changed your mind?”
“You did,” he said. “You have haunted me every single second since I left you. And I know now that I need you with me, Aly. I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
“But—”
“I know I haven’t given you much to believe in, but I want you to know that I am changing. I quit the Corps and got a job with Company B. I confessed to your mom and Toby that I’d hurt you again.”
“Oh, I hadn’t mentioned that to them,” she said.
“I think you did that because you knew I wasn’t leaving for good this time,” he said. “You took a big chance on letting me go and had to hope that I loved you enough to come back this time. And I do. I love you.”
She blinked at the tears that were stinging her eyes and looked up at him. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Very sure. Do you think I can redeem myself and be your hero again?”
“Yes,” she said. “I love you, Jay Michener. If you ever try to leave me again I might have to hurt you.”
“I never will,” he promised. “In fact, I want to do something...will you wait here a minute?”
“Yes,” she said.
While Jay strode up the path she moved the cake onto the table so it was out of harm’s way.
Eventually, hotel staff showed up to man the deejay booth and then her family and friends arrived.
They all sat down at the tables and Jay came back to her in the center of the dance floor and got down on one knee.
“Alysse Dresden, in front of all of our family and friends, will you marry me and be the light in my life?”
“I will,” she said.
Jay smiled up at her and pulled a small ring box from his pocket. Taking out the diamond ring, he slipped it on her finger and stood up to kiss her.
As he embraced her she knew she’d found something more than she’d ever expected. By taking that rush order for a redemption cupcake, she’d found the happiness she’d been missing. The man who was the other half of her soul.
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Keep reading for an excerpt of Staci’s story, Her Hottest Challenge coming March 19, 2026!