Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 121755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
I forgot all about everything except Gabe, how beautiful he was when he smiled, how happy I was those came often these days, and how good it felt to have his love.
Cesar, Eddie and Jet’s youngest, took his attention by struggling past with another paloverde that was way too heavy for him to carry on his own.
Gabe went to help him.
Annette barked, “No loafers!” in my direction, and when I looked to her, she said, “We’ll never get this done with people standing around.”
I gave her a crisp salute.
She rolled her eyes, hefted a roll of drip line on her shoulder and stomped toward where Shaw and Cap were laying it.
I got back to work.
In the end, after a very physical day that still was fun because the posse was all together and Tex had gone down, in both front and back yards, Annette’s vision come to life was insane.
I mean, it could win awards.
Nancy was beside herself with glee.
Tex was crotchety, but not more than normal, so I supposed that meant he was a good loser.
All worth it.
And I won ten dollars when the bets were divvied up.
So…
Yippee!
Another week later…
“Fuck, I want them all,” Jacob declared.
We were doing their cake tasting at my place.
Yes, I could have done a fancier to-do with champagne and flowers and a starched white tablecloth at a chef’s table at SC.
But first, Jacob was not a champagne and flowers type of guy.
In fact, he wasn’t a cake tasting guy, telling Alexis, “Whatever you want is good with me,” (this being his attitude about the entire wedding), so she had a time of it just getting him to show.
Thus, I did the champagne for her and me, a lovely bouquet of flowers, the cupcakes were presented on pretty plates with prettier doilies, and I went all out on decorating the cakes in some of the ideas Alexis had for her wedding day.
It wasn’t easy getting the color “Tuscany” in icing, but by damn, I did it.
And I wasn’t surprised by Jacob’s declaration. Once he was tasting, he didn’t hesitate to get into it.
They’d given me their ideas, and I’d pulled out all the stops to give them a baking experience the likes they’d never had before, nor would again (until their wedding).
“We can’t have six tiers, honey,” Alexis said to Jacob.
“Actually, you can,” I gently contradicted her. “Say, a smaller three-tiered cake with wings of other flavors. Or however many tiers you want, but I do cupcake towers with other flavors. We can make whatever you want work if you want them all.”
“That’s asking you to do a lot,” Alexis replied.
“I kinda like you both,” I pointed out.
Jacob grunted.
Alexis’s eyes got wet.
“Okay, look at it this way,” I urged so she wouldn’t cry during this joyous occasion. “You say you’re gonna have at least a hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty guests, right?”
Alexis nodded.
Jacob grunted again.
Her movement was happy, expectant.
His noise was not.
This was because they both wanted a smaller affair.
The problem with that was, they were such good people, they had too many friends who loved them, so whittling down the invite list was proving impossible.
Nevertheless, Alexis was overall excited about being married to her man.
And Jacob obviously wanted that too, though he didn’t necessarily want to do it hosting a hundred and fifty people.
I forged ahead. “So that’s a hundred to a hundred and fifty people who all have birthdays, anniversaries. They’re gonna have babies. They’re gonna get married. And they’re gonna want to know who made Alexis and Jacob’s cake. Think of it as you letting me advertise at your wedding.”
“That’s a stretch,” Alexis said.
“But it isn’t untrue,” I returned.
Jacob was studying me with warmth in his gaze that was part yummy cake overload, of course, but mostly, it was that he liked how I was trying to give his woman everything she wanted.
Alexis was mumbling, “I love cupcake towers. And if we have those, people can just grab them and not have to wait for a slice of cake.”
The door opened.
We all looked that way and saw Gabe stride in.
He’d been giving us space for this occasion while he went out to hang with the guys.
“Yo,” Gabe greeted us, did a chin jut Alexis and Jacob’s way, then came to me and gave me a lip brush.
My heart fluttered and settled at him being home (and the lip brush).
He looked down at the cupcakes. “Sorry, thought I gave you enough time.”
“You did,” I said. “We’re doing the base cake in chocolate and peanut butter, the middle tier in Chantilly cream, raspberry and vanilla, and the top cake that’s saved for the first anniversary is chocolate with salted caramel frosting filling. With three cupcake towers of the rest of the flavors. Right?” I asked Jacob and Alexis.
Alexis opened her mouth.
But Jacob answered, “Right.”