Page 2 of Wedding Cake Carnage
Noah comes around the table covered in a frilly pink cloth and offers me a firm embrace. And just like that, I spot a half dozen women glancing our way.
Noah is a looker, tall, built like a linebacker, black hair that turns fire red in the sun, emerald green eyes, and dimples for days. He and Everett were actually stepbrothers for a brief period of time back in high school. Noah’s father swindled Everett’s mother out of quite a bit of money. But perhaps even more damaging to their relationship was the fact Noah saw fit to steal Everett’s girlfriend at the time, Cormack Featherby. And ironically, Cormack Featherby is now in hot pursuit of Noah after all these years, even though he’s tried everything to shake her.
Noah and Everett are a little less than five years older than me, both in their thirties.
Noah and I dated for a time. We were hot and heavy and I even hoped we would get engaged, but his wife came back into the picture and ruined that good time. You see, Noah never really got around to that tiny matrimonial detail, and I dropped him like a hot potato once I realized he was not only married, but his wife wanted to reconcile. However, Noah is still very much in love with me. His divorce is pending, and I’m now seeing Everett—that is, if I ever really do see him again.
Noah pulls back and offers a mournful smile, one he’s been giving me ever since Everett disappeared. Even though Everett and Noah have been warring over me—ridiculous, I realize this—Noah has put aside his differences with Everett and is doing everything he can to help find him. And, considering we’ve gotten absolutely nowhere, that doesn’t amount to much.
The photographer’s booth down the way ignites in a spray of blinding flashes of light. A white beast of a dog strides by and I try to get a better look at it, but the crowd edges in and—oh my word, that’s no dog. That’s a white exotic tiger. My mouth falls open as I crane my neck, but I lose sight of the magnificent beast.
“How are you holding up?” Noah dips in to catch my gaze, and I close my eyes a moment.
“Please, it’s a circus in here with the blinding light and the animals roaming free. I can’t believe I pushed myself to do this.”
“You had to.” Keelie pops over. Keelie is a gorgeous, perky blonde whom I’ve known since preschool and we’ve been best friends since. “Lottie, I couldn’t let you stay in bed much longer.”
“You slept in for the first seven days.” Lily clicks her tongue. “You’re lucky you had Margo willing to open up the shop and bake for you.”
Margo is a five-star chef who works at the restaurant conjoined to mine called the Honey Pot Diner. Keelie happens to manage the Honey Pot and graciously lent me Margo for the week.
“I wasn’t in bed. I was pounding the streets looking for him. Ask Noah. He was right there with me.”
“That she was.” He takes a deep breath. “But I’ll admit, it’s good to see you back in action.” He glances at the myriad of cake samples being snatched up at record pace. “What have we got here?”
Lily hops over to the miniature sampler plates set out. “Coconut cake, raspberry and white chocolate, Bavarian cream—my favorite, lemon cake—perfect for summer weddings, chocolate fudge cake, pink champagne cake—yes, made with real champagne, red velvet, hazelnut vanilla, and we’ve got two dozen additional flavors that the happy couple can choose from.” She hops up on the balls of her feet and cranes her neck as she looks in the distance. “And before I forget to tell you, A Cake Above Bakery is here, too. They’re advertising installation pieces, Lottie. They actually have cakes suspended from the ceiling. We really need to up our game. Do it for Essex. He would have wanted you to.”
I can’t help but frown when she uses his formal moniker. Everett was quite the ladies’ man before we got together. And every single lady whom he happened to hit the mattress with has come away with the privilege of calling him by his proper first name. He’s not that crazy about his formal name, though.
Everett comes from money, thus the one hundred thousand dollar reward his mother quickly ponied up. My God, his mother and sister have all but gone insane over his disappearance. They wanted to offer far more money—into the millions—but Noah cautioned against it in the event this was a money grab.
Personally, I don’t think it was a money grab. Just weeks prior to his disappearance, a strange woman came snooping around Honey Hollow looking for Everett, spying on the two of us. She left a bouquet of black roses on his porch one night and a black paper heart attached to his windshield. On the day he disappeared, she left a black paper heart on my desk in the bakery with the wordshe’s minescrawled across the front. It’s clear a deranged lunatic has him, and I have a feeling no amount of money could pry him out of her psychotic little hands.
My eyes snag on his framed picture. Everett is far too handsome for it to ever be legal. Hair black as night. Eyes the color of the deepest part of the ocean. He’s serious, and loyal, and far too sexy to ever be safe—as evidenced by his abduction. Every woman with a pair of functioning ovaries pays him his due attention, and apparently, this woman, whoever she is, was one of them.
Noah gets right to testing out each and every flavor just as Jana March comes up, hand in hand with a tall man with light brown hair and a boyish face. He’s dressed in a mint green polo and chinos, and he has that wealthy preppy vibe about him.
“Hello, Jana.” I muster all the smile I can afford. “Don’t tell me. You’re hiding from my sister so soon?” I’m teasing. Jana is Lainey’s wedding planner, and my big sister has been a bit of a bridezilla as of late. Lainey and her fiancé, Forest Donovan, are both here and have been making the rounds. They said they’d be back to do an official cake tasting in just a bit.
Jana tips back her dark hair. “Lainey is no trouble at all.” Jana looks gorgeous in a flowing pink dress with gold lame flowers pressed into the fabric. Her eyes squint tightly whenever she smiles. She’s the nicest person on the planet, and thankfully so since she deals with ornery brides-to-be for a living. “Lottie, this is my fiancé, Pierce Underwood. He owns Underwood Investments. You’ve probably heard of it. It’s his first time at one of these events, so I thought I’d bring him to your booth first. There’s a direct line to his happiness, and it’s right through his stomach. Believe me, nothing could make him happier than to taste your samples.”
“Please, help yourselves.” I extend a hand his way, and he offers a hearty shake. “Lottie Lemon. I own the Cutie Pie Cakery and Bakery. And if you find something you like—or not, I’d be happy to work with you on making all of your wedding cake dreams come true.” It comes out without an ounce of emotion, wooden as if I just read it off a script, and technically I did—the pamphlet in front of me that we’ve been passing out by the dozens.
“That’s very nice of you.” He picks up a plate of coconut cake and moans through a bite. “Wow. You just knocked it out of the park with my first bite. But, of course, I’ll have to try them all just to be sure.”
We share a warm laugh as a young girl about my age saunters up and screams with delight once she spots Jana, and the two of them exchange a quick embrace. She’s a little shorter than Jana with long dark hair that’s wild and curly. She has large green doe eyes and lashes that look as if they’re an inch long at least.
Jana leans my way with tears glistening in her eyes. “Lottie, this is my best friend, Jackie. She’s the one that set me up with Pierce to begin with.”
“Ah—so you’re Cupid,” I say, extending my hand.
“Jackie Nagle.” The girl’s handshake is icy and limp. “Pierce is my boss, and there’s a strict no dating clause in my contract. So, I thought, heck, if I can’t have him, I’ll toss him to my bestie!” She snorts as she laughs, and she and Jana laugh all the more because of it. “Anyway, they clicked right away. The wedding is set for next June. Jana is booking only the best.”
Jana nods frenetically, her eyes set wide as if she were trying to convince me. “I’m booking Lottie for sure. Her cakes are to diefor.” She quickly hands Jackie a plate and snaps up one for herself, but before she can take a bite, a redhead with a look of rage in her eyes comes this way. Jana clicks her tongue. “And here we go.”
“Jana.” The redhead blinks a smile over her face. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
“Sure thing.” Jana glances back my way. “This is Amanda Wellington. She’s an event planner from Ashford.”