Dinner was fabulous, and it surpassed any Chinese takeout I’d ever had. Everyone cleaned their plate and had seconds. As I began cleaning up the dishes, the girls jumped over to the island and situated themselves on the stools as Alex began pulling out the icing for the cake. They informed me it was made from scratch earlier when they whipped up the cake.
I didn’t need to taste it to know it was going to be delicious. But I was definitely going to have a piece or two.
Alex walked them through the art of the crumb coat and then applying a thicker layer on top. She explained normally you would chill it after the crumb coat, but since we were all going to devour the cake, it wasn’t necessary.
The twins carefully stroked their spatulas across the cake, while Alex looked on carefully. When she thought no one was looking, her little devil came out, and she swiped her finger through a bit of icing. I stifled back a groan when she popped that finger in her mouth, sucking off the sugary mix. I was fucking envious of her finger and the icing.
Carefully, Alex covered the leftover icing and placed it back in the fridge. Bringing out a smaller container of green bags, Alex explained she was going to hand-pipe a few designs on the cake for decoration with a special tip she added to a bag.
She swirled her hand around a small section, squeezing the bag as she went. A perfect paisley pattern appeared on one side of the cake, then she repeated the same design in the opposite direction. Over the course of five minutes, she created something far too pretty to eat.
“That’s a masterpiece,” I murmured, while both Molly and Eloise claimed it was the prettiest cake they’d ever seen. “It’s too nice to cut into now.”
“Pssh, no, it’s not. We’re just messing around. But before we dive in, let me get a picture. Girls, smile.” Whipping out her phone from her back pocket, she angled the device in a way to capture the sides and top. “Perfect.” Stepping over to another drawer, she pulled out a large knife. “Now, let’s dig in.”
She waited to take her first bite until we’d taken ours. The flavors were indescribable.
“What is this?” I asked her as I took a hearty second bite. The cake had no chance of survival, because I planned to devour the entire thing.
“It’s pistachio cake with a tart raspberry filling and sweet buttercream frosting. Do you like it?”
“Like it? I feel like I died and went to heaven.”
Dropping her fork onto her plate, Molly cried out that I wasn’t allowed to die. I had to pause my eating to explain that it was just an expression. A pretty morbid one, now that I thought about it.
“Alex, this is the best cake I’ve ever had. You are truly talented. I plan to visit your shop every day if you’re making cakes like this.”
“Really? You’re not just saying that?” She peered at me from under her lashes. There was an insecurity about her question. With delicious cakes like this, I couldn’t understand how she could doubt herself.
“I’m 100 percent honest. You have a gift.”
“Thanks. I owe it all to my mom. She taught me everything I know.”
Eloise chose that moment to innocently chime in. “My mommy doesn’t want us. She said so.”
I coughed and sputtered around my mouthful of cake. Thankfully, Alex took the reins on the response. “But you have your daddy and a ton of other people like myself and Andrew and my mom and dad who want you.”
“You do?”
“Of course.”
“Can you be my new mommy?”
Now it was Alex’s turn to cough as she turned to look at me, her face a pasty shade of white.
“Alex and I are just friends, and she can be your friend, too.”
My words sufficed, but with their pouts, I knew the answer wasn’t the one they hoped for. They even turned down a second piece of cake, which I wasn’t too upset about, because that meant more for me, but I hated seeing their forlorn faces.
Then I remembered my promise from earlier.
Setting my plate and fork onto the counter, I turned toward Alex. Gently, I took the plate and fork from her grasp and sat them beside mine.
“I believe I promised the girls I would dance with you after dinner.”
She nodded in understanding. Pulling out her phone, her finger scrolled on the screen until a satisfied smile grew on her face. “Can you waltz?”
“I don’t know.” I wasn’t a complete novice at dancing. When I was younger, my mother enrolled me in a senior’s dance class to keep me entertained after school, since she wasn’t home. That was ages ago, but I hoped it would be like riding a bike.
