One
Tegan
“Always the baker and neverthe bride.” I sighed to myself, stepping back from the three circular cake tiers lining the counter. They gradually increased in size, the biggest about the size of a tire.
Per the bride’s request, it was going to be a massive three-tiered red velvet cake slathered in textured cream cheese icing, large enough to feed the entire town of Briar Glenn. Because of the size, I’d assemble it on-site at the wedding venue tomorrow morning.
This particular wedding cake was for the mayor’s daughter, Jessica, who just so happened to have graduated high school with me. She was marrying a satyr who worked in finance, and in the spirit of supporting local businesses, they’d hired me to bake the wedding cake. It was an honor, really—but I couldn’t help the stinging jealousy I felt every time I thought about their upcoming nuptials.
Here she was getting married while I spent every waking moment of my life working at the bakery. So much, in fact, that mylast relationship ended because of it. My girlfriend of two years just couldn’t handle my dedication to the family business. She gave me an ultimatum—her or the bakery. Of course I chose the bakery. At this point, I had pretty much resigned myself to being a childless cat lady. Not that there was anything wrong with that—it just wasn’t the white picket fence, two-point-five kids, and ridiculously attractive partner that I had dreamed of since I was a little girl.
Selene, my bakery assistant and one of my closest friends, joined me in admiring my work. “They came out perfect, Tegs. Just like they do every time. I don’t know how you do it.”
And they were perfect. Nice and even with no cracks, the icing smooth and level.
“Pastry school and years of practice under the most hard-ass baker I know,” I said, wiping my sugar-coated hands on my apron.
She laughed, warm and raspy. “Don’t talk about Mama Rollins like that.”
“It’s true! In the kitchen, she’s not the sweet lady you know her to be, I can tell you from experience.”
After my father’s death a year ago, my mother retired, and I inherited the Briar Glenn Bakery. Before that, my grandmother ran the bakery. A legacy of women business owners here in the tiny town of Briar Glenn, one I was happy to continue. Even if it meant I had no work-life balance.
“I am beat,” Selene said, leaning against the counter and wiping her forehead.
She’d been quieter today, none of her playful teasing or upbeat singing. Just silently working on the backup sheet cake for the wedding on the off chance there was a catastrophe. In all the years I’d worked at the bakery, that had yet to happen, but my mother always drilled it into my head that we needed to have some sort ofbackup plan—just in case. For the mayor’s daughter’s wedding, the biggest social event of the year, I wasn’t taking any chances.
“Are you okay?” I asked, taking in Selene’s flushed cheeks and dewy skin.
I kept the bakery cold to keep the icing from melting, and it had been hours since I ran the oven…
“I’m just not feeling great.”
“Why didn’t you say something earlier? I could have finished this on my own.”
“Well, I need the hours and you have enough on your plate as it is.”
Selene had only been working with me for a few months, but she’d picked things up quickly. I could rely on her to work on smaller orders like premade birthday cakes, while I worked on large orders like wedding cakes and special-order baked goods. She really had a knack for baking.
Much to the dismay of her parents, Selene was taking some time off from college. At the ripe age of twenty-two, she had plenty of time to go back and finish her engineering degree, and I was thankful for the help.
Even with the eight-year age difference between us, we’d become close. And working with Selene was a hell of a lot better than asking my mom to help out part-time. Pam Rollins had just passed me the reins. I wasn’t about to let her micromanage the way I was running my business.
“Did you still want to go to the diner for dinner?” I asked, hoping Selene would join me. Outside of Sunday dinners at my mom’s house, I’d been having one too many meals alone lately.
“Rain check on that one. I want to make sure I rest up for tomorrow. There’s no way you can handle that behemoth on your own.”
“Just let me know. I think I can manage it just fine.”
“I’ll be there. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to be late for the wedding.”
“Fuck,” I huffed. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?” Stupidly, I’d put myself down for a plus-one, thinking I could use the fact that the wedding was open bar to coerce Selene into going with me. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Apparently, she’d won tickets to see her favorite band and the concert was the same night as the wedding.
“Isn’t Declan going?”
I snorted. “Not a chance. He hooked up with Jessica’s brother, Brendan, a few years ago; and while it was just a fling for Dec, Brendan took it really hard. Moved to Cincinnati, and this is his first time back in town since.”
Selene grimaced. “Sounds about right for Dec. Guess you’re flying solo, then.”
