“Anyway,” he said, with a faux-breeziness that he kind of doubted he pulled off, “I’ve heard that about wedding cakes too. But I figured we could still getsomekind of wedding pastry. Cupcakes, maybe. Or wedding cookies.”
“That’s a good idea. I’m going to really be testing the structural integrity of my new skin-tight dress, though.”
Case could swear his heartbeat sped up a little at this reminder of the wonder dress, greatest of all dresses. He didn’t know if he could survive it showcasing even more of Lydia’s decolletage and rounded hourglass figure, but he would sure as hell do his best.
The bakery—Sweet Indulgences—was a pleasant surprise. Mountainview’s natural scenery may have been jaw-droppingly gorgeous, but most of the town was a little drab. Lydia had given him a short rundown of the village’s history, so Case knew it had been through some tough, lean times. It was slowly coming out of those hard years, but the signs of tension and hard-bitten frugality were everywhere. Mountainview’s struggles had left its citizens and aging alpha reluctant to take any risks, and even enjoying themselves—doing something just for fun—clearly felt chancy, even dangerous.
That attitude came through in how minimalist and utilitarian everything was. There were few flowerbeds around town. Most buildings didn’t show even a splash of color, not even in their awnings or shop windows, like they were afraid to look frivolous. Case had the feeling he knew exactly what they were worryingabout: if all they were contributing was fun, were they really contributing anything at all?
Surrounded by all that self-imposed austerity, the pink frosting on Sweet Indulgence’s cupcake sign felt like a bold declaration of purpose.
The inside of the bakery took that stance as far as it possibly could. Everything here was soft, easy, and meant to be enjoyed. The air was delicately scented with vanilla. The walls, floor tiles, café-style tables and chairs were all warm pastels. Best of all, the glass-fronted display cases were chock-full of mouthwatering desserts.
Sweet Indulgences didn’t skimp on the practical or savory sides of baking, either—Case clocked plenty of fresh-baked bread, from sourdough to rye and everything in between, along with quiches, pretzels, pepperoni rolls, and pasties—but the focus was clearly exactly where the bakery’s name had suggested it would be.
Good. Lydia deserved some sweet indulgences. Besides, a wedding practically required them.
The woman behind the counter perked up immediately at their arrival. “Welcome to Sweet Indulgences! How can I sweeten your day—Lydia?”
Lydia smiled. “Hi, Polly.” In an undertone, she added to Case, “She’s pack, so you don’t have to worry about giving anything away. But just in case she gets customers while we’re in here, we should probably play it safe.”
No problem. He still wasn’t that used to talking about werewolves anyway.
That’s sad, his wolf said solemnly.Everyone should talk about werewolves.
Case mentally gave it a consoling pat on the head and turned his attention to Polly.
“I’ve barely seen you since high school,” Polly was saying. “I was starting to think you didn’t have a sweet tooth at all. Or—” She turned to Case with a mischievous look. “Or are you here because ofhissweet tooth?”
Lydia laughed. “A little bit of both. That is, I do have a sweet tooth, I just haven’t done much about it over the years, and he has one too.” She ushered Case forward. “Case, this is Polly Simpson. Polly, this is Case Jackson, my—fiancé.”
Polly had to be the most exuberant person Case had ever met, because she literally clapped her hands with excitement at this.
“Oh, congratulations! Have you guys set a date yet?”
Case stifled a laugh by coughing into his fist, and Lydia gave him a light, friendly jab with her elbow.
“Sort of,” she said to Polly. It sounded like she was suppressing a giggle or two of her own. “We were thinking, um, today?”
Polly’s jaw dropped. “Wait, did you say—I mean, I know you were looking for a co-alpha to help out with Reeve, so you’d want to get it done fast, but ...today?!”
“It’s a small wedding,” Lydia said hastily. “Just the two of us and a judge.. If it were a big wedding, we would have contacted you a long time ago to get an actual wedding cake.”
Polly waved her off. “Oh, don’t worry about that. Wedding cakes are an absolute pain in the ass to make, anyway. But you do want a little something, right?”
As soon as they confirmed that they did, Polly’s hand-clap of delight escalated to an actual squeal of glee. She immediately shooed them over to one of the spindly tables and flipped her OPEN sign over to CLOSED.
“You don’t need to go to any trouble on our account—”
Polly waved off their protests. “It’s your wedding day. You may not have a big-ass cake, but you deserve a big-ass caketasting. My treat. I never get to do things like this.”
She was, Case decided, some kind of cake-related fairy godmother. Before he could say “bibbity-bobbity-boo,” she had weighed three separate tables down with samples of the best Sweet Indulgences had to offer.
“Start wherever you like, and let me know if you have any questions,” she said, beaming at them. “I’ll go do some accounting behind the counter, so I’ll be within earshot if you need help, but I won’t be hanging over you.”
She bustled back to the register and tucked herself away, as promised, leaving Case and Lydia to do their best to sort through an overwhelming number of pastries.
“Where do we even start?” Lydia said.
