"Garrett Svensson?" Trisha seemed intrigued. "Already on a first-name basis. Interesting. I suppose you do take after me after all."
I felt guilty. My mother wasn't a person I really wanted to emulate.
You don't actually have to write the article,I told myself. But I'd taken the advance.Besides, Garrett is an asshole.
But was he, though? Garrett had been… I didn't want to say nice, but there was a softness with him when he interacted with his younger brothers. He was mean to the adults, sure, but the little ones… There was something about a man going all soft and cuddly around children that made my ovaries flip-flop.
"You think you can have something together for the December issue?" Trisha asked.
"Of course," I said automatically.
"Good girl! You'll be editor atVanity Ragbefore you know it!"
* * *
I was still feelingguilty when I walked into the Victorian house.
Salem meowed reproachfully when I almost tripped over him in the dark.
"Lay it on, why don’t you?" I said, petting him. "I'm not writing anythingterribleabout the Svenssons."
"Not writing what?"
I shrieked and almost dropped my laptop.
Morticia and Lilith were sitting in the dark in two tall wingback chairs.
"Why are you just sitting in the dark?" I demanded, flipping on the lights.
"We're communing with the spirits," they said in unison.
I tried to calm my heart rate down. "Unnecessarily creepy, but whatever. I’m going to go commune with some baking," I told them, heading to the kitchen.
"Turn the lights back off," Morticia called after me.
The kitchen was my safe space. While I enjoyed cooking, I was obsessed with baking. I had a recipe in my head for a caramel apple cheesecake.
I set up the camera and lights and cut out parchment paper to line the pan. I measured out all my ingredients then slowly beat the cream cheese by hand. My videos were enjoyed by people who were trying to relax. Therefore, I couldn't use electronic appliances. I didn’t want to lull the viewer into a half-sleepy state, dreaming of yummy baked goods, then suddenly startle them with obnoxious mixer shrieks. Plus it was meditative to bake by hand. I needed to calm down. The article was stressing me out.
When the cream cheese was smooth and fluffy, I added the eggs then whisked in brown sugar and melted butter, creaming them together.
I narrated my steps softly and slowly sifted the flour. Watching it dust the batter was hypnotic. Almost as hypnotic as watching Garrett…
Whoa, where did that thought come from? It's been a dry spell, I told myself.He's attractive, and society has primed you to think rich dickwads are hot.
Garrett really was hot though. Too bad it was fall and not summer; I would forego chocolate for a week if I could see him shirtless.You can't think about sex while baking. Baking is supposed to be wholesome,I chastised myself, smoothing out the batter in the pan then dropping in chunks of salted caramel.
While it all baked, I whisked the caramel sauce in a double broiler and made a cinnamon-apple compote. When the cheesecake was cool, I carefully removed it from the pan, setting it on a platter painted with smiling spiders, bats, and jack-o’-lanterns. I poured the caramel over the cheesecake then topped it with the apples.
I cut a generous slice. After taking video of the various angles of the cheesecake, I finally took a bite.
"Delicious," I whispered.
It was the type of thing I ate and then looked around and was like, Hey, where did all this cake go? I could have easily eaten the whole cheesecake.
"The spirits say you should give us a piece of that," Lilith said as she and Morticia seemed to appear in the kitchen.
"I'm taking it to the Svenssons."
