He scrubbed a hand over his face, then rubbed at the cake stains on his jacket. Around them lay the debris of the ruined cake.
Under the van, the cat nibbled at a chunk of emerald-coated vanilla cake, a fractured, golden “55” stuck to its fur.
He took a deep breath of the cool, late-afternoon air when Robin turned back around, more color in her face.
“Here’s what we’re gonna do,” she said. “I have ten dozen cupcakes in the cooler we will use. They’re for the wedding on Tuesday, but I’m just going to have to remake them later.” She pushed past him and to the back door of the bakery. He stepped over the remains of the cake and followed her.
He hoped the cat enjoyed its fancy feast.
“I think I have a design that can work with our time crunch,” Robin said over her shoulder. “You know where the cupcakes are. I’ll let Jean know we will be there a little late and then start sketching out the design.”
Inside the bakery, Sammy shucked off his sticky jacket and washed his hands.Hooah, let’s get this done.
Grateful for his time at the bakery learning to bake bread and working on the cabinet, he easily found the supplies Robin asked for. He arranged the cupcakes on the worktable in the center of the kitchen while Robin did something complicated with several colored pencils and a notebook.
“Okay. This has got to work.” Robin handed him the sketch she tore from the book. “I still have the top layer of the original cake in the cooler. I think I can sculpt fondant into the shape of a peacock head and neck and attach it to that layer. Then we’ll fan the cupcakes behind like the tail feathers.”
He looked at the sketch, catching the vision. “This looks amazing.”
“It’ll be even more amazing if we pull it off in—” She looked at the clock on the wall. “One hour.”
Robin showed Sammy how to apply a thin layer of white icing to the tops of the cupcakes. Then she got to work on the bird’s head.
He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She worked confidently, kneading some blue food coloring into something from a bucket marked Fondant.
Oops.He almost carved the top off that cupcake. He focused back on the task in front of him.
Soon Robin had finished making her bird head. She set the fondant aside, laying it gently on a sheet of wax paper. “I’ll teach you to do the easier parts of the piping,” she said. She handed him a fabric tube fitted with a silver tip and filled with blue icing. “You’re just going to pipe on long teardrops, like this.” She demonstrated on one of the cupcakes he had just finished.
“Got it.” He took the piping bag and drew on the closest cupcake.
“Not quite.”
He startled when her cool, slim hand closed over his as she moved his hand in the proper direction.
“I think you’ve got it now.”
He piped long teardrops until his hand ached. Across from him, Robin filled in the teardrops with an intricate design until the top of each cupcake looked like the eye on a peacock feather.
He glanced at the clock. Ten minutes until they were officially late. “Robin.”
“I see it.” She brushed a hair out of her eye and finished off the last cupcake. “The cake carriers are stacked next to the cooler.”
They loaded the finished cakes into their specialized holders and carried them out to the van. Robin ran back into the bakery to grab some extra frosting and other decorations to refill her emergency tote. If the cupcakes shifted during the drive, she wanted to be able to correct any smudges.
They climbed into the cold van, and Sammy breathed a sigh of relief when it started without protest. Driving as though she had her grandmother, seven antique glass bowls, and a full crock of chili in the back, Robin made her way to the party.
Taking his cue from Robin’s silent concentration, Sammy kept quiet during the few minutes’ drive through town.
“Sure is dark tonight,” he said as she pulled into the driveway. “Cloudy. No moon, no stars.”
She turned the engine off and looked at him, a sparkle in her eye. “Yes, but the house is shining bright enough to wish on. I think we made it in one piece, and only a few minutes late.”
Opening the van door, Sammy could hear classical music floating out from the home.
They went around to the back of the van and each lifted a few cupcake carriers.
“I’ll come back out for the cake topper after we find where these will be sitting,” Robin said.
