Chapter Six
The desserts were popular, and Kelly was so thankful that there wasn’t much she had to pack up before she could leave the party. Luckily, there were still plenty of partygoers vying for Andrew’s attention when she slid out the back door to leave.
Her hands shook as she got in the company van. She could kick herself for offering to serve the cake. What was I thinking? Well, that was easy; she’d expected Dawn to insist they could handle it themselves, but she hadn’t.
Kelly drove straight over to The Cake Factory. Sara’s car was still in the back lot. She’d hoped she’d be there.
“Good evening, Miss McIntyre.” One of her night shift bakers held the door open for her.
“Thank you.” She slipped by him, hoping he couldn’t tell how frantic she was at the moment. She stormed straight to Sara’s office in the shipping department.
Sara sat at her desk working at her computer.
Kelly rapped twice on the door and stepped inside. “Did you know?”
Sara got up. “I swear I didn’t know until a little while ago. Dawn never mentioned Andrew when she called and placed that order. I promise I would’ve told you had I known.”
“Why would Dawn surprise me like that?” Her hands shook. “I wasn’t prepared to see him. I was caught completely off guard.”
“Are you okay?” Sara got up and came around to her side. “I’m so sorry. I came in to get the timesheets done for tomorrow, and a couple of the workers were talking about having come from the party and how great it was to see Andrew there. It was too late to warn you.”
“What was she thinking?” Kelly turned her back on Sara and sighed.
Sara got up and closed the door. “Did you two talk?”
“Me and Dawn? Or me and Andrew?”
“Andrew. Of course.”
Kelly nodded. “Sort of, but I can’t be thinking about that. He’s one big, fat distraction.” Why after all this time did he still get under her skin?
“How did it feel to see him again?”
“Shocking. Heartbreaking. Maddening.” She stared at the ceiling. “Stupid. Why did it even bother me?”
“It’s not stupid. What you’re feeling is just…nostalgia. And surprise. I mean, who wants to see an ex? Pleasant or otherwise. I mean, without the right outfit or makeup, that’s never good.”
Kelly laughed. Sara was so great at helping her maintain perspective. “You’re probably right.”
“Why don’t you go home for the night?”
“No,” Kelly insisted. “I’m going to do some baking. That’s the only thing that calms me.”
“I’ll be here for another hour or so if you need me.”
“I’ve got that groom’s cake to work on, but quite honestly I feel so frazzled I’m almost afraid to mess with it. I think I’ll make some small specialty cakes.” She wrung her hands. “He’s only going to be in town a few days. I’ll just avoid him until he disappears again.”
An hour later she was pulling mini cake layers out of the oven to cool when her mom walked in. “How’s it going?”
“Hey, Mom. Good. I’m experimenting with a few new flavors. I’m trying to mimic a caramel macchiato for a wedding cake flavor. We’ll see how that tastes.”
“I’m sure it will be wonderful,” Mom said. “Everything you make always is.”
“Thank you for always encouraging me. I love you. You’re the best mother a girl could ask for.”
“I’m very proud of you, honey. It’s easy to encourage you, because everything you bake is amazing.”
“You might be a little biased, though,” Kelly said with mock resignation.
“Completely. Like any mother should be.” Her mom leaned a hip against the refrigerated case. “One of these days we’ll be tasting cake for your wedding. I’m looking forward to that day.”
“Don’t hold your breath.” Kelly snorted. “I’m not sure there’s a perfect mate out there for me.”
“You’ve been out with Kirby several times, and there’s Michael.”
“We’re really just friends.”
“Michael fixed your wiring.”
“That’s the only spark we’ve got.”
“You’re not trying hard enough.”
“Trust me. I’m good. I’ve got Gray. He’s plenty for me.”
“A pet pig is not a replacement for a husband. Or grandchildren.”
“I beg to differ. Weren’t you the one who told me Andrew was replaceable in the first place?”
“I may have spoken in haste,” she said. “I was trying to make you feel better, and it worked. So don’t hold that against me. Besides, I heard he’s back in town. Did you know that?”
So that was the reason for Mom’s drop-in visit. She should’ve known.
Kelly had finally shed the anxiety from running into him earlier, and now Mom was bringing him up. Emotions swirled around her, and her hands began to sweat…again. “I know. They ordered desserts for the party they threw for him.”
“From you?”
Kelly nodded.
Mom placed her hand on Kelly’s arm. “So you saw him? Are you okay?”
“I did. I thought I was going to fall out right there in their barn when I saw him walk in, though.” She still couldn’t believe it.
“I bet. How’d he look?”
She wanted to say awful. But that was far from the truth. “Handsome as ever, Mom. Actually, even better looking than before. He’s a grown man now.” She stopped herself from going on. “I don’t want to talk about him. It was hard to see him again.”
Her mom let out a long breath. “Honey, maybe it was hard to see him because you’ve never gotten over him.”
“No.” Kelly raised a finger in the air, daring her mother to say it again. “Just no. I’m over him and I’ll never go through that again.”
Expecting an argument, Kelly was surprised when her mom simply turned on her heel and left.
She resisted the urge to run after her. Great. Now I’ve hurt her feelings. It wasn’t
