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Wiping her hands on her apron, she returned to the front counter, where Whitney continued her search through the cake design binder. Her friend hadn’t mentioned whether or not Trent had told her about seeing Jessica with Mitch at the bowling alley the night before, and normally she’d want to gush to Whitney about the new man she was seeing, but something about her friend’s vibe that day gave her pause. Whitney had a lot going on in her own life, and in truth, Jess wasn’t really sure her practical, no-nonsense friend would be on board with this holiday fling that could end with Jess brokenhearted. So she decided to hold off on that conversation.
“See anything you like?” she asked instead.
“They are all gorgeous,” Whitney said. “How does anyone choose?”
Jessica beamed. Her collection of cake designs was something she was proud of. Three hundred and fifty-two different styles, all sizes, all flavors. All lovingly, painstakingly baked and decorated. She loved her job, and it didn’t even bother her that all her hard work vanished off the ends of forks within minutes.
Cakes made people happy.
“Have you narrowed down colors for the wedding yet?” she asked. “That could help.”
“Almost,” Whitney said, but she was hardly convincing.
Whitney had yet to make a final decision about anything for her wedding, and that was odd. Head of marketing for the Blue Moon Bay Tourism office, her friend was a driven, type-A personality when it came to everything else. She was always organized and her attention to detail was mind-blowing, so her lack of wedding preparation had Jessica wondering if her friend might be unsure about the lifelong commitment.
Putting off decisions meant putting off a wedding.
“Well,” Jessica said, “I start my diet tomorrow so I can fit into my bridesmaid dress. Any hint on what style of dress I’ll be wearing?” She was desperate to get anything at all out of Whitney, but she was kidding about the diet. At five foot four, a hundred and seventy pounds, she liked her body. She’d always been a little overweight according to some B.S. BMI chart and she’d struggled with it as a teenager, wanting to be tall and thin like her best friends, Sarah and Whitney, but now, she embraced her curves.
Who trusted their baked goods to a skinny person?
“I’m thinking I’ll let you decide on your own dress style, whatever suits your body shape best and whatever makes you comfortable,” Whitney said.
It wasn’t as though Whitney had any fear of being shown up at her own wedding. Tall, thin, blond, and gorgeous, her friend looked like she should be the biggest bitch in the Bay, but nothing could be further from true. Whitney was kind and caring, and her devotion to her mother with failing health was endearing. She could be a success anywhere in the world, yet she put her family first and stayed in the small coastal town.
“How’s your mom?” Jessica asked, switching subjects. Whitney had recently moved the older woman into Rejuvenation Assisted Living when Lydia’s Alzheimer’s made her afraid of Whitney and she didn’t recognize her own home.
“She has her good and bad days. Yesterday was great. We had almost an hour before we lost her again.”
An hour. She knew Whitney cherished every moment they were lucky enough to have when her mother was lucid, but it was heartbreaking. “It can’t be easy.”
“It isn’t.” Whitney shook her head. “She asked about the wedding. She’s afraid if we wait much longer, she’ll be too far gone to remember anything.” She closed the binder and the vein in the middle of her forehead appeared—the only tell that her friend was stressed.
“Then what are you waiting for?” Jessica asked gently. “No pressure, friend, you know that’s not my intent, but you and Trent have been together for five years. You love him, right?”
Whitney nodded. “He’s everything. He’s been there for me through so much. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
Jessica felt a tinge of guilt at the love in her friend’s voice. She wanted that. A real connection, a real relationship. Her short time with Mitch had only solidified the fact that she was 100 percent ready to fall in love and settle down. She’d enjoyed her life alone…but having him with her the past two evenings had reemphasized how much more fun life could be with someone to share it with.
“Look, you thrive on deadlines, right?” she asked Whitney. “So why not give yourself a deadline to make the decision on a date, at least? Baby steps. That’s how you achieve your goals. You taught me that.”
And Jessica would soon have to take her own advice. Weeks to make a life-changing decision wasn’t a lot of time, but she couldn’t put off making a decision regarding the sale of her bakery forever.
She needed to decide what mattered most to her…
Whitney stood. “You’re right. That’s what I’ll do, but right now, I have to get back to work.” She leaned across the counter and hugged her. “Thank you.”
“Anytime,” she said, and then Whitney left.
Sighing, she checked her order whiteboard on the kitchen wall. There was barely any whitespace left. This time of year was her busiest. Orders for holiday cookies, cakes, and pies were all coming in, and her workdays were getting longer with each day closer to Christmas. It was the same way every year. Jessica had learned after the first hectic Christmas season to buy and wrap all her presents, decorate her own tree, and do all her own personal baking in November.
Her anxiety over actually delivering on all the orders was starting to mount, but she was determined to pull it off again that year, even if it meant hiring some holiday help. She had a reputation in Blue Moon Bay as the sugar princess. As a joke, she’d even had a “Sugar Princess” Halloween costume custom made for her, and she prided herself on the fact that she hadn’t let the health-craze of this decade dictate her business. People deserved a treat now and then, and her bakery was the place to find it. Offering healthy lifestyle options might bring in a few more customers, but she didn’t want to risk making those that preferred the taste of real sugar feel guilty for choosing delicious.
She grabbed a cranberry muffin from the display case, broke it apart, and popped a piece into her mouth, then got to work on the first order—frosted sugar cookies shaped like elves.
“Jessica!”
The shrill sound of Mrs. Barnett’s voice made her jump, choking on the piece of muffin. She coughed and pounded on her chest until the big lump made its way down.
