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I rolled my eyes and scoffed. But I knew it wasn’t convincing. She knew I couldn’t lie to her. And the more I stood here and tried, the more I failed.
Miserably.
I’m totally tanking this, I thought as I flashed her a dazzling grin.She’s going to shove me out of the way in a few seconds.
“Charlotte?” Christopher called from the tavern door. “Need a hand over here!”
She sighed while rubbing her temples. “We haven’t evenopenedyet. What could possibly be…?”
Her voice faded as she disappeared into the tavern. I sighed with relief as I sank back into the kitchen and checked the timer. For once, I was thankful for Christopher being around. He was a decent distraction when he needed to be.
I checked my phone. “Ten more minutes. You got the icing?”
“Right here, Dad.”
“Cool. Show me what to do.”
Henry chuckled. “We need the cake first.”
“Well, I’m aware ofthat, Henry.”
“You said ten minutes, right?”
I checked my phone. “Now it’s eight.”
My son beamed while watching the stove. I hadn’t seen him get this excited about something since I allowed him to learn how to garden with Lucius and me. Now that he had another hobby, I hoped it would get him through the stressful days ahead.
The eight minutes stretched on for what seemed like forever. Once the cake was safely removed from the oven—with gloves as Henry insisted like I had no idea how to bake—we set the bronze cake on a plate and started decorating it with icing. About ten minutes later, we had a perfect white cake topped with cherries sitting on the counter.
“Which side is the ring?” Henry asked. “Dad, do you remember?”
My mind went blank. “Aw, crap.”
“What’s that?” Charlotte asked from the doorway. Her face lit up as she walked into the room. “Is that a vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting andcherries?”
I smiled sheepishly while croaking, “Surprise, baby.”
“Surprise, Charlotte!” Henry exclaimed excitedly. “I baked you a cake.”
“I helped.”
Henry shrugged. “Dad did some stuff.”
Charlotte laughed. “Well, boys. It smells amazing. Should we slice it up?”
“Sure, that sounds great,” I said through a way-too-wide grin. Was it me or was it too hot in this kitchen? “Uh, let me grab a knife.”
Charlotte wielded a large knife from the counter and grinned at my pale expression.
“What?” she asked. “You know I like knives.”
I grinned while biting my lip. What I wanted to say wasn’t appropriate for my son to hear. But I hoped that my mate could sense how I felt.
As she sliced into the cake, she shot me a wink.
Yeah, she knows, I thought with a fluttering heart.She can read me like a book. That’s why I can’t lie to her.
“That smells like cake,” Grunt sighed from the hallway. They wandered into the kitchen and inspected the delicious baked good that Charlotte was cutting into even slices. “Can I have a piece?”
