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COCO
The day dragged by, the macaron-building only keeping my mind off the mess of my life for a few hours. Once done, I had nothing to do but wallow. My head and heart refused to let me ignore how much I missed Magnus, which was silly. I’d only known him two days—not even a full forty-eight hours yet. I should have been able to forget about him and deal with the lingering humiliation of being caught performing the walk of shame. By my current partner’s son. Who was also my ex-boyfriend.
I mean, really…thatreallyseemed to be where my attention should sit.
Instead, all I could think about was the fact that Magnus had come to the bakery looking for me. That he had wanted to talk to me after everything. That he hadn’t stopped showing up and trying to reach me. Well, he hadn’t stopped until it was time for the rehearsal dinner to start. Of course.
I sat in the kitchen of the bakery with the lights dimmed and the space silent. My sisters had already left for the night, along with Misty. They’d delivered the macarons and groom’s cake—a sculptured confection of a wolf howling, of course—to the banquet facility where the rehearsal would be held. They’d probably made it home hours ago. Me? I’d stayed at the bakery, claiming a need to clean up. I’d really just wanted a little time to wallow before I had to deal with my empty house.
I was a full-time wallower, apparently.
The ringing of the kitchen phone interrupted the quiet I’d been sitting in. I almost didn’t answer it—we were closed, after all—but not a lot of people had that particular number. Customers called the phone out front. It could have been one of my sisters needing something, which was the only reason I even considered picking it up. Still, I looked at the phone sideways as I approached it. I’d never dreaded a hunk of plastic more.
Deep breath.“Cake-ily Ever After Bakery, this is Coco. How can I help you?”
“Oh, thank the fates. Coco, it’s Misty.”
She sounded harried. That couldn’t be good. “What’s wrong?”
“The groom’s cake isn’t here.”
It took me a solid five seconds for her words to make sense. All thoughts of Magnus and my own personal shame disappeared, and I rocketed into work mode.
“What do you mean, it isn’t there?” I was in motion before I finished my ridiculous question, heading for the walk-in refrigerator at the back of the kitchen.
“Um, that itisn’there? As in, not at the banquet hall. I was making sure the macarons were set up on the trays the bride requested when I noticed the blank space in the display. I’ve looked all over for it—it’s not here.”
“That’s impossible. Ginger was supposed to—”
What Ginger was supposed to do was take the cake over before heading home for the night. What she’d failed to do was take the cake over before heading home for the night. The wolf sat in the refrigerator, looking just as real and regal as ever. Madeleine had outdone herself—Ginger had failed miserably. “Shoot.”
“It’s there, isn’t it?”
I sighed and grabbed the cake, carrying it to the packaging station. “Yeah. It’s not even boxed. What was Ginger thinking?”
“Pretty sure she was thinking about that dragon shifter she met.”
Had I been dropped into an alternate reality? “What dragon shifter?”
“It’s not important. Look, the rehearsal is starting soon, and people are going to notice a giant empty space on the sweets table. You need to get that cake here.”
Work mode—deactivated. Me showing up at that building was so not happening. “No. I can’t be there. You’ll have to come get it.”
“There’s no time. There’s barely enough time for you to put that cake in your car and drive over here.”
She wasn’t wrong, but still…I couldn’t do it. I shook my head and closed my eyes, trying to drum up enough courage to face Nico and Magnus, to be seen. To walk into a room where almost everyone I knew would be milling around, knowing some of them likely had heard what I’d done. Kinship Cove was a small town, and people talked. Secrets didn’t stay buried for long.
“Coco, please,” Misty pleaded. “Your business needs you to pull on your big-girl panties and bring that cake over here.”
I swallowed hard, whispering, “I can’t face them.”
“You don’t have to, honey. Come in through the back—I’ll meet you in the kitchen and take the cake. Less than a minute from when you show up to when you leave.”
Less than a minute. To ensure the success of the business we’d built from nothing. Ginger may have screwed up, but that was likely an accident. If I didn’t come through, it would be on purpose. I couldn’t do that to myself or my sisters. “Yeah. Okay, I think I can do that.”
“Good.” She sounded so relieved. “Now, box up that cake and move your ass. You’ll be cutting it close.”
“On it.” I hung up and got to work, making sure the cake was protected in a large, sturdy box before carrying it out to my car. The darn thing weighed a ton, so the process wasn’t easy on my own. Still, I managed. And then I was off. Heading for the place where my ex was marrying his fated mate while his father—my current lover—looked on.
