the broad shoulders that made her melt, or the fact her biological clock was winding down and he had come just in time. But Penny surprised her. “He took me from plain cake straight past the icing and on to the sprinkles. He makes me smile and laugh and puts that little extra something in my life I’d thought I could live without.”
“That’s lovely,” Claudia said, thinking she had been that kind of woman one day a long, long time ago. She’d never thought of the special moments with someone as sprinkles, but at some point she’d started settling for stale cookies. Now she wanted cake with Nate. Just cake by itself was good. After all, not everyone could stand the sprinkles, and some people even scraped the icing off the cake before eating it. Both could be too much to handle.
Penny tittered nervously after her mini-trip down lovers’ lane, and Betty just smiled. “We’re so excited you could fit us in.” She took a forkful of the marble cake and nibbled at it.
“It’s my pleasure, Mrs. Plinks. I wouldn’t miss working for this wedding for the world. We appreciate you coming in.”
Betty waved an obscenely jeweled hand. “Pshaw! We wouldn’t even think of going anywhere else.”
Thank God, Claudia couldn’t help but think. They’d been working hard for years to build their reputation. And the boost to her personal confidence was very welcome, especially after the debacles of the last couple of weeks.
The conversation moved away from sprinkles and on to the plates of cake. Claudia detailed the types and the icings that would best complement, but through it all she couldn’t stop thinking about Nate. Was he sprinkles? Was he more than just cake? Was she cheating herself by thinking she would be happy with only cake? As much as she didn’t want stale cookies, perhaps she was looking for more. He did all the things Penny seemed to think were sprinkles. His attention to Justin, to her, the way he made her feel tingly with just a glance, the care he took with her and her son. The way he had always been around and never made it seem as if they were infringing on his time. Maybe all along she had already had her cake sitting on the plate in front of her without taking a nibble until Nate had rocked her carefully managed world with his kiss.
After four more samples, Betty gripped Claudia’s hands like a vise and, despite the pain, Claudia kept a smile on her face. The sheen of tears in Claudia’s eyes probably passed for happiness, but her only concern was a brief foray into the little she knew about blood and how long it would continue circling in her hands before they started to tingle from the woman’s death grip. They chose the Double Deluxe Chocolate Fantasy with Butter Cream Icing, just as Claudia had known they would.
“Thank you, thank you,” the matronly Betty said, sniffing into her lace handkerchief. “You don’t understand how much this means to us.”
Claudia could just imagine. The bride-to-be was forty if she was a day and had confided in Claudia that this was her first wedding. May had taken special pains to create a dress that would flatter the plump woman and make her feel fifteen—well, maybe five—years younger. Claudia had made it a point to get as much information as she could regarding her likes and dislikes. This would probably be the only wedding for the younger Ms. Plinks, and Claudia, May, and Zoe wanted to make sure it was really special. “It was my pleasure, Mrs. Plinks. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of Penny’s wedding.”
Claudia stretched her face into a full-fledged smile regardless of the continuing pain in her hands. She was going to have to deal with those damn prickly tingles once the woman let go, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.
The second they walked out the front door, Claudia vigorously rubbed her hands together to get the needle-like sensation to fade. She watched Nate walk up to Penny and hug her, and she was reminded that he had been the friend who recommended that Penny come to see her and Decadence if she really wanted to have all her dreams for her perfect wedding happen. Penny wiped something from her eye as she stood back and held onto Nate’s arms. She said something, and they both turned to where Claudia stood in the window shamelessly taking the