Cake and Punishment

by Maymee Bell

  “Well? We’re waiting,” Carol chirped from across the curtain.

  Without looking in the mirror once I’d changed, I pulled the curtain open. Both Carol and Lori stood on the other side. Both of their jaws dropped.

  “Yeah, red isn’t my color.” I wanted to let Carol off the hook easy. “It’s okay. I’m sure there’s something else in the boutique.”

  “Oh,” Lori gasped. “You look great!”

  “I’ll be,” I muttered, looking at myself. “Carol, you’re right.” I twirled to look at the backside. The dress fit me like a glove. “This dress was meant for me.”

  “Honey, if you wear that dress to Charlotte’s wedding, you won’t be single for long.” Carol spoke to me, but her gaze was on the dress.

  “I’ll take it.” I looked at myself one more time. There was no way in hell I wasn’t going to wear this dress. If only Noah could see me now. I’d knock his socks off in this dress. Too bad he wouldn’t see me. One day, I’d get back at him. I didn’t know when; I just knew my day would come.

  Like Bitsy always said, heaven help the man who did a southern woman wrong.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Charlotte’s wedding was fast approaching and I was no closer to getting Evelyn off the hook; the cakes had to be layered, iced, and decorated. At least I could cross off Peacocks and Pansies to get the dress. Not that I cared about the dress too much, but I wanted to talk to Ella, which didn’t pan out. All my new questions along with the old ones were going to have to wait until I got something done for the wedding.

  I parked in the RCC’s employee parking. The only cars there were Evelyn’s and another small car with rental barcode stickers on the back passenger window.

  The back entrance was open and Evelyn’s door was shut when I walked past it down the long hall to the kitchen. I dipped my head into the ballroom to see if Charlotte was in there meeting the new chef, but it was empty. The kitchen was empty too.

  I put my bag on the island and pulled my phone out of my back pocket, quickly texting Nick to see where he was since he wasn’t even here. The place was deserted, which was a prime opportunity for me to get some quiet time to decorate a couple of layers of Charlotte’s cake.

  “A little pat of this and a little dash of that.” I sang a snappy tune when I walked into the refrigerator to get a couple layers of cake.

  When I walked out, Charlotte was standing next to my workstations.

  “The new chef is here,” Charlotte whispered, pointing to the swinging kitchen door.

  About that time, Evelyn pushed through the door.

  “I’m sorry for interrupting,” I apologized.

  Charlotte had a big smile on her face and Evelyn looked as pleased as a dead pig.

  “Sophia.” Evelyn stepped out of the way and gestured to the new chef coming into the kitchen behind her. “This is…”

  “Noah?” Disgust laced my voice. My stomach clenched. “What are you doing here?” Anxiety, anger, and sickness coursed through my veins.

  “Noah?” Charlotte’s smile turned into a scowl. “Your Noah?”

  “I’m going to be sick.” I ran out of the room down the hall to the bathroom.

  My hand gripped the porcelain sink as I tried to steady myself from the spinning room. My chest heaved up and down as I tried to get air. Panic jumped inside of me.

  “No, no, no,” I said after I looked up when I saw Charlotte walking in. “He can’t be the new chef.” Tears stung my eyes. I shook my head. I tried to gulp back the lump in my throat.

  “I had no idea.” Charlotte took a few paper towels and got them wet, placing them on the back of my neck. “When he introduced himself, I didn’t even catch his name. I was taken aback by the food he’d prepared. It’s gorgeous.”

  “Why? How?” I started to ask all sorts of questions that I knew Charlotte couldn’t answer. “How did Evelyn find him?”

  “I don’t know, sweetie.” The tears ran down my face as all the memories of the hurt came crashing into my heart.

  “I won’t use him,” Charlotte offered some kind words. But it was only that. Words. “I’ll tell you one thing.” She nodded. “He’s slicker than owl shit. He was wining and dining me like we were on a date. For a second, I’d forgotten I was getting married in a couple of days.”

  “That’s his M.O.” I remembered that charm well. “I’m not going to let you not get married. There’s a way around me running into him.” I brushed my hand across my face to dry my tears. “I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me like this.”

  “But he did you dirty.” Charlotte scowled.

  The knock on the door jerked both Charlotte and me out of our conversation.

  “Sophia, please, open the door,” Noah said, and jiggled the handle. “Please talk to me.”

  “Go away!” Charlotte yelled at the door.

  “Shh.” I hushed her and took a step toward the door.

  “He cheated on you and had the nerve to show up here. That dirty, low-down, good-for-nothing dog,” she spat, and stepped between me and the door. “Go back to New York. We don’t want you here.”

  I reached around Charlotte and turned the handle of the door, popping the lock out. The door cracked opened.

  “Sophia?” Noah’s strong northern accent flowed through the opening before his head peeked in.

  Our eyes met. The trusting eyes that I’d loved for so long were dull. Or at least they looked muted to me. It was the first time I’d stared into his green eyes and felt nothing but disgust.

  “You knew I lived here.” My voice was flat, with no emotion. Though I didn’t want him here, I wanted to know exactly why he was here. “You had no right to come to Kentucky.”

  “I had no idea you were here. I’m here to do a favor for Ritchie.” He was referring to the owner of The Manhattan. “He said his friend had died and the restaurant he worked for needed a chef in a pinch and it was in Lexington. He suggested in light of things that I take a much-needed vacation because my head hasn’t been on straight since you left.” His voice cracked. “I didn’t know that he meant Rumford. You have to trust me.”

  “Trust you?” I laughed, throwing back my head. “You were the only person in this world I trusted until I caught you in the arms of another woman.”

  “You’re lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon rut,” Charlotte continued to give Noah the business.

  “Come on, Charlotte.” I waved her to follow me down the hall. “I’m going to find Evelyn.”

  “It’s not going to do you any good.” Noah stalked after us. “I’ve signed a temporary contract that keeps me here until after the wedding. Then I get to sign a permanent one if it works out well on both ends.”

  With each step, I got madder and madder. Some might say I was mad as a wet hen, but I was madder than a wet cat. I wanted to claw his eyes out.

  “Did you hear me? I signed a contract.” He continued to bait me.

  “Oh, I heard you.” The words came seething out of my mouth. “I heard you telling her how good she felt and how much you loved sneaking around with her. I heard everything.” My eyes narrowed.

  “Stop it, you two.” Evelyn appeared in the hallway. “This is a business. A very reputable country club. The finest in all of central Kentucky. I won’t have this type of behavior.”

  “Evelyn.” My mouth flew open. “I talked my father into representing you, and this is how you repay me?”

  “I had no idea he was the one Ritchie was sending. He called to find out what happened to Emile. They’d been friends and one conversation led to another. The next thing I knew, he said he had a guy that needed a vacation. Here he is.” She pointed to Noah.

  “Then you can fire him. Rip the contract in half,” I demanded.

  “You and I both want what’s best for Charlotte.” Evelyn grabbed me by the elbow and dragged me into her office, shutting the door behind us. “He is our only hope. He has the experience and know-how to pull off her wedding.”

 
“What about Nick? He runs that kitchen exactly like Emile. He might even be better.” I couldn’t let her off the hook that quickly.

  “Nick can run a restaurant where people stream in and out all day. He’s never catered an event for over two hundred people, and if Charlotte’s wedding doesn’t go flawlessly, I might as well go on to jail for a crime I didn’t commit because they will fire me here. I don’t know which is worse.” Her voice trailed off and her eyes looked down.

  “I can’t work with Noah.” My words were simple. There wasn’t a need for an explanation. I just knew I couldn’t do it. “But I don’t need to work with him. Madison has given me the keys to Ford’s Bakery. I can transfer the cakes I’ve made for Charlotte’s wedding there and finish them. I can even bake the RCC’s desserts down there and bring them a couple of times a day for the next few days.” It was the only way I was going to work around her not firing Noah. “I’ll be leaving in a week, so you’re going to have to find a replacement for me because Noah can’t even make an ice cream sundae, much less make a dessert from scratch.”

  “You can’t just work today and tomorrow here to make it easier on everyone? The wedding is tomorrow. I’m not saying he isn’t a jerk, but I’m saying that he’s going to help save our beloved RCC. You know that you love this place just as much as I do or you wouldn’t have stuck your neck out to not only get your dad to help me but put all your needs aside and work here over the last couple of days.”

  She was right. I did love this place.

  “Besides, I did give you your first baking job.” She gave me a sly smile.

  “You got me there.” I hesitated and quickly thought about working next to Noah. “Fine. I’ll finish the cake here and the desserts for the day. That’s it.”

  “That’s all I’m asking you to do.” She pulled me into a big hug. “Thank you, Sophia. Now you can go back to your old job without Noah there and be much happier.”

  “That’s something I didn’t think of.” My brows shot up.

  In a week when I left Rumford, Noah was going to be Evelyn’s and the RCC’s problem, not mine or The Manhattan’s. Suddenly, I hated him more. He was the one getting the reward, staying in Rumford with good and loving people. People I loved. So why was I going back to The Manhattan?

  I gulped back a lump in my throat. I couldn’t believe it had taken seeing Noah in Rumford to realize how much I loved being home and making simple desserts that my family and friends loved.

  Chapter Eighteen

  A good, old-fashioned, wealthy Rumford party was one not to be missed. Since I hadn’t gotten to visit with Ella Capshaw at Peacocks and Pansies, I’d decided to throw on one of my old party dresses. While I snatched the dress from my parents’ house, I also grabbed the frozen skillet apple pie along with the box of Emile’s ledgers Evelyn had said I could take. My heart broke when I was leaving their house, and Duchess was crying. When I picked her up, she purred and snuggled close to me.

  “Are you missing me?” I rubbed down her soft fur. “Want to have a sleepover?” I asked her.

  She let out a soft meow and that was my cue to take her with me, but not before I gathered her some food and left Bitsy a note to say that Duchess was going to go home with me.

  While I got dressed, I questioned several times whether I would just show up or if I should call Ella to let her know I was coming. What was one more guest? I twirled in front of the mirror and couldn’t help but smile at Duchess lying on the bed behind me. She was purring deeply.

  “We are southerners,” I said to Duchess. She lifted her head and gave a simple meow. “You’re right. We have an open-door policy around here.” I tickled the top of her head and made sure she had some kitty kibble before I left for Charlotte’s shower.

  “Good evening.” A young and vibrant woman answered the door. She had on an LBD with high heels, a strand of pearls, and matching earrings. Her black hair was cut in an angled bob and parted neatly down the middle. “I’m Ella Capshaw, and you are?”

  “Sophia Cummings.” I smiled while she busied herself looking at a clip board.

  “You won’t find her on the guest list.” Carter trotted up to the door. “She’s with me.”

  “Hi, Carter. Welcome to my home.” She took a step back, and it didn’t go unnoticed that she kept an eye on me after we walked in.

  “What are you doing here?” Carter asked as he dragged me into the hallway.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked back.

  “I’m in the wedding. It’s a rehearsal dinner.”

  “Rehearsal dinner, pfft.” I laughed, and when he didn’t laugh back, I realized he wasn’t joking. “Are you kidding me?” My blood started to boil. “Madison told me it was a shower.”

  “Brett has to work tomorrow night on a big development coming to town, and he didn’t want to have to wait until he got back from the honeymoon to seal the deal. So the rehearsal is here tonight.” There was a spark in his eye.

  “You’re enjoying this.” I shook my finger at him.

  “Now I think it’s funny that your friend told you it was a shower and you showed up.” He laughed at his own words. “If it were a shower and you still weren’t invited, then why are you here?” He stuck his hand out. His body shifted to the right and his eyes lowered. “Wait. I know why you’re here.”

  “For Charlotte.” I stiffened.

  “You’re here because Ella Capshaw is giving this shower and she’s on your little chalkboard list of suspects. You’re here to snoop.” He shook an all-knowing finger at me.

  “Am I that transparent?” I asked just as a loud squeal came from behind us.

  “Are you two together?” Charlotte’s pointer finger gestured back and forth between me and Carter. “Oh my gawd,” she gasped. “Carter.” She playfully smacked his bicep underneath the baby-blue suit coat that made his eyes pop and softened his skin tone. That I did notice. “Did you ask Sophia to be your date?”

  “Yes, I did.” Carter agreed with a big grin on his face. “And you should’ve seen her jump at the chance.”

  “Mm-hmm,” I hummed, and grabbed a flute of champagne from the waiter’s tray as he walked past me. “Nearly clobbered him when he asked.” I took a nice long drink.

  “After all this time.” Charlotte’s shoulders lifted to her ears and fell back down with a happy sigh before she got dragged off by her mother.

  After all this time? What was she talking about? I’d just met him this week. I brushed it off as her being nervous about getting married in forty-eight hours.

  “I can’t believe you are here to snoop and use Charlotte as a cover-up.” Carter didn’t miss a beat.

  As soon as he could jump on me, he did.

  “Emile’s death wasn’t just some joke. Or some run-of-the mill murder. Someone is going to great lengths to cover it up.” He told me as if I didn’t already know that.

  “When they tried to run me over, it got real personal.” I took another drink, nearly emptying the glass.

  “Make it unpersonal.” He darted off down the hall.

  “Unpersonal?” I asked. “Is that a word?” I hollered down the hall, only to get a glare back from over his shoulder. “Unpersonal. Who ever heard alike?”

  “You made it.” Madison and Matt looked so nice all dressed up.

  “You didn’t tell me it was a rehearsal dinner.” I noodled the idea that she knew she was setting me up with Carter. “Were you trying to fix me up?”

  Madison smiled and tucked her arm in the crook of Matt’s, leading him down the hall.

  After another glass of champagne, I’d gotten the liquid courage to finally do what I came for: figure out if Ella had had an affair with Emile.

  With everyone greeting the happy bride and groom, I made my way around Ella’s home and found her in the kitchen barking orders to the staff she’d assembled for the occasion.

  “I’ve got a niggling suspicion that you aren’t really here as Carter’s date, are you?” Ella looked over the trays some wa
itress had before she gave the okay to serve them. “I’d heard you’d been running around town playing detective about Emile’s death.”

  “Is it that obvious we aren’t a couple?” I asked. It really popped my bubble too. I’d thought we looked good standing in the hallway snickering back and forth.

  “There’s definitely a little chemistry there, though.” Ella wasn’t seeing through my cover-up.

  “Honestly, I wanted to talk to you about Emile.” By her silence, I could tell she wasn’t going to just tell me all about him. “It’s my understanding that you and Emile had an affair.”

  “Affair?” She scoffed. “The last time I checked, I was an adult that was single and he was a single adult. So I have a hard time calling it an affair.”

  “Bad choice of words.” It was my way of apologizing. “Were the two of you an item?”

  She stuck a piece of the fancy cheese square in her mouth. “I ain’t gonna lie. We did have a fling. But a week ago”—she did a little happy shimmy-shake with her shoulders and rolled her eyes with a great big smile on her face—“I met Grant Livingsworth.”

  She wiggled her brows while I narrowed mine.

  “The Grant Livingsworth?” she asked, as if I should’ve known the name.

  “Who is that?” I asked.

  “His family only owns the biggest franchised store in town.” She winked. “The Piggly Wiggly.” Pride dripped out of her mouth.

  “You want to be the Queen Sow?” I joked, scooting out of the waitress’s way.

  “Oh, Sophia Cummings.” She playfully swatted at me. “I heard you have a wicked sense of humor. You’d have to in order to really want to stick your nose in a murder investigation. Though I don’t blame you. Carter is a fine, fine specimen of a man.” This time she gave me a long, theatrical wink.

  “Back to Emile.” I hurried her back to the subject before Carter noticed I wasn’t with the rest of the guests and came looking for me.