Love and Cupcakes

by Susan Bishop Crispell

Jack never pegged her sister as the frilly, white dress and a thousand-yellow-daisies type of girl, but she expected a little more fanfare than city hall and a witness they pulled off the street.

  “Mason’s band was touring,” Harper said in defense. “And it wasn’t like we planned it. We wanted to get married, so we did.”

  Jack stalked around the shop, wiping crumbs and caked-on icing from the tabletops. The rag slapped the smooth surface followed by a slow swish, swish as the cloth zigzagged. “That’s not gonna fly with Mama and Daddy. Or Hutton,” she said. She glared at her sister, who thumbed through a catalog at the counter, as if they’d been talking about breaking curfew instead of eloping.

  “You have to tell them, Harp. Before someone else does.”

  “The only ones who know are you and Graham. So if y’all don’t tell, no one will.”

  “They’ll find out. And they’ll be crushed.”

  “So I’m married. Big deal.”

  “You took vows, promised to be with someone for the rest of your life. That’s kind of a big deal. I mean, it’s not like you’ve done this before, right? You don’t have other husbands lurking around anywhere do you?”

  “You think you’re so funny,” Harper scoffed. She ripped a page from the magazine, balled it up so it crunched loudly in her fist, and chucked it at her sister.

  Jack ducked. The missile flew over her head and smacked against the wall. “Even if we’d known him—or at least met him a couple times—it would still be a big deal,” she said. “Hutton prides himself on knowing what’s going on with you when no one else in the world does. If he doesn’t know about Mason, it’s not going to end well. Please don’t let him find out from someone else.”

  Though Jack wanted to have the kind of relationship with her sister that she imagined other sisters sharing, she was always second best to Hutton. The consolation prize. Until today. For the first time, she knew something he didn’t. And she wasn’t sure what to do about it.

  Over the next few hours, she pulled out her phone to call Hutton, and each time she reconsidered. She finally slipped it into Graham’s apron pocket and told him he wasn’t allowed to give it back to her until she was ready to leave. And then only if the urge to call her brother had passed.

  When Mason returned to the shop, she decided the best way to help her sister would be to figure out what had happened between them and if there was any way to fix it. He sat at the table closest to the counter. He didn’t talk to anyone, just seemed content to outwait his wife and pass the time by scribbling on a napkin he had pulled from the dispenser.

  Jack couldn’t smell his desire, but the sense of it was strong enough to knock her back a step. She regained her footing before taking pity on him. She plucked one of Graham’s new porter-caramel cups from the case. As long as he was there, she may as well taste-test on him. “Stakeout fuel,” she said as she slid the plate in front of him.

  He was badass and pretty all in one. He had ocean-blue eyes framed by thick, long eyelashes; sculpted biceps—presumably from playing bass in his band—and a few tattoos peeking out from his shirt sleeves and back collar. No wonder her sister had married him.

  “How’s the elbow?”

  “Better, thanks.”

  “I’m sorry I thought you were a guy,” he said, trying not to smile.

  She could just make out a dimple underneath the heavy layer of whiskers. “So, do you have any siblings?”

  “Five. All sisters, ironically enough.”

  “With proper girl names, I take it?”

  “Good, Southern-girl names at that.” He affected a Gone With the Wind accent.

  Jack stuck her hands in her pockets. Rocking back on her heels, she asked, “Can I get you anything else?”

  Mason shook his head. “Think she’ll ever come out of there?”

  “Lemme see what I can do.”

  She went into the kitchen and smiled when Graham turned around. She’d been so worried about what her parents and brother would say about Harper being married that she’d forgotten to be worried about Graham.

  “How long has he been here?” Graham asked.

  “A few hours,” she said. She grabbed his bottle of water, but hesitated before taking a drink. She wouldn’t have thought twice about drinking after him before their kiss. She forced herself to take a sip. “He’s tenacious, I’ll give him that. And adorable. He’s got adorable in spades.”

  “That’s my husband you’re talking about,” Harper whispered. Her lips barely moved.

  “What’s your point?” Jack asked.

  “Don’t talk about him like you know him. You don’t.”

  “That’s not my fault, now is it?” Her tone had taken on Harper’s usual snark.

  Jack looked out the pass-through window. Mason had gone back to writing on his napkins. He had a small pile littering the table next to his empty plate.

  “Quit baiting her,” Graham said to Jack. “She’ll go talk to him when she’s ready.”

  “Do it soon, Harp,” she begged. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but I don’t think he’s going anywhere until you do.”

  fifteen

  Graham hadn’t had much time alone with Jack in days. With Harper hiding out from Mason, and Mason camping out in the shop for hours every day, it was hard to find time to talk to her. So, when he walked into the shop and nearly ran into her, it took a minute to realize they were alone.

  “Where are Tweedledee and Tweedledumped?”

  “I think they went for a walk,” Jack said, laughing.

  “I like Mason. Maybe they’ll work things out,” Graham said.

  “I like him, too, but it’s nice to have the shop to ourselves again.”

  “Yeah, it is.” He took a step toward her. The need to be close to her sparked every nerve, and his skin flushed with heat. He didn’t care what his dad said, no other woman affected him the way Jack did. He let the scent of mint and lime seep from his memory and cloud his thoughts. “Can we talk for a minute?”

  Jack moved to put the table between them. Her hands left prints on the smooth, metal surface. “Hutton stopped by this morning. He seemed a little on edge. Do you know why he’s not coming tonight?”

  “I think he’s just busy,” he lied. He hated doing it, but he couldn’t tell Jack they’d fought about her. She’d find some way to blame herself. Better to keep her thinking everything was normal.

  “You didn’t tell him, did you?” She wasn’t accusing, just curious.

  “No. And Harp’s not the one he’s focussed on right now, so you don’t need to worry about her.”

  Jack reached out and put her hand on his forearm. “What’s wrong, Graham?” Her voice was as soft as her touch.

  “I disagreed with him. He didn’t like it.” When he looked up, she pulled away.

  “I know how that goes. He usually comes around though,” she said.

  Graham wasn’t so sure Hutton would this time. And he was still mad enough not to care. Another couple of days and he’d probably find himself back in the same lose-lose situation with Jack and Hutton, but, for today at least, he was choosing Jack.

  “Are you still coming tonight?” he asked. She stiffened. He wondered if the tension pushing against his chest was all in his head. Taking a deep breath, he said, “If you don’t want to—”

  “No, I’m in,” she said so fast it came out as one word. “I was thinking, though, that since Hutt’s not gonna be there, that maybe we could invite Mason.”

  So much for a night alone with her. But maybe it was for the best.

  “Yeah, sure,” he said.

  Jack’s smile made the room vibrate. The lights brightened around her, and he could see every detail of her face in perfect clarity—the sprinkling of freckles across her cheekbones and bridge of her nose, her golden-brown eyes that could hypnotize if he stared into them too long.

  How does Hutton expect me to resist that?

  “Don’t worry about my brother. Y’all will work i
t out.”

  He nodded and forced a smile when she looked back at him from the doorway.

  With Harper out and no idea of when she’d be back, Graham took over icing duties for the day. He grabbed the piping bags from the drying rack and got to work on mixing up a batch of frosting.

  He had two dozen done when the back door swung open.

  “Would you just tell me why you left? ’Cause for the life of me I can’t figure it out, Harp,” Mason begged.

  “It just wasn’t working,” Harper said. She froze when she saw Graham. Her lie filled the room like burning cake batter.

  He raised his eyebrows at her but didn’t say anything.

  Mason followed her, pulling the door shut with a loud click. “Yeah, you said that already.”

  “And I’ll keep saying it until you get the hint.” She turned to Graham and continued as if she hadn’t just been in the middle of an argument, “I was coming back for those.”

  “It’s all right. I needed a change of pace anyway,” Graham said. He continued to pipe in quick, overlapping circles.

  She grabbed the bag from him, squeezing a stream of icing onto the table. “I said I’d do them. Why do guys never listen?” she asked.

  “Why does everyone in your family think they get their way just because they say so?” he countered. There was no heat behind it, just a desire for a straight answer.

  “Because you let us.” Harper smiled and dangled the icing bag in front of him.

  “Sounds like you and I have that in common, Graham,” Mason said. “Maybe we should start a support group. You up for a drink?”

  “Best idea I’ve heard all day,” Graham said. He rinsed his hands, tugged at the knot on his apron, and tossed it to Harper. “Cupcakes are all yours.”

  They didn’t talk much on the walk to the coffee shop, both lost in their own girl problems. After they’d ordered, Graham led Mason to a table on the back patio of the coffee shop below his apartment. It smelled like bread, dark roast, and the musty scent of the moss that climbed up the back wall of the building and most of the flagstone walkway.

  He leaned back in his chair and let his head hang over the back.

  “So, you know them all pretty well, huh?” Mason asked.

  “Harper not as much as the other two,” Graham said.

  “But still well enough to know how this is gonna go over, I’m guessing. You and Jack have been awesome, but Harp’s barely mentioned Hutton since I showed up, and she doesn’t seem too keen on introducing me to her parents, either. I just don’t know how I’m gonna get her back without their support.”

  “They’re good people. Doug and Charlotte might need a couple days to come around, but they’re not the type to hold a grudge. They just want her happy and if you’re what does that, they’ll be on your side.”

  Mason rolled a sugar packet between his fingers. A few granules spilled out of an unseen hole to sprinkle across the table. “I take it Hutton won’t be as forgiving?”

  “The thing with Hutton is,” Graham started, trying to find the best way to describe his friend, “he loves his sisters. And if he thinks something or someone is bad for them, he’ll do whatever he can to protect them. Even if what he does ends up hurting them more.”

  “That seems counterproductive,” Mason said.

  “You have no idea.”

  “How do you deal with it with Jack?”

  Graham closed his eyes and sighed. Stretching his legs out in front of him, he drummed his fist on his thigh. “I don’t.”

  “Sorry, man. Harper said that you two were—”

  “Does this mean the first official ‘Friends of a Pace Support Group’ meeting has officially come to order?”

  “Dude, it started five minutes ago. Where’ve you been?” Mason asked.

  “Right. This thing with Jack—whatever it is—is very new and not quite stable yet. It probably could be something more by now if I hadn’t been friends with Hutton since first grade. But I have, so it’s a little tricky.”

  Graham couldn’t blame Hutton. Not completely. He could’ve made a different choice the first time he’d been faced with it. Just because he was reconsidering now didn’t mean it wasn’t the right one at the time.

  He took a sip of his iced coffee. Without cream or sugar, it tasted burned. He downed half of it anyway. Just because he wanted things to work out with Jack didn’t mean they would. What if this thing faded as it had with his other girlfriends? Then he’d ruin not only two friendships, but his career as well.

  He tried to ignore the voice that said the other relationships hadn’t worked out because of his feelings for Jack.

  The low rumbling of the grinders inside Three Sugars pulled him back to the conversation. “What about you and Harper?” he asked.

  Mason tugged at the leather cuff on his wrist, twisting it around and around so that the snap clanked against the table with each revolution. “Things were great. Better than. I don’t want to say getting married was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but it’s not like we planned it, either. It was almost like we had to, you know?”

  Graham thought of how emotional Harper had been since coming home and wondered aloud, “Is she—”

  “No, no, no. Not ‘had to’ because she was pregnant or anything. More like had to because what we felt for each other was so intense it was the only thing that made sense.” Mason shifted, leaning closer to Graham. His voice was shaky when he continued. “How’s Harper been since she came back? Does she seem happy?”

  “Some days. It’s been good seeing her and Jack become friends again. They hadn’t been close for a long while and I know it hurt Jack, but they seem to be working through it. And what Harper does with icing is nothing short of magic.”

  “I just thought she was working the front counter or something.”

  “She does that, too,” Graham said.

  Mason laughed. “Despite how much she claims to hate people, she’s really good with them.”

  “She has her moments.”

  ***

  Jack hadn’t told Harper she’d invited Mason to guy’s night. If she had, she knew her sister would find a reason to stay away. After a week of Mason hanging around, Harper had yet to thaw. She hoped getting them to spend some time together would convince Harper to take him back. Or at least make her admit whatever it was she thought was so wrong with her marriage.

  They stood in Graham’s kitchen divvying up who would carry what into the living room and debating which movie to watch first. Jack looked up at the thunderous pounding from the outside hallway. It was followed by a deep metallic clanking of the ancient stair railing.

  Hutton and Harper barreled through Graham’s door, gasping for air in between wracking laughs. Hutton had won the race upstairs, but only by a few feet. His triumphant victory lap around the room was cut short by Harper’s yelp of surprise as Mason followed Jack from the kitchen.

  Jack bobbled the plates she carried. One slid off the top of the stack, but Mason caught it before it crashed to the floor. She whispered a quick apology. It wasn’t enough to make up for the confrontation she knew was about to come. The only thing she could do was give him a weak smile.

  He shrugged at her. A silent What for?

  “Didn’t expect to see you tonight,” Graham said. It was almost a growl. The next couple of words were lost in a swig of beer.

  “Yeah. Hadn’t planned on coming out, but Harp was antsy. Wanted to get out, do something. She pestered me until I caved, so I figured we’d come crash your evening with Jack. Looks like we’re not the only ones.”

  He held his hand out to Mason and introduced himself. They surveyed each other, a quick once-over.

  Jack watched Harper, who had yet to move. The door was still open behind her. Jack waited for her sister to bolt, and jumped when Graham’s hand pressed into the small of her back. He nudged her forward, but left his hand where it was.

  “You’re not at all what I expected,” Mason said. “Based on what your sister
told me, I thought you’d be a Clark Kent stunt double or something.”

  “What have you been telling people, Jack? And how come I didn’t know you were dating someone?” He flicked a glance in Graham’s direction before meeting her eyes.

  Not wanting to rat out Harper, Jack deflected the comment. “You actually think I’d admit to being your sister?”

  “Jack isn’t dating him,” Graham said. His tone was firm, almost possessive. Jerking a thumb in Mason’s direction, he continued more calmly, “This one’s Harper’s.”

  Pale and motionless, Harper focused on Mason as if trying to make him disappear one cell at a time. Her eyes narrowed with the effort so only a speck of the normally vibrant blue was visible.

  “He wasn’t supposed to be here,” Jack said, looking from her sister to Hutton. Her voice teetered between defensive and apologetic. “I wouldn’t have invited him if—”

  “He damn well better not be dating either one of them,” Hutton interjected. “He’s married.” He held up his own hand, pointed to his wedding ring, then pointed at Mason’s.

  “Yeah. I’m married—”

  “My sister wouldn’t date a married guy.”

  Jack laid her hand on Mason’s forearm. The muscles bulged as he fisted his hands. “Just rip the Band-Aid off,” she said when he didn’t shake her off.

  “Do you wanna tell him, Harp?”

  Harper wrapped her arms around her waist and looked at her feet.

  “It’s not that difficult. You just say, ‘Hey y’all, I got hitched. And by the way, this is my husband.’ You don’t just take off without telling me and then freak out when I come after you. I mean, hell, Harp. I’m floundering here without you. And you can’t even bring yourself to tell your family about me.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  Hutton grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. “What the hell is he talking about?”

  “I got married in September,” she said. “I just, I didn’t know how to tell you.” Harper’s voice was so low Jack had to strain to hear.

  “It’s not a matter of how, it’s a matter of wanting to. And you didn’t. End of story,” Hutton said. He ignored Harper’s pleas to stay and slammed the door behind him.