Wedding Cake Crumble

by Jenn McKinlay

  Mel didn’t have to ask who he meant. Although no one understood the crazy relationship between Marty and Olivia in which they seemed to bicker as much as they did anything else, there was no denying that while he’d been with her he’d had a spring in his step and a smile on his lips Mel hadn’t seen before or since. Mel missed his smile.

  “Is it over for sure?” she asked.

  “I think so,” he said. “I’ve stopped by, I’ve called, I’ve texted, I even tried to pull her back in by using our old dating handles in an e-mail. She’s not speaking to me in any format.”

  “Is it because your daughters are having you followed and it’s just too much drama?”

  “No, I hurt her,” he said. His shoulders hunched and he looked sheepish. “I didn’t tell her I was well-off. I let her think I was just getting by on a pension.”

  “Why?” Mel asked.

  “Because when my Jeanie died, it was common knowledge that I was rich and all of a sudden all of these women started chasing me. Some were out-and-out stalking me. But they didn’t want me, they wanted my money. When I hooked up with Liv, I wanted her to want me for me.”

  “Clearly, she did,” Mel said.

  “Yeah.” Marty downed his drink.

  “And it never occurred to you after a while that you should let her know you were better off than you seemed?” Mel asked.

  “I was going to,” he said. “Really. I just didn’t want things to get complicated, but then my daughters showed up—”

  “And Olivia found out,” Mel said.

  “I don’t know how to get her to forgive me,” he said. “And I miss her.”

  “Do you love her?” Mel asked.

  Marty nodded. “Crazy, huh?”

  Mel glanced around the room, looking at all of the couples surrounding them. Some, like Oz and Lupe, just fit so perfectly, but then there were others, like the tall woman with the shorter man, or the younger man with the older woman, or the quiet woman with the gregarious man, who didn’t seem to suit one another at all, and yet while Mel watched them she saw these couples exchange looks of affection, fondness, and love.

  “No, it’s not crazy,” Mel said. “Unexpected, sure, but isn’t that the best part?”

  Marty smiled at her. It was the first genuine smile she’d out of him in weeks. “Yes, it is,” he agreed.

  The band kicked in with a slow dance, and Mel glanced up to see Tate and Angie headed to the dance floor. At the first notes of Van Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately,” Mel felt her eyes water up and her throat get tight. Tate pulled Angie into his arms and they moved around the floor staring into each other’s eyes as if they were the only two people in the room.

  “Here,” Marty said. He handed Mel a fancy handkerchief from his tuxedo pocket. “You look like you’ve sprung a leak.”

  Mel laughed and dabbed at her eyes. Joe strolled over to where they stood and slipped his arm around Mel.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, they’re happy tears,” she said. “It’s all good.”

  Oz and Lupe drifted back to their group and Lupe hugged each of them in a warm hello embrace. Oz looked as besotted with his girl as ever and Mel hoped that with their lives pulling them in two different directions, it didn’t end in a crushing heartbreak for Oz.

  She laced her fingers with Joe’s, wanting to be sure of him and his presence. She couldn’t imagine what she’d feel if she lost him. It would be unbearable.

  Tate ended his dance with Angie by bending her over his arm in a deep dip. The photographer hired to replace Blaise was happily snapping away. Mel knew the pictures would be great, but Blaise had known Tate and Angie so well, it just wasn’t the same.

  “Come on,” Joe said. “Let’s go show them how it’s done.”

  Mel glanced quickly at Marty. She wasn’t sure he was in a good state to be left alone. He lifted his drink and waved her away.

  “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “Go.”

  “Save me a dance?” Mel asked him.

  “Obvy,” Marty said, using slang and sounding just like Oz. Mel smiled and let Joe lead her onto the dance floor.

  It was a slow song, and Joe pulled her close with her hand in his and his hand on her back. Mel put her hand on his shoulder and followed his lead, feeling at ease for the first time all day. That was, until her mother and Uncle Stan came dancing by.

  “Be careful in those shoes, Melanie,” Joyce leaned close to whisper. “You don’t want turn an ankle or, you know, dislodge anything.” Then she turned to Joe and added, “I love a nice Christmas wedding, don’t you, dear Joe?”

  “That might work,” Joe said. He gave Mel a cautious look. Mel felt her face get warm. Joe frowned at her as Joyce was led away by Uncle Stan.

  “That was weird. Explain,” Joe said.

  “Oh, where to begin,” Mel said. She tipped her head back to look up at him and said, “My mom has gotten it into her crazy cabeza that we’re pregnant.”

  Twenty

  “What?” Joe tripped and Mel had to catch him before he fell, taking her down with him.

  “I know, it’s crazy!” Mel said. “I don’t know how she comes up with this stuff.”

  “Joyce is an original,” he said. Then he looked at her. “So, last night my aunt Rosalind—”

  “Probably heard my mother and assumed that we’re expecting,” Mel said.

  “Was she upset by the idea?” he asked.

  “No,” Mel said. “More hopeful than anything else. You know you’ll always be her ‘dear Joe.’”

  Joe grinned and spun Mel in a slow turn. He pulled her close and kissed her quick.

  “That’s fine with me. She’s the mother of the woman I love; how could I not be grateful to her for raising you to be the amazing woman that you are?”

  “Oh my god, if you say that to her, she’ll replace me with you in her will.”

  “So, you’re sure we’re not . . .” Joe said. His gaze drifted down to her belly and then back up to her face.

  “No! Believe me, if and when that happens, you’ll be the first to know,” she said. She studied his handsome face. “Does the idea bother you?”

  Joe gave her a small smile. “Nope. In fact, just thinking about it makes me feel as if it’s right.”

  Mel nodded. She knew exactly what he meant. She could so easily see him holding a child or two or three of his own, and she wanted that with him. It was a good feeling.

  “Uh-oh.” Joe’s attention was caught by something over her shoulder.

  “Is my mother coming this way again?” she asked.

  “No, I think this crazy train is for Marty,” he said.

  “What?” Mel whipped her head in the direction he was staring.

  Sure enough, Olivia Puckett, Marty’s ex-girlfriend and Mel’s longtime baking rival had crashed the wedding. Mel looked for Angie. This could go a variety of ways, from Angie being full of magnanimous marital bliss and welcoming Olivia to a less-friendly reaction that would likely involve a tackle and some hair pulling. Uh-oh.

  Marty, for his part, was oblivious to Olivia’s entrance until Oz nudged him and pointed at the door. Marty turned around and took in the sight of Olivia, who Mel had to admit was looking quite lovely in a royal-blue dress with her curly gray hair brushed out in waves that framed her face becomingly.

  Marty put down his drink and began to walk across the room. When Olivia saw him she ran her hands over the skirt of her dress as if nervous. She sucked in a quick breath and approached him, halting just a few feet from where Mel and Joe had stopped dancing to watch, just in case any refereeing was required.

  Marty didn’t say anything. He stood with his hands on his hips, looking at her as if he didn’t know what to make of her sudden appearance.

  Olivia reached a hand out to him, but then pulled it back.

&n
bsp; “What do you want, Liv?” Marty asked. His voice wasn’t unkind but Mel knew he was hurt that Olivia hadn’t listened to him when he wanted to explain.

  Olivia looked him in the eye and with a voice that trembled, she said, “‘I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.’”

  Marty’s jaw dropped and then he was reaching for her. He wrapped her in his arms and said, “I do, Liv, I do love you.”

  Mel felt her eyes go wide. Had Olivia just used a movie quote to make up with Marty?

  “Notting Hill,” Joe whispered. “Even I know that one.”

  Mel laughed. She glanced up and saw Angie on the other side of Marty and Olivia with the same gobsmacked expression on her face. They shared a look and Mel raised her hands as if to ask, What do we do?

  Angie shrugged and pointed to the dance floor. She grabbed Tate by the hand and led the way, leaving Mel and Joe to follow.

  Dinner, dancing, more dinner, then Oz’s cupcakes, which were amazing and made Angie cry because they had been so carefully rendered with such obvious love. The night whirled around Mel in a kaleidoscope of emotions, with bright pink flashes of happiness spotted with green sparkles of tenderness swirled with tiny orange dots of anxiety. But she needn’t have worried at all. It was a perfect day.

  If there was a dim spot, it was that she never did get a chance to tell Angie how happy she was for her, how much she valued her, and how grateful she was to have her in her life. It was okay, though; today wasn’t about Mel and Angie, it was about Tate and Angie. Mel would find the time to talk to Angie when she got home from her honeymoon. She tried to be okay with that.

  When Angie and Tate made a dash to their limousine to leave for their honeymoon, Mel stood outside under the perfect starlit sky and waved good-bye with Joe at her side and their friends all around.

  Angie passed out hugs and kisses and laughs while Tate held the car door open for her.

  “Mrs. Harper,” he finally yelled. “We’re going to miss our plane.”

  Angie ignored him and then her eyes went wide and she spun around. “Mrs. Harper? I’m Mrs. Harper.”

  “That you are.” Tate grinned. He opened his arms and Angie hurried into them, kissing him fiercely to much cheering and applause.

  They climbed into the limousine and they were off. Mel stood waving, hoping her friends had the best honeymoon even as she already missed them.

  She was the last one waving when she dropped her arm to follow Joe back into the club. The music was still going and people were still dancing, milking the evening for all that it was worth.

  A screech of tires sounded and Mel and Joe whipped back around to see that the limo had lurched to a stop. The back door popped open and Angie dashed out. She had her voluminous skirt clutched in two fists as she ran down the sidewalk in her heels.

  “Mel,” she cried. “Mel, wait.”

  “What is it?” Mel dropped Joe’s hand and hurried forward, meeting Angie halfway. “Are you all right? Did you forget something?”

  “Yes, this,” Angie said. Then she grabbed Mel in a hug that strangled.

  Mel laughed and then she started to cry. Angie was already crying.

  “You’re my best friend,” Angie said. “The sister of my heart. I never would have met Tate if it weren’t for you, never mind married him. Oh, Mel, thanks for being my friend all these years.”

  Mel choked, and not just because Angie still had her in a quasi-headlock, but because she had just said everything Mel had been wanting to say.

  She pulled out of Angie’s embrace and looked at her. She knew as long as she lived she would never find another female kindred spirit, bosom buddy, or bestie like Angie.

  “I feel the same way,” Mel said. “If it weren’t for you, I never would have ended up with Joe, or opened the bakery, or any of it. I’m so very grateful that you’re in my life. Promise me we’ll always be best friends.”

  “Forever,” Angie cried. “You’re the Romy to my Michele.”

  “The Enid to my Rebecca.”

  “The Lucy to my Ethel.”

  “The Thelma to my Louise.”

  “Except for the ending,” they said together.

  Mel laughed and then hugged Angie tight. “Go. Your husband is waiting.”

  “Husband!” Angie jumped up in the air and then danced in place. “Okay, I’m going, but you have to make me a promise.”

  “Anything,” Mel said.

  “You have to promise you’ll be careful while we’re gone. Don’t go investigating this thing with the Palms by yourself. Keep Joe with you at all times. Better yet, don’t do anything, because I will be so worried about you. Please?”

  “I promise,” Mel said. She hugged Angie one more time and then gave her a gentle shove. “Now go!”

  “Bye,” Angie said. She lifted her skirts as she jogged back to the limo, shouting over her shoulder, “I love you!”

  “I love you, too!” Mel answered. She waved and then turned back to the club to see Joe walking towards her.

  He took her hand in his. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, Angie and I just had some unfinished business,” Mel said. “Plus, she wanted me to promise to be careful, or more accurately, to stay out of the Elise Penworthy case completely.”

  “Can I second that?” Joe asked. He put his arm around her shoulders as they walked back into the party that was slowly beginning to wind down. “Whoever killed Elise and the people associated with her is a very angry, very unbalanced person, and you do not want to make yourself their target.”

  “I know,” Mel said. “But Cassie—”

  “Has been let out on bail and has an excellent attorney,” Joe said. “You need to steer clear of this for me, for Captain Jack, and for Peanut. That poor dog has suffered enough.”

  “Leveraging the pets?” she asked.

  “Is it working?”

  “Depends,” Mel said. “Do we get to keep her?”

  Joe sighed. “Yes.”

  “Yay!” Mel was not a bit surprised. Peanut had firmly wedged herself into their house and even Captain Jack was warming up to her. Sort of. “Speaking of the kids, are you ready to go home to our pack? I’m worried that they might have destroyed the place by now.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Let’s go home.”

  The good-byes didn’t go as swiftly as Mel had hoped. They never did. But when they entered their house an hour later, there were no signs of bloodshed or tufts of fur to be found. In fact, the house was eerily quiet. Too quiet.

  “I don’t see them, do you?” she asked.

  “No.” Joe sounded as concerned as she felt.

  They made their way through the house until Mel heard the distinct sound of snoring. She stopped and held up her hand for Joe to do the same. He tipped his head, listening, and then jerked his chin in the direction of their room.

  Mel flicked on the light and there in the middle of the bedroom floor, curled up in her favorite dark blue chenille throw was Peanut, with Captain Jack snuggled up against her.

  “That might be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Joe said. “I’m a grown man and it’s making my heart hurt.”

  “If you had a uterus like me, you’d be having spasms,” Mel said.

  He laughed and the sound startled the pets. Peanut jumped to her feet but it was too fast and her front legs collapsed, dropping her on her face. Captain Jack blinked at them and stretched as Peanut got back to her feet and charged at them. Captain Jack continued stretching. When he was done he leapt up onto the bed and curled up to go back to sleep. Peanut danced around their feet, demanding love.

  “She’s so happy,” Joe said. He scratched Peanut’s back right where she liked it while Mel rubbed Captain Jack’s ears.

  “He’s never going to admit that he likes the dog,” Mel said. “But he does.”


  “Yeah, they’ve bonded. I guess in the end, everyone just wants to belong to somebody,” Joe said.

  Mel studied her little family. It was true. They belonged to one another now and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

  * * *

  • • •

  It was three days before Mel felt as if she’d recovered from the wedding. Looking at Marty and Oz in the kitchen of the bakery, she could tell they felt the same.

  “So, Lupe had to go back to school?” she asked.

  “Yep,” Oz answered. He was carefully boxing up some pink-and-black cupcakes he’d just finished for a birthday party that evening.

  “Did you have a good time while she was here?”

  “Yep.”

  Mel looked at Marty. He raised his hands in innocence. “Don’t look at me. We’re dudes. We don’t talk about stuff like you girls do.”

  “Are you living with Olivia again?” she asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Do your daughters know?”

  “Yep.”

  “That’s it? That’s all you’ll give me, really?” Mel asked.

  Marty and Oz exchanged amused glances.

  “If Angie were here she’d pull the information out of you or threaten to pull your intestines through your nose,” Mel said. “Huh, I may have to call her.”

  “No!” they said together.

  “Then talk.”

  Oz cracked first. “Lupe and I are back together. She thought it was too much to ask me to wait for her since school is taking up so much of her time, but I told her I thought she was worth it, so we’re good.”

  “Excellent,” Mel said. She patted him on the shoulder and caught his smile beneath his fringe of bangs.

  “And Olivia and I made up,” Marty said. “I told my daughters to call off their dogs, that I was of sound mind and that Olivia was my gal, and if they didn’t like it they could learn to live without my money as I’d cut them both out of my will.”

  “Good for you,” Mel said. “Were they mad?”