Sugary Sweets (A Taste of Love Series Book 2)

by A. M. Willard

  “You sure can,” Morgan responds as she reaches in and grabs a cinnamon twist and places it on a plate for her to enjoy. When Cassidy turns around to head over to her table, she spots me right away. “Mrs. Zara!” She screeches at a whole new level that I’ve never heard her reach before. I pivot to head her way and watch her as she places her plate down and dashes toward me in one swift move. It literally is like a blink of an eye before she is wrapped around my legs. It’s crazy how we’ve only known her for a few short months, but she’s become one of us already. Natasha had us all over one afternoon for a tea party, and it seems to have become a monthly thing now. I mean, have you ever seen three grown ladies in hats, crazy dresses, scarfs, drinking tea and eating cookies? If not, you totally should because in my opinion, it was pretty epic. It makes me want a girl, but at the same time, I hope for a boy. See the conflict here? I’m a mess over this. But Cassidy has come into our group and wrapped us all around her fingers. Diesel, on the other hand, is wrapped around Natasha’s fingers, and I couldn’t be happier with this. For years she’s fought against finding someone that she could settle down with, and all of us think it’s him. He is the total opposite of her, but it’s just enough to give her the push and edge that she needs. Hell, it doesn’t hurt that she’d do anything for his daughter. I remember a few weeks ago she needed to talk and wanted me instead of Morgan, which by the way it was a proud moment for me as she always talks to Morgan about things like this. We went to dinner, and all she needed was my ear as she explained her fears with this new journey. The fact that our super strong Natasha is scared to have her heart broken by not just a man but a beautiful young child is priceless. I can see her drawing visitation papers up if they ever split up, this would just allow her to still visit her inner child that she keeps hidden. A tug of my pants legs brings my attention back to the reason I’m standing here with a smile on my face from ear to ear. “Hi Cassidy, how are you today?” I ask, as I grab her hand and bring her over to the table and take a seat across from her.

  “I’m okay. Where’s the baby?” I laugh as she knows I’m pregnant and asks this question every time she sees me. She doesn’t fully comprehend that it’s in my belly and it will be a few more months before it arrives. I pat my tummy and explain to her that it’s still growing. See, I’ve learned that you can’t tell all the details about how the baby will just pop out of my hoo-ha and cause havoc on everything. That, mind you, was quickly explained at the tea party.

  “Morning Zara, you ready for the trip?” Natasha asks as she slides in next to me allowing Diesel to sit next to his daughter. I turn my head in his direction as I answer her, “I’ll be ready and can I stay with you tonight?” I ask and laugh out loud as I’m examining Diesel sitting on the bench.

  “No, and what’s so funny?”

  “Have you ever noticed how big his arms are? I mean, look they’re larger than Cassidy.”

  “Yes, I have seen, and why do you want to stay at my house, don’t you have one of your own?”

  “I do and since we have ears all I can say is that if you girls want a safe trip tomorrow; someone needs to let me sleep over tonight.”

  “No… No… No… Do not let her sucker you into this, Natasha,” Morgan says as she’s sitting a few muffins down for us.

  “Why? What am I missing?”

  “I’ll explain since we have others in our presence. Since the missing articles of clothing, someone started a game of not going to sleep, which has caused a lot of pent up aggression and moodiness, and shall I say, she’s extremely grumpy,” Morgan explains while I cut my eyes in her direction.

  “You all started this, so you have to deal with me,” I say with a smile.

  “No, I didn’t start anything- I just agreed with Frankie on it. It was, what did she call it? Payback! That’s right, and I’m not even sure what the payback was for, but it was pretty funny. I’ll ask you nicely to deal with that before we are locked into a plane together, please?”

  “Nope… Not happening and you will all suffer just as much as I am.”

  “Oh, we won’t be,” Natasha and Morgan say in unison, and I know now why I’m not allowed over to either’s house tonight.

  “Slide out Natasha, I need to get to work since I’m currently friendless. I’ll just go to the kitchen and talk to the flour like I’ve grown accustomed to doing.” She stands and allows me to exit the bench before she laughs and calls out to me, “Tell the flour we said hello.”

  I stop short of the kitchen door and turn my head in their direction, “You are very lucky you have company or else I would tell you what the flour would say,” I respond and enter my new safe zone.

  I examine the tickets for today and tomorrow and set my eyes on the one cake that I’ve been dying to bake since the order came in. It’s for a baby shower and something in me has wanted to create this one since day one. It’s nothing fancy as they have requested a simple three tier yellow cake mix with the bottom in a grayish color, middle white, and the top a baby blue with a hint of teal in the mix. A tiny layer of lace ribbon fondant around the edges and the front should showcase buttons, a bow tie, and a mustache on the top. I mean, how much more elegant can you be with this cake? I warned the girls on planning mine. I don’t want it over the top, just simple and me – which Frankie said we would have to design a pregnant lady with a big belly and have the kid popping out between my legs. Of course, the more I think of it I would pee my pants if that was my cake. I trust that this is in Morgan’s hands and not the girls’ as we would never order our cakes from someplace else.

  I’ve also warned them no animals on top of mine, we don’t need to look like we’re going to the zoo, for Pete's sake. You should see some of the ones we get in here. It’s crazy the stuff people ask for, but I just want simple. Which is probably why I love this one and can’t wait to get it done. After I make it, I have a few other random birthday cakes and cupcakes to finish up before I can leave for the day. When I start gathering my ingredients I realize that all of our shelf space is full of orders and backup supplies from the last few days. I poke my head out front to ask Morgan, “Hey, where am I to put all the orders today? We are running out of space you know.”

  “I know, Derrick is coming today to deliver and I’m sorry I packed the racks this morning as I wanted to make sure we are fully equipped while we’re gone.”

  “No worries, I just need a place for this cake once I’m done, they should be here before closing to pick it up, though.”

  “Okay, I’ll come help find a place in a minute,” Morgan says, and I nod my head before I turn and head back to the kitchen. With a glance around the rest of the kitchen, I have to wonder how much longer we can stay here. We have a calendar full of orders for almost the remainder of the year, not to mention the random ones that come in which Morgan can’t seem to say no to or the daily baking we have to keep up with for the day to day business. After we had catered the cake for the Mayor’s daughter’s wedding over the Christmas holiday, the Polka Dot bakery was featured in our local business magazine as the best bakery in Atlanta. It was pretty cool as they did a little interview with us all and took pictures of us working and placed them around the article. Hatcher still comes in and helps from time to time; Jaime has become our right hand, which we plan to promote to a store-front manager. One of the things we need to talk about while away is how many more employees we need. The bigger I get, the harder it will be for me to actually work in the kitchen and be on my feet. The plan is to be here as much as I can and Morgan tries to keep up, but with all her other owner duties it’s also becoming hard for her. Plus, she’s backed away just a little so she can have what we call ‘Jayden time’. Which is code for he’s got a few hours away from the studio and doesn’t want to be bothered by anyone. It’ll all work out, but in the meantime, we have to figure out a plan so it’ll work in the end.

  I hear “Peacock” by Katy Perry coming from my back pocket and I can’t help but smile. Yes, I set that to Hatcher’s ring tone
and it’s amazing… I take a moment to decide if I want to answer or not. I know if I don’t answer and ignore his calls he will only end up showing up here at the bakery, but I just don’t want to talk to him right now. I know I’m sulking, and it’s my right to sulk, and yes I know I started this game and could give in at any time. But… Here’s the thing, I’m very competitive and don’t like to lose, so I have to keep going until he is begging for me. Yes, that is the plan. I tug the phone from my pocket and put it on vibrate so I can focus on the task at hand- creating this amazing cake.

  The day went on without hearing anything else from Hatcher, which was surprising that he didn’t even show up to check on me. A tiny portion of my heart is hurt from this, but it’s my own fault for ignoring him and not opening up to what I’m genuinely worried about. Maybe this trip is what I need, maybe being away from here for a few days will help me process my life. Not to mention I miss Frankie and know that she’d understand my concerns more than anyone else around us would. When I make the turn into our subdivision my eyes zone in on all the houses I pass. All the houses resemble each other with their cookie-cutter style. Everything else makes them different … the colors, landscape, cars parked in the driveway, the couples in the front lawns, the people standing on the sidewalks chatting about what I assume to be little league and the neighborhood picnic that’s coming up. I received the flyer in the mailbox the other day but quickly trashed it as I have no plans to join in on this fun. A few of the ladies wave as I pass inching myself closer to the safety of my walls, but I notice how some of their smiles aren’t real. They don’t meet the ear to ear qualifications that I usually sport, and that scares me. As soon as I pull into the driveway, I push it all down deep to fester. It’s when I open the car door that I notice Hatcher leaning against the doorframe of our front door. He’s got that sexy smirk plastered all over his face. It’s the one that I fell in love with, the one that melts my heart and makes me say yes to everything this man desires from me. That’s the one thing I don’t want to lose, the day he stops showing me this- is the day my life as I know it will be over. That also gets pushed down deep as I return the smile at my husband and put one foot before the other to march towards him for my greeting.

  “Evening,” he says in his deep voice.

  “Evening, how’s my husband tonight?” escapes from my lips as he wraps his arms around my waist dipping his chin down the crook of my neck. He places his lips on my bare skin, just enough to give me a kiss that leaves a trail of goosebumps over my flesh.

  “Better now that his family is home. Come on, I made dinner,” he says as he drags me inside and I shut the door behind us. The aroma of chicken sautéed in a lemon basil sauce hits my nostrils instantly causing my stomach to growl. “Did you eat today? And I mean something other than pastries?”

  “I did… Morgan went out and picked up soup and sandwiches for us. I told you I would eat more, so you don’t need to worry as your food police are on the job,” I say, cutting my eyes at him. I only do this because I know he has people watching me. It’s not that I don’t eat; I just get sidetracked and don’t remember until my stomach growls in protest. My weight has been on target, which proves that not only am I growing, but so is our child.

  “I don’t know what you mean, but I’m happy to hear you had lunch today. Especially since I called to see if you wanted to join Brody and myself.”

  “Sorry, it’s been so busy, and I had a few cakes I wanted to do myself today. Plus, Jaime will be handling most of the stuff while we are gone and I didn’t want her stressed on the backlogged orders. Oh, by the way, Morgan told me you volunteered to help while we are away, and that’s super sweet of my husband to come to the rescue. Wouldn’t it be funny if you, Jayden, and Brody all put on aprons for us women to have some girl time?”

  “How do you know we aren’t?” he asks with a wink and it causes me to laugh because I can actually picture them all helping out to make sure we have a stress free time away from the bakery. I push that thought down and figure I’ll hear about this one once we all return.

  Hatcher announces that dinner is made, and I grab my plate so we can eat and then I need to pack. I can feel the sexual tension floating around us and I wonder how the rest of the night will go. I can’t help myself as this is all I can focus on while I shove food in my mouth. I push back from the table and head in the kitchen to refill my glass with water. When I open the fridge I notice that dessert is staring back at me. Yes, I might actually hear it calling for me to skip the rest of my meal and go right to this part of the night. I pivot on my heels and notice Hatcher watching me as I walk back over to join him. I fumble with my lips, this child I’m carrying wanting me to kiss its father right now. I would never admit this to Morgan, and only Hatcher knows this, but I’m cheating on our bakery. Since we’re trying to keep Morgan from eating chocolate, we’ve cut down on some of the items we carry that require it. It’s a known fact that if we have it, she sticks her finger in it. Which causes massive lips, and hives now, so to outsmart her, we only do them upon request. Usually when those special items come in, either I or Jaime run to get it. This has also helped with not keeping it in stock. We thought by not keeping it on the menu but having it on hand would cut down on Morgan sneaking a bite here or there. Oh, we actually caught her in the freezer with a bowl of left over chocolate in her hands and the biggest lips of the century one time. A month ago while leaving Hatcher’s parents, I was craving brownies, and we stopped at this little place around the corner from their house. Hatcher said I would love them, and I have to say he wasn’t wrong at all. It’s the best thing ever, or it could just be that I didn’t have to make them. I like to put them in the refrigerator to stay cold while I scoop vanilla bean ice cream on top of them. Nothing else needs to be mixed with it, no sauce, whipped cream- nothing but cold brownie and two scoops of my favorite ice cream on top. That to me right now will be ranked right with an orgasm.

  “I see you brought out the big guns tonight, didn’t you? Are you trying to get in my pants, Hatcher James?”

  “No, I honestly want a nice evening with my wife before she leaves me for a strange city. Plus, I know how much you love them, and I was in the area.”

  “Why were you in the area? That’s not even near the office,” I question, as I wonder what he might be up to.

  “Went to see my mother today, just wanted to check on her and I needed to roam around the attic for a bit.”

  “Attic?” I say with my face contoured in confusion.

  “After we eat I’ll show you what I found.”

  “Clarify… Eat dinner or dinner and dessert?”

  “Dinner first, surprise second, and dessert third.”

  “Okay,” I say, as I scoop up the rest of my food and let the flavors caress my taste buds like they are dancing. Dinner passed with our typical banter back and forth as I explained the baby cake I made today while Hatcher explained to me what him and Brody have been doing. I feel like he’s leaving something out, but that’s a conversation we need to leave for later.

  “Leave the plates; I can’t wait any longer for what I need to show you. Come on,” he says, dragging me behind him towards the garage. He flips the light on and my eyes land on an antique cherry wood cradle in mint condition.

  “Hatcher, where did you find this?” I breathe out as I allow my fingers to run over the wood and watch as the cradle rocks slowly back and forth.

  “It was mine and mom kept it all these years for me. My grandfather made it when my mom found out she was having me. It’s been covered in a sheet for all these years. Last time we were over for dinner, she reminded me that she had this and wanted me to have it for our child.”

  “I can’t believe how good of a condition it’s in. This is… it’s just beautiful, and I don’t have words,” I finally get out and can’t stop the tears from flowing anymore. I wasn’t even thinking about baby furniture, and here Hatcher is bringing us homemade pieces for our child. I guess I just planned to put
it in a laundry basket and call it a day. I’m totally not prepared for this and have no idea what I need to be doing.

  “Don’t cry Babe, it’s okay if you don’t want to use it.”

  “Don’t want to use it, are you nuts? Yes, we are putting it in the nursery and I just hope we can keep it in this condition for our grandchild.”

  “First, this goes in our room while the baby is a newborn and yes we will keep it like this for our next one and future grandkids.”

  “Oh…” I say in confusion, mentally noting that this is a newborn size crib and that I need to figure things out.