Tart (The Fluffy Cupcake Book 2)

by Katie Mettner

  He leaned down and kissed my lips, his trembling against mine. “I do.”

  “I think you’re supposed to save that for our wedding day, Mr. Halla.”

  “Maybe I’m just practicing until the current and future Mrs. Halla lets me put this ring on her finger.”

  He held it up again and waited for me to lift my hand for him to put it on. When I did, he started to work the band off my finger until I grabbed his hand. “What are you doing?”

  “Taking the band off. You have a real engagement ring now.”

  I shook my head carefully and pushed the band back on my finger. “The band stays. Maybe when we said our vows around those rings, we thought they weren’t real, but the truth was, they were never more real. This band was blessed that night, and it will never leave my finger, no matter how many rings we add to the mix.”

  He ran his thumb across my cheek to steal away the tear that had fallen there. “Those are terms I can most definitely accept, my little tart.” He slid the beautiful diamond solitaire over my finger to nestle against the band, and he sucked in a breath. “They look like they were made for each other,” he whispered, his eyes on my finger.

  “Just like us,” I sighed when his lips found mine.

  Epilogue

  Bishop’s arms went around my waist, and he tucked his face into my neck, his lips kissing the tender skin there. “Happy ten years of business, my beautiful tart,” he whispered, his words almost stolen by the sounds of the partygoers around us.

  “Thank you, my love,” I answered, caressing his beard with my free hand. “Thanks for being here.”

  “Here is everything to you, and that makes it everything to me.”

  I smiled as I gazed at the scene before me. Here was The Fluffy Cupcake, and everything was the people filling it. Taylor and Sara were serving specialty coffee drinks from the new coffee bar we’d added this fall. It was a dream I’d had since we first opened the bakery, and after I almost died doing something as simple as walking up a hill, I decided it was time to stop putting it off. For our tenth anniversary, we were opening A Tea and A Tart. We lost a lot of table space to make it happen, but no one seemed to mind standing once they got a taste of our selection of coffee and teas to complement the treats in the bakery case each day. It had been so much fun to plan, implement, and market that I hardly noticed the massive amount of pain I was in from falling down a hill and smashing my head into a dock before nearly drowning.

  “You should sit down,” he said, leading me to a table, but I shook my head.

  “I want to enjoy being able to stand up again,” I said, resting my hand on his chest. “It’s been so long since I’ve been without crutches.”

  “Okay, but don’t overdo it. Remember, the doctor said you have to break the brace in slowly.”

  “Maybe for some people, yes,” I agreed, a smile on my face as I gazed at the miracle of modern medicine that now allowed me to stand and walk with only a cane. “But some people haven’t spent seventeen years in a brace. I got this, Mr. Halla.”

  He laughed that laugh I loved of his. The one that didn’t harbor pain, guilt, or unhappiness. “I’m going to go check on Athena.”

  I pointed at the counter where she was chatting with Taylor and Sara. “Honestly, I think she found her tribe,” I said on a wink.

  He kissed my cheek and whispered, I hope so, in my ear before he headed over to see her. Athena had found her tribe, both in Lake Pendle and The Fluffy Cupcake. She worked here baking part-time now while going to school in St. Paul. She’d graduate in the spring with her culinary degree and planned to apprentice here as the new master baker. Sam and Ken had arrived here within twelve hours of hearing about my accident. They hadn’t even met me, but Athena’s frantic voice on the phone was all they had to hear to know they were needed.

  And they showed up. They were there for Athena, and they had given her their blessing to transfer to St. Paul and continue her education there. They weren’t sad she’d no longer be across the country. They often came up to visit Athena in her new apartment, which happened to be right next door to her Daddy’s house. When she decided to stay, she refused to live in the house with a bunch of newlyweds, as she put it, and I couldn’t blame her for wanting her own place. When my parents arrived back in Lake Pendle after hearing about my accident from my bestie, they had the perfect answer. My old apartment was empty, but now it’s not, and I was pleased Athena found a place to call her own. I was more pleased that Bishop had her so close to him now.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with them in the first few weeks. If it hadn’t been for Bishop’s quick thinking, I might not have made it to the hospital alive. Even taking the cracked skull and broken ankle into account, I was lucky. His new crutches had saved both of my arms from breaking because, as soon as I went down, they fell away, allowing me to roll without my arms snapping. I shuddered. It was an awful thought, but I was so grateful he’d had the forethought to get them for me. After six weeks of healing, and another four weeks of physical therapy, I finally got the brace that would change my life. I was mobile again, active, and back working in the business I loved so much. Unfortunately, the accident required us to postpone our tenth-anniversary celebration at The Fluffy Cupcake. Haylee said as long as we did it this year, it didn’t matter that we couldn’t do it on the exact date of our opening. Instead, we ran specials and added new surprises every week since August to keep our customers coming back to celebrate with us.

  “Hey, bestie,” Hay-Hay said as she approached. “You’re standing over here all by yourself, and I mean that literally and figuratively.”

  My eyes creased at the corners with joy. “Pretty awesome, right? It might have cost the price of a small house, but it’s worth every penny.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. Considering what we have going on, we’re going to need you here.”

  I laid my hand on her six-month-along baby bump. It turned out that the first test she took all those months ago had been wrong. It wasn’t a scare, it was real, and now, they were going to make me an auntie. “And I’m going to be here taking care of the place while you and Brady raise your little able bakers.”

  Her laughter filled the room, and I stored it in my heart for when she wasn’t here as much. “I can picture this tiny Able Baker Brady following his daddy around carrying baguettes bigger than he is.”

  “Or a little Able Baker Haylee with ringlets in her hair and cupcake frosting on her face.”

  She nodded, but her chin trembled a little. “I heard there’s a good chance this little cupcake will be sporting those ringlets in her hair after all. Can’t confirm, but we’ll know for sure in a few weeks.”

  My hand went to my chest and my own chin trembled. “My heart just melted,” I whispered. “I can’t wait to hold her in my arms. She’s going to be the sweetest baby this side of St. Paul. I love you, sis. I know you’re going to be a wonderful mother because you know what it’s like to not have one.”

  “I had one, and she’s wonderful. Come to think of it. I had two. It’s just that one happened to be my age.” She hugged me again, her arms tightening when she spoke. “Happy anniversary to my partner, bestie, sister, mother, auntie, and everything you are to this community. I know The Fluffy Cupcake is going to be okay when everything changes again because you’re here to make sure of it.”

  “Darling,” I whispered, “it’s going to be better than okay. It’s going to be the legacy for our little ones—a place to grow up in and to make memories in that they someday tell their children. The Fluffy Cupcake isn’t a building or a business. It’s our life. It’s our dream of building a community to support our community. We’ve done that. We’ve supported our community, and they, in turn, support us. It takes a village to raise a child, and this is our village.”

  She had her arm around my shoulder as she gazed out at the family we’d built over the years. “It sure is. We’ve taken our dream of having a little place to sell cupcakes and tu
rned it into a business that is about to witness a new generation. I don’t know how that happened, but I do know I can’t wait to have our little ones under our feet, sneaking cookies out of the case, and chasing each other around the same way we used to.”

  “Our little ones?” I asked, feigning shock and surprise.

  “Yes, our little ones. I might be going first, but I know you and Bishop will follow close behind. I sure hope so, anyway. We’ve done everything else together, and I can’t imagine not raising our little cupcakes together, too.”

  “That would be a berry sinful thing to do,” I said, laughter on my lips.

  “What are you two whispering about over here?” Bishop asked, walking over to us with a drink in his hand. “Thirty years old and still whispering like schoolgirls.”

  “I was just telling Amber how I was looking forward to us raising our little cupcakes together.”

  He shook his finger at my bestie. “One teeny tiny cupcake and one even tinier tart.”

  Haylee laughed with abandon and pointed at him. “You got me, Mr. Halla. I’m so happy that you’re here to celebrate with us this year, Bishop, and that you saved my best friend’s life so she could be here, too. I love you both.”

  She pulled us in for a group hug, and I rubbed her back, knowing her pregnancy hormones were leading her emotional responses, but loving every minute of it. “We’re building a wonderful family,” I whispered, “Now, go find that man of yours before he sends out the police. You know he will, too.”

  Hay-Hay laughed and waved as she weaved her way to the side of the bakery where Brady was engaged with my dad and old Mr. Martinson.

  “She’s glowing with happiness,” Bishop said, his eyes on her protruding belly. “I can’t wait until you glow that way.”

  I huffed and put my hand on my hip. “Excuse me, Mr. Halla? Are you implying that I don’t glow?”

  His gaze drew me in while his lips captured mine in a short kiss that made me glad no one had noticed us. “Absolutely not. I said to glow in that way, which means your belly round with our child. I missed most of Sam’s pregnancy. I want to be there for every step of the next one.”

  I leaned into him and nodded, my arm around his waist. “If my belly gets too round with our child, I might tip over. Oh!” I said, grabbing his hand. “I left part of our celebration in the back.”

  He followed me to the back of the bakery, and I was glad no one followed us to see what we were up to back here. Still considered newlyweds, they probably figured we were sneaking off for a little nookie. I held up my hand by the cooler and stepped inside, grabbing a box off the shelf. His head was tipped in curiosity when I held it out.

  “A special Fluffy Cupcake anniversary gift for you, Mr. Halla,” I whispered.

  He took the box but held my eye. “What is it that you had to keep it in the cooler.”

  “It’s an experiment,” I said. “It’s more like a work in progress. I haven’t quite decided what it will be yet. Open it.”

  He set the box on the baker’s bench and untied the ribbon, parting the bakery paper and lifting out his surprise. “It’s a tart.”

  “The teeniest tiniest,” I agreed, a smile on my lips.

  He set it on the baker’s bench. “Raspberry and blueberry together?” he asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

  “Yep. I couldn’t decide. It will take a few more months for me to know which tart it will be, but it’s most definitely a tart.”

  He froze, his breath held in his chest for a moment. “Do you mean a teeny tiny tart for us?”

  I nodded, a smile on my lips and a tear in my eye. “I know we didn’t plan for it to happen this soon, but I didn’t think you’d be too upset about it.”

  His hand was shaking when he picked up mine. “Sometimes, the unplanned moments in life are what mean the most. You taught me that, and I can’t wait to see all the wonderful things you’re going to teach our tiny tart. Oh, God, I can hardly breathe from the joy and wonder of this gift. You are more than I deserve, Amber Halla.”

  My hand caressed his cheek while the joy of his love and the joy of this tiny seed growing inside me filled my heart to overflowing. “No, Bishop. We deserve each other, and all the wonderful things that are happening to us. Don’t ever lose sight of that. You, my sweet teacher, taught me that. I love you.”

  He gathered me into his arms and rocked me soothingly, kissing my forehead. “And I love you, my sweetart.”

  Then his lips were on mine with the promise of being his today, tomorrow, and forever.

  About the Author

  Katie Mettner writes small-town romantic tales filled with epic love stories and happily-ever-afters. She proudly wears the title of 'the only person to lose her leg after falling down the bunny hill' and loves decorating her prosthetic with the latest fashion trends. She lives in Northern Wisconsin with her own happily-ever-after and three mini-mes. Katie has a massive addiction to coffee and Twitter, and a lessening aversion to Pinterest — now that she’s quit trying to make the things she pins.

  Other Books by Katie Mettner

  Cupcake

  The Kontakt Series (2)

  The Sugar Series (5)

  The Northern Lights Series (4)

  The Snowberry Series (7)

  The Kupid’s Cove Series (4)

  The Magnificent Series (2)

  The Bells Pass Series (4)

  The Dalton Sibling Series (3)

  The Raven Ranch Series (2)

  Someone in the Water (Paranormal)

  White Sheets & Rosy Cheeks (Paranormal)

  The Secrets Between Us

  After Summer Ends (Lesbian Romance)

  Finding Susan (Lesbian Romance)

  Torched

  Find all of Katie’s Books on Amazon!