Page 25 of Cut The Cake

“Are you here to check on your order? I think Alexis said we received the last of it this morning.”

Thankful for the hint, Jenny nodded. “That, and I need to add to it, Ashley.”

“More guests?” The fine sprinkling of freckles across the twin’s nose crinkled, and a teasing grin lifted the corners of her mouth. “Did you find out your cousin-once-removed decided to bring a plus-one to your wedding? They always do. Don’t worry. We’ll take care of it. But first, you have to try one of these.” She held out the tray. “It’s a brand-new flavor. A pistachio cream dipped in white chocolate with a sprinkling of toasted coconut.”

“That sounds divine.” This was a lot more than a plus-one situation, but she couldn’t ignore how the sights and smells made her mouth water. Taking one of the candies, Jenny bit into the creamy confection. The flavors melted on her tongue. “Heavenly,” she pronounced.

“That’s just the reaction I was hoping for. Let me put the rest of these away, and we’ll get you taken care of.” Using tongs, Ashley placed the last of the candies on a plain white tray, slid it forward in the display case, and closed the glass door.

Jenny shifted her weight from one foot to another. Unlike the other shop owners she’d dealt with today, Ashley didn’t seem a bit perturbed by her news. Maybe changing her order wasn’t going to be as big a deal as she’d feared. She took a calming breath while the store’s co-owner moved to the cash register.

Taking an iPad out from underneath the counter, Ashley swiped through several forms until she reached the one she wanted. “Okay. It says here you ordered fifty bottles of the Saba Palm Napa Valley Chardonnay, fifty four-piece boxes filled with pink truffles wrapped in gold foil, along with gray tissue and rose-toned gift bags. How many more do you need? Ten? Twenty?”

Jenny gulped. She’d been wrong to let her guard down. Word of her expanded guest list apparently hadn’t spread this far. “I, um, need another two hundred.”

“Wow!” Ashley’s hazel eyes widened. “That’s a whole lot more. How did that happen?”

“Turns out …” Jenny’s mouth went so dry her tongue stuck to the roof. She grimaced. So much for the idea that the more she repeated the story she’d concocted to explain Kay’s change of plans, the easier it’d get to tell. Signaling that she needed a sec, she swigged water from the bottle she carried in her purse and took a steadying breath. “Sorry about that,” she said when she was able to speak again. For once, she was glad she hadn’t worn her hair up today. Thick and long, it hid the heat that burned the back of her neck. “Turns out, my future mother-in-law has invited everyone in her family to our wedding. Without saying a word about it to me or my fiancé. I’d probably still be in the dark if one of his relatives hadn’t asked where we were registered.”

“You need another two hundred?” Ashley’s voice thinned. She held up a finger. “I’ll be right back.” Leaving her iPad on the counter, she race-walked to the end of the counter and disappeared through the door that led to the back of the shop. She emerged seconds later with an equally flustered twin at her side.

Jenny’s gaze shifted between the tall women who wore matching pink smocks over identical pairs of black jeans. With their long, straight hair worn in the same blunt cut, she doubted their own mother could tell them apart. How was she supposed to know which twin was which?

“Ashley tells me you need to increase your order?”

Imagining the tricks the pair had pulled on teachers and friends when they were younger, Jenny nodded. “Yes. I’ll need two hundred more of, well, everything.”

In tandem, concerned frowns bowed two pairs of heart-shaped lips.

Jenny focused on the woman who’d spoken last. “Is that a problem, Alexis?”

“Sadly, yes.” A sheaf of jet black fell forward onto Alexis’s face. She brushed it back with a shaky hand. “I don’t want to say we can’t fill your order, but we don’t have that much of the Sabal Palm in stock. I’ll need to call our distributor to see if he can get it to us in time.”

“The pink chocolate is a special-order item. I don’t have enough of that to fill another two hundred boxes, and I know I can’t get it in time for your wedding.” Ashley pressed her fingers to her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

Jenny took in the twins’ mournful expressions. Squaring her shoulders, she summoned a can-do attitude. She pointed to Alexis. “What if you call your distributor and check out the wine situation while Ashley and I come up with different candies for the boxes? Sound good?”

Their mouths open, the twins stared at each other for a long minute. Slowly, they turned to face her.

“You’d do that?” Alexis started.

“And you’re not upset?” Ashley added.

Jenny grinned. “A good friend recently reminded me that I’d be better off trying to find a solution than wasting my time and energy crying over a problem.” She tapped her finger on the glass countertop. If one more store owner melted down over Kay’s wedding, she might just cross-stitch Nick’s advice on pillowcases and hand them to shopkeepers throughout the town. “What do you say? Can we do this?” She pointed to the phone Alexis held.

While one twin tucked herself into a corner to make the call, Jenny aimed a pointed look at the other. “What can you make in time for the wedding?”

“Truffles are still the best bet. You can have them dipped in either white or dark chocolate. Or some of each.” Grabbing an empty tray, Ashley filled it as she worked her way down the display case. “This chocolate cardamom is to die for. So’s the mascarpone. Customers rave about our white cranberry cashew. And this new pistachio.” When she finished, she presented her eight favorites.

Jenny didn’t have to taste the raspberry cream with pink sprinkles. She chose it to go in the box simply because it matched Kay’s color scheme. After sampling the others, she chose the three she liked the best to round out the selection. “I think that’ll do it,” she said, happy with the choices. Not that she could have chosen wrong. Mouthwatering goodness filled each hand-crafted chocolate in Favors Galore.

She turned expectantly when Alexis stepped away from the wall where she’d huddled with the phone pressed against her ear. One glimpse of the girl’s blotchy face told Jenny things with the supplier hadn’t gone well. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it,” she said, forcing a confident air into her tone.

“He can’t get the 2016 Chardonnay. If we had another month, maybe,” she announced in the hushed tone suitable for a funeral.

“But we don’t,” Jenny reminded her. Kay’s wedding was less than three weeks away. That, at least, hadn’t changed.

“He sent this list.” Alexis handed across a single sheet of paper. “It’s everything he can get in the quantities you need.”

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