Page 11 of Icing on Top
I nodded. This wasn’t the first time big shots from other companies came in needing to show us how big and bad they were, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Joel came into the conference room with fresh cups of coffee. “These are for you. I feel compelled to tell you it’s five o’clock somewhere, and you should go home. That’s where I’m going. That said, Lincoln, don’t forget you have the ribbon cutting at that orphanage tomorrow. Grant, you have a ten A.M. meeting tomorrow with the legal team. Ben, the product assembly dropped this off for you. They said it is fully functional according to your specifications, and if you need anything else, let them know. Someone called to talk to one of you about Christmas cookies. I told her you were too busy and to send along two dozen and where to donate, so we should be getting cookies soon. That’s all I have for you. Good night.”
I exchanged looks with the others. “Wait! Do you know who the woman was that called?” I asked Joel before he could leave.
He looked down at the tablet strapped to his hand and clicked on it several times with his stylus. “Umm, her name was Nova, something I think. Why?”
“Nova Lane?” Lincoln asked.
“Yes!” Joel said with a smile and a snap of his fingers. “Come to think of it. Her name was Nova Lane.”
We all cursed as we jumped from our chairs and grabbed our things. “The next time she calls, you hear her out and adjust our schedules for whatever she wants,” I growled as I brushed past Joel. “And if there is no way to do that, you put her through to one of us immediately. No fucking excuses.”
“Ok, I will,” Joel said, hurrying behind us to the elevators. “But who is she?”
“She’s—,” Lincoln started to answer.
“None of your fucking business,” I barked, cutting him off as we stepped onto the elevator. “Just do as you’re told.” I glared at him until the elevator doors closed. “We need to call her.”
“I already tried,” Ben replied. “She didn’t answer.”
I cursed as I led the way to my Mercedes. We checked Icing first, but the shop was dark. “Does anyone have her address?”
“Yeah, just a second,” Ben replied. “Ok, head to the end of the street and make a left.” Ben guided me to her house, and I pulled into the driveway of a charming ranch-style home. I felt relieved when I saw the lights were on inside. If she wasn’t home, I didn’t know where we would have tried to look next. We went to her door, and I mashed the doorbell with my finger.
It took far longer than I would have liked for her to open the door, and when she finally did, I could see the surprise on her face at finding us on her doorstep. Without waiting for an invitation, I pushed past her, my brothers following.
“By all means, come in,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m sorry about the mix-up with our assistant,” I told her. “He hadn’t been made aware of our arrangement before you had called. He is now.”
“Next time, Sugar,” Lincoln added, “just call one of us directly. Fuck what the contract says.”
“Let’s not get too carried away,” I said.
“Joel said something about cookies?” Ben asked, peeking around her house.
“Well, I had called to invite you over for dinner, Christmas cookie baking, and, if we have time, a Christmas movie, but I understand if you’re too busy,” Nova explained softly. “Joel said you were. I don’t even have dinner started or anything prepped because I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Why don’t you let us take care of dinner, and then we can jump right into baking?” Linc suggested.
She smiled shyly and nodded her agreement.
“I’ll make the call,” I said as I walked back outside. I called the local diner and ordered cheeseburgers and fries for everyone to be delivered. When I returned inside, they had moved to the kitchen, and Nova was explaining the cookie recipes she wanted to make.
“You will each get your own recipe, and I’ll help you as you go along. Grant, you can take the chocolate chip cookies. Lincoln will do the butter cookies. That leaves Ben with the thumbprints.” She handed each of us a large mixing bowl, and we started mixing our ingredients. I wished I had been assigned the thumbprint cookies as it was a more technical recipe; therefore, Ben got more assistance from Nova. I struggled to thoroughly mix the dough when Nova came to stand beside me.
“It’s easier if you use your hands,” she told me as she took the spoon from my hands. She rolled up my sleeves for me, placed her hands over mine, and shoved them into the bowl. She showed me how to mix and then smiled up at me. “Good job. Once fully mixed, you can add your chocolate chips and then form the dough into one-inch balls and place them two inches apart on the baking sheet.”
“Kinda messy,” I commented, trying not to show how much I disliked this.
Her smile shifted to a full grin. “I know. I hate mixing it by hand, but it produces the best cookies.” I was momentarily blinded by the radiance that came with a genuine smile from her. Getting my hands all goopy was worth seeing her like that.
“Umm, Nova?” Ben called over. “Help.” I looked over at the evident distress in his voice and laughed. As messy as my cookies were, they had nothing on the ones he was making.
“Oh, Ben! You’re supposed to refrigerate the dough first. Didn’t you read that part?” Nova asked as she rushed over to him with my spoon. She scraped the sticky dough covering his hands into the bowl.
“I thought it was just a suggestion,” he admitted.
