Page 33 of Fa-La-La-La Faking It
Be-lieve, be-lieve, be-lieve...
Believe.
Chapter Eleven
Adaline’s phone had no less than forty notifications the following morning after she’d slid her first attempt at a practice wedding cake into the oven at Cherry on Top.
She’d needed to clear her head after Fuzzy’s visit to the senior center yesterday afternoon. The crazy Christmas gift...the big, fat lie...
The kiss.
“It wasn’t real,” she said out loud, because she needed the reminder. Fuzzy, sprawled across his cupcake bed, cracked an eyelid open.
He didn’t seem convinced. Neither did Adaline’s hormonal system, apparently, because her body definitely had feelings about that kiss. It still did. Every time she thought about it, her limbs went languid, her heart went wild, and her head filled with ridiculous visions of slow dancing with Jace at Ford’s wedding and what he might look like when he traded his flannel, Brawny-paper-towel-guy uniform for a tuxedo. When her imagination really went wild and she accidentally pictured herself catching Maple’s bridal bouquet, she knew she had to do something to stop those dangerous ideas right in their tracks.
So she’d tuned out the outside world the only way she knew how—by putting her phone on do-not-disturb and hiding away in her kitchen. Baking never failed her. It always took her back to the innocent days of rolling out dough on Gram’s butcher-block counter, balanced on a step stool so she could reach. She still used the same old wooden rolling pin, dusted with generations of flour, love and tender care. With her hands in a fresh batch of dough and flour in her hair, Adaline could forget everything else. Her world narrowed to a pinprick of flaky pie crust, so buttery and perfect that it melted on her tongue. Today was all about cake, though. With the wedding less than two weeks away, she didn’t have much time. Granted, Adaline had made dozens of wedding cakes over the years. Maybe even hundreds. But this one was for her brother and her best friend. Not only did it need to be perfect, but it also had to be perfectlyunique.Like nothing she’d ever baked before.
Hence the first of what would no doubt be several practice cakes.
Once the cake was sitting on the middle rack of the preheated oven and Adaline had meticulously wiped down her work surface, preparing for the busy day ahead at the bakery, she finally turned her attention to her phone. The instant she turned off its do-not-disturb setting, the tiny screen lit up like Christmas tree.
Missed call notifications popped up left and right, followed by a string of text messages. There were a handful from customers inquiring about special orders, but the vast majority were urgent missives from the Comfort Paws girls, liberally sprinkled with shocked-face emojis and exclamation points.
Maple: Ford heard from Gram that you and Jace are dating! She said you two were necking (her words) in the parking lot!!! Deets, please!
Belle: You and the lumberjack?!! How am I just now hearing about this? From a random parent in the carpool line at school, no less!
Jenna: Um, what is going on???? I think you know what I’m talking about.
Maple: I told you he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. So happy and excited for you!
Belle: What exactly happened that night you decorated your tree?
Jenna: A Christmas romance! How dreamy is that??!
Maple: I knew it!
Belle: I knew it!!
Jenna: I knew it!!!
Adaline stared at her phone. All three of her closest friends had independently said the exact same thing. So had Gram. Even Mr. Martin had said it, and that man wasn’t exactly prone to sharing his feelings.
I knew it!
Why did everyone keep saying that? There was nothing to know. Nothing real, anyway.
Just thinking about responding to all these calls and texts was giving Adaline anxiety. She had no idea what to say. When Jace jumped in to save her, she hadn’t considered how far-reaching the implications of a fake relationship would be. Was she really supposed to lie to her friends now? She’d only wanted to somehow get out of the matchmaking thing without hurting Gram’s feelings, and now the entire town was convinced she was on the road to becoming Mrs. Christmas Tree Farm.
On the plus side, it appeared as if no one needed convincing. And that was a very good thing, given Adaline’s terrible skills in the fibbing department.
“And here I thought honesty was a desirable personality trait.” Adaline placed her phone face down on the counter.
Snug in his nook, Fuzzy snored away, unbothered. Adaline had never envied a dog so much in her life. She dropped her head in her hands and groaned. How was she going to get out of this mess?
Did she evenwantto get out of it?
Of course she did. Pretend relationships belonged in rom-com movies and romance novels, not real life. She’d simply have to talk to Jace and explain why this was an awful idea, then she’d swallow her pride, confess and move on with her life. Maybe she’d eventually work her way back onto Santa’s nice list. All it would take would be disappointing her Gram and public humiliation on a massive scale.
