Page 46 of Healed
“That’s what I want. If you can do that, you’ve got the job.”
“Well, like I said, we’ll have to check, because you can’t allow champagne to contact the cakes, because then you’ll have soggy, piles of goo. But if we can manage it, I’ll find you a price.”
“Great! Because that is what we’re having. I’ll be the talk of everyone else ever getting married! Everyone will want to be there. Did you hear her, baby? I’m going to have a champagne wedding cake fountain!”
“Mmhmm,” he grumbled.
“And you said she had no talents or vision other than baking. She’s got lots of vision. She just needed the right motivation.”
“I wholeheartedly agree,” Shaun said, from his spot at the edge of the display counter where he’d been ignored since the moment Remi walked in.
Remi turned his head to glare at Shaun.
“Hi. How you doing, Remi?”
Remi simply glared a bit longer, then turned back to Bailey and Olivia.
“We’ll let everyone come. Oh, maybe we can charge them! Do you think they’d pay to come?”
“Oh, I’d definitely pay to see this,” Bailey said.
“See?!” Olivia exclaimed. “Oh, but you can’t come. You are Remi’s ex, but you can make the cake if you can pull off the champagne fountain wedding cake! You understand, right? I mean, who invites all the service people anyway?”
“Oh, I definitely understand,” Bailey said.
“Listen, here’s my number — it’s private, so don’t let anyone else see it. Do not call Remi. I’m making all the decisions, and frankly, I just don’t think there’s a reason for you to talk to him.”
“Don’t worry. We haven’t talked in a long, long time. We don’t have a single thing in common anymore.”
“I’m so glad to hear that! One less person to run off!” she said, laughing and waving as she dragged Remi out of the coffee shop. “You were so right, baby! I’m so glad you made me go in there! But just between me and you, we’ll never tell anybody where we got the cake. How would that look? Remi and Olivia got their most exquisite cake from Remi’s ex. Oh! I hope she doesn’t poison it or anything!”
“She’s not going to poison it,” Remi drolled.
Olivia dragged him through the front door and out of view of the windows, with him giving no resistance at all.
Bailey looked over at Shaun. “Did he look wasted to you?”
“Yeah.”
“I just can’t believe he’s come to this,” Bailey said.
“You alright?”
“I’m fine,” she said, dismissively. “Doesn’t affect me at all.”
“Bailey, I know how much he meant to you. It’s not in your heart to just stop caring about someone. It’s okay if you’re upset. You don’t have to hide it from me.”
Bailey closed her order book and set it back under the back edge of the counter as she shook her head slowly. “Really, I’m okay. If they’re getting married, I hope they’re happy. I hope he’s happy and it’s all he hopes for. I just hate that every time I see him, he’s drunk, or worse. Is it worse? Is he involved in more than just drinking?”
“I don’t know personally,” Shaun answered, “but I don’t think so. I don’t smell anything on him but alcohol.”
Bailey nodded. “At least there’s that.”
“Hey, how about one of those apple fritters to keep me from starving while we wait for six o’clock?”
“Sure,” she said, taking one of them out of the display case and putting it on a small saucer before handing it to Shaun. She turned to the coffee counter and filled a cup with Shaun’s favorite caramel flavored coffee and handed that to him as well.
“Thank you,” he said, taking his snack and going to the table closest to the counter and taking a seat as she made herself busy. She was obviously deep in thought, but he was thankful she’d not asked about some of the other things Remi had said, like no longer having a family.
