Page 11 of Bound By Temptation

We used the cardboard circles, rectangles, squares and anything else we needed to put under the cakes for stability. Even had PVC pipes to help with that task too. Cardboard was a priority. Not top priority, but it was up there.

“Call Mario and see what the holdup is.”

She rolled her eyes at me, looking exasperated. “You don’t think I’ve tried? That man only wants to talk to you.”

“Just because he wants in my pants. Not. Gonna. Happen,” I responded, meaning every single word. Mario owned a warehouse called Surplus just on the outside of Sumner that sold everything. I don’t say that lightly.

You needed lights? No problem. He had them. You needed saws? He had that too. What his affiliation was in life, I didn’t know or want to know. I just needed the supplies at a decent price, and he said he’d deliver—double bonus.

“I’ve gotta get started on the Anderson cake, and then I’ll call him.”

Meadow tapped her pen on the clipboard and looked down at it, her pen stopping. “Is that the dinosaur?”

“Yep. The 3D, big as hell, they probably won’t be able to get it through the door dinosaur.” This was no stretch of the imagination. The thing was large.

Meadow started chuckling. “Have at it. I’ll be in the front.”

“How are the little ones?” I asked her before she made it too far away from me.

“Ornery and missing their Aunty Indie.”

It was my turn to chuckle. “I’ll get them, feed them all sugar, and bring them back to you wound tighter than the skirts Luna wears.”

This had us both in fits of laughter. Luna was the oldest sister who got the stuffy gene in the family. Business skirts and blazers were all she wore. She had a job in Atlanta as an accountant, and yes she did our books too. Told you I didn’t do numbers.

But the skirts she wore were so tight, I was surprised she could sit down in them without splitting the seams. Somehow, she managed. It was a running joke with the entire family.

Meadow’s continued laughter could be heard easily as she walked to the front of the store.

“So was that Blaine who just left?” she asked me, being her nosy ass self.

“Yeah. We’re going to dinner tonight.”

Meadow put the clipboard under her arm and rubbed her hands together like she was coming up with some mysterious plan. Who the hell did she think she was? The Wizard of Oz or something?

There was no yellow brick road in these parts.

“That is so exciting!” she exclaimed. “You need to get laid.”

This had my head snapping to her. “Could you say that just a bit louder? I don’t think the customers upstairs heard you,” I snarked.

She put her hands over her mouth in a megaphone style and sucked in a deep breath. Before she could yell it, I wrapped my hand around her mouth so only muffled noises could be heard.

Meadow was laughing.

“Stop it. I don’t need everyone knowing shit. You know how small Sumner is.”

I released my sister as she turned from me. “Don’t we know that. I’ll be up front.”

Moving over to the office where we had standing orders, I pulled out the file marked “Anderson” and grabbed a clipboard,yeswe had a serious thing for clipboards around here,and made my way back out to the table, opening it on the way and clipping what I needed to the board.

It was little Scout Anderson’s sixth birthday, and he wanted a dinosaur. He wanted it to be about eight feet tall and from his little arms going around in a circle like the size of a table. Thanks, but that wasn’t feasible. It would be pretty awesome, but it needed to fit through the doors.

Instead, I talked the kiddo around to a large dinosaur with its head climbing out of a cage with his hands tearing at the chains opening for him to get out. Pretty much a top view of the dinosaur tearing itself out of confinement. It was definitely more doable than an eight-foot replica of a T-Rex.

While I loved baking all the sweets in the bakery, this right here, designing and crafting a cake to make it look alive, 3D, and elaborate was my passion. It was what made my passion into a business. Just like GramO said.

Excitement hit me as I went over the sketches I’d made, another passion of mine. It was go time, and I was ready to work. The sheet of paper by the sketches had a list of supplies I’d need.

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