Chapter 1
Jasmine
The doors to the kitchen swung open for what felt like the thousandth time that day. My concentration wavered for a split second and what was meant to be a delicately piped rosette became a blob of lavender buttercream on the smooth white cake. I could only hope that the colors hadn’t begun to bleed into each by the time I wiped off the blob. I sighed and turned to look at the intruder.
“Jasmine, there’s a couple here for a cake tasting,” my shop assistant informed me.
“Did we have a cake tasting booked for today?” I frowned in confusion.
“It isn’t scheduled in the calendar,” she shrugged.
“Give me two minutes, I’ll come out to have a chat with them.”
I quickly removed the lavender blob and made sure that the smooth white icing was still perfect. A portion of lavender was embedded in the white and I knew I would never be able to fix it, but I could pipe a rosette over it, and none would be the wiser.
I walked into the front of the bakery, the area where we served customers a selection of cakes and pastries as well as coffee. The sound of the coffee machine grinding fresh coffee beans and the smell of coffee permeated the air. I spotted the couple sitting in what I liked to refer to as the consultation booth. I couldn’t see their faces. They were cuddled together; she threw her head back and laughed at something he said. I felt a pang in my heart. I’ve been waiting a long time for a relationship like that and the older I got, the more difficult it was to find someone that I liked and respected.
As I reached the booth, recognition flashed in my mind.
“Sarah,” I grinned.
“Jasmine!” she squealed, jumped up and pulled me into a hug.
I laughed at her antics.
“James,” I greeted once Sarah was seated again.
He gave me the manly chin lift and I smiled.
“You do know that I don’t have any cakes for you to taste, right?” I murmured as I sat down.
Sarah nodded.
“This is just my way of asking you if you would please make my wedding cake,” she batted her eyelashes.
“I’ll have to consider it,” I shrugged. “I have a lot of orders and it depends on the size and the flavour that you’d prefer.”
She looked devastated. James had a smirk on his face.
“Babe,” he nudged her. She looked up at him. “She’s messing with you.”
Sarah turned to look at me and I laughed. “Of course, I’ll make your cake but that just means you can’t shove too many bridesmaid responsibilities on me.”
“That’s why I have three other bridesmaids,” she grinned evilly.
“I dodged a bullet there,” I smirked, and we all burst into laughter.
One Month Later
I changed into my bridesmaid dress. It was an A-line, knee-length dress. It was pale, leafy green with delicately placed pink blossoms. My brown eyes almost looked hazel brown. Sarah chose the dresses for each of us and for me she couldn’t have chosen better. A few strands of my hair escaped from my updo and I twirled them around my finger, making them slightly curly. I swiped on some lipstick and I was ready to go. I had a few minutes to check on the cake before I had to be in Sarah’s suite for the pre-wedding photographs.
I placed one shiny pearl in the centre of a delicately piped flower. That was the last of them. I straightened the tablecloth and walked around the table to make sure that the cake looked perfect from every angle. I saw a little boy standing near the aisle. He had a mischievous smile on his face as if he’d just done something he was not supposed to. A few seconds later, a woman appeared with her eyes firmly fixated on the child.
“Liam!” she shouted. “You’re going to be in so much trouble.”
He grinned and took off running in my direction. He flew past me, faster than a whirlwind. The woman followed. In her haste, she knocked the side of the table with her hip. She ignored the pain and continued running after the errant child.
The table wobbled for few seconds but stabilised. I made sure that the cake was stable before turning to go to Sarah’s suite. I walked a few steps away when I heard a weird sound. I turned around hoping that the sound was not coming from the table or from the cake.
There was a man. He was tall with the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. His lush pink lips tilted up into a smile. A dimple popped up in his cheek, slightly concealed by his five-o-clock shadow. A hint of a tattoo peaked out from the top of his shirt. I couldn’t help feeling like I’d seen him somewhere before. The sound continued but I was too distracted to seek out the source of the sound.
A few seconds later, his face changed from a slight smirk to one of shock and horror. I frowned in confusion, but it was too late. The top layer of the cake was tilted. The icing served as the perfect catalyst. The top layer slid closer to the edge of the cake. Everything was happening in slow motion. There was no time to react. The top layer fell off the cake and descended at an alarming pace to the floor.
The man and I stared at each other in horror before both rushing forward to do some damage control. It was a knee-jerk reaction. How do you save a falling cake?
Our heads knocked together in our haste. As we recovered, it was too late. The cake fell smack dab between us. Icing and pieces of smashed cake splattered all over us. We looked at each other in horror. I quickly turned my head to make sure that the rest of the cake was not about to follow suit. It seemed stable enough. It was so obvious that the cake was missing a layer and my dress was completely ruined. I suspected that my makeup and hair were ruined as well. I turned back to the man and he looked slightly amused now. He didn’t realise that I was so close to breaking down. I sighed and stepped away from the mess. I guess the pre-wedding photoshoot could go on without me.
