Page 117 of The Sweetest Devotion

“Hey!” my father snapped loudly in a commanding voice. “That’s my job.”

My mother laughed and shushed my father. He wheeled further into the bakery over to Michele to introduce our party and my mother wasn’t far behind.

I kept back with Cain. Unable to process it all.

He turned so that his whole body was facing me, somehow managing to block out our surroundings entirely. “He needs this. To feel something other than his own pity.”

Cain was right. It was important my father live his life. To leave the confines of his bedroom and be out in the world. He couldn’t let ALS have him. He couldn’t let the disease win.

To think, all it took was this heinous man to get him to see that.

I ducked my head. “Thank you for doing this, Cain.”

“Don’t mention it.” Cain peered past us. “Well, let’s eat some cake.”

Michele came and greeted the two of us, shaking our hands and complimenting how “nice” we looked together. I played my part and smiled and clung close to Cain to appear as in love as the world thought we were.

My parents kept their distance as they settled at a table on the far side of the room and sampled different cakes while Cain and I sat together at a table browsing cake wedges. The spread was lovely, as Michele had model cakes set up to show her skills as a baker. I always admired gorgeous gourmet cake tiers, but at the same time, I always felt guilty for ruining such works of art.

To my surprise, Cain seemed to be enjoying the dessert as he tried a slice of several cakes.

“Sweet tooth?” I wondered.

He nodded, smiling a little. “Oh yeah. It’s my one weakness.”

“What’s your favorite?”

My eyes were deceiving me, or Cain was…blushing. He peeked back at me. “Honeybuns.”

Honeybuns. The name was familiar. “Not sure I’ve ever had one.”

Cain shook his head and cut into a slice of vanilla bean cake with triple mousse icing. “Delicacy.”

I was curious, but I said no more as I dug into my own cake. Lemon coconut cake with lemon curd and French vanilla filling. It was amazing. “Do you like the lemon coconut one?”

Cain wrinkled his nose and eyed my cake. “Not a fan of coconut.”

“No?”

“Reminds me of fingernails,” Cain said as he made a claw with his hand.

Interesting. At that, I perked up. “I think I found the cake I want for our wedding.”

Cain met my grin with a raised brow. “Okay.”

He wasn’t going to put up a fight. Completely ruining my fun.“Which one do you like the most?”

Cain took his cloth and wiped at his mouth before taking a drink of water Michele provided for us in wineglasses. “The almond cake.”

That was my second favorite. It had raspberry filling and French vanilla icing.

“What are we going to serve our guests to eat besides the cake?” I pressed next.

Cain sat up, turning and facing me. He tapped his finger on the table, thinking deeply. “Salmon alla Griglia for one entree option, and either grilled chicken or steak for the second.”

It was like he had an answer for everything. I hated it. The thought of this wedding and marriage being very much real made me sick to my stomach.

I fingered the white tabletop before us. “All right.”

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