Page 6 of The Wedding Cake
River really must have warmed to Mervyn – he’d pulled out his wallet and extracted a note.
“It would be on me even if cash was required, River,” Mervyn held his hands up in protest. “Fortunately, I have an account here that doesn’t need settling yet. Chippety-chop, off we pop.”
Hello?Did he really just say that?
Apparently yes because River’s eyes were on stalks at this man and his eccentricities.
Crossing the square and navigating the throngs of people moving at turtle speed, the three of them made their way to the Freya’s of Marbella shop. The stylised font finally came into view through a knot of gnarly orange trees.
Mervyn pushed open the door to the cakery and they were immediately hit by a heady and magical aroma of vanilla, sugar and chocolate. A stout young woman with a heavy copper, ruler-straight fringe stepped forward to shake everybody’s hands, introducing herself as Hannah in a delightful Yorkshire accent. It was kind of a homely touch, but Alice hoped Freya employed Spanish people too.
“Freya’s upstairs. She won’t be a moment. Let me take you all out to the courtyard and get you seated, then I’ll fix you up with some tea and coffee, and we’ll bring the cake out.”
“Fabulous!” Mervyn patted his stomach, nudging past Hannah to lead them through the shop. “This way, please.” He twirled his cane in the air and Alice couldn’t miss Hannah’s grimace at its proximity to the rotating cake display on the counter. The man put her in mind of an older version of the original Willy Wonka actor, Gene Wilder. Mannerisms and looks-wise. It was evident he’d been facially nipped and tucked. She hoped there wasn’t a chocolate river awaiting them out the back.
Thankfully the small courtyard was as serene as it was pretty, with no evidence of edible props. Straight out of a bridal magazine. Freya and her team had decorated it alluringly. A spider’s web of tiny, sparkly fairy lights created a mini sky-at-night above them, whilst petal confetti created a fetching carpet on the patio’s tiles. A water feature soothed Alice’s last minute nerves regarding all things financial. Elegant harp music serenaded everybody gently from a hidden device, and a vase of the most incredible white flowers Alice had ever seen sat beguilingly in the middle of the table.
“Wow, wow, WOW,” she said. “What a feast for the eyes, and we haven’t even started on the cake.”
On taking in a three-sixty panorama of the spectacle himself, River seemed to have disappointingly sobered up.Completely.Fortunately, Freya appeared before he could suggest they’d come to the wrong place and that their budget didn’t quite extend to this.
“Good afternoon, everybody. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I don’t usually get starstruck but I must admit to being a fan of your music, guys! When Mervyn added your details to my order book,” Freya raised a wing like a chicken, referring to the tatty green thing tucked under her arm, “I didn’t for one minute twig that a Jackson-Goldsmith wedding would mean we’d have the honour of baking a wedding cake fit for rock stars. I’m beyond thrilled!”
Freya stuck out her free hand for a shake. She seemed so genuinely warm and friendly, and she and Alice shared exactly the same corkscrew curls, albeit Freya’s were super bouncy, given her bob cut, and as caramel in colour as the kind of stuff she no doubt simmered on her stove.
“Before we get down to business… can I just inquire as to the cost?” asked River, throwing Alice into a mammoth tailspin, setting her teeth on edge just like the grimacing Emoji she often used in WhatsApp messages. Flipping heck, they hadn’t even taken their seats yet.
Alice was determined not to catch Mervyn’s eye. She knew that he knew full well they had covered this aspect in great detail during their on-screen chat.
“The show stopper is seven thousand euros plus VAT,” Freya stated calmly.
Damn. Alice had imagined River okay-ing the expense in a sugar haze after he’d sampled each of the four scrumptious layers of salted caramel, Victoria sandwich, red velvet and lemon curd with passionfruit. Her timing was so out. If only they’d got to that last layer. She knew it would be the most delicious, instantly rendering all thoughts of price tags obsolete. She would have flinched, but they were here now and she’d just have to find a way to persuade her other half.
“Seven thousand euros!Sheesh.” Argh, River didn’t half remind Alice of Kermit the Frog when he came out with that word – which wasn’t too often, thank goodness. Why did he have to make her feel so unnecessarily Miss Piggy about everything, and in front of strangers, too? “Al, are you quite sure about this?”
“Merv?” Quick as a whip, Freya read the situation and commandeered the beaming wedding planner, pulling him back inside the cakery, with Hannah following closely behind. “We’ll just leave you both to it and plate up the samples.”
Alice was mortified. This was the first time River had questioned her over any kind of spending and dammit, it would be the last, even if there was technically a revelation she should be sharing with him.
“Look, I know I’ve done the stereotypically blokish thing and left all of the organisation to you, for which I can only apologise again.” River outstretched his palms. “But it’s been so hands-on with project managing the building of the stables, café and shop while you’ve been sorting out the horses, the riding instructors, and the marketing… Which isn’t to say that your work to get everything up and running back home has been lighter than mine.” River stopped for a breath and Alice steeled herself for the giant BUT that was sure to hit her any moment now. “I know you’re way more clued up about prices and all of the finer detail that’s needed to make it an amazing day… b-butseven thou… is rather a lot to spend on a cake, which will soon become crumbs! Surely, the old dude mentioned the cost before? Couldn’t we go for something a bit… you know… smaller?”
Now Alice sighed deeply. It was unfair not to be straight with her fiancé but she really wanted the reason for the cake to be a surprise and, until the stables, café and shop were finished and everything had been given that final lick of paint, she did not intend to reveal the identity of the benefactor funding their riding business. River would go nuts. He’d made it clear that the person in question had crossed a line and was undeserving of a second of Alice’s time. Her groom-to-be thought the frequent contributions to the works were coming from her own modest income pot from their music days, and she didn’t plan to disabuse him just yet.
“You’re going to have to trust me on this, Riv. We can afford it. I’ve done the maths. I know it might seem out of character for me to splash out but,” she thought on her feet, remembering something she’d read in a wedding magazine, “the wedding cake symbolises prosperity, good luck andfertility.”
The abundance of spotlights in the courtyard revealed River’s flush within seconds.
“Oh, right. I see,” he whispered, blue eyes growing ever wider, jet-black pupils dilating.
Typical man. Alice eye-rolled inwardly, detecting the cogs set in motion in River’s brain. Yes, she wanted kids but not a platoon of them. However, since things were going so well, she added, “And it’s really important that it’s made from the highest quality ingredients in order for those things to come to pass.”
“Okay. You’ve converted me.” River winked, hands aloft to cease Alice’s explanation. “But never mind eating it, now I’ll be whisking you off to the finca’s master bedroom the moment we’ve cut the cake, sweetheart.”
“Shh. Keep your voice down! They’re coming back.”
River filled a water glass from the crystal jug on the table and gulped it in one. Thank goodness. It was like a power shower to the crimson hue of his cheeks. Meanwhile, Hannah and a tray of aromatic coffee and tea led the procession back to the courtyard. A tentative Mervyn appeared next at the doorway with a demi-smile as he eyed the magnificent cake stand of morsels in his hands; he seemed to be sauntering about rather nicely without the aid of his posh walking stick all of a sudden. And Freya brought up the rear with a tower of plates, a further cake stand bearing yet more precision-cut squares of layer cake, and a collection of forks. Alice was drooling.
Once everything was arranged on the table, Freya invited everybody to take their seats and Hannah served up their drinks, adding:
