Page 29 of White Wedding
Though their uncle managed the day-to-day operations at the restaurant, he’d overseen a few off-site events when they were overbooked.
“Works for me,” Tony said.
Rafael got his irritation under control. Though he didn’t want Tony babysitting him, this solution was better than handing his older brother the entire job. “I’m still in charge, right? This is my show?”
“Yep,” Martin said. “But I want you two to work together when you put in your supply order. Tony can also supervise the kitchen prep during the week of the wedding, in case you’re busy at the manor, helping with all those Christmas trees.”
“Thanks,” Rafael said. “I won’t let you down.”
Martin gave him a pointed look. “You’d better not. No messing with Victoria Blackwood, got it?”
“Got it.”
No matter how Rafael felt about Victoria, he knew better than to act on it.
Both of them had too much at stake.
Chapter 11
All afternoon, Victoria contemplated texting Rafael and asking him for help with the gingerbread houses. But she didn’t want him to think she was desperate for his attention. At the very least, she should attempt Missy’s projects on her own before begging for assistance.
Which was how she came to be spending her Monday night at home, building a gingerbread house. Rather than risk ruining one of Missy’s custom-made creations, she bought a cheap kit at Target, along with a few bags of candy. She laid everything out on the large plank table in her mother’s crafting room. For years, her mother had used the space for her scrapbook projects; now, it occasionally served as a gift-wrap station.
Victoria tried to approach the project with a festive attitude. At her side was a glass of Blackwood Cellars Christmas Red. She’d even chosen an appropriate Hallmark movie—Cooking with Love—featuring an arrogant celebrity chef with a reputation for being a bad boy. Unfortunately, the chef was a snob who wasn’t nearly as hot as Rafael. No tattoos either.
Stop thinking about him.
Easier said than done, especially since she and Rafael had gone from enemies to allies. If she allowed her mind to wander, even for a second, she’d end up drifting through old memories. The steamier, the better.
She tested the walls of her gingerbread house, hoping the frosting had solidified enough to move on to the next step. But as she set the roof on top, the whole structure collapsed.
Damn it.She had to be more patient. She propped the walls back up again, cementing them with few more daubs of frosting. To take the edge off her frayed nerves, she grabbed a handful of M&M’s and popped them in her mouth.
“Are you certain that’s healthy?” Her mother stood in the doorway, wearing cashmere loungewear in a muted shade of royal blue. Unlike Victoria, Ginny Blackwood wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair of faded sweatpants, even in the comfort of her own home. As always, her dark bob was perfectly coiffed, her makeup flawless.
Victoria pushed the bowl of M&M’s aside. “I just had a few. I’ll make up for it on my run tomorrow.” Though she’d always been on the slender side, she couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t obsessed over her weight, making up for any indulgences with bouts of vigorous exercise.
Her mother took a few steps into the room. “I didn’t mean the candy, although refined sugar shouldn’t be a part of anyone’s diet. I meant—this.” She gestured to the gingerbread house.
Victoria cringed. Did she look as pathetic as she felt? “I guess I caught the crafting bug. ’Tis the season, right?”
“If I recall, the last time you attempted to make a gingerbread house, you blew up and threw the pieces across the room. Then you and Connor ate all the candy.” Her mother smiled. “One of the few times I’ve ever seen you lose your temper.”
Only because Dad wasn’t around.
The incident had occurred when Victoria was eight, during a December weekend at her family’s lodge at Big Bear Lake. She and Connor, along with her cousins, Marc and Brody, had gone up to the mountains to play in the snow. As was often the case during their trips to Big Bear, her father had stayed home due to his workload.
His workload or his women? Having recently learned about her father’s string of extramarital affairs, Victoria now suspected he’d bowed out of their family’s Big Bear trips to cheat on her mother.
“This gingerbread house is for Ben’s wedding, isn’t it?” her mother asked.
Victoria knocked back the rest of her wine. “Afraid so. Missy had this big crafting weekend planned, but her maid of honor canceled. I’m helping her out. Or, rather, I’m trying to. But if this sample house is any indication of my crafting skills, I’m in big trouble.”
Her mother pulled up a chair and sat across from Victoria. She took a peppermint from the candy bowl, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth. Though Victoria rarely saw her mother indulge in sweets, she had a fondness for peppermints and carried them in her purse.
“Sweetie, I know how hard this breakup has been for you,” she said. “And I know you miss Ben. But trying to stay close to him this way isn’t healthy, and it’s not going to bring him back.”
What?
