Page 1 of Cakewalk
Chapter 1
Jade
I hadonejob.A very simple job, really: transport my sister’s lovingly decorated cake from the family cake shop to Madison’s boutique first thing in the morning.
The boutique was only three doors down, but Madison would be waiting with bated breath to see how I’d screw this one up. She took it personally when I left our coastal hometown of Calhoon, Georgia, as if I was abandoning her. It didn’t matter to her when I insisted I was only leaving for college, and that I planned on returning home after I finished.
Most young adults never returned after they had a taste of the city, but I wouldn’t abandon this town, as dead as it admittedly was. My family’s cake shop had been in business since the 50s, and I was going to make damn sure it didn’t go bankrupt on my watch.
Not that I ran the place or anything. Baking was in no way my specialty. I was lucky if I could bake those prepackaged Pillsbury sugar cookies without starting a house fire.
No, it was Courtney, my older and very pregnant sister, who ran the place now that my mother had to retire earlier this year. And that was why I had returned home instead of finishing up my degree. I couldn’t leave Courtney high and dry. Sure, she had a husband, but he had his hands full with the local general store.
So I took it upon myself to help Courtney out. Though sometimes I wondered if I was a hindrance more than anything. I didn’t know what it was about my limbs, but I just couldn’t keep them from knocking things over. One of those inflatable dancing tube guys would probably cause less damage than I would if left in the middle of the shop for half an hour.
Which really begged the question as to why my sister entrusted me to deliver this cake. I mean, outside of her being downright exhausted from making it overnight, she might’ve had better luck hiring a chimpanzee to do the job.
But she believed in me. She believed if she gave me more responsibilities, I’d rise to the occasion.
I couldn’t let her down.
And so I took in a deep breath and looked over the three-tiered cake, analyzing how best to pick it up. Of course Madison had my sister make a cake more appropriate for a princess’s wedding. It was just a little boutique grand opening, but nothing was ever understated with Madison. “Attention is the only currency that matters,” she had told me back when we were friends. “Court attention at all costs.”
I guess that strategy had been working out for her. She had been building up her online following since we were in middle school, and I had no doubts now that people from all over would visit this little forgotten town just to see her selections and original designs at her boutique.
But I knew she didn’t order this cake just to give us a little buzz and help out a fellow small business. She ordered it at the last minute—as in “I know you close at five, but could I squeeze in a custom wedding cake order at 4:59pm or…?” And of course my sister agreed. And of course she made the prettiest damn cake I ever did see, despite the time crunch.
Madison had ordered a pink-frosted strawberry cake, decorated with various pieces of edible jewelry cascading from the top tier all the way to the bottom. I had no idea how my sister made the pearls and diamonds look so real, but they looked good enough to wear. On the bottom tier of the cake was the name of Madison’s shop written in pristine cursive: Madison’s Boutique.
The hard part was done. Now I just had to deliver the damn thing. And if Madison was happy, she promised to help us by shouting out the cake shop to all of her followers.
So here I was, holding a fifteen-pound cake in both hands as I used my rump to push open the front door of the cake shop. With my hands full, I wouldn’t be able to lock it on my way out, but crime was practically non-existent here in this glorified retirement community. It’d be fine.
I paused for a moment once I was standing out on the Main Street sidewalk. It was 5:30 in the morning and quiet enough that all I could hear besides my own breath was a distant fog horn.
I peered above the third tier of the cake, seeing my destination only three storefronts down. I checked the sidewalk for hazards or cracks, but it had been recently repaved and presented perfect conditions for my harrowing cake journey.
After double-checking that my shoelaces were still tied, I began my careful march forward, confident that there was no way I could screw this up.
Stay cool, Jade. Breathe normally. Nothing short of a freak whirlwind or a rabid stray dog can knock you over.
Therewassomething I hadn’t been prepared for: a handsome stray man.
I didn’t know where he came from or how he didn’t see a giant pink cake heading right at him, but the both of us crashed into each other like two runaway trains. I only got to see his rugged face for a split second before the collision.
He took the brunt of it, the cake absolutely covering him from the waist up. I got little pieces of pink frosting shrapnel on my arms, but was otherwise unscathed and still standing.
He, on the other hand, fell flat onto the sidewalk with a grunt. It didn’t look like an easy landing.
I rushed to his side, unable to tell if his eyes were open underneath all the frosting plastered on his face. “Are you okay?” I gasped, my hands hovering over his shoulders, unsure if I should touch him, considering we were complete strangers. He wasn’t moving. I watched closely to see if he was breathing, but saw no signs.
I knew I’d go down for manslaughter one of these days…
He suddenly grunted, and I jerked back. Using his hand like a squeegee, he wiped the frosting from his eyes and nose and took a moment to blink. Though I hovered right above him, he didn’t seem to see me as he stared off into space. Poor guy must’ve been concussed so badly that he was seeing stars.
He closed his cobalt blue eyes, and his tongue slipped out between his full lips, licking them clean of frosting. “Mmm,” he hummed. When he opened his eyes again, they locked right onto mine. “Strawberry.”
“Yes,” I said, nodding encouragingly. Now I just needed him to put together a complete sentence to put my mind at ease. “Are you okay? Are you bleeding?”
