Baked with Love

by Peggy Jaeger

  Cathy’s worried expression melted like an ice cube tossed into boiling water. A slow and serene smile wiped the pout away. “He’s nervous?”

  Lucas cocked his head. “Why does that make you happy?”

  She imitated his head tilt. “I’m not gonna tell you, but thanks for letting me know. And for the record, this is the first time he’s doing this”—she swiped her hand around the room—“because he got married at City Hall before. He’s never experienced his own church wedding, and it’s more different than he could possibly guess.” She took a deep breath and glanced over his shoulder. “Where’s Robert?”

  “Bathroom. He’ll be right in.”

  “Okay. I’m ready,” she told my sitting sister. “Tell me what to do.”

  Lucas shook his head and then finally—finally—saw me. His eyes widened a fraction, and his gaze did a quick dip-and-return from my face down to my dress, a tiny, private grin pulling at one corner of his mouth.

  “Hey,” I said from my spot in the corner.

  “Hey,” he said back. “Um, you look…I mean…your hair…that color’s…nice.”

  From her seat, Nanny shot him a look halfway between amused and pathetic. The amusement won. With a teasing grin and a twinkle in her eyes, she cocked her head at him. “You must have to fight the women off in droves when ya unleash that silver tongue on ’em,” she told him. With a shake of her head, she muttered, “It’s no wonder you’re currently residing with your da.”

  Lucas, never one to hold back from a verbal tête-à-tête with Nanny, went to my grandmother and, with a grin that rivaled hers for devilment, said, “Mrs. Scallopini, you’re a vision as always. You simply take my breath away.” He laid one hand across his heart and closed his eyes for a second.

  Nanny harrumphed and shot back, “What I should be doing is beating some sense inta that thick head o’ yours.”

  Into this sparring match, Robert walked.

  Colleen called for everyone’s attention and said it was time to start.

  “Okay,” she said as Lucas helped hoist her from the chair. “Let’s get everyone in position.” She tapped at her earpiece and said, “Charity’s signaled the musicians to finish up their selection and get ready. Let’s roll.”

  With the timed precision of a general leading her troops into battle, Colleen managed to wrangle us all into place.

  In the church foyer, a tuxedoed Slade stood with Charity, waiting to walk his wife down the aisle to their seats.

  “Robert and Nanny will go first, then Slade and me,” Colleen said. To Cathy she added, “Charity will get you three down the aisle last. You ready to meet your man at the altar?”

  Cathy grinned, nodded, and blew her a kiss.

  “Okay, then. There’s the music change. Everyone set?”

  Charity lined us all up. After counting to three, she opened one of the church doors and let Nanny and Robert go.

  “Remember, step, stop, step,” Charity said.

  “Me memory’s fine, young lady,” Nanny said as she twined her arm in the crook of Robert’s elbow. “I’ve gone down the aisle four times. I could teach a class on how it’s done.”

  “No lie,” Colleen mumbled.

  As soon as they were through the door, Charity closed it over again.

  “Kolby’s in place?” Colleen asked her assistant as Slade took his wife’s arm and held it.

  “Shooting as we speak.”

  Colleen turned around to me. “Take your time. Let them wait for Cathy. Don’t rush. I want them to all ooh and ahh over her.”

  “And me, too,” Lucas said, a cocky grin spreading across his lips.

  Colleen leveled a stare at him I imagined terrified people who didn’t know her.

  “You’re just filler,” she told him. “The bride is everything. Remember that.”

  Lucas saluted her. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Ready?” Charity asked.

  Colleen nodded and latched on to her husband. “Whatever happens, don’t let go of me. I feel like the slightest move and I’m going to topple over like one of those inflatable clown punching bags.”

  “Not gonna happen because I’m never gonna let go of you, babe.” To underscore the point, he kissed the hand he held.

  For the first time all morning, I saw her smile.

  “Let’s get this show on the road,” he said to Charity.

  She opened one of the doors.

  Once it was closed again, she turned to Cathleen and said, “I know Colleen has prepped the hell out of you, so I don’t need to say anything, except congratulations and just enjoy this moment. Take it all in and remember to smile at your guests as you go down the aisle. You look amazing.”

  “You do,” I echoed.

  “Okay. Here we go. Take a breath, let it out.”

  The three of us did.

  This time she flung open both doors, wide.

  I waited until the guests all stood, then, with Charity murmuring from behind the door, “Step, stop, step,” I set off.

  ****

  “Your grandmother is in rare form,” Lucas whispered to me as he popped another hors d’oeuvres in his mouth.

  The woman in question was seated at a chair surrounded by a gaggle of men of all ages. Slade’s brother-in-law, Cathy’s godfather, Judge Asa Dupont, Father Duncan, one of the bailiffs from the courthouse, even a grinning Robert all stood or sat around her with a few others, as she flirted and batted her eyelashes at them.

  “She kinda resembles Scarlett O’Hara in the opening scene of Gone with the Wind, doesn’t she?”

  Lucas swallowed and muffled his laughter. “She’s a long way from seventeen and a virginal southern belle, but she’s just as calculating and manipulative as Scarlett when she wants to be.”

  I hid my own smile behind one hand and flapped my other in the air. “Truer words…”

  Slade’s sister, Isabella, tapped me on the shoulder and then pulled me into a hug. I’d hosted her wedding party and reception the previous year when Colleen had been her wedding planner and Slade had been footing the bill for the shindig.

  “It’s so good to see you,” I said, meaning it. Isabella Rainier, née Harrington, was one of the loveliest people I’d ever met. She could have been a spoiled, demanding debutante due to her family’s name and power, and her brother’s bucks, but she was one of the most down-to-earth women I’d ever had the pleasure to know. And she was so thrilled her brother and Colleen had grown to love one another, when at first blush they’d been like two junkyard dogs thrown together in an arena, fighting to the death.

  And I know that sounds dramatic, but…

  We chatted for a few minutes until Sarah gave me a high sign from the doorway.

  “We’re ready to serve. Is Colleen going to announce?” she asked me.

  I told her I would.

  Since this was a brunch and less than fifty people had been invited and most of them Cathy’s friends and co-workers, I was fine leaving Sarah in a leadership role so I could enjoy my sister’s day without having to run to and from my kitchen like I usually did when I hosted an event.

  I rang the dinner bell and asked everyone to find their seats so the first course could be served.

  The way we’d set up the room, Cathy and Mac were at a private table in the center surrounded on both sides by everyone else. They’d wanted an intimate brunch and none of the typical wedding things like first dance or garter throw. Our parents’ last-minute cancellation had me moving Lucas and Robert into the chairs I’d reserved for them, and now they sat with Nanny, Colleen, Slade, and me.

  Brunch moved along at a relaxed pace, and Cathy and Mac took the time to visit with all their guests individually.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked Colleen before the cake was served. She’d been keeping an eagle eye on everything going on in the room and had conferred with Charity a number of times.

  “Like I’ve got two bowling balls in my belly,” she said, rolling her eyes. The second she said it, her eyes we
nt wide and she gaped at me open-mouthed. “Um, ignore me. I’m tired. I-I don’t know what I’m saying.”

  Her eyes darted to her husband who dropped his chin as he regarded her. His mouth pulled into a tolerant grin, and he cocked his head as he reached over and took her hand with his. When he squeezed it, Colleen shook her head.

  Slade turned to me, a question in his eyes.

  My own had started to swell with tears. I’d long suspected Colleen was carrying around more than one little niece or nephew, but I’d been reluctant to ask her about it because I knew how sensitive and body-conscious she was. If I questioned if she was having twins and she wasn’t, I knew her feelings would be hurt. I’d kept my suspicions to myself, but with each passing week they seemed more and more real. The fact they were able to keep the truth hidden for so long was a miracle in our tiny community where gossip is a reality of small town life we all suffer through every day.

  “I think I’ll go talk to Charity about getting the cake ready to cut,” I said, rising. The relief on both their faces was almost comical. Why they wanted the number of babies they were having kept a secret was a mystery, but I was going to respect their privacy.

  It dawned on me as I helped Charity bring the cake out of my walk-in storage refrigerator that if I’d been the one having twins and Colleen knew about it, she’d have told the entire town.

  I guess there’s a reason my family calls me the quiet one.

  When the cake was finally served and I’d received a number of compliments on its design and taste, Nanny dinged her champagne glass and called for everyone’s attention.

  With all eyes on her, she smiled at Mac and Cathy.

  “There now, seeing as I’m the family matriarch, it’s me duty to propose a toast to these two lovelies. But before I do, I’d like to say a few words.”

  Lucas leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Any chance it really will be just a few words?”

  I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from laughing out loud.

  Nanny slanted the both of us a look, and I felt exactly the way I had when I’d been a student in her Communion class and she’d caught me talking out of turn. After giving us both a blistering, periwinkle stink eye, she turned back to the newlyweds.

  “From the moment I met ya, Mac, I knew you were the man for me darlin’ Cathleen Anne. I knew down to me soul you were the one who could bring the happiness back into her eyes and the joy back into her heart. And ya have. I’ll always love ya for it.”

  Mac smiled at her and then took Cathy’s hand.

  “Cathleen Anne, me darlin’ girl. You’re me oldest granddaughter. From the moment your da put ya in me arms, I’ve loved ya. It didn’t hurt that ya were me own spitting image.”

  Scattered laughter filled the room. Cathleen’s grin dipped down on one side, and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

  “I’ve watched ya grow from an inquisitive, smart, responsible wee lass into an independent, beautiful woman who’s a force to be reckoned with inside a courtroom and out. Blessed, ya are, with beauty, brains, and a soul made for lovin’. And now with a man who loves ya as much as me and your sisters do, you have everything I’ve always dreamed of for ya, darlin’ girl, and I couldn’t be happier.”

  Tears pooled in Cathy’s eyes. She laid her head down on Mac’s shoulder as he brought her hand to his lips.

  “Well now, before ya all complain I’m getting too long in the tooth here”—she glared at Lucas and pursed her lips, to which he lifted his glass and saluted her—“stand and raise your glasses.”

  When everyone in the room stood, champagne flutes held high, Nanny told Mac and Cathy, “This is an old toast I learned when I was a young lass back in Ireland. ‘May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door.’ Congratulations, me darlin’s. May love and happiness follow you all your days.”

  While everyone cheered and echoed Nanny’s words, Cathy and Mac rose and hugged her.

  “Short, sweet, and to the point,” Lucas said, rubbing my shoulder while I swiped at my leaking eyes with a napkin. “The old girl did good.”

  “Good God, man, never let her hear you call her that,” I said, choking on a laugh. “You won’t live to say it again.”

  His cheeky grin knocked the wind from me and for a moment I got lost in the moisture in his deep eyes.

  “I’m a big boy. I can defend myself,” he said. “Don’t worry.”

  The rest of the brunch went well, and by the time Cathy and Mac bid a heartfelt goodbye to each of their guests, it was midafternoon.

  For once, I’d left my staff to clear and clean up from service while I sat with my family, Lucas and Robert included, in my private kitchen. Dressed in all our finery, we looked a funny bunch sitting there, drinking afternoon tea.

  “It went well, it did,” Nanny said to me while I refilled her cup. “The food, as usual, was marvelous, lass.”

  “Do you guys need a ride in the morning?” Lucas asked Cathy.

  “We’re good, but thanks,” Cathy said. “We’re gonna leave the car at the airport so we can get home right away when we land. Shelby’s coming over in the morning to take Georgie, so we’re all set.”

  Shelby Sinclair had been a friend of Cathy’s since kindergarten and was now the town veterinarian. Mac had adopted their puppy, Georgie, from her vet practice.

  After a few more minutes, I noticed Colleen’s head bob. Slade, ever the vigilant husband, rubbed her arm and said, “I think your job here is done, babe. Let’s get you home so you can rest and put those feet up.”

  A heavy and exhausted sigh blew from between her lips. “You won’t get an argument from me,” she said as he helped pull her up to stand.

  “I’ll come back for you, Fiona,” Slade told Nanny. “Let me get Colleen settled first.”

  “I’ll drop her back at the Arms,” Lucas offered. “I need to get Robert home and then go check on a few things at the station.” He glanced once at me, then my grandmother. “That okay with you?” he asked her.

  “Depends.” She slitted her eyes at him. “Are ya driving your police car today or your regular vehicle? ’Cuz I don’t want to be seen by the community in all me elegance sittin’ in the back of a squad car. The tongues’ll be waggin’ I’m being hauled in for some trumped-up malfeasance. If I’m gonna be arrested, I want it to be for a worthy cause.”

  Lucas assured her he’d taken his nonofficial car to the wedding.

  “All right then. But I want to sit in the front for once and not the back.”

  Lucas grinned at her and nodded. “Done.”

  Hugs and kisses were given around as both my sisters and their husbands left. When Lucas and Robert went to get the car, Nanny pulled me into a body-crushing hug, her strength belying her age.

  “ ’Twas a beautiful affair, lass, everyone said so.”

  “Thanks, Nanny. I’m glad you had a good time.”

  She held me at arms’ length and dragged a piercing eye-rake over my face.

  I knew better than to ask, but curiosity got the better of me. “What?”

  “You’re the last one left, darlin’ girl, and I’m not getting’ any younger.”

  “Who are you kidding?” I asked, knowing full well what she was talking about. “You’re going to outlive us all.”

  She grinned. “ ’Twon’t be for lack of tryin’, that’s for sure.” She grew serious when she added, “But you need to find yourself someone like your sisters have. It’s not good to be alone.”

  “I’m not alone. I’ve got all of you plus my staff.”

  “You know what I’m talkin’ about, lass. You need a man in your life, who’ll love ya, give ya babies, and take care o’ ya in your dotage. It’s a sad thing to get to a point in life and have no one by your side. ’Tis the reason I took four walks down the matrimonial aisle.”

  “I’m more than capable of taking care of myself, Nanny. I don’t need a man.”

  “Not need in that s
ense, no. You’re right. ’Tis a fine, strong, independent gal ya are. But you’ve got other needs, I’m sure, that could use some tendin’ now, don’tcha?”

  She opened her eyes wide and dropped her chin, the wicked glint in her eyes pointed and unmistakable.

  Since everyone always says I’m the granddaughter most like her, I gave her lack of tact right back to her.

  “And I can take care of those needs, too, Nanny darlin’ ”—I lifted my voice and mimicked her brogue to perfection, my hands on my hips—“without a man.”

  I opened my eyes as wide as hers and stared her down. This little spitfire could dish it out with the best of them and many before me had succumbed to one of her intense lectures. But, as mentioned, I’m the one who people say resembles her most in looks and personality. The difference between us is I tend to keep my words unspoken where Nanny says everything that pops into her head out loud.

  A few beats passed where we just stared each other down. It was a testament to my age and willpower I outlasted her. With a shake of her head, she squinted those wide-open eyes at me and clicked her tongue.

  “You grow more stubborn every day, Maureen Angela.”

  I cocked my head and pointed at her. “Okay, Mrs. Pot?” I turned my finger to myself. “Meet Miss Kettle.”

  A quick grin danced across her face. In a heartbeat, a belly laugh accompanied it. Her arms went around me again, and she squeezed with all her tiny might.

  “I do love ya, darlin’. Stubborn thing though you may be, you’ve got me heart in your hands.”

  I kissed the top of her head as Lucas came back into the room.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “Aye. Just saying goodbye to me girl.” She stretched up and kissed my cheek. “Don’t forget about me scones and the little gab fest we talked ’bout.”

  “I won’t. Promise. I’ll be by Tuesday.”

  With a final kiss, she accepted Lucas’s outstretched arm. He tossed me a look over her shoulder and mouthed I’ll call you later as he escorted her out.

  Those four little words held such…promise.

  Despite the wedding and my musings over Lucas, I still had an inn to run and Saturday afternoons were busy any time of the year, so I changed out of my maid of honor dress, wound my hair back up into its usual knot, and slipped into my flip-flops. I had work to do. Baking for tomorrow’s breakfast service had to be done and the menu for lunch planned.