Baked with Love

by Peggy Jaeger

  As the tears continued their freefall down my face, I asked, “Why are there two Yes cupcakes?”

  Lucas nodded at the group across from us, who all raised what they held in their hands: six identical Yes cakes.

  “That one”—Lucas thrust his chin at the box—“is how I figure Eileen would have voted.”

  “You all knew he was going to do this?”

  Before they could answer, Lucas did it for them. “I was leveraging the yes votes so you couldn’t say no. And speaking of, I still haven’t heard an answer.”

  Those rare nerves broadcast themselves again. Head tilted to one side, eyes slightly narrowed, and with the corner of his mouth clamped between his teeth, he truly was concerned about my response.

  But I still held that damn envelope in my hands.

  As if reading my mind, Lucas said, “I want your answer before you open it, Maureen.”

  “But we don’t know what it says—”

  “And I’ve told you I don’t care. Nothing in there is going to change anything. I want you to be mine. If it’s for the next hundred years or the next five minutes, I don’t care. And those results don’t matter to me.”

  This time it was Nanny’s sigh echoing around us.

  “I’ve misjudged you so much, lad,” she said. She swiped one of her arthritic fingers under her eyes. “Seal the deal, now, darlin’ boy. Me old heart can’t take much more of this suspense.”

  “What does she mean?” I asked.

  He palmed the box in one hand, then slipped the other into his pocket. When he brought it back out, it was clenched. “Just as a point of record and because I know you so well, I asked your grandmother’s permission before I put this all together.”

  If it was possible for a heart to swell with love, mine grew right then and there.

  “Knowing how she feels about me—”

  “Felt, lad. Past tense. You’ve proven your worth, ya have.”

  Lucas smiled and shook his head. “Okay, felt about me, I wanted her to understand just how much you mean to me and how I wanted us to be together for the rest of our lives. She gave me this, hoping to influence your decision in my favor. Her exact words were ‘Just in case she’s on the fence about ya.’ ” He rolled his eyes. Then he opened his hand.

  I gasped.

  “Nanny.”

  “Of the four o’ ya,” she said, “you were the one who always loved that ring, lass. When you were a wee one, you’d ask me if ya could wear it around the house. Ya held it up on your finger, modelin’ it for all to see. Thought ya were the Queen o’ Sheba, ya did.”

  “And you always let me.” I had to swipe my hand across my wet eyes so I could see the ring clearly. “This was the engagement ring Grandpa gave you. The one you had blessed by the Pope.”

  A sigh broke from her. “The man had good taste in jewelry, to be sure.”

  “Women, too,” Mac said, winking at her.

  “You’re still me favorite,” she stage-whispered at him.

  Lucas rolled his eyes again, then held the ring up in one hand by the band, the box of cupcakes still in the other. “So before your grandmother expires from suspense or I stress-sweat to an early death, I need an answer, Maureen. What do you say?” He took a step closer, and I tipped my head back so I could still look him in the eyes. “Will you join your heart to mine, walk hand in hand with me through the good and the bad? Will you marry me?”

  He’d tilted his head again, his gaze intense and piercing. Then, he tossed me the cocky, slightly wicked grin that made the butterflies in my stomach come to attention. With a quick head cock to the people around the room, he said, “If it’s any consideration, they all think you should.”

  He’d leveraged his bets, all right. Lucas knew just how to play to a person’s weak spot. For me it was, and always had been, my family.

  My sisters stared me down with expectant expressions on their faces from across the room, each holding their cupcake up to me so I could read their response, their husbands doing the same. Robert stood next to Nanny’s chair, his cupcake pointed at me, too.

  Nanny herself, eyes twinkling from the afternoon sun shining through the windows, held her cupcake up to her lips and, with one eyebrow raised toward me and a devilish smirk crossing her face, licked a bit of the frosting from the side.

  “Maureen?”

  The smile was still on his face, but Lucas really was sweating. The fact the man who was always the calmest, most controlled and focused of anyone in a room or a situation, was anxious about my answer sent such a surge of power through me, I shuddered.

  “Answer the man, lass. And answer from your heart, not that overthinking brain o’ yours.”

  There’s a blessing having someone who always speaks their mind and who knows you inside and out, in your corner.

  With my gaze glued to his, I reached into the box of cupcakes and pulled one out. I held it up to show him, then did the same to my family.

  The room erupted, the noise jarring the babies in their sleep and making Georgie bark and squirm against Mac’s hold.

  Robert took the box from his father as Lucas grabbed my hand and slid the ring on it while I took a big bite of the Yes cupcake. Lucas yanked me against him and kissed my frosting-covered mouth, the both of us laughing.

  Whoops, cheers, puppy barks, and one moaned, “Geez, Dad, let her breathe,” surrounded us.

  When we came up for air, Lucas hugged me so hard that when he lifted me I fell out of my flip-flops.

  “So there’s no argument or discussion about this in the future,” Cathy said, the first to hug and congratulate us, “I’m marrying you.”

  “And I’m planning everything,” Colleen added, wrapping her arms around both of us. “You won’t have to do anything. Not even cook. We’ll get it catered.”

  “I’ll play for your wedding, lass,” Nanny added, not to be outdone. “Anything ya want, as long as it’s romantic.”

  I looked at each of these three women who had tears in their eyes and joy on their faces.

  “Do I have any say at all?” I asked, then fisted my hands on my hips. It was then I realized I was still holding the lab letter.

  “Let’s wait until after we visit Eileen,” Lucas said, taking the letter from my hand.

  “No.” I took it back. “I want to know now. I…need…to know. Now.”

  For a long moment, he held my gaze. Then, he nodded. “We do it together, then. You’re not opening that without me.”

  “Or me,” my sisters each echoed.

  When Nanny stayed silent, we all shifted our attention to her. She was calmly nibbling on her cupcake, looking as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

  “I don’t give a fiddler’s fart when you open it, lass, or who’s present when ya do. I already know what it says.”

  “How?”

  “Nanny, what have you done?” Colleen asked.

  “Or who have you bribed?” Cathy added.

  She tossed them a stink eye, then turned to me.

  With pursed lips and an eye roll I was a little jealous of because it was much more expressive than mine could ever be, she said, “I’ll answer your question, lass, since you seem to be the only one of me granddaughters who trusts me.”

  “That’s open for interpretation,” I said.

  She clicked her tongue and finished off her cupcake. “I’ve done nothing, bribed no one,” she said once she’d swallowed. “And for the record, I don’t know exactly what’s in the envelope. But I have faith, a whole lotta faith, something you all should have more of, by the by, that the results are negative.” Her striking blue eyes settled on me and softened. “You’re not leaving this earth anytime soon, darlin’ girl. I feel it, here.” She pressed a fist to her heart.

  “I wish I had your conviction, Nanny,” I told her.

  “Ah, well, lass. If it’s wishes we’re sharing, I’d like to be thirty again, touring the world, and flirtin’ with the likes of royalty. But if I were, I wouldn’t have you three
in me life. So, let’s not be wasting our time with wishes and find out for sure, eh?”

  “Maureen?” Lucas wound a hand around my arm and squeezed. “What do you want to do?”

  After a moment spent getting lost in the love in his eyes, I tore the letter open. The room went silent as I read down to the first paragraph. The first line was all I got through, though. The word negative jumped out at me, and I dropped the paper to the ground and flung myself into Lucas’s waiting arms.

  ****

  Two months later

  “You know, your cookie jar’s empty again,” Lucas declared as sat back on the couch and nestled me under his arm. “Robert made mention of it when he was here over the weekend. I realized he was right. What gives? That thing always used to be full.”

  I snuggled in closer and draped one of my legs over his thigh. “I’ve been sleeping better,” I said, nuzzling the space under his ear I loved so much. “I’m not up at all hours baking, anymore. Baking used to be my insomnia cure.”

  “And what? Now I am?”

  “Yup.”

  In truth, I’d slept through every night since Lucas had all but moved in with me a week after his proposal.

  With the test results no longer looming over my head like a noose waiting to choke the life from me, we’d all caravanned to the cemetery and celebrated Eileen. Afterward, Lucas had driven Robert home and then spent the night—and every other night—in my bed. The news he was getting remarried had sparked his grouchy father to reluctantly agree to move into Angelica Arms. Currently, Nanny was helping Hogan get adjusted to his new life. Lucas’s house was on the market, and his clothes now hung in my closet.

  I figured I’d get some pushback from Nanny about the two of us living in sin, but to the astonishment of us all, she hadn’t said boo about it. Lucas hadn’t wanted a long engagement, telling everyone since he’d finally gotten me to say yes, he wanted to sign the license before I chickened out.

  As if.

  The wedding was a week away, and as promised, I hadn’t done a thing except give an opinion here and there. Colleen, despite having two colicky newborns, had planned everything with the military precision her brides had come to depend on. Since now I could count myself as one of that elite group, I understood why she was so popular and booked solid for fifty weeks a year.

  “I cured your insomnia?” Lucas said, tugging me up onto his lap, his hands settled over my hips.

  “If I could bottle you as a sleep aid, we’d be gazillionaires.” I splayed my hands over his shoulders. The diamond sitting on my finger winked back at me. “Honestly, I haven’t slept this well in forever. Knowing you’re next to me every night helps my brain to quiet down and allows me to sleep.”

  “So all the exercise we’ve been getting in that bed isn’t what’s cured you?”

  I laughed. “While it’s true all the exercise has exhausted my body, it’s my brain that has never been able to shut down or calm before now.” I lifted a shoulder. “I was up most nights worrying about the inn, paying bills, my family. Having you right there next to me must subconsciously let me realize everything is okay. Or will be. I’m safe and protected. Loved.”

  “Loved, you are.” He pressed a gentle kiss on my mouth, then nuzzled my nose.

  “You’ve got a look on your face that means you’re thinking about something.” Lucas trailed his lips down the column of my neck. “Care to share?”

  Little frissons of pleasure shot down my spine from the sensation of his evening scruff rasping across my skin. I tilted my head to give him even better access, and God bless the man, he took it.

  “It’s just amazing to me how much my life has changed in the past few months. All of our lives, actually. Cathy and Colleen are married to men I adore because they love my sisters so much. One has twins, the other is due to pop soon. Nanny is staying put in the Arms, and now your dad is there, too.”

  I slid down and rested my head against his shoulder.

  “The construction’s started on the expansion; it’s going well and moving fast. Come the spring, I’ll be able to offer the bungalows for stays. I finally got tested after wasting so much time worrying about the results. Robert is doing well, and we’re getting married in a week. So much change in so short a time.”

  Lucas was silent for a moment. I felt his neck shift as he swallowed, the tiny pulse of air blowing from him loud against my ear. “Is it too much change for you?”

  The concern in his tone made me sit back up so I could look at him. Eyebrows beetled, the groove between his eyes deep, the worry I’d heard was evident.

  “I mean, I realize I’m the major cause of your life turning upside down,” he said, the corners of his lips pressing tightly together. “I moved in here as soon as you said yes to getting married. I didn’t really give you any time to process what was happening or going to happen in our lives. I just steamrolled right in. Is it…too much for you? Too quick?”

  I didn’t think it was possible to love this man any more than I already did, but I was wrong.

  I kissed the tip of his nose, as he was wont to do to me, and smiled. “Lucas, nothing has been too much for me to take in,” I added. “I love that you’ve decided to live here instead of keeping your house. It makes running the inn easier if I’m on site all the time. That you’d give up your home, the one you were raised in, to be here with me is simply mind-boggling. And heartwarming. I’m grateful you’re being so considerate.”

  “Consideration’s got nothing to do with it. The house was just a house, filled with some good memories but mostly bad ones. Your life is here, and I want to be where you are.” He shrugged. “It was no hardship at all to leave it, believe me.”

  “Still, it was your home for most of your life.”

  “My home is wherever you are.”

  Honestly, I loved him more minute to minute.

  “Just so we’re clear,” I said, clearing my throat of the emotion backing up in it, “I wasn’t complaining, and I’m not worried about anything. Well”—I rolled my eyes—“I’m a little concerned about Colleen’s vision for the wedding since she won’t let me know what, exactly, it is. But aside from that, I’m worry-free.”

  “Really?”

  I squinted at him. “Where’s this…uncertainty coming from? Your life has changed, too, you know. You’re basically working two jobs since Pete is still in recovery mode. Your hours are longer, and I know you’ve been worried about your dad adjusting to the nursing home life. Plus the upcoming wedding. Has it all been too much for you, maybe? Are you having second thoughts?”

  His face cleared when he shook his head. “I’ve never been so certain of anything in my life, than I am of marrying you.” He kissed me, hard and quick. “Yes, my life has changed, but it’s only been for the better. Dad’s gonna be unhappy no matter where he is, but at least at the Arms, I know he’s got three hots and a cot every day and is safe in case anything happens to him, medically. As soon as Pete gets off desk duty and is out in the field again, things will lighten up a bit, I can take a break, and we can get away for a while. Just the two of us.”

  In one easy move, he rose with my butt cradled in his arms.

  “The only second thought I’ve ever had is why I waited so long to tell you how much I love you. We could have cured your insomnia years ago if I’d moved sooner.”

  Both of us laughing, we fell onto my bed.

  Resting side by side, Lucas trailed a finger from my temple down to my chin, tipped it up, then kissed me.

  “I love you, Maureen.”

  “I love you, too. So much.”

  “That’s all I need, then. You’re all I need. Now and forever.”

  Yup, it was true: my love for him continued to grow, now, second by second.

  “So whadda ya say we”—he shifted until he was nestled on top of me—“make sure you get a good night’s sleep tonight? I’d feel awful if your insomnia came back.” He wiggled his eyebrows and grinned at me like the devil himself, to quote Nanny.r />
  “Even if it meant you still wouldn’t have any fresh cookies tomorrow?”

  “Well, a man can’t live by cookies, alone.” His mouth crushed down on my laughing lips.

  I slept really well that night.

  And every night thereafter…

  Maureen’s Insomnia Sugar Cookies

  Makes 24 cookies

  Ingredients:

  2 3/4 cups all-purpose white flour

  1 tsp baking soda

  1/2 tsp baking powder

  1/2 tsp salt

  1 cup unsalted butter, room temp, cut into squares

  1 cup + 2 Tbsp white granulated sugar

  2 Tbsp light brown sugar

  1 large egg

  2 tsp pure vanilla extract

  1/4 cup white granulated sugar (for rolling)

  Directions:

  Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

  Sift dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, into a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

  Cream the butter and both sugars together in a large mixing bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy.

  Add the egg and mix until well combined.

  Add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.

  Add the dry ingredients 1 cup at a time and mix until the dough is well formed. Do not overmix.

  Using a tablespoon-sized scoop, scoop cookie dough into individual pieces. Gently roll each into a ball with your hands, then roll each ball in white sugar to coat.

  Put the balls on the baking sheet 2 inches apart. Cookies will spread once they heat, and you want them to have room to do so without touching one another.

  Bake cookies for 7-10 minutes, but do not overbake. Remove just before the edges begin to turn golden.

  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a baking rack for at least 10 minutes.

  Enjoy!

  A word about the author…

  Peggy Jaeger writes about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them. When she isn’t writing, you can find her cooking or reading.