Cupcake (The Fluffy Cupcake Book 1)

by Katie Mettner

  Brady led me to a table where Amber stood holding a birthday sash. I hugged her fiercely, her laughter filling my head and adding joy to the day. “Hello, birthday girl. I’m surprised we managed to pull this off without you catching on,” she said, helping me sit and then sliding the sash over my head. “We couldn’t let this day go unrecognized in the face of everything you’ve been through this year. I’m so proud of you for everything you’ve overcome and for your strength in the face of what happened. You’re my hero,” she whispered, hugging me carefully.

  It was then that everyone gathered around to laugh with me quietly, encourage me softly, and remind me that in this place, everyone was family.

  “HOW ARE YOU HOLDING up?” Brady asked, joining me at the table while everyone snacked on cake and coffee.

  “I’m good,” I promised him. “This was so sweet of you.” I hugged him tightly around his neck. “I didn’t see it coming.”

  “The fact that you were in the hospital for a couple of days helped with that,” he said on a chuckle, patting my back. “Did I pass the birthday cake test?”

  I leaned back and eyed the giant sheet cake. “I had one piece, but I can’t decide if it was good or not. I might need another one to make a final decision.”

  Brady tickled my side gently, and I laughed, being careful not to pull anything when I scrambled away from him in my seat. “I know Orange Creamsicle is your favorite cake.”

  “It totally is, and it was delightfully delicious. I didn’t appreciate the message, though.” I dropped my brow to look fierce, but the smile on my face probably gave me away. “Lordy, lordy, Cupcake’s thirty? It doesn’t even rhyme.”

  He snorted to hold back the laughter and gave me the palms up. “It was Amber’s idea, I swear.”

  “Oh, sure, blame the best friend,” I said on a wink. “I’ll be taking it out of your hide later tonight. Hope you’re prepared.”

  “I literally could not be more prepared, but I think we should probably hold that thought for a few more days until you don’t have stitches in your shoulder and a head injury.”

  “We can be resourceful,” I said mysteriously.

  Brady stood and motioned for everyone to listen. “I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped me pull off this little party today and to thank you all for coming. It was almost a week ago when Haylee told me that someone else’s assessment of her wasn’t wrong. She was an orphan, and she could count the number of friends she had on one hand. I’m so glad you all proved her wrong today. I also know that this is only a small sampling of the people in this town who care about Haylee. The fire marshal was adamant about that capacity limit,” he said, shaking his head. “Kidding, but the truth is, if she hadn’t been injured, I’d planned to hold this party at the beach where the whole town could come to wish her a happy day.”

  “And you could do some fancy footwork out on the water!” Mrs. Mulberry called out.

  Brady pointed at her and chuckled. “I might have, she’s a real sucker for me in that wetsuit.”

  It was my turn to laugh, and I rolled my eyes at the same time because I was, even if I was going to pretend for the rest of my life that I wasn’t.

  “Since her injuries didn’t allow for that kind of party today, I decided I’d have to hold a small one today and that bigger one a little later on when she was feeling up to it.”

  “Brady,” I hissed, “the party has been wonderful. I wasn’t even expecting a party.”

  “I know you weren’t, cupcake,” he said, getting down on one knee. “I bet you aren’t expecting this either, but I’m still going to do it.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black box, cracking open the lid to reveal a sparkling diamond solitaire that made my breath catch in my chest. “Haylee, since the day I walked into The Fluffy Cupcake, I’ve been smitten by your beauty, your ever-present gigantic smile, and the magic you find in the confections you bake here. I learned over the years that people don’t come to The Fluffy Cupcake just to get cupcakes. They come to get joy. They come here because at the best of times and the worst of times in their lives, you are always here for them. You provide memories that bring them together, even when life may have separated them. You do the same thing for me. Every memory I have from the last seven years somehow involves you. The ways you picked apart my sourdough until I refused to make anything else until I got it right,” he said, shaking his head. I wanted to laugh, but I was too frozen in place by the ring and the man on bended knee before me. His words were echoing through my head and my heart like a drumbeat of peace.

  “Brady, we’ve only been dating for a month,” I whispered.

  The crowd chuckled, and so did Brady. “You’re right, but ask anyone here today if me on one knee, holding out a ring to you, surprises any of them. Go ahead. I’ll wait.”

  I glanced up and around the room. Everyone was shaking their heads back and forth without hesitation. Amber was crying as she recorded the whole thing, and Mrs. Mulberry was clapping quietly by her chin, her eyes filled with tears and a smile on her face. Amber’s mom and dad were grinning like Cheshire cats and holding hands like they were still newlyweds.

  “Maybe we’ve only officially been dating a month, but all of those everyday little things that we do together here have built the foundation of our love story. I love you, and I don’t want to wait any longer to officially call you my cupcake. Haylee Davis, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  My chin was trembling when I lifted my head from the ring to gaze into his eyes. They were so full of love, honor, and a speck of fear that my tears spilled over my lashes. “You want me to marry you?” I stuttered, my brain having paused when he cracked the box open. “Are you sure?”

  He chuckled and grasped my hand, holding it tightly in his. “As sure as I was the day I accepted the position as kitchen manager at a little bakery in a town no one had ever heard of before. I knew then that I was going to marry you. I’ve waited seven years to ask this question, but if you need more time, I will wait for seven more.”

  I shook my head slowly, and his eyes dimmed a bit with frustration. “No, I don’t need more time. I love you, Brady. I don’t want to wait seven more years to marry you. I don’t even want to wait seven more days.”

  “Is that a yes?” Mrs. Mulberry asked in a stage whisper.

  I chuckled and winked at him, the relief on his face filling my heart with so much love it nearly burst. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Brady Pearson.”

  He had the ring on my finger before I blinked, and then he picked me up in a hug, swinging me back and forth gently, his lips to my ear. “I love you, cupcake.”

  “And I love you. As it turns out, you can have your cake and eat it, too,” I promised, the light of forever filling his eyes when his lips talked mine into being his today, tomorrow, and always.

  Tart

  The Fluffy Cupcake Book 2

  Coming Soon!

  My name is Amber Phyllis Larson, and I’m terrified of thunderstorms. Embarrassing for a woman of thirty to admit, but there it is in a nutshell. At three a.m. on a Wednesday morning in late May, it was dark, the skies were heavy with rain, and thunder rumbled in the distance over Lake Pendle. We shouldn’t have to deal with thunderstorms this early in the season in Minnesota, but someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that.

  I popped a pod of coffee into the machine and waited while it spit the rich, black coffee into my travel mug. Whoever said the early bird gets the worm had never worked in a bakery for nine years. I didn’t just work in a bakery for nine years, though. I’d been the co-owner of The Fluffy Cupcake with my best friend, Haylee, for all nine of those bliss-filled years. She was recently married to Brady Pearson, her partner in crime at the baker’s bench and now in life. That left me, the only one of the dynamic duo to remain single, much to my mother’s chagrin. Unlike Haylee or my mother, I didn’t see being single at thirty as the end of the world.

  I chuckled to myself when I snapped the lid on my travel mug a
nd turned off the kitchen light. Last year, Haylee decided she had to be in a committed relationship before she turned thirty. She made that resolution on New Year’s Eve, which only gave her seven months and thirteen days to find Mr. Wonderful. She was so focused on her goal that she was too obtuse to see that the perfect guy was already right in front of her face. So, I set her up with every guy I knew she wouldn’t be able to tolerate for more than an hour, much less forever. I’m happy to report my plan worked. If she ever found out I tortured her on purpose, she wouldn’t be amused, but sometimes, we need a little help to see what is directly in front of our face.

  I grabbed my purse and slung it over my shoulder, taking a deep breath before I opened the door to my apartment. With any luck, I’d make it to the bakery before it started to storm any harder. I hated driving in lightning and thunder. Childish, I know, but if you’d lived my life the last seventeen years, you’d understand. I stuffed my thin athletic frame inside the car and slammed the door. Haylee was always jealous of the fact that I could eat anything I wanted from the bakery case without gaining a pound. I was always jealous of the fact that she had curves. What she saw as a negative feature, I would kill to have. Women are funny that way, I guess.

  I shut off the engine in front of the bakery as the first drop of rain hit the windshield of my Subaru. I grabbed my purse and mug, limped to the door, and made it under the awning as the skies opened up and the rain sluiced down. When I unlocked the door and stepped inside, the smell of fresh bread and cakes hit me straight in the face. The scent was always like coming home. I loved that I worked in a place that brought so many people joy day after day, but I loved the people I worked with even more.

  “Hey, Amber!” Brady yelled from the back of the bakery. “Glad you beat the rain in.”

  “Barely,” I said as the first bolt of lightning lit up the sky. I darted away from the window and to the back of the bakery where I couldn’t see it. I never said I wasn’t a chicken. “Where’s Hay-Hay?” I asked, grabbing my apron off the hook after I put my purse in the office.

  “In the cooler. We have cupcakes coming out of our ears and no place to put them.”

  I pointed at him. “That’s why I came in early. I figured you guys were going to be scrambling to get the order ready for the school this morning.”

  Brady laughed and went back to his bread kneading. “Scrambling is an understatement. I’m sure she would appreciate the help. I have to finish the standing bread and bun orders.”

  Brady had become a master baker last summer and was now in charge of all the bread baking for The Fluffy Cupcake. Haylee was in charge of the pastries, cakes, and cupcakes, which meant with an order the size she had today, she was going to need help, or our bakery case would be empty this morning.

  A clap of thunder boomed overhead, and I darted for the cooler, glad Brady had his back to me. Did I mention that I hate storms? I grabbed a jacket off the hook and slipped it on, then opened the cooler door and stepped in. I wasn’t upset to be in the cooler. It was our safe place for severe weather, and you couldn’t see the lightning inside.

  “Hey, cupcake,” I said, gazing at the scene before me. “It looks like a cupcake apocalypse in here.”

  Haylee stood up and blew out a breath, the action rustling the hair that had fallen over her forehead. “Why did I think this was a good idea?”

  “I don’t know what the problem is, Hay-Hay. I mean, forty-one dozen cupcakes are like no big deal,” I said, flipping my hand around while I imitated her. “That’s what you told me when I asked if I should take the order again this year.”

  She rolled her eyes and went back to her cupcake counting. “It’s not a big deal when I thought I was going to make generic cupcakes. When I found out they wanted the school logo on each one, then it became a big deal.”

  I peeked at the tray of cupcakes closest to me and grinned. “They look great, though! Look at the cute penguins.” The Lake Pendle Penguins was the school’s logo, and even growing up here, I never entirely understood it. We don’t have penguins in Minnesota.

  “They’re cute, but they’re a pain in my gigantic ass,” she muttered, putting together another cake box to start packing cupcakes. At this rate, it will only take nine hundred boxes to transport them all to the school. Maybe that was dramatic. It will only take thirteen. I started putting together another box and helped her move all of the cupcakes from pans to boxes.

  “I know the kids at the elementary school are going to love them, Hay-Hay. They’re cute, and we all know they’re going to be delicious.” Another boom of thunder shook the cooler, and I leaned back against the shelf, covering my ears and waiting for it to pass before I started packing again. I didn’t want to drop a cupcake and get in trouble with the baker.

  Haylee came over and rubbed my back a couple of times. “You’re okay. The weatherman said it’s just passing showers and storms today. Nothing severe.”

  I nodded and let out the breath I’d been holding. “You know I’m a chickenshit, but I’ll be fine.”

  She started on the next box of cupcakes. “You’re not a chickenshit. You went through a lot, and you’re entitled to carry scars because of it.”

  We packed the next four boxes of cupcakes in silence, my fingers able to count the forty-eight cupcakes for each box without even having to think about it. When most of them were packed, I glanced around the almost empty cooler.

  “There’s not much product here for the case,” I observed.

  Haylee pointed out the door of the cooler. “Able Baker Brady is baking off all the cupcakes and cakes we need for today. They should be cooling on the racks by now. I’ll decorate everything when I finish here. I kept it simple for today since we had all of these cupcakes going out the door. It’s a Tuesday, so three flavors of cupcakes will be enough.”

  “I should have known you had it under control,” I said on a head shake. “You’ve never not had it under control.”

  She frowned, and her eyes clouded for a moment. “Well, there was that one time.”

  My arms went around her for a gentle hug. “And that one time wasn’t your fault.”

  It was just a few days before Haylee’s birthday last July when Darla McFinkle attacked her. She thought Haylee had cost her the title of Strawberry Fest Princess, but at nearly thirty, Darla shouldn’t have been running for the crown. Darla always did what Darla wanted to do, though. She’d bullied Haylee her entire life, and it culminated with Darla trying to kill my best friend behind our bakery. If Brady hadn’t found her when he did, Darla might have succeeded. I was so glad she was still here with me every day.

  “Have you heard anything about the trial?” I asked, sliding the last box onto the rack we’d push out to the delivery van later.

  She grimaced, and her eyes went to the ceiling. “Jury selection starts next week. She’s hired the best attorney in the state, so she’ll probably walk.”

  “Where does she get the money to pay for that?” I asked stymied. “She hasn’t worked a day in her pathetic thirty years of life.”

  “Daddy,” Haylee said, her eyes rolling. “Daddy has always spoiled her. He’s the reason she’s the way she is now.”

  “A murderer,” I muttered, shaking my head.

  “Innocent until proven guilty, Amber,” she reminded me, and we both broke down into a fit of giggles.

  “Hard to pretend you’re innocent when you leave the knife you stabbed someone with in your bathtub, and your DNA all over their body.”

  “I’m sure she will find a way to twist it in her favor. She always does. Anyway, I think we’re done here.” She pointed at the cupcakes, but I knew she was talking about the discussion regarding Darla. She didn’t like to talk about it, not that I could blame her, so I nodded my head in agreement.

  “We’re ready. Once Taylor comes in, I’ll have Brady help me load these, and I’ll deliver them. That way, you can finish your work.”

  She slung her arm over my shoulders and squeezed me. “Thanks, bes
tie. I appreciate it. You’re better at schmoozing with people than I am anyway.”

  “That’s what makes us a great team,” I said, throwing her a wink and heading to the front of the bakery to start the day.

  THE LAKE PENDLE SCHOOL District consisted of three schools in different areas of the town. Lake Pendle Elementary sat near the lake in a sprawling brick building that had been around for only a few decades. Built new in the nineties to replace an old building past its prime, and fire codes, the new building was a source of pride for the community. With windows in all the classrooms, interior computer labs, and a beautiful gymnasium, the Lake Pendle Littles, as they’re referred to, get a state-of-the-art education. I don’t have kids, but I do know technology is more important than anything now that our world runs on it.

  Today’s event was for the Lake Pendle Littles and their Bigs. The elementary and high school partner together in a program to offer mentoring, support, friendship, and encouragement between schools. A high school freshman is paired with a first-grader, and they spend the next four years together, culminating in a graduation ceremony at the elementary for the fourth graders going to the middle school and the high schoolers moving on to college or transitioning to work life. It was a favorite event of the community, and in a few more hours, this place was going to be packed. Luckily for me, at just a little past seven, it was quiet, other than staff preparing for the day. Thankfully, the storms had petered out and left us with just a few rain showers on this Friday morning. Delivering thirteen giant boxes of cupcakes was easier when it wasn’t raining, for obvious reasons.

  I slammed the doors shut on the van and pushed the cart toward the side door of the elementary school, where deliveries were made to Cook Cramer. I swear Mrs. Cramer was timeless. She’d been cooking here since I was a kid, and since I’m thirty, that’s a lot of years. In truth, I went to school with her kids, so she’s not that old, but she is one of the most beloved figures in this school for both her fantastic food and her sweet nature. She didn’t have time to make forty dozen cupcakes, though.