Raspberry Kisses (The Bakery Romance Series Book 1)

by Cecelia Dowdy

  “What was your favorite dessert to make?”

  He smiled, leaning back into his chair, getting comfortable. “I loved preparing my mocha chocolate cake with rum sauce.” He paused, his mouth watering, reminiscing about the luscious treat. “Those moist layers of chocolate cake, layered with that creamy rum sauce….” Smiling, he gazed into Rhea’s pretty eyes. “I used to make it at Christmas, and we always sold out. It was my own recipe that I developed myself, and I was proud of it.”

  Rhea raised her eyebrows, crossed her legs. “That sounds impressive.”

  “What’s your favorite dessert?”

  “Actually, my favorite dessert is one that I’m experimenting with now. I’m trying to come up with a nice, decadent cupcake recipe. I’m creating raspberry cream cupcakes. I use raspberry jam in the filling and vanilla cream icing.” Her smile faded.

  “What’s the matter?”

  She sighed. “I wonder if they’ll sell. You never hear anybody say that they wish they had a raspberry cupcake.” She shrugged. “But, I’m trying. Hopefully I can create such fantastic recipes that those grocery store customers will come running back to my bakery.”

  She paused. “I’ve been watching the industry and have noticed that cupcakes are really becoming popular for bakeries. I’ve heard when people purchase a whole dozen cupcakes, they seem to stick to vanilla or chocolate—the fancy types didn’t seem to appeal on a mass level.” She shrugged. “The people in Maple Grove are pretty simple. I’m wondering if my bakery were in a big city, like New York or Chicago, if the fancier flavors would be more appealing. People in cities seem to have more of an eclectic taste.” She sighed. “So, what happened to your business?”

  “I sold it.”

  “Why?”

  He shook his head. “It’s a long, complicated story and I don’t feel like going into that right now. The main reason I wanted to see you this afternoon was so I could help you with your bakery.”

  “What kind of help are you suggesting?”

  “Well, when we were talking last night, you said your sales were falling and that if you didn’t do something to increase your sales soon, you’d lose your business.”

  “Yes...”

  “I wanted to tell you something.”

  “What?”

  “After returning from my errand this morning, I looked up your bakery on the internet.”

  “You researched my bakery? You’d come up empty.”

  He threw his hands up in the air. “That’s part of your problem! I didn’t see a website for your business.” He held up the business card she’d given him during lunch. “Your business card looks nice, but there’s no website or e-mail address here. How can you run a business without those?”

  “A website sounds expensive.”

  “It doesn’t have to be.”

  “But my business is local and I live in a small town. Maple Grove is not very big, so I didn’t see the need.”

  He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if you live in a small town.” He touched her arm. “You’ve got to have an online presence. Also, have you thought about mail orders?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “I used to send desserts using overnight delivery. People would receive them the following day, and they were fresh and delicious. I did international orders sometimes.”

  “This is so much information. I feel like it’ll take a lot of work to save my bakery.”

  “Of course it will.”

  “But, I wonder if you’re helping me because I’m Raven’s twin sister.”

  “No, that’s not why. I’ve done this before.”

  “You have?”

  He nodded. “Once. A friend of mine in Baltimore opened a restaurant and it was not doing well. I spent a month advising him, and afterwards, his business turned around. He mentioned if I hadn’t stepped in, he probably would’ve had to close his restaurant within a year.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “You did this for free? It sounds like your advice takes a lot of time and effort.”

  “Of course not. When my friend’s restaurant started making more money, he paid me. We’d worked out a deal beforehand. I think it’s only fair to be paid if I’m spending a lot of my free time helping somebody with their business.” He grinned, showing his twin dimples. “But, I’d give you a discount since I know you.”

  Rhea sighed.

  What was going through her mind? Why did she seem upset? “So, will you do it?”

  “I’m not sure if I want to agree to pay for your services,” she said with a small smile.

  He chuckled. “Sounds like you’re teasing me. But, I’m not really talking about agreeing to use my services. I’ll simply tell you what I think you need to do to save your bakery.”

  “Okay. Sounds like a good idea.” She glanced away from him, scratched the back of her neck.

  He tapped her shoulder. “Hey, you should be excited. My helping you won’t be that bad.” He grinned, and she finally faced him again, her lips set in a tense line.

  “I was just thinking about Raven.”

  He shrugged. “What about her?” Raven had nothing to do with his helping Rhea.

  “Raven is kind of high-strung and emotional.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I noticed.”

  “Well, since the two of you are dating, I’m not sure how she’d feel about your advising me about my bakery. I don’t want to make her angry.”

  He stood, folded his arms in front of his chest and paced around the room. Why would Raven blatantly lie to her sister about their relationship? “This is ridiculous.”

  “Martin, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m trying to calm down.” He plopped back into the chair, leaned back, rubbed his eyes. “I don’t believe this.”

  She threw her hands up into the air. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve never dated your sister, and I have no idea why she’d tell you otherwise.”

  Chapter Eight

  Rhea stood, her heart pounding. Taking a deep breath, she walked around the room. She really needed to calm herself down. She stopped, folded her arms in front of her chest, glancing at Martin. Was he a liar? No, he couldn’t be. She’d always thought of herself as a good judge of character, and since she’d met Martin, he’d seemed honest, trust-worthy, caring. Just talking to him about her bakery, and seeing his open willingness to help, made her insides feel mushy and warm. He didn’t even seem concerned about getting paid for his services – she figured he realized how hard things were for her financially, and he didn’t want to add to her burden by charging a fee.

  Such a tender gesture for him to care about her needs when he barely knew her. When he’d mentioned his work with the homeless, she’d found yet another reason to admire him. He reminded her so much of Stan, and that was probably why it was hard for her to stop thinking about him, why it was so hard to ignore her attraction.

  She took another peek at him. He was easy on the eyes, too. Over the last twenty-four hours, since she’d met Martin, she found she liked the idea of spending more time with him, getting to know him better, but, she tried hard to keep these budding feelings at bay since she knew that Raven would have a fit if she knew that Rhea was attracted to Martin. She didn’t want to hurt her sister, and it’d be wrong to make a move on Martin since Raven said she was in love with him!

  But they must’ve gone out at least once? Why would Raven fabricate a relationship with Martin since she was sending Rhea to scout out the retreat, find out if Martin was dating anybody else? If Raven were thinking rationally, she’d know that Rhea might discover the truth about her “relationship” with Martin. But Raven was not always rational.

  He glanced at her. “Why’re you so quiet?”

  “I’m trying to figure out what you mean. How could you have not dated Raven?”

  He sighed, rubbing his fingers over his head, groaning. “Rhea, I never dated your sister.”

  What was he talking about? Her mind rushed with questions �
� so many questions. How did Raven and Martin know each other if they had not dated? Why did Raven have Martin’s picture on her phone? Had Raven only seen Martin once, decided she liked him, before blatantly lying about dating him, just to make herself feel better?

  She focused on the first one. “How does my sister know you? She claims the two of you went out on four dates.”

  He stood, pulled out a chair. “Sit down. I think this conversation is going to take a while.”

  She settled into the wooden chair and crossed her legs. “Okay. I’m listening.”

  He sighed. “Did she mention how we met?”

  “Yes,” Rhea breathed deeply. “She said her car broke down in front of your office building.”

  “No, her car broke down in front of my church. I’m still shocked Raven never told you I was a pastor. She called a tow truck, but there was some kind of delay and they said they couldn’t get there for a couple of hours.”

  “So you waited with her?”

  “Well, I invited her into the building. I was the only person there since it was late. I was working on a sermon. It was warm that night and she said she was thirsty, so we went to my office and I gave her a diet soda. She started asking me questions about my congregation and about the Bible.”

  Rhea frowned. “The Bible?” That didn’t sound like Raven at all.

  “Yes, does your sister ever talk to you about spiritual matters?”

  “No. As far as I know, Raven hasn’t been to church since our parents divorced.” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a few seconds and reliving those terrible days. “When we were seniors in high school my mom joined a weird church.”

  “Weird?”

  She glanced at the Bible resting on a nearby shelf, still thinking about those terrible days. “Yes, it was awful. The church didn’t focus on Jesus so much—they mostly focused on their leader. They listened to him about all spiritual matters.”

  “Did they use the Bible?”

  Rhea shook her head. “Not really.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

  She dropped her forehead into her hand, thinking. It’d been a long time since she’d talked about her mom’s religion. The last person with whom she’d discussed this had been Stan. Sitting up, she peeked at Martin. Her heart pounded and her skin warmed. Pressing her hands together, she tried to quell these new emotions. The desire to tell him about her mom bubbled inside of her, and she wanted him to understand how she felt. “They had a Bible, but, it was a special version—the leaders of the church re-interpreted the Bible and released their own translation. That was the scripture they read. But, they had endless rules, rules that had to be followed. We didn’t seek guidance from the Word or Jesus. We had to rely on the leaders for guidance.”

  “You say we as if you were involved in that church with your mom.”

  “Only during my senior year—I couldn’t go back after I graduated. It just didn’t seem right.”

  “Sounds like a cult,” he grumbled.

  “I researched it later and discovered that’s what many people called the faith that my mom joined.” She crossed her legs. “My dad had lost his job and had developed a drinking problem. They argued every night. Looking back now, I think my mom was just confused and vulnerable, and that’s why this group was able to suck her in.”

  She shrugged. “About two years after they divorced, when Raven and I were in college, my mom finally left that religion and she met someone and got married again. She lives in Florida now with her second husband.”

  “Do you see her often?”

  She shook her head. “No, but, we talk on the phone once a week. She’s planning to come visit me and Raven this Christmas. It'll be nice to see her again.”

  “How did your mom end up leaving that church?”

  Rhea folded her arms in front of her chest. “They didn’t believe in seeking medical help. They said you needed to pray illness away. One of my mom’s church friends got really sick. The church leader heard about it and got members of the congregation to go to my mom’s friend’s house. He said they needed to lay hands on her and pray the illness away – they didn’t need to seek medical help. The woman became unconscious and her temperature kept getting higher. After the church members left, my mom finally called an ambulance and her friend was rushed to the hospital.”

  She took a deep breath, glanced out the window. “The church leader found out and my mom got in trouble for calling the ambulance. He said she had weak faith. He also said she needed to confess her sin in front of the congregation and seek forgiveness. My mom refused and was shunned from the church.”

  Martin remained silent for a few minutes, staring at the wall photos of the bay. What was he thinking? Did he think that she’d come from a nutty family and was an unstable woman? Since he was acquainted with Raven, she hoped that he understood that she was nothing like her sister, even though they were identical twins. She needed him to understand that Raven’s irrational behavior partially stemmed from her childhood illness as well as her mom’s involvement with the cult. “What happened to your mom’s friend?”

  “The doctors had to do an emergency appendectomy—if they hadn’t, they said she would’ve died. Martin, I think it’s wonderful to pray, have faith in God, seek healing, but I don’t believe the Lord frowns upon us going to the doctor. That incident opened up my mom’s eyes, made her realize the type of church she’d joined.”

  He briefly touched her shoulder, leaving a circle of warmth on her heated skin. “How is your mom now?”

  “Both my mom and her husband are involved in church and both are saved, but I think Raven’s attitude about religion and God was spoiled when my parents divorced and my mom joined the cult.”

  “Well, your sister is still struggling. As a pastor, I’ve been told that I’m pretty good with reading people, figuring them out. When I talked to Raven, I knew she’d been hurt, and I wanted to do what I could to get her to accept Jesus.”

  Rhea took a deep breath, still trying to accept the fact that Raven had never dated Martin. “Raven was also hurt when we were children.”

  “How?”

  “She had cancer.”

  He took a deep breath. “Rhea, that’s terrible.”

  “It was awful. Once she’d recuperated, my mom and dad, and me, too, did whatever she wanted. I guess she got spoiled. Raven was coddled so much that it got to the point that it was hard for her to accept not having her own way.” She shuddered. “You’d think Raven wouldn’t be so hard-edged and cold after almost dying. My parents and I were scared she’d have a relapse, and we were still afraid of losing her.”

  “Maybe Raven’s afraid, too.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe she’s so hard-edged because she’s protecting herself from possible pain.”

  Rhea had never thought of it like that. Was her sister really fearful of getting hurt again? She’d think about that later, when she was alone. She still needed to find out more about Raven’s and Martin’s interactions with one another. “So, after you saw her that first time, when her car broke down, what happened?”

  He glanced out the window, as if gathering his thoughts. “I gave her the phone number to my office, and invited her to church. She seemed to have lots of questions about the Bible, legitimate questions, and I wanted to do what I could to discuss things with her.”

  “Did she come to your church?”

  He nodded. “She came every Sunday for a month, that’s when we saw each other. During the month that your sister attended, every Sunday after church the singles got together to plan for a ministry event. Our group would go to Starbucks for coffee. I went along to advise, and I invited Raven, too. She wasn’t part of our group, but she came and afterwards Raven and I would stay and discuss the Bible, questions she had about faith and salvation.” He paused. “Sometimes, I’d get hungry so we’d go to a nearby restaurant to continue our conversation. That’s when I noticed you
r sister had strict eating habits. She’d make snide comments about what I ordered, and it got on my nerves.”

  He paused again for a few seconds. “When Raven and I would go out to eat I invited the others to come, if they were still at Starbucks. But, they always declined.”

  Rhea sighed, pressing her hands together. This was worse than she thought. What was she going to do now? She still had tons of questions, so many questions that she didn’t know what to ask next.

  “Raven has your picture on her phone. Did you send it to her?”

  His mouth dropped open. “No, of course not.” He stood, shoved his hand into his pocket, pulled out his phone. He touched the screen a few times before giving it to her. “Is this the picture she has?”

  Rhea accepted it, eyed the picture of Martin, prominently displayed on his church’s website. She slowly nodded. “Yes.”

  “She probably got the picture from the internet.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket and paced.

  “You seem upset.”

  “I hate it when people blatantly lie. I especially hate it when they lie about me.”

  Rhea placed her forehead into her hand, her heart thudding. This just couldn’t be true, could it? She couldn’t blindly accept all that Martin was telling her without talking to Raven first. “Why does Raven have your cell phone number?”

  “I’ve regretted giving it to her. Our church was getting upgraded to a new automated voicemail system. We had some trouble with the system, and we were not able to retrieve messages for a couple of days, so I gave her my personal number.”

  He continued pacing. “The last time I’d seen Raven, she seemed distressed. She claimed she was having some problems at work. I’d mentioned the retreat and coincidentally found out she was going. I said I’d meet her at the retreat so that we could talk.” He paused again. “She started calling me…a lot. It got on my nerves. I did call her back, initially. But, soon, it became apparent that she was reading more into our relationship than what was there.” He blew air through his lips, looking directly at Rhea. “During this retreat, I was going to tell her to stop calling me, and suggest she see my father, or one of the Bible study leaders with the rest of her biblical questions.”