by Lucy Kevin
When he opened his arms, there was no way she could have stopped herself from stepping into them. He was so strong. So steady. So wonderful.
Suddenly, she couldn’t bottle up her emotions another moment. She started to cry, tears spilling down her cheeks as he held her. Normally, she hated crying. It always felt as though she’d lost control and people would see her as weak.
Yet, with Daniel, it didn’t feel like that. In his arms, she felt safe.
Like she’d finally come home.
* * *
“It’s going to be okay,” Daniel whispered.
There was so much more he wanted to say, but for now he simply wanted her to know that if she ever needed him, he would be there. Giving her space to process everything yesterday had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He’d nearly called her, nearly gone to her apartment, a dozen times. But he’d known that wasn’t fair. He couldn’t force her to love him back—only Jenn could make that decision for herself.
A short while later, she drew away. Despite the tears still streaking her cheeks, she bravely said, “I think we need to talk.”
After they both pulled out stools and were sitting facing each other, he wanted to reach for her hand. But he couldn’t. Not until he knew if she returned his feelings.
Or if she didn’t.
“Oliver was waiting for me at my apartment when I got home on Saturday.”
Daniel couldn’t disguise his shock. He was furious that her ex would dare ambush her like that, especially after she’d already let him know at Tamara’s café that she wasn’t interested.
Calling on his self-control to keep from ranting about what a waste of oxygen Oliver was, he asked, “What happened?”
“I finally got him to understand that not only do I not want to see him again, I don’t want to be with him. Ever again.” Certainty, and obvious relief, rang behind every word she spoke. “I didn’t even realize until yesterday that my marriage was an anchor I thought I needed to keep dragging around with me. I’d built the final break into an impossible thing in my head. Yet when the time came to tell Oliver that we really were done forever, it didn’t end up being hard at all.” She was silent for a moment before adding, “I guess I kept thinking that if I couldn’t make things work with Oliver, there must be something wrong with me. Something broken.”
“You’re anything but broken,” Daniel said softly. “Your strength astounds me every day. But I understand how difficult it is to let go of the past. When I lost Victoria, it felt as though there was something fundamentally wrong with the world. In those early years, I kept going only because my kids needed me. For so long, even thinking about being happy again felt like a betrayal. And I didn’t want to let anyone new into the family dynamic. Not only because I didn’t want to trust someone else with my kids’ hearts when they needed me more than ever after losing their mom, but also because I couldn’t stand the thought of losing anyone else. How could I be sure that the next woman I loved wouldn’t just be taken away from me again?”
“I haven’t wanted to risk putting my heart on the line either,” she admitted. “I mean, if I couldn’t see what was wrong with my husband, how could I be sure about anyone else? How could I be sure it wouldn’t happen again? But you know what I’m starting to realize?” She reached out her hand and slid it into his. “Even though the end of my marriage was painful, not everything that came out of it was bad. If Oliver and I hadn’t split up, if I hadn’t had to take a long hard look at my life, if I hadn’t had to start over, I might not be here now doing what I love.” She put her other hand in Daniel’s before adding, “And if I hadn’t come to Married in Malibu, I would never have met you.”
Daniel wanted to lean over and kiss her with all of the emotion, all of the passion, he’d been holding back for far too long. But first, he needed her to know something. “I never thought that I would fall in love again. I never thought that I would meet anyone who would be worth taking that kind of risk for.” He drew her closer, so close that his mouth was almost against hers, as he said, “Until you.”
At the same time that she wound her arms around his neck, he slid his around her waist. And when she pressed her lips against his, it was the sweetest, most tender kiss Daniel had ever experienced.
How long they kissed, Daniel didn’t know. All he knew was her taste, her scent, her softness, the happy little sound she made when he pulled her closer. He wished he didn’t have to let her go.
But he did, because they were in the middle of Married in Malibu’s commercial kitchen. Clearly, she had the realization at the same moment he did. They were both laughing when they finally sat back.
“Liz told me not to burn myself out today. Which means we’re going to need to take plenty of kissing breaks.” She gave him a sexy little smile as she ran her fingers through his hair.
He couldn’t resist stealing another kiss. More like ten, actually. Even though they did need to get back to work. Because the Brides shoot wouldn’t wait.
But he would. He’d meant it when he said he would wait as long as it took for her to be able to love him back the way he loved her. Considering that it had only been hours since she’d resolved things completely with her ex, it made perfect sense that she hadn’t burst out with an I love you this morning.
Of course, he hoped to hear her say those three little words soon, but just knowing that she trusted him enough to risk any part of her heart at all already made him feel like the luckiest guy in the world.
* * *
By the end of the day, all three cakes were nearly completely constructed and iced. The theme-park cake looked like a fairy-tale castle. The traditional wedding cake stood proud and multi-tiered, stretching up so high that Jenn planned to disassemble it before she left for the night so that she wouldn’t have to worry about it collapsing. Only the Malibu cake wasn’t quite there yet.
Throughout the day, Daniel had worked his magic, taking dozens of helpful test shots for the magazine shoot, and plenty of candids of her too. She’d never been entirely comfortable in front of a camera, but he made it seem so natural that she often found herself forgetting he was capturing her every move.
It didn’t hurt, of course, that she loved having him close like this. She couldn’t help but want to kiss him, couldn’t keep from reaching out to touch him. And when he wrapped his arms around her late in the afternoon while she worked a delicate spiral into one of the layers of icing, her heart felt so full she thought it might burst.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I need to head out to pick the kids up. They’re over at a friend’s house, and Adam texted to say I’d better get there before the girls give him a makeover.”
“I never had a sibling, but I’m sure that’s some sort of big sister, little brother rite of passage, isn’t it?” Jenn said with a laugh as she turned to put her arms around his waist. “I’d love it if you would say hello to them for me and also let them know I’m really looking forward to seeing them again.”
“I know they’d like the same thing. They both adore you.”
“It’s mutual.” She’d fallen for Daniel’s kids just as fast as she’d fallen for their father. “I wish I could come with you tonight, but I still have a few things to finish up for tomorrow. I want everything to be perfect.”
“You’ve done amazing work, Jenn.” He gave her a reassuring smile as he gently brushed back the hair that had come loose from her ponytail. “You don’t need to be nervous about anything. The shoot is going to go great.”
The kiss he gave her was so sweet she wished it could go on forever. But when his phone dinged again with another text from his son, she shooed him out the door.
Her stomach was still fluttering from his kiss when she headed back across the kitchen to study her Malibu cake. On the plus side, the ocean and shore both seemed lifelike. But she couldn’t stop feeling that something was missing. If only she could figure out what.
“How’s it going?”
She t
urned to find Liz standing in the doorway. “Really well…apart from the Malibu cake, that is.”
Liz walked into the kitchen, exclaiming over the beauty of the theme-park cake and the traditional cake before stopping in front of the Malibu cake.
They were both silently studying it when Jenn said, “I’ve been racking my brain to figure out what’s missing with this one. But I haven’t been able to yet.”
“Then it’s probably time for you to take a break,” Liz suggested. “Why don’t we go get a coffee?”
Ordinarily, going over to Tamara’s for a few minutes would have seemed like a lifesaver. But Jenn still felt more than a little embarrassed by what had happened there with Oliver and Daniel.
As if she could read her mind, Liz said, “Trust me, coffee is just what you need to clear your head—and to make you realize that no one is at all upset with you for what happened at the café on Saturday. Now come on. You’re coming across the street with me. That’s an order.”
“Yes, boss,” Jenn said as Liz steered her toward the door.
Fortunately, Liz was right and no one stared at Jenn as they picked out a table by the window, not even the regulars who had been in that weekend.
“I’ll bring your coffees over,” Tamara called out. She soon brought not only drinks for the three of them, but also a slice of lemon cake that looked absolutely delicious. She slid it in front of Jenn. “I thought you might be so busy making cakes that you’ve forgotten to eat any of them.”
Jenn’s stomach growled right on cue, and she happily forked a bite into her mouth. “Mmmm,” she said around a mouth full of deliciousness. “This is incredible. I feel like I just walked into a sunny lemon orchard. Who made it?”
“It’s my grandmother’s secret recipe. Play your cards right,” she said with a wink, “and I just might be convinced to share it with you.”
“Just tell me what I need to do,” Jenn said, ready to beg if it came to that. Tamara’s grandmother’s lemon cake was that good.
“All I want is for you to tell me how you’re doing,” Tamara said. “I was really worried about you, but I didn’t want to hover when you needed time to process everything.”
“I guess I’m still a little stunned by how messy things got.” Messy enough that even though she and Daniel were now officially a couple, she still hadn’t been brave enough to put her entire heart on the line yet.
“I know all about messes,” Liz said. “Look at how complicated things got with me and Jason when we were falling back in love…”
Love.
The word resonated deep within Jenn’s chest. Once upon a time, she’d been so sure that she knew what love was. With Oliver, even from the start of their marriage, love had been a weight, an anchor, keeping her tethered to a bad relationship. And when he’d betrayed her trust, she’d come to associate love with the stabbing ache of betrayal. She’d closed her heart to try to shut those feelings out, but the ache had still been there, along with all the painful memories.
But then she’d come to Married in Malibu, where she’d made friends, good ones. And where she’d met Daniel.
Just thinking of him made her smile, her smile growing even wider as she remembered the feel of his lips pressing against hers.
“Oh my,” Tamara said with a smile of her own, “someone definitely has it bad.”
“I do.” The words left Jenn’s lips before she could overthink them, or hold them back out of fear. At long last, she realized that even worries about bumps that might appear in future roads couldn’t possibly beat out the strength of her feelings. “I’m in love with Daniel.”
“At last!” Liz said at the exact moment that Tamara said, “Finally!”
Jenn laughed as the women high-fived. “That obvious, is it?”
“Yes, it is,” Tamara said. “But it’s easy for us to say when we’ve been watching from the sidelines. I can only imagine how happy he’s going to be when you finally tell him how you feel.” She snapped her fingers as if she’d had a great idea. “Maybe you could surprise him by baking a cake in the shape of a heart or something?”
Just like that, the perfect idea hit Jenn so hard and fast that she nearly fell off her chair. “Tamara, you’re a genius!” She hugged her friend. “I need to get back to the kitchen right away.” She was already halfway to the door when she turned to say, “Thank you for everything, guys. You’re the best.”
At long last, she knew not only how to fix her Malibu cake—but also how to let Daniel know that she loved him with her entire heart and every last piece of her soul.
Love had shown her the way.
Chapter Sixteen
“Thank you for taking a chance on me and my cakes.” Jenn shook hands with Bryan, the Brides photographer, and Grace, the editor overseeing the wedding cake spread. A small army of people from the magazine had descended on Married in Malibu for the day. “I hope you like what I’ve created for the shoot.”
“Everyone we’ve spoken to says your work is spectacular.” Grace gestured to Daniel. “Particularly your biggest fan over here.”
Jenn’s cheeks flushed as she smiled at Daniel. “I couldn’t have gotten ready for today without his help.”
“We’re ready to begin shooting whenever you are.” Bryan was a young, hungry photographer who reminded Daniel of himself in the early years. Ready and willing to shoot anything.
Seeing the nerves on Jenn’s beautiful face, Daniel sent her a silent message: I’m so proud of you. Now go knock their socks off. He knew she’d understood him when she nodded, then turned to the photographer and said, “I’m ready.”
The first cake Jenn unveiled was the theme-park cake. “Wow,” the editor said. “I’ve seen a lot of people try to take this on, but with your cake I almost feel like I’m a little girl again, dreaming of princes and princesses.”
Jenn beamed. “I was hoping for exactly that reaction.”
Next, she moved to the traditional cake. Nate had helped build a large cover for it, and she needed Daniel’s help to lift it free. Both the editor and the photographer gasped at the beautifully decorated five-level wedding cake.
“You really are an artist, Jenn.” Bryan was clearly impressed. “I don’t know if I could bring myself to cut into this and eat it. I’d want to find a way to preserve it forever.”
“Thank you. That’s so nice of you.”
She was clearly pleased with everyone’s compliments. But when she moved to stand beside the third cake, instead of looking more relaxed, it almost seemed as if her nerves multiplied many times over.
“For my final cake, I wanted to do something really special. Married in Malibu has a private beach cove where our brides and grooms can say their vows, and that spot has become one of my favorite places in the world.” She was looking straight at Daniel as she said, “It’s where I finally learned what love is really all about. Love can sometimes be scary and messy, but it’s also the most beautiful thing in the world. And worth absolutely any risk.”
As she lifted the cover from the cake, everyone in the room moved closer to take in the stunning details. Her representation of the ocean and the sandy shoreline out of icing and cake was nothing short of brilliant. But for Daniel, it was the new additions that truly made the cake stand out.
At the heart of the cake stood a man and a woman. The man had a camera around his neck, and the woman wore an apron smudged with chocolate. Two children—a boy and a girl who looked like Adam and Kayla—played in the sand while the man and woman held hands and gazed into each other’s eyes.
He’d hoped she would say I love you soon. He should have known that when she did, it would be in a totally original—and incredibly sweet—way.
“I didn’t think you could outdo the other two cakes,” Bryan said before Daniel could tell Jenn how much her grand gesture—and her love—meant to him. “But you’ve just proved me wrong. The light is absolutely perfect right now, and I’d like to shoot as much as we can before anything changes. Let’s start with t
his cake.”
Daniel wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her breathless. But she’d put everything she had into getting these cakes ready for today’s shoot. She deserved to relish every second of her incredibly well-deserved big day. As soon as the shoot was done, she was all his.
And he was looking forward to loving her—and being loved by her—for the rest of their lives.
For now, the best he could do was slide his hand into hers for a brief moment before the bustling Brides staff drew them apart to consult on different issues.
Daniel was used to shoots where the magazine staff adjusted the sets a half-dozen times before eventually putting them back the way they originally were. Meg had knocked the backdrops out of the park, but even so she was happy to let the crew make changes if needed. Presently, two food and layout stylists were holding color charts and saying, “What do you think? More of the blue? Or do you think we should highlight the hints of gold in the sand?”
One by one, each of the Married in Malibu staff came to check out the shoot. Given that there was so little time in which to make things work, Brides had thrown everything at this spread. And just like he’d expected, Jenn had blown their expectations out of the water.
Several hours later, Jenn asked Daniel, “Is all this normal?” She’d been dashing around making constant adjustments to her cakes as the editor or photographer suggested new things. “Do you think things are going okay?”
“They’re going great.” He had to kiss her then, one small kiss that meant absolutely everything. Not only because he still could hardly believe that she was really his, but also because Liz and everyone else at Married in Malibu was clearly so happy to see them finally get together. “This much effort being put into the shoot means that your cakes are going to be a big deal in the magazine.” He kissed her again. “You deserve every second of it.”
