Tart

by Lauren Dane

  He bit into the scone and nodded. “Mary is . . . ?”

  “Mary Whaley. You remember the Whaleys, right?”

  “Ah yes, Cal’s little sister?”

  Jules nodded. “Yes, that’s her. She and I share this space. She has a catering business. She has a party tonight so I know she’ll be turning up within the next hour or so.”

  He nodded. “Nice.” He nodded again, toward his plate. “I like this. I was expecting . . . I don’t know what. But it’s better than I imagined. Did you go to school to learn to cook like this?”

  As if he even needed to bother with flattery.

  “My grandmother liked to bake. My first real memory of her was that she made me a lemon tart for a tea party. You know, like with dolls?” She smiled at the memory. “So then I asked her to let me help and that was the beginning really. She taught me how to make different kinds of pastry dough. Pastry cream. How to make a lattice-top pie. All that sort of thing. I just love to bake. It’s sort of my art, as my friend Daisy says. It makes me happy. So sometimes I take a class here and there. To learn something new. But most of it is from my grandmother and mother.”

  He ate and she tried not to stare at his mouth. But he had a really nice mouth.

  “I like that. This wasn’t always a bakery though, right?”

  “No. My parents ran this place as a diner. So I worked here. I cooked a lot. Waitressed. Learned how to keep books.”

  Gideon nodded; his focus on her was so intense she had to swallow back a nervous giggle. It’d been a long time since she’d been so giddy and tingly over a man. It felt good.

  “Why’d you change this place from a diner to a bakery?”

  She cocked her head. “That’s a very long story.”

  And right as she began to suggest she tell him over dinner, Mary let herself in the doors, her arms full of supplies. Jules and Gideon both jumped up to help.

  “Thank you.” Mary grinned to Jules and then noticed Gideon. “Gideon Carter, I’d recognize you anywhere.”

  He smiled, bowing his head slightly. “You still have those curls.”

  Mary laughed as they brought the supplies into the kitchen. “I’ve tried everything to get rid of them at some point or other for years. I gave up and let them have their way. What brings you here to Tart today?”

  Gideon looked to Jules and then back at Mary. “Jules here does. Man’d have to be a fool to resist something sweet with some coffee and that face to look at.”

  His gaze moved back to Jules and once he’d caught her attention, his mouth slowly curved up into a smile so naughty her nipples got hard.

  By the time Jules had remembered anyone else existed, Mary was staring at her with one brow raised and a smile. Oh man, she’d never hear the end of it now.

  “Gideon moved back to help Patrick run the farm.”

  Mary turned that pretty smile back to Gideon. “Really? That’s great news. We were just talking last week about how we were worried about him out there on his own. I’m glad you’re back.”

  He grinned. “Me too. He’d be tickled to know the ladies in town were talking about him.”

  Jules laughed then. “He’s a big flirt.”

  They stood speaking for a few minutes more until Mary started to bustle around. “Don’t mind me. I’m just going to get started. My staff are going to meet me at the party so that’s one less thing to worry over.” Mary got her things put away and an apron on after washing her hands.

  Gideon took a step back from the counter and raised his hand in farewell. “It was really good to see you again, Mary. Please tell Cal I said hey. I need to head out to grab some lunch or a drink with him. I’ve got his number.”

  “He’ll be happy to hear that.” Mary made sure Gideon didn’t catch the arch look she sent Jules’s way.

  Gideon put a hand at the small of Jules’s back and guided her back out to the dining room. “I should get going. I promised Granddad I’d grab some groceries before I head back. He said he’d cook if I did. That’s not a bad deal.”

  “Not at all. Grocery shopping is far more worth it when someone else does the cooking.” She walked him to the door but when she moved to flip the latch to unlock it he took her hand and kissed her knuckles.

  Again she noted the sheer size of his hand as he held hers. And then the warmth of his lips against her skin. It was impossible not to shiver with delight.

  He straightened but kept her hand a moment longer. “I’m going to be back here to have some coffee and maybe something sweet. That all right with you?”

  She felt the heat of her blush but tried not to think about it. Instead she let herself enjoy the butterflies in her belly at his sweet kiss.

  “Yes. I’d like that.”

  He stepped back and she opened the door. “Good afternoon, Juliet. I’ll see you soon.”

  “Say hi to Patrick for me.”

  She watched him lope down the sidewalk to a truck a few blocks down. Damn, he looked good going as well as coming.

  • • •

  Mary gave her a look when she came back into the kitchen before she went back to whatever it was she was preparing. “Well now.”

  “Well now, what?” Jules knew what Mary had meant, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t tease her friend into revealing it.

  Mary snorted and looked up again briefly to raise her brow. “I think we’ve known each other far too long for that nonsense. Pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Pfft, I think not.”

  Jules laughed. “You need any help?”

  “It’s nearly done. Daisy hired me some new staff. The old staff will train them tonight so we’ll be ready for the next set of parties. Enough of your games, missy. Tell me about Gideon holy-shit-did-he-grow-up-hot Carter.”

  Jules leaned against the counter and watched her friend dice something or other. “He totally grew up hot. And there’s not much to tell really. It’s at the flirting stage. He came in for coffee and a scone. We didn’t have wild monkey sex on the counter or anything.”

  Mary’s mouth lifted as she snorted a laugh. “That’s really too bad. He looks like the type who just might toss you on a counter and bang you until you forget how to speak.”

  Jules shook her head. “To look at you, no one would guess what a filthy hoor you are.” Hoor was the Delicious twist on whore, only without all the shame and yuckiness.

  Mary laughed then, a full-on laugh. “Why be a hoor if you’re not a filthy one? What’s the point of being one if not that?”

  Jules put an apron on and began to clean the espresso machine. “You want a latte before I finish cleaning this out?”

  “Hell yes. Thank you. Back to Gideon, he’s hot, no lie. A new boy in town is fun. For you obviously. He was friendly to me and all, but he looked at you like he wanted to take a bite. Also, Patrick has needed someone out there so I’m really glad for that.”

  Jules made the latte, set it near Mary’s right hand and went back to clear everything up. And they didn’t talk about Cal, though he was in between them just the same.

  “You mentioned the new staff Daisy hooked you up with. They’re working out then? You sure you don’t need any help?”

  “They’re good. My short staffing issue is finally getting fixed. Thank God for Daisy. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

  Mary’s expansion of her catering business meant she’d had to hire more staff to work the parties and other events she was hired for.

  “Honestly, I’m waiting to see if there’s anything she can’t do.” Daisy was an artist, a dancer and she had a great way with people, which made her the perfect manager of the newly expanded Tart. It wasn’t forever, Daisy had other things to do with her life, and with Tart, but they were grateful for all the help she’d provided. None of this would have been possible without her energy and ideas.

  “No kidding. And on top of that, she’s gorgeous and has a man like Levi. I’m beginning to get annoyed.” Mary grinned as she said it.

>   “I think getting it on the regular-like has improved some lives around here. First Gillian and now Daisy. I’m having a long dry spell so I gotta say I’m glad Gideon is around. Maybe he can help me break that fast.”

  “So you think? I mean, like for real?”

  “Oh well, I like him. He appears to like me. I’ve known him most of my life so it’s not like he’s a stranger and I have to wait to be sure he’s not a serial killer.” She shrugged and Mary tossed a baby carrot at her head.

  “I’m a big girl. Old enough to be able to admit my parts would like to get to know Gideon’s parts better. The rest of him too. I like him.” Jules shrugged.

  Mary nodded. “Too bad he doesn’t have a brother.”

  They laughed as they worked, Jules pitching in to help load things into Mary’s catering truck before she headed off to her gig. When Jules locked up it was more than past time to call Gillian about the next thing on her to-do list.

  3

  Once she got home and settled in, Jules grabbed the phone and dialed Gillian’s number.

  “Hello there, Juliet, how may I assist you?” Jules’s godson and Gillian’s fourteen-year-old son Miles answered, making her laugh.

  “Hey, kiddo. How’s it goin’?”

  “Pretty cool. Oh! Dad said I could play with his band at the wedding. How cool is that?”

  Jules smiled at the idea. She knew how much Miles loved music, and that his father, a notable musician, had given him such a big thumbs-up was lovely. She liked Adrian Brown even more at that point.

  “That’s totally cool. I can’t wait to hear you.” Though Jules bet Gillian had told Miles that if any more Ds came home he wouldn’t be doing any such thing.

  “Thanks. He also said he’d be cool if our band played. It’d be cool if Dad came up to play a song or two with us. Mum said he would and that I should ask him. But he’s all—well, you know, he’s Adrian Brown.”

  She heard Gillian’s voice in the background. “Sure he is. And you’re his son and he loves your music. Silly. I’d wager the wedding will be filled with musician types so I bet you could do one of those cool jams they have at the end of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame events. That would be epic.”

  He gasped, which only made Jules smile bigger. “Dude. That would be . . . oh my god. Hey, Mum, Jules is on the phone. I have to think about this more. Jules, you’re brilliant.”

  And with that he was gone.

  Gillian’s voice still held a laugh when she took over. “Are you bringing me cake tonight?”

  Gillian was damned good at that stuff. Must be the mother thing. “How did you know?” She’d spent some time early that afternoon putting together cake samples for Gillian and Adrian. They’d asked her to make the cake for their upcoming July wedding. Jules had been touched beyond measure that they’d trust her with something so important and she’d insisted to Gillian and Adrian both that it was far over her head and she’d never made a big wedding cake before.

  Gillian had waved it away, told her no one was better suited to make the cake for their big day and to suck it up and do it.

  So Jules did. She’d spent the time since they’d asked working on different recipes. Perfecting until she’d decided on several she felt fit them both well and tasted really awesome. Gillian was her best friend and if she did say so herself, her cake repertoire had really come a long way.

  “I didn’t know! That was all hope and bluster. But yay, cake! Come over now. Adrian is on his way back from Seattle and he says he’s bringing takeout. I’ll call him to say you’re coming for dinner. He’ll hurry if he knows cake is involved.”

  “You only want me for my cake, Gillian. This makes me sad.”

  “It’s really good cake. Come over.”

  “All right, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Need anything else?”

  “Just your pretty face. And the cake.”

  • • •

  Gillian’s house, well, the one she lived in temporarily until the renovations were finished on the new house anyway, was a place Jules always gravitated to. The front windows were ablaze with light and as she moved up the walk she caught sight of Miles, a cat in his arms, walking through the room.

  Gillian would close the curtains soon, Jules knew. Now that it was common knowledge that Adrian Brown was Miles’s father and that he and Gillian were getting married, photographers made their way out to Bainbridge Island from time to time to try to grab pictures. One had even set himself up in a tree across the road. Of course he fell from his perch and broke his ankle in the fall.

  Gillian was a far nicer person than Jules because she called an ambulance. Jules would have turned the hose on him and made him crawl his worthless butt away.

  Still smiling and feeling a little vicious, she knocked on the door. The year before she’d have sailed right in. But those days were long past, also the product of the higher profile she had now that Gillian was going to marry someone famous. The doors were always locked up tight now.

  Gillian opened the door and pulled her into a hug. “Come in. Adrian just got home.”

  Jules put her bags down in the kitchen, out of the way of traffic and above normal cat inspection.

  Still, Claypool came out and meowed at her in his scratchy old-guy voice so she knelt and gave him a scritch under the chin where he liked it best. “Hey, old man, looking good today.”

  The cat purred at her, turned, rubbed his side along her knees and sauntered away.

  “Story of my life. Get some lovin’ and you all leave afterward.” Jules stood and washed her hands.

  Adrian Brown, ridiculously gorgeous and equally ridiculously in love with Gillian, strolled into the kitchen, pausing to plant a kiss on Jules’s cheek. “I got extra pad thai for you.”

  “You come in handy. Thanks.”

  “Do we have to wait until after dinner to eat the cake?” Miles poured juice into the glasses before he sat.

  “Yes.” Gillian sent her son a look and he blushed.

  Jules winked at him. “I brought extra just for you.”

  He grinned, looking very much like his father.

  They talked about the renovations. Adrian’s recording studio was finished, which was a lucky thing as he’d started working on his next record with some hot-stuff producer. The rest of the house was continuing apace and should be done by the beginning of June.

  The food was good, the company even better. She was so glad Gillian and Adrian were settling out on Bainbridge instead of in Seattle. Jules never would have said it out loud, but it would have been really hard to not see Gillian as often as she did. And Miles, who she loved as fiercely as she did his mother.

  Jules hated the ferry. Hated all boats for that matter, big or small. Which was sort of a problem when you lived on an island and all. Thankfully the trip was just over half an hour and there was a bridge too if she had to go that way. Bainbridge had just about everything and everyone she needed anyway.

  Finally, after they’d finished dinner, Adrian and Miles cleared away the dishes and brought new ones out along with some freshly brewed tea.

  “All right.” Jules placed five boxes on the table.

  “Wow! That’s all cake? Score.” Miles sent a look to his dad, who also grinned.

  “I told you I brought extra for you.”

  “Which is your favorite?” Gillian sipped her tea as Jules placed the slices out on little plates on the table so everyone could see and take a taste.

  “I’m not telling. Given what I know about you and what you like and the things Adrian told me, I’ve come up with several different ideas. But I don’t want to influence you in any way.”

  She pointed. “This is spice cake with cream cheese frosting. That piece there has pumpkin cream between the layers. That one has dark chocolate and that last one is cinnamon cream.”

  Adrian hummed his satisfaction as he tried the different pieces. “This is insane. I think I like the cinnamon one, but the pumpkin is also delicious.”

  “T
he pumpkin is my favorite. What are those?” Gillian looked to the next plate.

  Jules noted the pumpkin vote and then placed the next set of plates in front of them.

  “Next up are lemon, lime and tangerine. The frostings and fillings are easily substituted if you like one more than the other.”

  “The lemon is fantastic.” Gillian looked to Adrian. “I think it could be good for the reception the label is throwing. Don’t you think?”

  “Is this lemon curd?” Adrian forked another bite up.

  “Yes. It’s a new recipe. That’s only my second batch, but I think it’s really good. If I do say so myself.”

  Gillian moaned her delight. “You’d better say so yourself! I never tire of bragging on your skills, but you have to help me, Juliet Lamprey. Also, would you happen to have any extra?”

  “There’s a jar of it in the bag on the counter.”

  Gillian laughed. “You know me so well.”

  Adrian gave Miles a look for sneaking some cake from Adrian’s plate. His son seemed to think that was hilarious. “I think your mother would call that being cheeky, Miles, my son.”

  “You’re the parent, you’re supposed to sacrifice for your children.”

  “Ha. You need a kidney, you can have one. But stay away from my cake, boy.” Adrian winked at Jules. “I think Gillian is right. The lemon for the label reception would be perfect.”

  Adrian had come to her a month before and asked if she’d be willing to also do the cake for some local event his record label wanted to give them. Mary was doing the appetizers as well.

  “That’s doable. I can make one with the raspberry too if you like. For some variety.”

  “Whatever you say. I’m all for it.”

  She noted that before sliding the next round of plates to them. “And this is chocolate. Seven-layer chocolate with sea salt and caramel.” She pointed to her favorite but then moved on. She didn’t want them to know and make a choice based on that. She wanted them to have the cake they wanted most.

  “This one is dark chocolate and orange with chocolate buttercream and orange cream filling. Last is death by chocolate. Chocolate cake with chocolate shavings in the batter, ganache between the layers, chocolate buttercream frosting with chocolate curls. It’d be served with a drizzle of warm chocolate.”