“Honey, how long have you been here? You seem to have it under control, but I dare say you might fall over!” Joan said as she went to the office to put away her things and put on her apron.
Jill came in through the front door and locked it behind her, the silver bell on the door alerting them she was there. Carrying four specialty coffees from The Wishing Well, Jill’s hands were full as she set her things on the counter.
“So nice of you to bring coffee,” Paul said. “Please let me reimburse you from the tip jar?” The rest of them shook their heads.
“Mal, Ani, Dafne, and Finn will be by later to help deliver the orders we have ready,” Rory said. “I knew we’d need some runners today, so I told them I’d pay them in sweets when they were done.” They all laughed.
“Mal always had a sweet tooth,” Jill chimed in. “We were at the orphanage together for a couple years before I moved out on my own and got the job here with Paul and Joan. I graduated a few years before you did, so I’m guessing that’s why we didn’t know each other in high school.”
“Also because I was a recluse in high school,” Rory chuckled.
“You? Really?” Paul asked.
“Yep! I didn’t really come out of my shell much until I met Finn and we started dating. I guess he and Raleigh and Dafne helped build my confidence.”
The team of four went through the rest of the recipes adding the finishing touches to all the early deliveries. Around noon, Rory’s “runners” arrived to start delivering orders. Each box of goodies was marked with a ticket on where it went and at what time. Rory’s was extremely organized. Paul and Joan had never offered delivery services in the past, but using this ticketing system, they might have to offer more ordering options in the future.
“Before we get going, Dafne can I talk to you for a sec?” Finn asked her away so Rory couldn’t hear her.
“Of course, what’s up?”
“Come with me,” he said and took her to the back room where dozens of white boxes filled with treats were lined up ready to go. “I think you’re scheduled to deliver the orders to the Tavern, right?”
“Yep, I think so, why?” Dafne’s curiosity was piqued.
“Because this special order box that’s marked just for Trixie, needs to make it just to Trixie,” Finn said, his eyes bigger and bigger as he went on.
“Care to let me in on a few more details?” Dafne asked, wondering what was up with him being so awkward.
Finn opened the box and found two large chocolate cupcakes, swirled with white buttercream frosting and covered in sparkly white sugar. In the middle of one cupcake was a diamond engagement ring.
“Oh my goodness!” Dafne practically squealed.
“Shhhh! It’s a surprise!” Finn shushed her.
“Deakon is going to propose to Trixie?” Dafne could hardly contain herself.
“No silly! This ring is for Rory!” Finn put the lid back on the box as Rory headed into the backroom. He lowered his voice, “I’m gonna propose tonight. I have a plan; just get this box to Trixie, please.”
“You can count on me, I’ll hand deliver it,” Dafne said as Rory walked up.
“What are you hand delivering?” Rory questioned.
“Everything, actually!” Dafne said sitting the box back on the table so Rory wouldn’t be suspicious. “Everything will be hand delivered so the treats aren’t shuffled around. We won’t use any carts or wagons or things, I mean…”
“Right, sounds good,” Rory said, going along with Dafne’s plan. “Time to hit the road!”
Dafne’s SUV was parked behind the building and they started loading boxes into the back. Finn’s car was filled next, then Mal and Ani’s vehicle. Mal was planning to drive while Ani went up to disperse the deliveries.
When the storeroom was empty, the runners left the bakery and Rory and her team of bakers went on to fill more orders for their return.
●
One Hour Before The Halloween Bash
Trixie was putting the final touches on decorations in the Tavern when in walked a flour-covered, apron-wearing Rory, who looked pooped.
“Honey, I do believe you’ve pulled off the dessert table,” Trixie said to her as she came in view of a huge spread of treats.
“It looks amazing!” Rory said as she went over for a closer look. “And all the tricks are mixed in? It looks like they are…”
“Yep, I don’t even know what’s safe,” she said with an evil laugh. “Each guest will get a warning that desserts are to be eaten at their own risk.”
“I sure hope this is fun for everybody, it’s certainly been fun for me!” Rory could barely contain herself. “I have to get some professional photos of everything for my internship presentation that I have to do next week, so I’ll clean up and come take some pictures before everyone gets in here and devours the spread.
“The way I’m running this tonight is with a cover charge at the door. Each guest will get one dessert ticket and one drink ticket, and then they can order off the full menu if they desire anything else. But tonight all proceeds will go to the Spring City Home of the Innocents; I’m donating everything at my cost tonight.”
“You are one awesome lady, you know that Trix?” Rory went over and hugged her, thanking her again for believing in her baking skills.
Rory ran out to her car to grab the fresh clothes that she packed and her makeup bag to clean up a little before guest started to arrive. She went back in and changed in Trixie’s office when she realized that the bathrooms were being cleaned before the Tavern opened to the public for the evening. Before she headed out to the dining room, she noticed a small baker’s box sitting on the edge of Trixie’s desk.
“She must have forgotten to put this one out,” she said to herself and took it out to the buffet of desserts, sitting it beside the cupcake stands. She opened the box to see what treats were inside and saw the two shiny cupcakes, one with a diamond ring.
“I made these this morning for another customer, how did they end up here?” Rory thought for a second and couldn’t remember the name on the original ticket. “Oh goodness, it must have been Deakon and he’s planning on surprising Trixie tonight with this!”
About that time, Trixie came up from the back of the restaurant and Rory stuck the box behind the large stand of cupcakes, hiding it from her sight.
“She can’t see this,” Rory whispered to herself. “What am I going to do?”
Dafne came in through the side entrance to help Rory photograph her creations and saw the look on her face. Rory quickly pulled Dafne aside, explaining that she had just stumbled on this special cupcake delivery, which was obviously meant for Deakon and not Trixie since he was the one proposing, and asked what she thought they should do.
“What do you mean, what should we do?” Dafne stalled, trying to figure out her own plan. “We need to put it back where you found it in case the situation has been misread!”
The volume of the whispers was increasing.
“No! She can’t see this, obviously!”
“If it was in her office, she’s already seen it!” Dafne hushed Rory. “We have to put it back!”
“Well, that will ruin the surprise!”
“I’d say the surprise is already ruined!” Dafne said grabbing the box out of Rory’s hands and stomping back into Trixie’s office to return it where Rory found it. Finn came in just that moment as well and, of course, Rory had to fill him in on Deakon’s planned proposal.
“Deakon’s going to propose, eh?” Finn asked, giving Dafne the evil eye.
“Isn’t that wonderful?”
●
Doors Open: The Halloween Bash Begins
Deakon came in looking amazing as ever; he could dress up a pair of jeans better than most people wore a suit. Rory zoomed over to him faster than Dafne could turn around on her barstool.
>
“So you’re going to propose to Trixie tonight?” Rory said, obviously not planning to beat around the bush.
“I am?” Deakon said, looking as puzzled as ever.
“Right? The cupcakes with the diamond ring? Are you planning on doing this in public or off by yourselves somewhere more romantic?” Rory questioned his every move.
“Yeah, that last part,” he said. “You’ll have to excuse me, Rory.” Deakon went into Trixie’s office, where she sat at her desk finishing a few things before the party got going. The small white box with the cupcakes and engagement ring sitting right there on her desk.
He shut the office door.
“Am I proposing to you tonight and I don’t know it?” Deakon asked her, very confused.
“Well…” Trixie said, and then proceeded to fill him in on the details of this afternoon’s ring discovery.
Deakon opened the office door and went out to take a seat at the side of the bar he always occupied when Trixie was working.
“Just play along and tell her you’re going to do it privately, and later, maybe she’ll forget about it,” Trixie said in his ear.
“Alright, alright,” he said, agreeing to play along. He told Rory just what he was told and that he’d planned to propose later, and he was sure Trixie hadn’t looked in the cupcake box yet.
Finn grabbed Trixie and shut her office door once more, as Rory grilled Deakon for details.
“So now what?” Finn asked, running his fingers through his hair.
“We’ve diffused the situation, she thinks it’s Deakon that’s going to propose, you can carry on as you planned,” Trixie reassured him.
“No, no I can’t, it’s not a surprise anymore, it’s not fun and it’s not romantic, it’s just a mess,” Finn said, sliding open the box on her desk and retrieving the ring from the cupcake.
“Oh Finn, don’t let this ruin your plans!” Trixie tried to convince him his proposal could still be pulled off without a hitch and she would think it was all in the fun of the holiday.
“At this point, I’m over it. I don’t want to do it tonight, I want it to be memorable...not like this,” he said and gave her a half smile.
The rest of the evening was spent enjoying Rory’s success as a baker. Everyone enjoyed the treats, and the ones who picked a trick from the dessert table found their luck amusing.
“I think my internship has been a success,” Rory said as the evening wound down. “And I’ve had a few too many apple sparklers to drive myself anywhere...care to take me home, Finn?”
“Of course, love,” he said and grabbed her hand, bidding all their friends goodbye and waving at Trixie and Deakon on their way out.
“It’s so sweet that he’s going to propose tonight,” she whispered to Finn as they walked out to his car.
“It sure is,” Finn agreed. The autumn air was cool and Rory immediately folded her arms to warm her skin from the cool touch of the wind. “I was hoping you’d take a little walk with me?”
“Sure, why not? I’m officially off work!” Rory smiled from ear to ear, proud of her accomplishment.
They passed Finn’s vehicle and he stopped just long enough to grab the fleece blanket he kept inside. He wrapped the blanket around Rory and rubbed her arms trying to warm her up.
“You’re too good to me Finley Armstrong; I hope one day you’ll propose to me like Deakon is going to propose to Trixie!” Rory was a tad bit tipsy, but that didn’t discount her sweet intentions.
“You do? Did you think that was a sweet way to propose?” Finn prodded her for information.
“Yes, I thought it was very romantic,” she said and walked close enough to him so he could put his arm around her. A short trail behind the tavern led to a walking bridge that connected the backside of the parking lot to the houses on the street parallel to the Tavern. For those that lived near, this saved quite a bit of a walk home and made it easier for Trixie’s regulars to find their way.
Finn stopped on the middle of the bridge and pulled Rory to him. As they stood under the streetlamp, he confessed to her that he had a trick up his sleeve.
“A trick? For me?” Rory laughed. “I suppose I’ve been the one doing all the tricking with my crazy-tasting treats. Hit me with your best shot.”
Finn smiled and nodded his head, stepping away from her and getting down on one knee.
“The trick is that the proposal wasn’t meant for Trixie at all, it was for you…”
Rory took a second to realize what was happening...Finn kneeling before her, a diamond ring sparkling from the light above them, his handholding on to hers.
“So could you treat us both and marry me?” Finn said and stared into a blank-faced Rory.
“The cupcake...with the ring...was...for me?”
“It was, my love,” Finn reassured her. “Well, one of the cupcakes was for you, anyway.”
“That was so romantic, Finn!” Rory said, unintentionally avoiding his question. “I love that you did that for me!”
“Heh, heh, me too, honey…” Finn was not sure how to proceed. “Any chance you’re going to say yes?”
“Oh gosh, yes! Yes! So many times, yes!” Rory threw her arms around him before he even had a chance to put the ring on her finger. “And I haven’t had a chance to tell you this yet, but Paul and Joan want me to come work at the bakery when I finish my degree! So I’ll have a job here in Spring City!”
“Let’s go back in for a little so I can show off my fiancée,” Finn suggested.
“Yes, let’s go back in so I can show off mine too!”
●
After everyone started to file out of the Tavern and the party was winding down, Deakon managed to get Trixie alone before she had to close up shop.
“There’s one more trick for the evening if you’ll humor me,” Deakon confessed to Trixie.
“Oh no, not more chocolate covered bugs?” she said causing them both to chuckle.
“No, this one is a Trixie trick,” Deakon said and pulled a diamond ring out of his pocket and held it up before her. “We ordered two cupcakes for a reason...I was going to ask you to marry me, too.”
Follow the author on social media to find more from Carby’s continuing Griffin Gas Company series and the characters of Spring City. This is not the last you will see of these characters.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is easy for writers to live in the worlds they create and once they are created, it takes a lot of effort and risk of failure putting these worlds, our characters and our stories out into the real world for readers to read and critics to critique. So thank you to those of you who have read my stories and love my characters. I have to write these stories for me, but you do not have to read them, you make that choice and I am grateful you took a chance on me. I promise to bring you more.
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THE GLASS CRYPT
T Elizabeth Guthrie
Lake View Cemetery, where Lucy is interred, holds a special monument to a young lady who died in the prime of her life.
Three friends since grade school, decide to form a paranormal investigation group and head to Jamestown, NY to see if the tales of Lake View are true.
They find more than they bargained for along the way!
Chapter 1
The small group of girls met at the same bar every week to go over their new plans, such as when and where to go ghost hunting next. They’d been friends since early high school, and not long before senior prom, they decided to create the group.
They called themselves Les Chasseurs, or The Hunters in French, and officially
started ghost hunting. They frequented old buildings, trying to stir up something until finally after graduation, they got jobs and started buying all the neat equipment they needed to be an official ghost hunting group.
Briana was the leader of the group, Lina took care of all the equipment, and Allison had the four-wheel drive to get to all the cemeteries out in the country. They frequented places like that often, especially when they got new goodies to use.
They ordered drinks and talked about the upcoming hunt in a new location. It was going to be their first long road trip, and they were so excited. They planned to leave Friday night, and none of the girls could wait.
“Lina, how do the new thermal imaging cameras compare to our old ones?” Briana asked and took a drink.
“They are supposed to be really good. Much better than our old ones since these have a higher resolution.”
“We should be able to get much better images then,” Briana said.
Allison chose that moment to return with their nachos and sat down. She worked at the Cadillac Ranch Lounge where the girls met. Southern Breeze, the fantastic local band, was taking the stage to set up their equipment and instruments. She had a huge crush on the singer.
“Is Duck singing tonight?” Lina asked her.
“Yes, he is. That’s why I volunteered to work.” She laughed.
The other two girls noticed her eyes going straight to him and lingering there. She really had it bad, and they smiled knowingly at each other.
“Okay, about this new hunt, we need to make sure to mark our section out and stick to it. This place is huge, and we can’t take the chance of getting lost.”
“Allison, are you listening?” Lina smacked the table with the flat of her hand as she sought Allison’s attention.
She turned toward the two girls and grinned unapologetically. “Nope.” Although she did shift around and put her back toward the stage. She knew it was the only way to keep focused.
He’s just so damned HOT!
Lina laughed, dipped her chip into the cheese, and took a huge bite. She grabbed a second one before turning the folder toward the other two girls. They created a file for every hunt so they could go back and reference it later if needed.
Tricks or Treats: An Anthology for Charity Page 8
