How The Cookie Crumbles (7 page)

“Sorry enough to want to make it up to me?”

I could see where this train was headed. “Not that sorry.”

“I don’t know, I was so hurt….” he looked sad as he said this.

Now I felt really bad, I had been pretty insulting about his body and the junk food. I mean, I liked junk food too. “Really? I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, I cried myself to sleep.” He tried to maintain the sad look, but his eyes were all crinkly and smiley. I laughed, he was kind of funny.

“What a crock. But I have an idea – you like to eat, right?”

He nodded guardedly, as if I was going to insult him again.

“I’ll bake you a treat, some cupcakes. Come by the café tomorrow and I’ll have them here for you.”

“You can bake?” He seemed to doubt this possibility.

“They will be the best cupcakes you’ve ever eaten!” I told him confidently.

“Okay,” he paused, “but just so I have something to measure them by, I’ll have a cupcake now, and….”

“Don’t tell me, a Diet Coke, right?”

“Very good! You know what I like.”

And he gave me a sleepy look with his dark eyes half-closed, if I liked him I would have found it sexy.

10. Cupcake Wars

While I was shopping for dinner that night, I tried to figure out what flavour Jake would like. Was he a vanilla guy, all subtle flavour and straightforwardness? Matt had liked my vanilla cupcakes. Or maybe he was lemon, liking the tart mixed with the sweet? I liked lemon the best. I finally decided he was chocolate, chocolate was kind of boyish and earthy and obvious.

It was a hot evening, but I baked the cupcakes anyway. Temperature wise, I found Kingston a lot hotter than Vancouver, and it never cooled off at night either. I ended up cooking in a tank top, shorts and an apron and still sweating. If I could turn baking into a weight-loss activity, my life would be perfect!

As soon as the cupcakes had completely cooled, I iced them and popped them in the freezer, so they would be nice and fresh the next day. I got up early in the morning and wrapped four cupcakes up in a little box with ribbon. I was excited, I know it seems dumb, but I like cooking for people, and to be honest maybe I was starting to like Jake a tiny bit. He seemed like he was easygoing and full of laughs. I still didn’t find him attractive, but maybe I could go out with him once or twice, and I wouldn’t have to worry about my dating pact with Chloë. I liked to be in control of stuff like that.

The day passed as usual: all the business types in a morning rush; then the yummy mummies lingering for their only adult socializing; the laptop people who just sat and sat, typing and reading. Then the lunch rush which really made time fly. By 3:30pm I was beginning to wonder if Jake was going to show up, and I was off at 4:00. I was actually feeling a little put out after all my efforts, and maybe a little rejected. It wasn’t like I had a big crush on him or anything, but he was the nicest guy I had met here so far, and now he was turning out to be as big a jerk as anyone.

“Oh hello, Frances.”

I looked up to see Mrs. Fitzgerald right in front of me but without her customary smile. She ordered a shepherd’s pie entrée to go and waited silently while I wrapped it up. She had told me that every once in a while she didn’t feel like cooking so she got dinner here. Usually she was very chatty, so I was surprised when she paid with hardly a word exchanged.

“What’s wrong, Mrs. Fitz?”

“Oh it’s a silly thing, today is my birthday. My children are all away on trips, business and vacations. We’ll do something together when they get back and with all the grandkids, but…” She stopped, looking embarrassed.

“Tell me,” I urged her.

“My dear husband always made a fuss over my birthdays. He’s been gone three years now, and I still miss him so much.” She smiled ruefully. “I know, it must sound silly to a young girl like you with lots of beaus.”

I only wished I had lots of beaus. I smiled at her, she was such a sweetheart. Well, every cloud had a silver lining, right?”

“You know, Mrs. Fitz, you are so lucky that I’m psychic.”

“I am?” she asked puzzled.

I put her entrée into a container and then into a carrying bag. I showed her the neatly wrapped box with the blue ribbon and then popped it onto the top of the entree.

“It’s a special dessert for your birthday. Baked by me personally! Happy Birthday, Mrs. Fitz!”

She looked surprised and thanked me quietly, then made her way out of the café. Through the window I saw her open the bag and peek inside, then she smiled, straightened her shoulders and walked away.

Jake walked in after lunch the next day. He gave me his usual grin but I turned away. Could it be that he had completely forgotten?

“No cheery greeting today?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

“The usual?” I asked him coolly.

“Actually, I’ll just have a Diet Coke today. Well, maybe something to eat.” He looked over the display case and then suddenly slapped his hand to his forehead. “Sh… oot!” he exclaimed, cleaning up his expletive. “I missed my special cupcakes yesterday.”

“Yup. Your loss,” I told him.

“Oh man, Frankie, I’m so sorry. A bunch of us got together at the last minute and went up to the cottage and I totally forgot about our deal. Are the cupcakes still here?”

“No, of course not, they would be stale by now. I gave them away to someone else.” Then something devilish urged me on, “Someone tall, dark, and handsome who really appreciated them.”

“Really?” Jake asked, skeptically. And he was right, I had yet to see anyone meeting that description around here.

“Yes, I did. Here’s your Diet Coke.” I had secretly shaken the can the whole way over from the cooler.

“Why do I not believe you?”

“Why do I not care?”

“Look Frankie, I’m really sorry, can I make it up to you?”

“And how would you do that? By giving me a chance to slave over a hot stove during a heat wave again?”

“I don’t know, flowers, chocolates, a night of pleasure?”

Excuse me? He was hitting on me after he blew me off? Good luck with that, bozo. I wasn’t sure if this counted as being asked out, but if it did I was using my free pass.

“Forget it, you can’t buy me.”

“So sorry, Frankie, really.” He did look sincerely apologetic and he paid for his drink, tipped me and left. I hated unreliable guys.

The next day, a tall guy with short dark hair walked in. He was wearing a white polo shirt, plaid shorts and a golden tan. He was absolutely gorgeous, and even Elaine was struck dumb and could only issue a low throaty growl of admiration.

“Who is he?” I whispered to her.

“No clue. He’s not from around here, for sure. I’d like to sink my teeth into that though. Yummy, yum, yum.”

“Hi there,” I said, coming up to the counter. “What can I get you?”

He smiled at me, his teeth were white, even, and perfect. “I’m actually looking for Frances, is she working today?”

I had a quick intake of breath and then recovered. “I’m Frances,” I squeaked.

His smile got even bigger. “Oh Frances, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Liam Fitzgerald, I think you know my grandmother, Stella Fitzgerald.”

I owed Mrs. Fitz a big apology; she had not exaggerated one bit when describing her handsome grandson. And if he was as successful as she said, there was probably a Bentley outside the café with his personalized plates on it. “Oh, Mrs. Fitz, of course. A lovely lady.”

“Yes, we all think so, but we’re probably a little prejudiced.” His chuckle was low and infectious and I found myself laughing along like an idiot. He stopped laughing and leaned his hands on the counter. I could smell a faint whiff of expensive cologne and I felt hot all over.

“Frances, I wanted to say thank you so much for those cupcakes you gave my grandmother. We were all a bit neglectful around her birthday, and when I went to visit her today, she told me all about what happened, and I think she was quite delighted. I actually got to eat one of the cupcakes and you are very talented.” He paused to look admiringly at me, and I found myself blushing faintly. “In any case, we are having a party for her this weekend, and my grandmother was hoping that you would be able to attend as well.”

“This weekend, well… which day? I might be working.”

“Saturday afternoon.”

“Oh dear, Saturday, I think I am working,” I turned to look at the schedule.

“No you’re not!” Elaine’s voice was a lot closer than I expected, she was right behind me, wiping her hands on her apron and smiling up at Liam. “Nikki traded shifts with you, remember?”

“She did?” Elaine kicked me in the ankle. “Oh yeah, she did.”

“Great! Well, it’s at my uncle’s place near Picton. Would you like me to pick you up when I pick up my grandmother?”

“Um, okay.” I didn’t have a car, so I didn’t know how else I would get there. Where the heck was Picton anyway?

He pulled out his BlackBerry and got me to put my address and cell number in it, and then handed me a business card. “If anything comes up and you need to get a hold of me, my number’s on here. Otherwise, I’ll pick you up between 1:00 and 1:30 on Saturday. It’s very casual, but bring a bathing suit as Uncle Brendan has a pool.” He gave me a warm look as if he was actually interested in seeing me in a bathing suit. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing him in a bathing suit.

“Bye Frances, see you Saturday,” he turned to look back at me, and held the door open for the next customer. “And thanks again for the cupcakes!”

“Oh, you’re very welcome.”

The back view was as good as the front I noticed, as Elaine and I looked. “I could watch him leave all day,” Elaine quipped. Then I looked down at the card in my hand. Wow, he was vice-president of a big investment firm in Toronto. Smart, successful and capital H-Hot.

“Excuse me, are you still working today or just drooling?”

I looked up and saw Jake looking down at me. For a change, he wasn’t smiling.

“Oh hey Jake, sorry. What can I get you? A Diet Coke?”

“No… a coffee actually. Was that the guy who got my cupcakes?”

I remembered the little white lie I had told him and grinned. “Why yes, and he really appreciated them. He told me I’m a talented cook.”

“Nah,” piped up Elaine, “He said
very
talented.” She gave Jake a once-over but he was paling in comparison to Liam, so she retreated to the kitchen with only a murmured adios.

“Humph,” said Jake. “Well, I wouldn’t know would I, having never tasted your cooking.”

“You snooze, you lose.” I brought his coffee over in a to-go cup.

“You didn’t ask if I wanted it to stay or to go,” he complained.

“What are you talking about, you always have stuff to go.”

“Well, today I want it to stay here.”

“Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” I commented as I transferred the coffee to a ceramic cup. I felt a little sorry for him, so I added a free biscotti on the side. Manny might think I was giving away the store, but I figured if you occasionally did something nice for the regular customers, you kept them happy. And Jake certainly seemed grumpy today. He sat down and started scrolling through his phone

I went to the back to put Liam’s card in my purse, and talked to Elaine. She insisted that Nikki had asked me for enough favours that she would take my Saturday shift. She then gave me some very unnecessary advice on sex, since I found it difficult to imagine having sex on the first date at a grandmother’s birthday party. And it wasn’t even a date, or was it? Well, it was as close as I was going to get to a date around here, and Liam had made me completely forget my vow to never date again. So cute! I sent Nikki a text and then went to clear off the tables and tidy up. This was our quiet time.

“Hey Frankie,” Jake called out to me as I was wiping down tables. I walked over to his table, he was smiling again and seemed to have cheered up.

“Yes?”

“You know your friend, Chloë?”

“Do you know her too?” I made a little face, was Kingston really this small or was this guy stalking me?

“Well, it’s a long story but my friend, Andrew, has a crush on her and he’s too shy to ask her out. So I was thinking, maybe the four of us could go out and do something, like dinner and movie. Or out to a club.”

“Actually, we don’t have to do that.” I replied excitedly, “He can just ask her out!”

“I just explained, he’s too shy to….”

“No, we have a pact, she has to say yes to the next guy that asks her out. It’s a guaranteed yes! Just tell him to do it ASAP.” Chloë had already used her free pass when a random guy at the farmer’s market had asked to go to a tractor pull. I hoped his friend was nice, but he had to be better than a tractor pull.

Jake looked at me, puzzled, and then something clicked. “So, what about you Frankie, don’t you have to say yes to the next guy that asks you out?”

“I just did,” I told him, then smiled and walked away.

11. Ups and Downs

I went home and started dinner; this evening we were going Asian with grilled shrimp skewers, coconut rice, and a veggie stir-fry. Chloë walked in and sniffed happily.

“I love living with you Frank!” she declared happily. “And guess what?”

“You’re going out on a date with Andrew,” I guessed. It had only been a few hours since I talked to Jake, so if I was right this guy hadn’t wasted any time.

Chloë opened her eyes wide. “Frank, you’re scaring me with your psychic abilities! Got any ideas about the stock market? Any horse racing tips? How the heck did you know?”

“A little bird told me,” I replied. If a little bird weighed over 200 pounds and didn’t shave. “But he didn’t tell me any details.”

“Okay, well, Andrew is this guy I told you about. He’s taking summer courses at Queen’s; I think he’s the same age as us. We’re going to The Mansion on Friday, to hear some live music. Seriously, how did you know?”

“His friend, Jake, told me he wanted to ask you out but he was feeling too shy. Then I sold you out, I said that you had to say yes.” I watched closely to see if this would bug her, but she just smiled in that vague Chloë way.

“Oh that guy, Son of Cook.” Chloë was making his name sound like something out of the middle ages. “Well, I could get you back, because apparently this Jake guy would like to us to double date. That would be fun, wouldn’t it Frank? And it would take the pressure off me, I kind of tend to mess up first dates sometimes.”