Always the Baker, Never the Bride (32 page)

“Hey, Mr. Travis. Long time, no see.”

“Yes.”

Emma could read her father’s mind, and she was marginally happy that he didn’t complete the thought.

“Dad, this is Danny’s fiancée, Callie Beckinsale.”

Gavin shook her hand and then kissed it. “My condolences, child.”

Callie giggled.

“Do you have some time for your old man?” he asked Emma, and she nodded.

“We were just finishing up.”

The timing couldn’t have been better had they planned it, but as the revelation dawned on Emma that she was going from one uncomfortable conversation to another, her expression soured. By the time Danny and Callie finally headed out the door and Emma fetched a cup of tea for herself and some coffee for her father, the full impact of the coming discussion sat on her chest like a gorilla with a glandular problem.

“What’s up, Dad?” she asked, although she really didn’t want to hear his answer.

“I think you know.”

Emma shrugged. “You want to apologize for traumatizing me? Embarrassing Jackson on the opening night of his hotel?”

“Oh, I think you’ve been far more traumatized than that,” he pointed out. “And as for Jackson, he handled the whole thing just dandy. It was you standing there screaming like a girl and—”

“I am a girl, Dad.”

“—calling attention to it that embarrassed him, I suspect.”

“What were you thinking, Dad?”

“I was thinking that my wife looked staggering that night, and I wanted to kiss her.”

“Ex-wife.”

“Well. That’s the thing.”

Emma’s blood pressure whooshed, and her heart plummeted to the pit of her stomach as she waited.

“Princess, your mother and I never did actually … officially …
divorce
.”

“What are you talking about? You’ve been apart for years.”

“Apart, yes. But not as apart as you think.”

“Do I even want to know what that means?”

“Probably not.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

Gavin leaned back into the chair and sighed. “I love your mother, Emmy. Always have. But she’s not as mild mannered as she likes to let on.”

“You just bring the worst out in her. With everyone else, she’s—”

“Mother Teresa. I know.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Nice to know you haven’t lost all perspective.”

Emma chuckled, then she reached across the table and touched her father’s hand. “Give it to me straight, Daddy. What don’t I want to know?”

“Your mother and I have been married for forty years next month.”

“Straight?” she asked, miming out a long, straight road with her hand.

“One after the other.”

Emma fell back against her chair. “Huh. Really?”

“Really.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Your mother didn’t want to disappoint you.”

“By telling me that my parents were still happily married?”

“I don’t think anyone said anything about being happy.”

“She thought I’d be less disappointed if I went on thinking you were divorced.”

Gavin shrugged. “You did seem to embrace the idea, Princess.”

“That’s only because you seemed to hate one another so much.”

“Now, there’s one thing I’ve never felt toward your mother, Emmy. I love that woman as much as the day is long.”

Emma gasped and cocked her head. “You do?”

“I do.”

Emma considered that for a very long moment.

“Does she know?”

Gavin laughed. “Yes. I think she does.”

“And she loves you?”

“Passionately.”

Several more beats ticked by as Emma thought it over.

“Well, no wonder.”

“No wonder, what?”

“No wonder I’m so messed up.”

“Oh, that’s messed up.”

“I know.”

“And you think I’m psych.”

“Not anymore.”

Emma and Fee sat on opposite sides of the desk in Emma’s office, staring at one another and occasionally shaking their heads.

“Seriously. Messed up.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“What’s messed up?” Pearl asked from the doorway. “Emma’s parents.”

“Why?”

“They’re married,” Fee told her. “Can you believe that?”

Pearl’s expression told them that she was making every effort but just couldn’t catch up to the conversation.

“Oh!” Fee exclaimed. “Pearl! I heard Anton fired you last night!”

“What?” Emma gasped.

“It’s true,” she replied, smiling back at them.

“So what are you doing here?”

“Prep work for the dinner crowd. We’ve got a full house tonight for the opening.”

“But he fired you?” Emma enunciated.

“Oh, it’s nothing. He fires me all the time. It’s foreplay.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“He’s leading up to taking another stab.”

Emma grimaced. “This is what I have to look forward to?”

“With Jackson? Not at all. He’s much more balanced than Anton.”

“Are you sure?”

Pearl chuckled. “Yes. I’m sure. Anton fires me, then I come back to work and act like nothing’s happened. That goes on for a couple of days, and then he asks me to dinner or to go with him to a food show. We have a wonderful time, and then he withdraws again.”

“That seems like a lot of work.”

“Oh, it is. But he’s worth the effort.”

Fee and Emma exchanged glances, and they both shrugged.

“Well, to me, anyway.”

“I feel like a freak for having such a normal relationship with Peter,” Fee pointed out. “We just hang out and tell each other what we’re thinking. It’s very low drama.”

“Wait,” Emma said, shaking her head. “You’re the conventional one in the room?”

“I know. It’s shocking.”

Norma stepped into the kitchen and ambled up behind Pearl in the doorway. “Can I have a word with you, Pearl?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Anton’s temper.”

Pearl nodded knowingly.

“Any chance you could go in there and talk him down?”

“Absolutely.”

Pearl turned back toward Emma and Fee, straightened her clothes and stood erect with a mock-serious expression as she told them, “Cover me, ladies. I’m goin’ in.”

Devonshire Cream

for serving with scones or fresh berries

Beat a 3-ounce package of softened cream cheese on high.

While mixing, add 2 teaspoons of sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.

Gradually add 1/3 cup whipping cream and mix until stiff. Store in the refrigerator overnight.

21

T
hey were waiting in line Monday for the opening of the restaurant,” Norma said, “and the manager told me we had nearly a full house last night.”

Jackson leaned back into the leather desk chair, and it groaned under the pressure. He raked a hand through his hair and smiled at her. “Morelli is a very big personality, but what he brings to the table far exceeds the challenges.”

“That’s my thinking too.”

“Do you have any information on the hotel side of things?”

“I do,” she replied, and then flipped through the stack of paperwork in her hands. “We had twenty-three rooms occupied on Monday night, and eighty-one last night.”

“Eighty-one?”

“George was able to send me that group in town for the food and beverage convention. Even with the group discount, they’re getting us off to an amazing start. And they’ll be here through Friday.”

“Do we have anything else coming up?”

“A full house at the end of the month with the home improvement show, and I’m working on something with the Atlanta Symphony.”

“Outstanding, Norm. Weddings?”

“Madeline’s doing a last-week’s-status kind of thing now every Monday. It should be sitting in your inbox.”

“That works. What’s our first wedding?”

“Beckinsale-Mahoney.”

“The baseball couple.”

Norma nodded. “I just hope the wedding takes place. The groom turned out to be an ex-boyfriend of Emma’s.”

“She mentioned that.”

“Well, he was here yesterday, and Maddie said he was falling all over himself to talk to Emma, right in front of the poor little bride.”

Jackson grimaced. “Class act.”

“He even came back this morning with an armful of roses.”

“Roses,” he exclaimed. “You weren’t kidding when you said the wedding might not happen?”

“The boy is smitten all over again. But who can blame him, really. Emma is such a little doll.”

Jackson leaned forward, wondering about Emma’s reaction to her first love coming back into her life. “Are we through here?”

“I think so. Do you have anything for me?”

“No,” he replied. “You’re doing a great job, Norm. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Jackson stalked through Susannah’s office and down the hall. He decided not to wait for the elevator and took the stairs instead.

“Good morning, Mr. Drake.”

Jackson nodded to the desk clerk and strode through the lobby and into Emma’s kitchen, where she and Fee were bellied up to either side of the island, kneading balls of different-colored dough.

“Hello, Jackson.”

Her nose and cheeks were dusted with flour, and her silky hair was pulled back into a folded ponytail with ends poking out in several different directions. Her glasses hung around her neck on a knotted chain, and her apron was splotched with bright colors of dye.

“Do you need me for something?”

“Uh, no.” He didn’t really have a reason for the visit. Not one he could confess, anyway. “I just hadn’t seen you in a few days, so I thought I’d stop in and see how things are going.”