My Sweetheart (5 page)

             
He opened the door and looked back over his shoulder at her. “It’s a non-issue Jane. You’ll never win,” he said quietly and walked out of the store.

             
Jane stared at the closed door for a moment until her heart calmed down. Tate was in for a big surprise. She was going to win that date with him or die trying. She took out her cell phone and texted Meredith.

             
I need help. I made a bet with Tate and I need you to win it for me. Come to my bakery tonight               when you get off work.

             
She slipped her cell back in her pocket and smiled at the customer who walked in the door. As she boxed up a dozen cookies and a peach pie, she dreamed of dancing with Tate and wondered what it would feel like to have his arms around her. Meredith better learn how to cook, or she’d never know.

             
“I hate you Jane. This is impossible! I can’t do any of this,” Meredith complained.

             
Jane looked at her the same way she would a spoiled and lazy teenager. “Grow up you brat and get to work. If I don’t get a date with Tate Matafeo I will haunt you the rest of your life. I’ll follow you around town and throw cupcakes at you every chance I get,” Jane swore and then grinned when Meredith laughed in her face.

             
“You are so full of crap Jane. You should be grateful I’m even here. Why don’t you make the stupid cupcakes and then tell everyone I made them? It’d be the easiest thing to do and then we could go to the movies now instead of mixing and measuring,” she said, pouting at all of the measuring cups and bowls littering the counter.

             
Jane sighed and put her hands on her waist. “No cheating. Sorry. Look Meredith, I know I’m making you do this, and I know that in the end you’ll have to go on a date with Kam and everything, but I really need this. If I don’t force Tate to go out with me, then he never will.”

             
Meredith blinked a few times as if she was coming out of a stupor. “Go out with Kam? He’s so gorgeous. Why would he ever want to ask me out?” she asked timidly, picking up the measuring spoons.

             
Jane pursed her lips and handed Meredith the recipe for cupcakes. “Well, he told me just the other night that the wife he picks has to cook just as good as his mom. I don’t think he cares much that he looks like a Samoan Prince and that he should be dating a model. He’s all about the sweets. If you can cook, he’ll date you. Easy.”

             
Meredith frowned at the recipe. “I haven’t dated anyone since Dane. What if I make the yummiest dessert in the world and Kam does ask me out? How could I go out with him?” she asked uncertainly.

             
Jane bit her lip and shrugged. “You put on a cute outfit, some make up and go. I think you should group date for a while. It would be more fun and less stressful. This way your parents and your brother will stop pestering you. I know it’s hard Meredith, but Kam would be so easy going and it’s for a good cause
. Me
.”

             
Meredith nodded her head thoughtfully. “He really is a sweetheart. Did you know that when Dane died last year, Kam brought me over a carved butterfly he’d made himself? He told me it was the symbol of resurrection and that he knew Dane would live again someday.”

             
Jane smiled sadly at her friend and patted her back. “What a thoughtful gesture. See? Kam is the safest guy to start going out with. And it will help me a ton. So you don’t even have a choice,” she stated handing a block of butter to Meredith.

             
Meredith smiled suddenly, her face lighting up. “Well, it’s not like I have a choice in this. Okay then, let’s get started. I can’t believe Tate doesn’t think I can learn to cook. He’s going to regret saying that,” she said in a deadly voice and then went to work.

             
Jane grinned at the determination she saw in Meredith and laughed to herself. Tate was as good as hers.

             
An hour later, Jane frowned at the lopsided cupcakes and lifted one up. She took a small nibble and closed her eyes. They might look pathetic, but the taste was good. She opened her eyes and looked at Meredith who was biting her nails nervously, waiting for her verdict.

             
“They’re not bad Meredith. We just need to work on presentation. When we show up at the party on Saturday, Kam will fall in love,” she stated, taking another bite as Meredith jumped up and down in the kitchen, whooping and pumping her fist like a rocker at her first concert.

             
They cleaned up and headed to the movies, Jane’s treat for forcing Meredith to cook. If Meredith noticed that Jane slept through the whole movie, she didn’t make a big deal about it.

             
They walked out of the theater and Jane let Meredith chatter away, as she covered her yawn.

             
“
Jane!
Darling, I’m so glad I ran into you.”

             
Jane felt a cold shiver slip down her back as she turned and watched Alex Foster run across the street to reach her. His eyes were bright with excitement. She moved back a few steps as he reached out for her hand, but he was too quick, taking her hand in both of his, kissing her knuckles and pulling her closer.

             
Meredith cleared her throat next to her, making Alex look away from Jane in irritation.

             
“Is this a friend of yours Jane?” Meredith asked, sounding doubtful.

             
Alex smiled regally and nodded at her. “Jane and I have been friends ever since she moved to town. We’re working on a deal so that she and her sisters will sell the bakery to me. I’ve got some amazing plans for a beautiful office park there. We’re just working out the details right now,” he said, turning back to Jane.

             
Jane stared at him in shock and shook her head. “
Alex
, we’re not selling to you. Not now, not ever. We’ve made that as clear as we possibly can,” she said, yanking on her hand.

             
Alex held on tightly and stared at her with a slight frown on his face. “Jane, why don’t we discuss our issues over dinner tomorrow? I promise I’ll do everything I can to make you happy,” he said, stepping closer and looking down into her face as if he wanted to kiss her.

             
Jane felt ill and wrenched on her hand again. “Alex, if you don’t let me go . . .”

             
“
Problem here Jane?”

             
Jane turned around to see Feke and Tawni staring at them worriedly. Feke let go of Tawni’s hand and moved to stand next to her and Alex. He put his hand on Alex’s wrist and squeezed. The man’s face turned white with pain and he quickly let go of Jane’s hand.

             
“When a lady asks you to let go,
you let go
,” Feke said in a soft voice as he towered over Alex, making the smaller man blink up at him in fear.

             
“I think you’re misinterpreting the situation. We’re old friends. We were just working out the details for our date tomorrow,” Alex said rubbing his wrist and looking Feke up and down warily.

             
Feke looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she shook her head fiercely. “
No
,” she hissed out. “No. I’m not going out with you Alex. I’ve told you that before,” she said stepping away from him and trying to stand behind Feke.

             
Feke frowned at Alex and stared down the older man. “I think you should leave,” he said in a low gravelly voice that promised a lot of pain.

             
Alex swallowed nervously and inched away. “We’ll get together later when you’re not busy with your friends Jane,” he said and hurried back across the street.

             
Jane stared after him and shivered, rubbing her arms. Meredith put her arm around her shoulders and frowned after Alex. “That guy is creepy.”

             
Feke shook his head and sighed. “Word gets out you cook and men go crazy. Watch out Jane or you’re going to have crowds of men stalking you,” he said with a good natured laugh.

             
Jane frowned and looked away. “He doesn’t care if I can cook. He’s after my bakery. He wants to tear it down.”

             
Tawni stepped forward and touched her arm worriedly. “That guy wasn’t looking at you like you were a business investment. He was looking at you . . .” she stopped and blushed, looking away.

             
Feke stared at her with a frown and nodded his head. “She’s right. He was looking at you like Kam looks at your cupcakes. You should be careful around that guy,” he said and pulled Tawni into his arms.

             
Meredith winced and gave Feke and Tawni quick hugs, promising to see them Saturday. They said their goodbyes and headed back to the bakery. Jane waved goodbye to Meredith and locked up, setting the alarm. She stared out at the dark wet night and frowned, wondering what she’d have to do to get Alex to leave her alone. She decided to talk to Tate the next time she saw him about getting a restraining order. It was time to stop playing around.

***

              The next day was Friday and she had to admit she was excited. After work she was having her first cooking class for singles. They were going to learn how to make and decorate a cake. She was only charging for supplies so she wasn’t going to make any money off the class. She just wanted to have fun, teach people how to bake and of course win her bet with Tate.

             
Meredith was the first to arrive and Jane grinned, knowing that whether or not Meredith was ready to admit it, she wanted to go on a date with Kam. Five other women and three men showed up. She let everyone mingle for a while and chat while she walked around and introduced herself and handed out water bottles. The three guys ranged in age from twenty five to thirty. They were all cute and some of the girls were going out of their way to be friendly.

             
She talked for the first half hour, going over basic cooking tips, like measuring and using room temperature butter but she could tell everyone wanted to get down to it. She motioned for Meredith to join her and she and Meredith worked together to walk everyone through the steps of sifting the dry ingredients and mixing the liquids. While their cakes were cooking, she opened the discussion up to questions and blushed when one of the guys, the one who looked like Henry Cavill raised his hand and asked if she was busy next Friday night.

             
Jane laughed in embarrassment as Meredith cackled at her side. She elbowed Meredith in the side and shook her head. “Sorry, but I’m in a complicated relationship right now,” she said and then answered a few more questions about making the perfect icing.

             
When she walked over to check on the cakes, Meredith followed her. “Complicated relationship? You should have said
imaginary
relationship. That guy was cute. You’re an idiot Jane,” she whispered.

             
Jane looked up and glared at her friend. “At least I’m not afraid to go after what I want,” she shot back.

             
Meredith glared at her and picked up a spoonful of icing. “Did you just call me a coward?” she breathed out.

             
Jane stood up slowly, used to girl drama. She had two older sisters. She never backed down. “Maybe I am. You know you like Kam. Why don’t you just go for it instead of pretending I’m making you do this for me,” she said narrowing her eyes as Meredith reached back for the bowl and scooped an even bigger glop of icing on her spoon.

             
“Oh that’s it. Jane Kendall you are the biggest brat I’ve ever met,” she said and flung the icing in Jane’s face.

             
Jane gasped as the icing hit her squarely in the middle of her forehead. “You. Are.
Dead
,” she breathed out and grabbed the spatula and leaped on Meredith. Meredith squealed, giggling madly as she twisted and tried to get away from the spatula. The group of students watched spellbound as the two girls laughed and wrestled with Meredith getting her whole face smeared with greasy icing.

             
“Okay! Geeze, I give up,” Meredith said, gasping on the floor just as the timer for the cakes went off. She and Meredith took turns giggling and glaring at each other as they wiped their faces clean.

             
Some of the girls and a couple guys laughed at the two women, but they were back to business as soon as the cakes were out of the oven.

             
“Now the best way to frost a cake is to freeze it. I know, weird, but you won’t get cake crumbs in your frosting if you do. Since we’re on a time crunch though, we’re just going to let our cakes cool as I show you simple ways to decorate a cake. I baked my cake earlier this afternoon, so I can show you how it’s done while we wait.”

             
Jane took a long serrated knife and cut the top of the cake off to make it completely uniform. “Trust me, your cake will look a hundred times better if it’s not lumpy and lopsided looking,” she instructed, pushing the top of the cake to the side. Meredith snagged a chunk and munched on it as she continued.

             
And if you want a really beautiful icing, add marshmallow cream. It’ll taste incredible and your frosting will have a silky sheen,” she instructed as she expertly used a spatula to frost the bottom layer. She trimmed the next layer and set it in place, quickly frosting the next layer. She then explained about pastry bags, couplers and how to use the different kinds of tips. She then picked up a regular spoon and held it up.