Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Caitlin hummed along to the radio as she drove along the coastline. Behind her in the back seat, Pearl was reading a book and swaying back and forth a little as if in excitement. Ever since her flower girl dress had arrived, Pearl had been the picture of health again, and Caitlin was relieved that she’d recovered from the flu so quickly.

“How’s your book, honey?” she asked, smiling at her daughter.

Pearl looked up and grinned. “Amazing! There’s all kinds of stuff about time travel. Right now they’re in the eighteen hundreds on a pirate ship.”

“Ooh, sounds exciting,” Caitlin said, grinning.

“Are we there yet?”

“Not yet.” Caitlin chuckled. “Just another fifteen minutes or so.”

“Thank goodness we get to eat cake at the end of this,” Pearl said. “This has been one of the longest car rides of my life.”

Caitlin chuckled again. She and Pearl were on their way to Providence, to visit Paige at her baking school there. Paige had baked up a few different wedding cake flavor samples, so they were on their way to meet with her and try the cakes. Michael wasn’t able to join them for their “girls’ trip,” as they’d decided to call it, but they were planning on bringing pieces of the cake samples back to him so that he could help Caitlin decide on the flavor.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and Caitlin’s spirits were light. Their route took them along the ocean, and as they drove they got to experience many breathtaking views of the blue water sparkling in the sunlight.

Finally, they arrived in Providence, and Pearl abandoned her book and glued her nose to the window, taking in the sights of the city with fascination. Before long, they arrived at Paige’s charming apartment building, and she met them outside.

“So good to see you!” Caitlin said warmly, giving the young woman a hug. “I can’t wait to try what you’ve made.”

“I hope you like them,” Paige said, smiling back but holding her shoulders a little tensely as if she was nervous. “I’ve got lemon, red velvet, chocolate raspberry, and chocolate.”

“Whoa,” Pearl said, clearly in awe, and Paige and Caitlin laughed.

Paige led them upstairs to her cozy studio apartment, where she’d set out the various cake samples on the counter.

“Paige, these are beautiful,” Caitlin gushed, looking in admiration at the miniature cakes that Paige had frosted. “I didn’t realize you were going to decorate them too.”

“Well, frosting plays such a huge role in the overall taste of a cake,” said Paige, smiling. She seemed to be buzzing with a nervous energy, although she was clearly flattered by the compliment. “I wanted to make sure you got the full force of every flavor.”

“Please, can we try the chocolate one first?” Pearl asked.

“Works for me,” Paige replied with a nod.

“Please try the cakes with us,” Caitlin said to Paige. “I feel like you should get to eat some of your hard work.”

“Sure.” Paige smiled. “But only a little. I want to make sure we leave enough for Michael to try.”

They began to sample the cakes, starting with the chocolate one, as Pearl had requested. As soon as Caitlin took her first bite of the rich, velvety taste, she was sold.

“Paige, this is absolutely incredible,” she said, placing her hand on her heart. She stared down at the plate of cake almost in unbelief.

“It’s amazing,” Pearl agreed, talking with her mouth full of cake. “You should pick that one, Mom.”

“Well, you should try them all,” Paige said, looking very pleased.

“I’m excited to try the red velvet,” Caitlin said.

The three of them continued to sample the cakes together, and Caitlin was thrilled that Josie had suggested Paige to her as a wedding cake baker. Even though Paige was young and still fairly inexperienced, it was clear that she more than made up for those things with her talent and her hard work.

After they’d sampled every flavor of cake, Caitlin was leaning toward the lemon and the red velvet—although she also loved the chocolate, and she had a feeling that might be Michael’s favorite.

“It’ll take us a minute to make a decision,” she said to Paige. “Michael will have to eat them, and—” She paused as she saw the young woman’s shoulders droop. It was clear that Paige thought she was talking about whether or not to hire her for the wedding. “Oh, I just mean decide on what flavors, Paige! I’m so sorry, I should have made that clear. You’re hired. Hands down. No questions.”

“Really?” Paige asked, her eyes lighting up.

“Oh, absolutely,” Caitlin said warmly. “These are amazing.”

“Wonderful!” The young baker’s cheeks were flushed, and she was grinning. “I’m thrilled. Just let me know what structure you want, and then we can talk about icing designs and any wedding cake toppers you might want. I’m learning how to make sugar sculptures, so that might be a fun option.”

Caitlin’s mouth dropped open a little. “Wow. That sounds incredible.”

“Yay!” Paige, who had been acting carefully professional up until that point, seemed to burst out of her shell as her excitement won over. “Thank you!” she exclaimed, hugging Caitlin. “I absolutely cannot wait to make the cake for your wedding.”

Caitlin nodded as they drew apart. “Of course. I love that I can support a young businesswoman. And in addition to hiring you to make the cake for our wedding, I’ll make sure people know that you made it, so we can get the word out about your bakery even more. Everyone on the guest list will know about your bakery.”

Paige flushed, pressing her hands to her mouth. “That would be amazing, thank you.”

“I wouldn’t think of passing by that opportunity to support you. You’ve been working so hard, and you have such a gift. We all want you to succeed.”

Caitlin noticed Paige blinking back a few tears, so she tactfully hurried to change the subject.

“Let’s all go out to dinner—my treat—and then we can come back here and pack these up to bring home to Michael.”

“Sounds wonderful. And since it’s not quite dinnertime yet, would you two like a little tour of Providence?”

Both Caitlin and Pearl agreed enthusiastically, and a few minutes later the three of them were stepping back out into the sunshine together.