Chapter 23

23

E merson finished decorating the groom's cake for tomorrow night's wedding. She had completed the wedding cake earlier, a dark, dramatic cake with a flora-painted tier, accented with several beautiful white sugar blossoms. She'd texted a picture to the bride, who had immediately replied, immensely pleased with Emerson's work. The bride said that her grandparents sixtieth wedding anniversary was coming up in a few months, and she would be booking the event center for a party honoring them. She told Emerson to be thinking of cake ideas and asked if they could meet once she returned from her honeymoon in Turks and Caicos.

Looking at her calendar, Emerson texted a few available dates, and they settled on a day and time to meet. The bride thanked her again for her creativity, which made Emerson smile. This was what baking cakes for weddings was all about. Making the bride and groom's dreams come true, and she was happy to be a small part of that special day.

Her own special day with Ry would take place the last week in September. They would marry on a Wednesday, with Braden and Finley providing the meal and Rhiannon baking the wedding and groom's cakes. It would be a small affair, with their close friends attending, along with Finley's parents, The Bake House staff, and her former principal and her husband. Ry had invited his mother but said the invitation didn't extend to his father.

Emerson was determined to see the two men settle their differences because if they didn't, she knew Ry would always regret his father not being at the wedding.

His food truck business had been in operation for three weeks, and already he had several loyal regulars. Ry offered an abbreviated menu. He admired Raising Cane's, the popular fast-casual chicken restaurant which gave customers choices of different combinations of chicken fingers or a chicken sandwich. Period. Raising Cane's did offer sides of coleslaw, fries, and Texas toast. Ry believed keeping his menu lean and mean would keep him organized in the kitchen and able to do more business than if he had a dozen or more main offerings.

The Bake House was providing all the buns for the food truck's sandwiches, baked fresh by Frank each morning. Ry offered a traditional sliced brisket or pulled pork sandwich. He had also tinkered with his family's barbeque sauce and come up with one which was tangier and a tad sweeter. He didn't want his father accusing him of stealing anything from the family business.

Two Asian-inspired items were also on the menu, both coming with a separate sauce from the brisket and pork. One was a spicy pork loin sandwich, marinated in a combination of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, hot pepper paste, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. The second was a pork kebab on a stick, marinaded in peanut butter, making it tender, juicy, and flavorful.

The food truck did a great lunch business during the week, parked every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the square. Tuesdays and Thursdays Ry drove it a few blocks away to a parking lot across the street from the town center, which housed the city offices, as well as the police and fire stations. He had taken it to the city ball fields on Saturdays, where youth soccer, flag football, and baseball games were held. The truck was at the park from ten until five, doing a steady business during those hours.

Tonight, Ry would take the truck to the parking lot of the first home game at the high school's football stadium. He would arrive two hours before kickoff, hoping to catch hungry fans before they entered the stadium for all the pregame activities. The concession stands inside the stadium only offered popcorn and nachos to eat, and Ry believed some parents came straight from work to see their children on the field, whether they were playing the game, in the band, cheering, or dancing on the drill team. He had high hopes for this evening.

Harper breezed in. "Status report?"

"Right on schedule," Emerson told her friend. "I just finished with Saturday's cakes. Texted the bride, and she'll be getting with you about scheduling a date at the center for her grandparents' anniversary in a few months."

Harper smiled. "I've really liked working with her. I'll be happy to have her back for a family party."

"Tonight's cakes are done. Stored in the usual place. I'll be back to get them placed."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Em. I think it's a waste of your time to come to the winery and merely roll a couple of cakes out and fuss over their placement. It's something my assistants can easily do." She grinned. "And I hear a certain food truck owner will be at tonight's home game, hawking his barbeque. I know you will be assisting him."

"It would save time, but I'm used to getting the cakes ready for receptions."

"You said it yourself. Both Friday and Saturday night are taken care of. You know I have trustworthy employees. They'll handle it for you."

Emerson hugged Harper. "It really would help. We just don't know what the turnout will be like tonight. I want to be there to pitch in."

"Maybe we should've done another practice session," Harper joked. "We could've gotten in line again and again and seen how fast Ry could get food out."

They had spent a Wednesday dinner doing that very thing after Ry had bought the truck so that he could practice filling orders.

"He's got things down, but I do want to be there backing him up."

"Well, I know of a few customers who'll be there. Braden and Holden are going to the game together, and Ana told me she and Wolf are also bringing the kids. They've never been to a high school game before, and she thinks Bear will enjoy the game and Eva all the dancing and cheering. They'll all stop by for sandwiches when they get there."

"I'll let Ry know," she said. "I guess I'm off then."

She removed her apron and hung it on a peg in her office off the kitchen. As she went to her car, she thought about Tucker Young. Ever since Ry had shared how he wanted to find his cousin, Emerson had been scouring the Internet. Unfortunately, Tucker had no social media accounts. She did find a Wikipedia article about him and several mentions of him on country music websites. Tucker had been a songwriter before his accident and had contributed songs to a few big-name country artists, though most of his songs had been bought by lesser-known acts.

It had been hard to read the articles about the car crash which severely injured him and took the life of his wife Josie, who was six months pregnant. Efforts had been made to save the baby's life, but those had failed. Since Tucker wasn't a celebrity, what had happened to him after the car crash had not been reported on, and she had hit a dead end trying to locate where he might now be.

As she reached her car, a sudden thought occurred to her. She had spent all her time searching for Tucker, but what if Josie Young had been active on social media? If she had, maybe Emerson could track Tucker down from something Josie had posted or at least allow her to get in touch with someone from Josie's family or a close friend if those accounts hadn't been shut down.

Emerson slid behind the wheel, tapping quickly on her phone.

"Yes!" she said, hitting pay dirt.

After digging a little deeper, she discovered Josie Young still had a Facebook and Instagram account online. She scrolled through Facebook first, seeing the last post was the day before the car accident. The couple had looked so happy and in love. Josie hadn't posted to Facebook often, though. On Instagram, however, she saw a plethora of pictures of vacations the two had taken together. Ones of special meals they'd shared. And a golden retriever who liked to photobomb.

Excitedly, she sent a DM via Instagram, hoping Tucker might still come to this account and would eventually see it.

Tucker—I'm Emerson Frost, your cousin, Ry's, fiancée. Ry is stateside again and desperate to connect with you. He's already lost Todd Hart. Don't let him lose you, too.

Praying for a good outcome, she sent the message.