CHAPTER 20

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Cassie. Happy birthday to you!”

Cassie stood there, trying desperately to keep her emotions in check while Rachel, Mark, Ani, Wade, and Angel waited expectantly for her to blow out her candles. Although this was the eleventh birthday she’d celebrated with Mark and Rachel, she was still moved beyond words that they never failed to forget it. Her own mother—who had only contacted her a few times since she’d been placed into foster care—never remembered her birthday. And in the years before moving in with Mark and Rachel, she’d rarely had her birthday acknowledged.

“Come on, Cassie!” Ani said, impatiently. “You’re letting candle wax melt all over Wade’s amazing cake!”

And the cake was amazing. More like a work of art. A rich buttercream icing encased four layers of chocolate cake. A dark chocolate mirror glaze covered the very top of the confection and dripped decoratively down the sides. Delicate shards of swirled white and dark chocolate daubed with edible gold leaf were artfully arranged along the bottom of the cake. Larger pieces rose dramatically from the center, also decorated with gold leaf, and surrounded by a luscious mix of fresh strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

“I’m surprised he was even able to fit candles on this masterpiece,” Mark commented. “But Ani’s right, hurry up, Cassie. I want to dig into this thing.”

Everyone laughed as Cassie closed her eyes and made a wish. A secret wish that she would never have dared to say out loud.

“How did you come up with such a beautiful creation?” Rachel asked, carefully removing the candles and chocolate shards so that she could cut into it.

“True confessions,” Wade said. “I didn’t. This is another Great British Baking Show recipe. It’s called the Chocolate Drip Cake, and it’s in their Big Book of Amazing Cakes.

“Ith amath-ing!” Ani said through a mouthful of cake and frosting. Then she swallowed. “Will you make one for my birthday?”

“Sure,” Wade said, giving her a warm smile.

“This is such a perfect texture, Wade!” Rachel exclaimed, examining the bite on her fork before putting it into her mouth. “What’s your secret?”

“Sifting is crucial,” he said. “And it’s important to fold the flour gently into the cake batter so you don’t overdevelop the gluten.”

The conversation flowed around her, and Cassie watched Wade as he interacted with the most important people in her life. She marveled at how comfortable he was with all of them. How easily they accepted him. She felt a tiny paw touch her foot and she glanced down at Angel. Cassie couldn’t believe Wade had even thought of the little dog again. Angel was tucked up against Cassie’s leg, busy munching on the cake-shaped dog treat he had made for her. Cassie contemplated how genuine and truly caring Wade was, and all the warm feelings she’d been pushing away bubbled to the surface. She couldn’t deny that he was becoming an important part of her life, and she felt something inside her give way a little. The tiniest crack in the protective wall she’d maintained around her heart for as long as she could remember.

“Ooof! I can’t eat another bite!” Mark finally said, pushing back in his chair.

“Me neither,” Ani said, yet scooped up a blob of frosting from the serving platter and popped it into her mouth.

“That was delicious, Wade.” Cassie gave him a warm smile. “You really made me feel special.”

“That was the goal,” he said, and looked at her in that way that always made her heart beat a little faster.

“Time for presents!” Ani announced.

They all moved into the Wainwrights’ living room, where a small pile of gifts awaited. Cassie felt a bit self-conscious as she sat down on the sofa. But Ani broke the awkwardness, saying, “Open mine first!” and shoved a small package into her hands.

Cassie smiled at her foster sister, then tore at the wrapping. Everyone laughed when Angel jumped up to help, tearing at the shreds of paper with her tiny, sharp teeth. Cassie pulled out a small gilt-edged frame that held a photograph of her and Ani at the beach. With the waves of Lake Michigan in the background, they were both looking at the camera and laughing, their arms wrapped around each other’s waists. Cassie’s red mane and Ani’s dark one mingled together in the breeze as they pressed their faces cheek to cheek. Cassie suddenly remembered Hugo taking the picture for Ani with her cell phone when they were all at the beach party together.

“Oh, Ani!” Cassie said. “I love it! I never realized that we don’t have any printed photographs of the two of us together.”

“I know, right?” Ani said. “I got one for myself, too. Sisters forever.”

“Sisters forever,” Cassie agreed, and moving at the same time, they reached out to hook their right pinkie fingers together. They wore matching rings that clinked together as they did this, and Cassie noted Wade looking at them curiously.

“Our turn!” Rachel said, handing her a bigger box.

Cassie opened it and pulled out a narrow white cylinder-shaped object that was bent at about a seventy-degree angle. She looked questioningly between Rachel and Mark.

“It’s a cordless lamp that’s designed to reduce eye strain,” Mark said. He tapped a touch panel to show how the bar of light transitioned between different types of light and six brightness levels. “We know the lighting in your apartment isn’t probably the best, and we figured this would help when you’re studying late at night. You can bend it to whatever angle you need, and there are no cords, so you can move it anywhere. Plus, it lasts for hours and hours on a single charge!”

“That’s so cool,” Cassie said.

“Yes,” Rachel said, giving Mark a pointed look. “So cool that we somehow have one in our home office now, too.”

Mark looked a bit sheepish as everyone laughed.

“Okay, now it’s my turn,” Wade said, handing her a small wrapped package.

“Wade, you didn’t have to do that. You already made me the cake!” Cassie exclaimed.

“I know I didn’t have to, I wanted to,” he said with one of his heart-melting smiles.

She looked down and quickly unwrapped the present. Inside was a boxed set of DVDs. The cover showed a middle-aged bald man holding a noose in his hand and the words beside him read, “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The Complete Collection.”

She stared at it blankly. “Uh...thanks, Wade.”

He was watching her closely. “You don’t know what this is, do you?”

“Sure, it’s a...TV show?”

She looked up to see Rachel and Mark trying not to laugh while Ani looked as confused as she felt.

Wade moved quickly to sit beside her on the sofa. “It’s not just any old TV show, Cassie. It’s a classic! Alfred Hitchcock’s nickname was the ‘Master of Suspense.’ He was famous in the 1960s for his mysteries and psychological thrillers. I figured since you seem to like solving this Olga mystery so much, you might enjoy watching some of these. My brothers and I watched all of them with my grandparents when we were growing up.”

“Wade’s right, they are classics,” Rachel said. “I think you’ll enjoy them, Cassie.”

On impulse, Cassie gave Wade a hug, her heart pounding in her chest as she did so. She could feel Wade”s body responding to the contact, and for a moment, she allowed herself to get lost in the sensation. But then he pulled back, and she suppressed a sigh of disappointment.

Ever since their dinner date, they’d spent time together on an almost daily basis. Meeting for lunch before his shift, hiking together in the woods, spending time at the beach and out on the water. But with the exception of the two times she’d sworn he was about to kiss her, Wade hadn’t made a move toward her in that way.

At first, she’d appreciated his restraint. But now, she was beginning to feel frustrated. Over time, she’d come to value him deeply on an emotional level. And her feelings for him were moving into unchartered territory. The thought both scared and excited her. But at this point, all she wanted was for Wade to finally make a move.

“I know you have to get to work soon,” she said lightly, “but I’ll be studying late tonight. Why don’t you come over after your shift and we can watch one of them together?” She felt almost shy saying it. But the look on his face made her insides do a little flip.

“That’d be great!” he said, hazel eyes shining. Then he glanced at his watch. “I actually do need to get going.” He rose and addressed Rachel and Mark. “Thanks so much for inviting me to the party.”

“Of course!” Rachel said. “It would have been incomplete without you!”

After he left, Rachel and Mark headed into the kitchen to clean up and Ani slowly began gathering up the torn shreds of gift wrap, wrestling a few pieces from Angel, much to the little dog’s dismay. “Sooo...” Ani said with a sidelong glance. “Another date with Wade tonight, huh? You guys sure have been spending a ton of time together.”

“What of it?” Cassie said, purposely not looking at Ani as she organized her gifts into a neat stack beside her.

“Nothing, nothing,” Ani said, crumpling all the paper into a giant ball. “It’s just that I seem to recall you saying that there’s no such thing as a nice cop.”

Cassie stood and smoothed down the edge of her shorts, then she lifted her chin. “Yeah...well, I seem to remember you saying that women have a right to change their minds.”