Heartbreak Cake (29 page)

Valentina rubs her belly protectively, her ease and comfort with lying completely baffling to me.

“She’s incorrigible,” Simons says loudly and I place my hand over his mouth, hoping no one heard him. But the room goes quiet.

“Hello?” Lindsey says. “Is someone here?”

Simon and I stand behind the speakers, too afraid to come out, but we also know the jig is up.

“Oh hell, Chicken, let’s just get this over with.” Simon grabs my hand and yanks me from where I’m crouched.

“Hello ladies.” Simon walks straight toward Lindsey. “Simon Ford. A real pleasure to make your acquaintance. I thoroughly enjoyed your British-style Indian cuisine article you wrote a few weeks back, Ms. Winters. And just so you know, I make an amazing butter chicken if you’re ever in London again. Please stop by.”

“Simon,” I warn.

“It is Ms., correct?” Simon gives her his floppy haired, winsome smile.

“Not now,” I hiss.

“What are you two doing in here?” Valentina demands, not looking as cool or calm as she did just a few minutes ago.

“We were just catching up,” I say innocently. “He surprised me with a visit. So we went to look for a quiet place to talk.”

“To talk about these?” Lindsey grabs the folder lying on the couch.

Neither of us says anything as she holds it up, eyeing us suspiciously. “You two going to answer my question? Or shall we take out all the photos and see what you think?”

“Don’t say anything, Chicken. This girl knows nothing.” Simon rolls his eyes dismissively at her.

“Okay, fine. Valentina, do you know this man?” Lindsey pulls out a photo and waves it at all of us.

“Okay, okay.” I stop Lindsey who is about to pull out another photo so we can painfully watch Valentina turn into a puddle of shame. “Fine, I admit, that is our folder, but just to be clear. We weren’t going to do anything with them. Promise.”

“Scouts honor.” Simon giggles at the idea that he was ever any kind of Boy Scout in England or in life.

“How did you get those?” Valentina demands, her face piqued. And I notice that she touches her belly.

“I took a little trip to Italy while you were busy here making Indira’s life miserable,” Simon gives her a tight smile.

“Here you all are.” Noah walks through the door, looking like a man enjoying a wedding with a drink in hand, his tie loosened, and his hair mussed and sweaty from dancing. “You’re missing a party. It’s insane out there. Did you know they can swing dance? And not just a few steps. I mean, he threw her between his legs and caught her while she was midair. It was like a movie, and you’re all missing it!”

Noah takes my hand excitedly. “Come on, Indira, let’s go. We can try and do a few moves. Totally improvise. I bet you’ll do great.”

“Wait a minute, Noah.” Valentina yanks the folder out of Lindsey’s hands. “You should know something about Indira here. She is planning to blackmail me with these photos.”

Valentina hands him the folder, and I cringe because even though I wasn’t going to use them against her, it certainly doesn’t look good that I had them, and that Simon dug them up for me.

“Now, that’s not true, Valentina. You’re just basing that on an assumption.”

“A good one. What were they doing here then? How did you even get them? Looks like you and your partner in crime here were plotting against me this whole time.”

Noah leafs through the folder, his jovial mood quickly squelched as he realizes what’s happening between all of us.

“Noah, I wasn’t going to do anything Valentina is suggesting. You know me better than that,” I say confidently, knowing he will see through all of this.

“Do I?” Noah holds up a photo of Valentina and Tomas kissing by the ocean. “I don’t think I do, not if you would do this. You just aren’t going to let this go. You’re determined to get Josh back, aren’t you?”

“It’s not about him. I’m trying to save my business!” But Noah just shakes his head at me.

“No, that’s not it. If you want to save your business, then you would just let it go. All of it. Josh, the past, Valentina, the rumors. So what, if people are talking about you? You’ll survive. But you don’t get it, because it is all about him.”

“Noah is it?” Simon finally steps in and stands a little too close to Noah, which causes him to move back. “You clearly don’t know her if that’s your reaction. And who are you anyway?”

“He’s Crystal Cove’s chef,” I say quietly. “And my date.”

“Wonderful,” Simon mutters and scowls at Noah with annoyance.

“And who in the hell are you?” Noah snaps back. “Simon Ford. The old you at Crystal Cove. The better you. And the
you
who will kick your ass if you come in here and try to act like you know anything about any of this.”

Noah hands the folder of photos back to me and looks me square in the eyes. “I told you. I don’t want to do this. No matter how much I like you and see the potential we have, I am not here to convince you of anything. Or anyone. I hope that you find a way out of this, for your sake. There’s a lot of life out there to live, cakes to bake, happiness to grab onto and people…who want to love you. Not you and someone else. But just you.”

And with that, Noah walks quickly out the door. “Noah,’’ I call out. But I don’t chase after him, because he’s right. I can’t deny anything he said to me. It’s true. All of it. This has always been about Josh. My one way to hold on to him. To still have a piece of him, even if it meant it was me holding onto the past by proudly wearing my mistress crown. I was still his.

“Looks like you can’t even keep a single man,” Valentina says smugly.

“You should talk,” Lindsey says with her arms crossed against her chest. “You don’t even date single men. I don’t believe Tomas is divorced, am I correct?”

Valentina squirms under her gaze.

“Everyone, I think it’s time for me to go home. I’ve made a mess of myself and my life and I need to figure out what to do next.”

Taking Simons arm, I hand over the photos to Valentina and she looks up at me with surprise.

“I am not going to say anything to anyone about this. But I hope you do. Josh deserves to know, so he can have a life of his own. But that’s your call. Have a good life, Valentina. I hope you find what you are looking for.”

Pulling on Simon’s arm, I lead us out of the room, leaving Lindsey alone with Valentina.

Simon looks down at me with concern. “You sure about that? You really could get her out of your hair this way.”

“Yes, I’m done, Simon. I just want my life back.”

“You think that journalist is going to let her go?”

“Not a chance in hell. Lindsey is a shark. There’s no way Valentina is walking out of there with those pictures.”

“Haha! I knew you weren’t as soft as you were claiming to be.”

“Simon,” I look up at him. “I have another idea on how I can escape all this. Maybe one we can talk about over a bottle of wine? What do you say? Want to take a cab to my apartment?”

“Oh, Chicken. I’ve got an ocean view penthouse at Hotel Maya. No offense, but I am not giving that up to sleep on your Ikea couch. But how about you come to the penthouse? We’ve got the mini bar, and I’m sure we can find an episode of
Sex and the City
for you to cry along with.”

“Thank you, Simon,” I give him a kiss on the cheek, grateful to have him and Pedro in my life, protecting me.

Chapter 22

A SLICE OF HEARTBREAK CAKE

Lindsey Winters,
New York Times Magazine

LONG BEACH, CA
— Cake doesn’t lie. It’s doesn’t cheat on you. It doesn’t have an affair with inappropriate people, and it certainly doesn’t leave you. You may leave it, when you have eaten too much of it, but cake will never walk out your front door.

When done right, cake can change your world. I say this confidently after spending a week with Indira Aguilar, owner of Cake Pan Bakeshoppe in the beach community of Long Beach, California eating more cake than I should have. And I learned that making the perfect wedding cake requires just as much heart as it does skill.

Indira and her partner Pedro Sanchez are all heart and skill. They allowed me to take a peek into their world while they prepared for one of the biggest weddings of this small bakery’s career.

I was assigned to write a story about the rising star of an unknown bakery and its owners, but instead, I fell right into a tasty story that involved an extra marital affair, a pregnant soap opera star lying about who the father was, a scorned James Beard award-winning chef, a small business trying to not lose everything, and a white knight that was actually a snarky (and handsome) Englishman.

I could write and tell you about everything that happened, but in the end, this story is really about how cake saved the day for this bakeshoppe.

I’ll tell you about the wedding cake, but first, let me tell you about a slice of cake that was given to me to sample. A little something Indira Aguilar had made for their Valentine’s Day menu that she called Heartbreak Cake, since the recipe itself was inspired by the beginning of a wonderful love story and the end of one, Indira confided in me.

The cake was a beauty. A dark chocolate cake layered with chocolate, hazelnuts, and more chocolate. The frosting was sweet and soft with swirls of cream and pieces of hazelnut and espresso beans layered in for a crunch. I took a distracted bite while watching television in my hotel room and instantly turned off the TV so I could eat in silence. It was a perfect medley of sweetness, the depth of dark chocolate, and crunchy goodness. And then it dawned on me while I was eating and feeling happy and cozy with a spoonful of chocolate and hazelnuts that Cake Pan is all about love. They love what they do. They love to create. And they love their brides.

As for the wedding of Stephanie Hemsley, well, once upon a time on a sunny Los Angeles afternoon, a beautiful bride said “I do.” And then everyone had some amazing wedding cake.

***

Stephanie’s wedding was a beautiful success.

She surprised everyone by turning down the walkway looking regal in an ivory cotton Mexican wedding dress with intricate embroidered detail. She wore silver sandals and her hair hung wavy and loose with a single bright pink Dahlia tucked behind her left ear.

She was a sight to behold, and when Travis' face crumbled into happiness while he watched her walk toward him, everyone applauded. Because that’s what you do when you see love. You celebrate it.

The wedding was a fiesta of dancing, tipsy toasts, and plenty of food. I ate more blue corn tamales than I will admit to and took part in the Mexican
ponche
that was a delicious version of Jungle Juice. Pedro couldn’t have been happier as the crowd at our dessert table never slowed down and only grew even bigger when we opened our churro bar.

We had Mexican hot chocolate cupcakes, chocolate ganache tartlets made with cayenne pepper, and our sweet empanadas stuffed with fresh mango and dulce de leche.

True to Crystal Cove form, the wedding cake was a tower of fondant ruffles in ivory and white. Beautiful, elegant, and perfect. Much like the hotel itself. The best part, it came with a $100,000 dollar donation, which was nice for the muralist who serenaded the couple with a Mexican love song while she played a five-string
vihuela
.

When it was time for Travis and Stephanie to cut their wedding cake, they walked over to Pedro and me and asked us for the knife so they could cut into the Tres Leches cake that lit up the table with its colorful bouquet of sugar flowers.

The crowd clapped generously when they fed each other cake and then sealed it with a kiss. The look on their faces was priceless as layers of milk and cream reached their taste buds. I thought of how happy my
mamita
would have been to know her cake was being loved by Hollywood socialites.

Admittedly, the biggest surprise of the night was the unexpected chemistry between Simon and Lindsey. The quick-witted journalist seemed to charm Simon with her complete oblivion to his flirtations. There was no amount of dimpled smiles or come-on lines that she would pay any attention to. It was only when he gave her a few smart sarcastic zingers that she finally noticed him. The two of them danced to 80s music and canoodled on the linen hammocks that were hung up throughout the grounds. Every time I saw them, they were bent over laughing, and it was nice to see Simon get schooled by a woman. I had no doubt that she’d be gone the next morning, which would also drive Simon nuts.