The Icing on the Cake (20 page)

Maeve gasped.  “Oh, Kristine.  Did she
really?”

She nodded.  “Yes, she did.  I was home
at the time, which makes it all the more horrible.”

“Gracie,” Maeve sternly.  “Why did you
chew up Joe’s couch?”

“And a pillow, and Joe’s slipper,”
Kristine listed in a scolding tone.

Gracie emitted a pitiful whine. 

“She says she’s sorry,” Maeve laughed,
but quickly sobered.  “May I see the damage?  I might be able to help.”

“Sure,” Kristine said.  “I feel just
awful about it.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much.  Joe
takes things in stride,” she observed.

Kristine led her back to the house.  She
hurried to let Gracie out back, while Maeve examined the damage to the luxury
sofa.  When she returned with Gracie, she found her still kneeling beside it,
assessing the damage.  She rose.  “It’s bad, but could be much worse,” she
said.  “Since the couch is comprised of several, individual pieces, it’s only
the end chair that is damaged.  If we have it reupholstered, the whole set will
be as good as new.”

Kristine sighed with relief.  She’d been
so upset about the damage, she hadn’t realized it was contained in one of the
sectional pieces.  “Do you know someone who could fix it?”

“I do.  I have an old friend who owns
the upholstery repair shop downtown.”  She grinned.  “I think I’ll call in a
favor.  I’ll be right back.”

Kristine watched after her as she left
the house.  She soon returned with a camera and began photographing the
damage.  “I’m going to run these photos by my friend’s shop tomorrow.  I’m
hoping she either has this fabric on hand, or can get a hold of it quickly. 
Either way, we’ll get this fixed right up.”

“Just let me know what I need to do,”
Kristine said.  “If I have to deliver it to your friend, will you let me know? 
I’m sure I could borrow a truck from someone.”

“No, no,” she said, waving
dismissively.  “I’ll have her come here.”  She smiled.  “Don’t you worry about
a thing.  I’ll take care of it.”

“But…”

“It’s really fine, Kristine.”

“But I can’t let you deal with it.  I
should have to since it happened on my watch.”

“I know how we can settle this,” Maeve
said with an impish grin.  “I’ll take care of the damaged couch if you’ll teach
me to bake that delicious cake I love so much.”

Kristine grinned back.  “Despite the
fact that it’s an old family recipe, I’m going to do just that.  When do you
want to start?”

“Tomorrow,” she answered with a hopeful
expression on her face.  “You see, I have friends coming for the weekend and
I’d love to impress them with my baking skills.”  

“You name the time,” Kristine said.  “I
have all the time in the world.”

Maeve gave her a sad look.  “I was
hoping you were going to tell me you’re going to start rebuilding soon.  I
don’t know how I’m going to get along without Branton’s.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but…”  She
emitted a long sigh.  “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”  She hesitated to
say more, but continued talking, nonetheless.  “Maeve, if I tell you something,
will you…?”

“Keep it to myself?”

Kristine nodded.

Maeve raised her right hand.  “I won’t
tell a soul.”

She gestured for Maeve to take a seat. 
She crossed the room to the rocking chair.  Kristine sat down on the sofa, and
Gracie dropped onto her doggie bed.  Kristine blew out a breath. 

“It’s okay,” Maeve prompted.  “I won’t
divulge any confidences to anyone.”

Kristine nodded.  “I heard from the fire
marshal.  Apparently the fire started when the hot oil in the fryer
overheated.  Additionally,” she added with a sigh, “a water bottle fell into
the oil.”

“Was there water in it?” Maeve asked
with a wince.

Kristine shrugged.  “I don’t know, but
even a drop or two—not to mention the plastic—made for an explosion of hot
oil…”

“Which caught fire,” Maeve finished.

Kristine nodded.  “I’m afraid the
insurance company may believe the fire was intentional.”

Maeve watched her sadly.  “Kristine, I’m
so sorry to tell you, but I was having my hair done yesterday at Beverly’s
Salon and what you just told me…”

Kristine nodded numbly, fearing the
worst. 

“It’s all over town.”

Kristine climbed into Joe’s bed and
patted the comforter beside her.  Gracie, beside the bed, appeared to smile and
leapt gently onto the mattress.  She made several turns, in order to get
comfortable, and then settled down beside Kristine.

She gently stroked the pup’s side as she
recalled hearing Maeve tell her that the whole town was talking about the
bakery burning down.  She could understand that the fire would be a topic of
conversation under normal circumstances, but to think her fellow Cooper
Glennians might believe the fire was set deliberately made her feel ill.  She
refused to believe Lori had intentionally started the fire.  Sure, Lori had a
tendency to rewrite history, and was prone to storytelling, but even Lori
wouldn’t do something so destructive and potentially dangerous.

She forced away the thoughts for now and
closed her eyes.  She found herself drifting off to sleep when the phone rang
beside the bed.  Rising awkwardly, she stretched to reach it.  “Hello,” she
said sleepily.

Joe spoke in a rush, “You’re in bed. 
I’m sorry to call, but…”

“Oh, Joe.  I’m sorry.  I was supposed to
call you.”

“I was worried,” he said.

“Again, I’m sorry if I worried you. 
When I got here, I found Gracie was missing, but Maeve had her and I got
distracted…”

“It’s okay,” he said, and she could hear
the relief in his voice.

“How’s your dad?”

“Sleeping,” he answered, “which you
should be doing.  I’ll let you go.”

“Are you still at the hospital?”

“Yes.  I’m going to stay here, I think. 
There’s a fairly comfortable chair beside his bed.”

“You’re going to feel like a pretzel
come morning,” she said. 

He chuckled.  “It won’t be anything
new.  Gracie is a bed hog.  More often than not, I wake up with one arm and leg
dangling off the side and her sprawled out in the middle of the mattress.”

Kristine laughed.  “Don’t I know it? 
But admit it, you miss her.”

“Yeah, but she’s not the only girl I
miss…”

She couldn’t help the smile that lit her
face.  She missed him too.  It suddenly struck her.  She’d fallen in love with
Joe Lancaster, the young man who had made her crazy when they were kids.   

“Are you there, Krissy?”

She smiled again.  Only he insisted on
calling her Krissy.  “I was just thinking about how you and I used to go at it
when we were kids.  I thought you were the cockiest…”

“…Jerk you’d ever met,” he finished for
her with a laugh, but drew silent.  “How do you feel about me now?”

She sighed softly.  “Well, I think we’ve
both grown up a lot.”

“So, you’ll admit I’m no longer a thorn
in your backside?” he asked.

“You are no longer a thorn in my
backside,” she acknowledged.

“That’s good news, Krissy, because, the
truth is, I…”

“Joe, someone is at the door,” she said,
interrupting him when she heard the sound of someone knocking.  Why hadn’t the
visitor used the doorbell? 

Gracie lifted her head and perked her
ears.  She emitted a low growl.  “Joe, Gracie growled!” she said eagerly. 
“She’s becoming a watchdog.  Good girl,” she praised.

“Krissy,” Joe said, his voice deep with
concern, “someone is at the door and it’s after nine.  It’s kind of late for
someone to be dropping by.”

“Oh, I’m not worried,” she said
dismissively.  “Besides, Gracie is really coming into her own.  She growled! 
She’s such a good girl,” she crooned.

“Uh, huh, that’s good, but…”

“I’d better answer the door.  Will you
tell your father ‘hello’ for me when he wakes up?”

“Yes, but…”

She quickly hung up the phone.  It was a
tremendous relief to have someone stop by, regardless of the time.  She knew in
her gut Joe was going to tell her he had feelings for—and she believed she
loved him—but…  She still felt awkward loving him when Lori had loved him
before her.  Although a lot of time had passed and as the adage said, ‘all’s
fair in love and war,’ she felt as if she and Lori needed to have a
conversation in which they came to some sort of understanding.

If she were to enter a relationship with
Joe, and Lori was unhappy about it, their sisterly relationship might sustain a
mortal blow.  And although she was conflicted about that—did she really owe
Lori any consideration under the circumstances?—she hated to lose her big
sister all together.  She had hoped for years that Lori might grow up and
figure some things out.  Unfortunately, she had an entitlement mentality—but
even that wasn’t her fault entirely.  If only her parents had forced her to
accept some responsibility for her actions.  If only they hadn’t caved in to
her every wish and desire, in order to avoid the inevitable scene Lori would
create when she heard the word ‘no.’

Kristine registered the soft knocking
again.  Who could it be?

She rose from the bed.  Gracie
immediately climbed down and followed her down the stairs.  She padded to the
door and stood on tippy toes in order to see out the peep hole.  Her mother
awaited her.

She breathed a sigh of relief on one
hand—it was her mom, rather than a stranger—but she wasn’t sure she was up to a
visit with her mother right now.  Regardless, she was here and probably
wouldn’t leave until Kristine answered the door.

As she pulled it open, she decided she
would start parking her car in Joe’s garage, in order to gain some anonymity. 
“Hello, Mom,” she said, forcing a smile.

“I don’t blame you for not wanting to
see me,” Ruth said.

“It’s not that…”

“Yes, it is,” she said sadly.  “But may
I come in?  We need to talk.”

Kristine nodded and stepped aside. 
Gracie greeted Ruth with a wag of her tail and followed the women into the
family room.  As Ruth sat down, she spotted Joe’s damaged sofa.  “Gracie?” she
said wanly.

Kristine nodded.

“Maybe I can help you fix it…”

“That’s okay.  My neighbor, er, Joe’s
neighbor, is going to help me get it fixed.”

“That’s very nice of her,” Ruth said.

“Yes.”

Ruth sighed.  “Kristine, I’ve come to
apologize to…”

The phone rang, interrupting her mother
mid-sentence.  She rose with an apologetic smile and hurried to the kitchen to
answer it.  “Hello.”

“Krissy, are you all right?” Joe asked
in a rush.

“I’m fine.  My mother is here.”

“Oh.  Oh!  Okay.  Well, don’t take any
guff.”

She laughed at that.  It sounded like
something her granddad would say, but also suggested he knew she had been on
the receiving end of some ‘guff’ from her family members. 

“Okay, I won’t.” 

“Call me later if you need to talk.”

“Thank you, Joe.  I will.”

“Okay, then.”  He signed off. 

She stared at the phone for a brief
moment.  Her heart surged with love for him, surprising her with the intensity
of feeling.  He was protective of her, she realized, and while she considered
herself an independent woman capable of taking care of herself, it felt good to
be cared about.   

“Was that Joe?” Ruth asked, when she returned
to the family room.

She nodded.

“He loves you,” she said, smiling.  “I
see that now.”

“But you didn’t … before?”

She shook her head.  “I’m sorry.  Lori
told me…  Well, anyway, I believed her.”  She sat quietly for a moment. 
“Kristine, I’m sorry about … everything.”

Kristine didn’t respond.  What could she
say?  Her mother was sorry about
everything.
  What exactly did that
mean?

“Everything, Mom?” she said, spreading
her hands in a gesture of confusion.

She nodded.  “I’m not much of a mother…”

Kristine gasped.  “You’re … a good
mother,” she said.

“Say it like you believe it, honey,” she
said sadly.

“I do,” she insisted.

“No, you don’t.  And you’re right.  I
wasn’t much of a mom to you girls.”

“You worked a lot,” she said, for lack
of something else to say.

“Yes, I spent a lot of time at the
bakery,” she clarified, and then gave a self-deprecating laugh.  “I didn’t do
much work while there, if the truth be told.”

Minnie had said as much before. 
Kristine remained silent, sensing her mother had more to say.

“I worked because the truth is, I didn’t
enjoy being home.  I’m about as domestic as … Lori,” she finished with a sad
shake of her head.  “I used the bakery as a means to get away from home, but
the truth is, I didn’t like working there either.  Another trait I have in
common with your sister.”

Ruth wrung her hands nervously.  “Your
father used to beg me to take time off, but I had hundreds of excuses as to why
I couldn’t.  When he passed, I realized…  I realized how much time I’d missed
with him.  When you realize that a loved one will never, ever be walking
through the front door again, it’s as if a large part of you dies with him.”

“I know how much you loved Dad,”
Kristine said.

“I did, and I love you girls too,” she
said, her eyes lighting on Kristine’s like guided missiles.  “I just wanted…”

“More?”

She shook her head.  “No, not more. 
Different?”  She gave a brittle laugh.  “We’re told we can have it all, but we
can’t.  When I was young, I worked at the bakery because it was expected of me
to do so.  I can’t tell you how often I battled your grandmother about that.  I
was the only girl and as such…”

“I know,” Kristine said.

“I know you do.  The difference between
you and me is that you didn’t arrive at the bakery, kicking and screaming. 
You’ve always done whatever your father and I expected of you.  You’ve always
been mature beyond your years, which is why…?”  She paused and fought back
tears.  “Which is why you received so little attention from me.” 

She drew silent again, as if gathering
her thoughts.  “Lori, on the other hand, was a full-time job, and boy, did she
ever get attention.  From us, from her friends, from … everyone.  She craved
it, good or bad, positive or negative, if she wasn’t the center of attention,
there was hell to pay.”

“That’s true,” Kristine mused.

“And I’m afraid it was just easier to
defer to her tantrums, to simply give in.  I was busy with the bakery and your
dad worked so much too.”  She offered a tremulous smile.  “We should have taken
her to task.  We should have held her accountable for her behavior, but the
truth is, I was afraid she’d run off.  She was always threatening to leave.  I
couldn’t bear to think about her out in the world.  It’s a dangerous place,”
she added sadly.  “And Lori is sorely lacking in common sense.  I really feared
for her safety.”

“I understand.”

“Kristine, regarding you and Joe… 
Obviously, he cares about you.  I’m afraid I didn’t have all the facts when
Lori approached me initially, hurt and angry, and full of accusations against
you.  But what you need to understand is, Lori really loved Joe, once upon a
time.  If you remember, they dated about a year, and when he broke up with her,
she was absolutely devastated.”

“I honestly don’t remember much, other
than they broke up,” she said. 

“I don’t expect you to.  You were
fourteen, Lori and Joe eighteen.  But she cared deeply for him.  When he broke
it off, she realized her actions had led to the demise of their relationship
and she went through a very bad time.”

Kristine sensed there was more to the
story.

“You see, Joe believed she had cheated
on him…”

“Had she?”

Ruth sighed.  “She assured me she
hadn’t, but…”  She spread her hands helplessly.  “Regardless, they broke up and
Lori lost someone she truly cared about.”

“Lori wasn’t used to losing, period,”
Kristine mused.

Ruth nodded.  “That might have been part
of her devastation,” she admitted.  “She was used to getting her way.”

Kristine searched her mother’s face. 
“Do you believe I owe it to Lori to stay away from Joe?  It isn’t as if we’ve
entered a relationship,” she said.

Her mother hesitated, but finally
answered.  “No, I believe you owe it to yourself to find happiness.  It’s been
many years since Lori and Joe dated, and I’m afraid Joe never had the intensity
of feeling for Lori that I believe he has for you.”

“But…  What makes you think Joe…?”

“…Cares for you?”

“Yes.”

“Admittedly, I wasn’t around when Joe
came back to town and started coming into the bakery.  The truth is, I spoke to
Minnie today…”

“Oh, okay,” Kristine said, understanding
dawning.

“Also, I just don’t think Joe would
install you in his house if he didn’t care about you.”