Baking Me Crazy (Donner Bakery, #1)(17)

"No, you're not." I laughed. "But that would probably do it. Not much you can do about getting rid of the moisture in the berries."

With a shake of her head, she opened up the garbage and dumped the frosting. "Well, if this is any indication, I'd better practice the cake Sylvia wanted me to make for her shower,."

"What'd she ask for?"

"That wild berry tart I haven't made in about eighteen years." She waved a hand. "I suppose it hasn't been that long, but it sure feels like it."

"Mmm, I love that one. Do you need any help with the shower?"

"I think we've got it all handled, honey, but I'll let you know. My sisters are doing most of the food, and Memaw Buchanan is handling all the setup."

I gave the spoon another slow lick while I thought about their extended family, all of whom I knew. "Isn't that funny?"

"What?"

"You come from a family of all girls, and the Buchanans have always had boys, didn't they?"

She laughed. "Almost always. Mr. B's brother, you know Glenn, he and his ex-wife had the first girl in five generations. Of course, the family joke was that she was only allowed to be born a Buchanan girl because she came out with a twin brother. You remember the twins, right? Grady and Grace? It's been a few years since they visited."

"Yeah, it was Christmas about four years ago, right?"

I remembered two tawny-haired, ridiculously attractive people only a couple of years older than Levi. Grace intimidated me because she wore Daisy Dukes no matter what the weather and had a perpetual look on her face like she would beat the shit out of anyone who crossed her. Her brother was sweet, though. Reminded me a lot of Levi.

"That's right," she said. "They'll be here for the wedding."

I nodded.

She eyed me. "How's your day going, honey? Levi told me you started with a new PT today. He's out for a run with Connor, by the way. Should be back soon."

I sighed. "Yeah, I had PT."

"Come on, tell me everything."

I opened my mouth to give her a standard answer, but I got the Francine Buchanan look. The don't you dare try to put me off right now look.

"It sucked," I said, dropping my head into my hands. "I was so rusty, it felt like I was trying to walk on cooked noodles."

"Well now, nothing worthwhile will come from easy work, right?"

"Says the woman who can stand on her own two feet without worrying about tipping over."

She clucked her tongue. "Don't sass me. We've all got stuff that's hard for us."

I took another small bite of the frosting left on my spoon and then brought it over to the sink so I could toss it in with the rest of the dishes she had soaking. "Want me to start on these?"

"No, no, I've more of a mess to make yet. Keep talking while I work."

I went to the opposite side of the island, locked my chair, and lifted myself into one of the stools. "My new therapist is much tougher on me."

"Good. That last one was a waste."

"Okay, Levi."

Mrs. B smiled prettily. "Maybe I did hear that a time or two from him. You need people in your life who are willing to push you, sweetie." She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow as she said it.

The unspoken layer under her words was aimed at my mom, and we both knew it.

"I fell twice," I said quietly. "I've let my right leg go too much. Both of them really. And I don't have a good excuse."

She dumped a block of cream cheese into the bowl and set it to mixing. "Falling is okay every now and then, Jocelyn."

Oh great, she used my full name.

I set my chin in my hand and sighed. "But knowing it doesn't make it any easier on your way down," I said.

"Quite true." Using a spatula, she scraped along the inside of the bowl to make sure everything mixed evenly. I love her, I thought as I watched her. I loved this whole family. And I wish I could sit like this and talk to my own mother. Tell her that it sucked to fall in front of the cute boy who bought me a cupcake.

"You got back up, though, didn't you?" she asked.

It would have been easy to focus on what I couldn't do instead of what I could. And being able to sit in this kitchen with her made me happy. Made me feel supported and loved. The least I could do was be honest with her.

"I did."

Her eyes met mine briefly, then she handed me a spoon to try the new batch of frosting. "That's my girl."

After I swallowed, giving her a hum of approval, I fiddled with the edge of the spoon. Words started crowding my mouth, and I knew I couldn't keep this from her any more than I should've kept it from Levi.

"It was just … someone I didn't really want to fall in front of." The embarrassment had my face hot and my body cold. How did people talk about this shit? I felt like I was being served up on a platter for someone to filet me open.

Her words came out slowly, carefully. "Isn't your PT the one person you'd be able to stumble in front of? That's what they're helping you with."

"I know. You're right."

"But …?"

I smiled a little. Mrs. B always saw right through me. "He's …" I paused, licking my lips and catching some frosting left in the corner of my mouth. "He's … cute. And I met him at the bakery before I knew he was my PT, and I think he was flirting with me. And I don't know exactly how I feel about that because I think I was flirting back, and I'm terrible at this." The words came out in a rush.