Room for You(58)

“I don’t think she knew. We’re excited though, I even wore my elastic pants.” I grinned at Pearl, and her face flushed.

Kacie’s head snapped back to me, her eyes bulging out of her head as her hands flew over her mouth, barely able to contain her laughter.

“Well, come on back and we’ll get you all set up.” She motioned for us to follow her.

Kacie poked me hard in the side, still chucking. “I can’t believe you just said that. Elastic pants, really?”

“It’s true,” I defended myself. “And I am excited—this might be the best day ever.”

Pearl led us to a large room through the back door, right next to the kitchen. A table with four chairs sat in the middle, and built-in shelves full of framed pictures of wedding cakes lined the wall to our right.

Kacie and I sat down at the table while Pearl strolled over and took an oversized binder off the bottom shelf. She set it down in front of us and said, “Here, take a look at this while I get the first plate ready. Lauren already picked the outside, but it just gives you an idea of what we have. I’ll be right back.” She stopped by the doorway and turned back to us quickly. “What can I get you to drink? Some people like milk, while others prefer water.”

“I’ll have milk, please.” Kacie smiled courteously.

“Two, please.”

Kacie cracked open the binder as Pearl disappeared around the corner. I watched her eyes flutter excitedly around the pages filled with pictures of big white cakes that had fake flowers trailing down the sides.

“Are those diamonds?” I asked, gawking at a picture that caught my eye.

“Not real ones, they’re edible. Amazing, huh?”

I turned up my nose and leaned in close to her, not wanting Pearl to overhear me. “These are all too white. Where’s the color? The excitement?”

“These are wedding cakes—they’re supposed to be elegant, not exciting.”

I walked over to the shelf and grabbed a different binder. “This one looks better.” It was full of birthday cakes, retirement cakes, engagement cakes … every type of cake you could think of.

“And … here we are with your first batch.” Pearl set a tray on the table with milk in two fancy-looking glasses that looked way too breakable for me to hold, and a plate with about ten squares of cake on it. “There are two of each kind: our basic chocolate, German chocolate, dark chocolate with a raspberry layer in the middle, Crème de Menthe and Oreo.”

My head snapped up at Pearl. “You make Oreo wedding cake?” I asked incredulously.

“Yep, and we can put a layer of fruit filling or custard in between too, if you want. Basically, you can completely design your own.” She shrugged her shoulders excitedly and grinned at us. “Okay, take your time, sample them, talk about them and I’ll be back in just a bit with your white cake options.”

Grabbing a fork off the plate, I dove right into the Oreo cake.

I rolled my eyes back in my head and dropped the fork. “Oh. My. God.”

“That good, huh?” Kacie asked, trying it for herself.

“Yes!” I groaned. “I think I’m hard.”

“Shhh! Not so loud!” She giggled.

“Seriously, this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my whole life … almost.” I winked at her.

She gasped and turned a shade of red so dark, I was worried her head would explode right there in front of me.

“Do you agree?”

“Yes, I think it’s delicious,” she said once she regained her composure. “And really moist.”

“Oh no, stop right there.” I held my hand up. “It’s a little late, but it’s my turn to implement a condition on our relationship.”

Kacie blinked rapidly, frowning at me. “What?”

“The word moist, you can’t ever say it again.”

She threw her head back and laughed at me, covering her mouth so that cake didn’t spill out.

“No, no. Stop laughing, I’m serious.” I said, but that only made her laugh harder.

She inhaled deeply and coughed, choking on her cake.

“See, that’s what you get for making fun of me,” I teased in a self-righteous tone. After she was done hacking, she took a big gulp of milk and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

“So why don’t you like the word moist?”

“Ah ah ah. What did I just say?” I warned, waving my finger.

“Why don’t you like that word?” she asked, still chuckling.

“It just sounds gross. Doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never really thought about it. It’s just a word.”

“No, spoon is a word. That other M-thing is vile. It’s like a porn-word or something. It needs to be removed from the English language.” I shuddered.

“Porn word? Are you innocent all of a sudden? Do I need to remind you about last weekend?”

I didn’t speak, I just glared at her.

“Okay, if you feel so strongly about it, I’ll be careful not to use it...” She smirked. “Unless I’m trying to piss you off.”

“How’s it going in here?” Pearl interrupted.

“Slow, sorry,” I responded. “She doesn’t know how to use a fork, so she keeps choking,” I joked, pointing to Kacie whose eyes bulged out of her head.