Chapter 40

Glancing up at the clock Cilla sighed. Mid-afternoon and she hadn’t heard from Jon. He must be mad at me. She rolled the fondant absently with the rolling pin, wondering if he’d at least call and say goodbye tomorrow. Sid swung into the kitchen and stopped, “Cil if you keep rolling that out it’s going to fall apart.” She looked down and pulled the fondant back into a ball. “I think I made Jon mad at me” she quietly said as she kneaded and rolled the fondant out again. Sid picked up the tray of cookies, “why would you think that?”

“Because I didn’t close the shop so I could spend the day with him today” she told him as she rolled the strip of fondant up the side of the cake. Sid watched as she smoothed the strip and started on the next one. “I could have run things again today Cil. You could have stayed with him.” She shook her head and came around the table to stand next to him, “no Sid, the shop is my responsibility. You gave me yesterday with him and I thank you for that. But I couldn’t do it again. He has to realize that my job is important too; maybe not as important as his, but important nonetheless.”

She didn’t hear the back door open, didn’t see Jon standing there, listening to every word. “I never said your job wasn’t important Sweets.”

Sid and Cilla stepped apart and Sid gave Cilla’s shoulder a squeeze before heading back into the front of the store with the tray of cookies. Cilla started rolling the fondant again, not sure what to say to Jon. He didn’t sound mad, but she had been at the wrong end of an angry man before and didn’t want to chance anything.

Jon watched her for a minute before crossing to stand in front of her. He stilled her hands, “can we talk?” She nodded and wiped her hands on a towel. “Sure.” She dragged a stool over, “have a seat.” He settled himself and took her hands, “you left me this morning.” Her hands tensed in his, “I had to Jon. I couldn’t…” letting go of one of her hands he put a finger on her lips, stopping her before she could finish.

He closed his eyes and took a breath. Apologies were not his strong suit. He could count on one hand the number of times he had ever said ‘I’m sorry’ to someone. “I know Sweets. I never should have asked you to; I’m sorry I made you feel like your job was any less important than mine. It’s not. And I’m sorry I made you feel like you needed to apologize to me for it.”

Cilla studied their hands, his thumbs were rubbing circles on the back of hers and she glanced up at him, “so you’re not mad at me?” He shook his head, “how could I be mad at you for doing something I myself would have done?” She smiled slightly and leaned in to press a kiss to his cheek, “I can give you tonight, if you want.” He tugged her off her stool to stand between his legs, wrapping his arms around her, “oh, I definitely want” he told her right before his mouth found hers.

When Jon’s hands slid, one to cup her ass and one up to the nape of her neck, Cilla pressed back from him, “not here Jon, not again. Sid’s still here.” He released her and she took a step back, “let me finish and then we can go upstairs.” He trailed his fingers down her arm and took her hand again, “okay Sweets, do your thing.”

Jon watched as she finished decorating the top tier of what he thought might be a wedding cake. The tier was square and she had what looked to him like a ribbon running up the sides. “What’s going on top?” He was curious. She looked up from the cake, “a bow and flowers. The cake is going to look like a stack of packages when it’s all together.” Jon just nodded. He’d eaten his share of bakery cakes but never really thought about all the work that went into decorating one.

“How are you going to make a bow?” He tried to imagine one made out of frosting but just couldn’t see it. “I already made it out of gum paste” she told him. “It should be hard enough by tomorrow so I can glue it to the top.”

“Glue it? Do they make edible glue?” The word ‘glue’ had him worried.

She smiled at him, “the glue is royal icing. It dries hard and will hold the bow in place.”

After a few more questions she decided she needed to be done for the day. He was too distracting. She had managed to get the edges and sides finished so all she had to do was put the cake together and get the bow and flowers in place before delivering it the following afternoon.

Once she had the kitchen in order she poked her head out front, there weren’t any customers, “go ahead and lock up Sid. I’ll take care of everything else later.”

Sid looked up, “you sure?” She nodded, “yeah, and I don’t want to see you until 9 tomorrow. We’re opening late.”