The Icing on the Cake (17 page)

Kristine had no sooner hung up with the
insurance adjustor than her phone rang again.  It was Joe.

“How are you?” he asked.

“Everything’s fine here.  Gracie barked
today,” she informed proudly.

“That’s … good?” he said, and she could
hear the laughter in his voice.

“Hey, it’s time she realized she’s a big
dog with a big voice.”

“Have you ever heard the adage, ‘be
careful what you wish for?’”

She chuckled.  “You make a good point. 
How’s your dad?”

He sighed.  “He’s going to need surgery,
I’m afraid.  I wish we were closer to home, but Norton is much bigger than both
Ridgeway and Cooper Glenn.  His cardiologist is one of the best.  I’m happy
about that, but I really miss you.”

“You do?”

“I do.  And Gracie too.”

“We both miss you too.”  She hesitated,
but then blurted, “Joe, may I ask you something…?”

Before she could complete the question,
he whispered in a rush, “Oh, Krissy.  I’m so sorry.  I have to go.  Dad’s
doctor is here…”

“Oh, sure.  I understand.”

“I’ll call you soon.”  And then he was
gone.

She sighed as she dropped onto the couch. 
Gracie rose from her doggie bed and rested her head in Kristine’s lap.  She
absently patted her velvety head.  She wished she could have asked Joe the
question that had been on her mind since she’d run into her family earlier
today.  Had he come into town and had lunch with Lori?

As she thought about it, she doubted it
was true.  It was only a little after two ‘o clock, which meant Joe would have
had to drive three hours from Norton in order to have an early breakfast, spend
an hour or two in Cooper Glenn with Lori, and then drive three hours back.  If
he did put himself through it, he was definitely in love with her.

Kristine suddenly felt bone weary.  Only
a short time ago, she had had the benefit of a family business in which she’d
found her niche.  She’d spent nearly her every waking moment there.  Her mind
was occupied, her body in a constant state of motion.  When she wasn’t there,
she’d devoted herself to running her household.  Now, what did she have? 

She couldn’t go home.  She didn’t doubt
her mother and sister wanted her back there.  Who else was going to pick up
after them, run their errands, and generally assure the house ran smoothly. 
But she was no longer content to make it possible for them to do what they
wanted to do.  She had allowed Lori to come and go as she pleased, with no
accountability for herself or for her neglect of her son.

Her mother had seemingly pulled out of
her grief, and that was a good thing, but she hadn’t expected her mother to
turn on her at Lori’s urging.  Wasn’t a mother’s role to be neutral?  She
considered that, but then supposed a mother couldn’t always take the middle
ground.  If she believed strongly enough about something, she had a right to
assert herself.  But her mother had seemingly sided with Lori because it was
easier to do so—she’d taken the path of least resistance, as Minnie had said
before. 

She knew there was a conversation she
and her mother and sister needed to have sooner than later.  She dreaded it,
knowing she would once again be standing alone against them. 

She wanted to reopen the bakery, to take
the settlement money and to rebuild.  She envisioned a new Branton’s, bright
and sparkling.  She was eager to participate in the redesign, assuring the
space was perfect for their particular needs.  In her mind’s eye, she could see
the brand new ovens, boasting every state-of-the-art feature available.  She
envisioned a much larger display case and a wall of windows affording a
magnificent view of the delectable goodies from the street.  She even saw a new
sign above the store—large, twinkling, inviting.

She was smiling, until the picture in
her mind suddenly evaporated with a poof.  Who was she kidding?  If her mother
and sister weren’t on board, Branton’s Bakery would cease to exist.  After over
a century in business, the Branton family would no longer be in the business of
selling baked goods.  It would be the end of an era.   

***

Kristine woke from a nap.  She had
fallen asleep on the couch, with Gracie lying behind her.  She smiled ruefully
when she spotted Gracie’s paw draped over her. 

She rose from the couch and Gracie let
out a whine.  “I know.  You’re sooooo tired,” she said, patting the dog on the
head.  “It’s so tiring lying around the family room all day,” she added with a
chuckle.

Gracie whined again, as if confirming
that life was, indeed, rough.  Kristine glanced around, uncertain what to do to
fill her time.  An idea came to mind, but first, she let Gracie outside,
watched her carefully to assure she didn’t jump the fence, and then let her
back inside.

She went into Joe’s kitchen and searched
the cupboards for the ingredients to bake a cake.  She had picked up fresh
strawberries at the supermarket and was hopeful she could find the ingredients
to make her neighbor the strawberry cream cake she so enjoyed. 

She rummaged through the cabinets and
was pleased, albeit somewhat surprised, to find that Joe had the ingredients
she needed.  She set about assembling the dry ingredients, followed by mixing
up the wet, and then combined them.  She mixed well, poured into two cake
rounds, and baked them off. 

When they were done, she set them aside
to cool.  After they had sufficiently dropped in temperature, she began
preparing the icing.  Once done, she frosted the bottom layer, combined the tiers,
and continued icing the cake.  She worked with practiced flair, her hands
instinctively moving around the cake, creating a perfectly smooth finish. 

Although she didn’t have her cake
decorating tools with her, she knew some tricks of the trade.  She found a
small sandwich baggie, filled it with frosting, cut the tip and began
decorating.  She created a scalloped edge around the top and base of the cake. 
She finished by laying cut strawberries on the top.  The completed cake didn’t
look half bad.

She smiled as she held it up for
inspection.  When Gracie suddenly leapt at it, she ducked and dodged and
somehow managed to avoid a cake catastrophe. 

“Gracie!” she scolded, as she set the
cake on the counter.  She took Gracie by the collar and escorted her outside
and to her dog run.  She stowed her safely inside, despite the fact that Gracie
wasn’t pleased about it.

She immediately began pawing at the
concrete beneath her, and then began leaping toward the narrow opening between
the top of the fencing material and the roof.  Finding no way out, she finally
gave up and slunked to the back of the dog run and into her dog house.

“I’ll see you later,” Kristine told her.

The dog let out a pitiful whine, but
Kristine only shook her head in response.  “You know better than to try to take
food out of my hands,” she said sternly. 

Gracie appeared shame-faced as she
dropped her head onto her paws and watched Kristine from her vantage point
inside the dog house.

Kristine hurried back to the house and
locked the French doors behind her.  She reached for the house key, which she’d
left on the dinette table earlier, carefully picked up the cake again, and
hurried out the front door.  She locked up behind her and headed directly to
Maeve’s house next door.  She rang the bell.

The older woman opened the door and then
grinned widely when she spotted the cake in Kristine’s hand.  “Oh, thank you!”
she cried, and then smiled sheepishly.  “I’m hoping that’s for me…”

“Absolutely.”

“Bless you,” she said earnestly, as she
took it from her.  “Will you come inside and join me for a slice?”

“No, thank you though.  I’m afraid I’m
still full from lunch.”

“Well, I’m not,” she said, smiling with
gratitude.

“Enjoy,” Kristine said, and then bid her
‘goodbye.’

  She started for Joe’s place when her
cell phone trilled.  To her surprise, it was Joe again.  This time, he sounded
glum.  “Hi, Krissy.  I’m so sorry I had to cut our conversation short before.”

“It’s okay,” she assured him.

“You were about to ask me something…”

Something about his tone worried her. 
“Is everything okay, Joe?”

“Well, I hope so.  My dad’s doctor has
decided he needs surgery tomorrow.  It turns out he needs a heart valve
replacement.”

“Oh, Joe.  I’m sorry.  I know how
worried you must be.”

He sighed.  “Well, normally, it’s a
pretty straight forward surgery, I understand.  Unfortunately, my dad’s health
is poor, but the doctor feels we can’t wait any longer to do the surgery.  The
doctor had hoped to delay awhile, so Dad could build up his strength, but…”

“I really am sorry.  Is there anything I
can do?  Anyone I can call…?”

“No, that’s okay.  I’m afraid it’s just
Dad and me now.  Dad was an only child, as was Mom, so...”

“What about your business?  Do you need
me to do anything?  Call anyone?”

“No, I’ve taken care of it.”  He gave a
humorless laugh.  “I suppose that’s the perk of owning the business.  You don’t
have to ask permission of anyone.”

“Yeah, I suppose.  Well, unless you
co-own a business with your mom and sister.”

“True,” he said.  

Kristine’s heart broke for him.  He
sounded so sad and alone.  Should she offer to join him in Norton and sit with
him while his father was in surgery?  Would it be presumptuous to do so?

“Um, Joe…  Would you like me to drive to
Norton tomorrow?”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking, I’m offering.  And
as you know, I have a lot of free time on my hands…  I’m happy to come.  I know
how difficult it is waiting when a loved one is in surgery.”

And she did.  When her father had been
in the hospital, after having had a massive heart attack, she had sat beside
his bed when allowed, praying earnestly for his recovery.  Unfortunately, he
had never awakened. 

Despite having her mother and sister
nearby, she had never felt so alone.  She wondered why that was the case.  She
shook her head, to force away the thoughts for now.  She refocused on Joe.

She suddenly realized he had hesitated
to answer her and she suspected she’d crossed a line of propriety.  She
shouldn’t have foisted herself on him.  He was in the hospital waiting room
right now, trying to find a polite way to tell her to mind her own business.

But to her surprise, his voice was rife
with relief when he answered, “Would you, please?  I have to admit, I’m having
a tough time.  I’m having to face the reality that my father is a mortal man
and not a superhero.  I can’t help but worry I might lose him.”  His voice
caught.  “Er, anyway…”

“I’ll be there, Joe.  What time is his
surgery?”

“It’s scheduled for ten a.m.  I hate for
you to have to get up so early and…”

“Don’t worry about it.  I’m an early
riser out of habit,” she said.  “Where are you?  I’ll be there.”

He relayed the details to her, and the
two signed off.  She was smiling as she remembered the relief in his voice.  He
wanted her with him.  She hadn’t stepped over any line of propriety or foisted
herself on him.  He was eager for her to come.

With a relieved sigh, she went back
inside the house and began cleaning up the kitchen.  She tidied it up as good
as new and then retrieved Gracie from her dog run.  She gave her time to do her
business, and then brought her inside.  It was after dinner time and Gracie
seemed determined to be fed.  Kristine obliged and then let her out back after.

She joined her in the back yard.  She
watched as Gracie walked around the lawn, exploring every inch of it.  Once
again, she took the time to sniff the flowers, which never failed to bring a
smile to Kristine’s face.

After while, Gracie came charging toward
her with a ball in her mouth and dropped it at Kristine’s feet.  She picked it
up and threw it across the lawn.  Gracie took off like a light, snatched up the
ball, and returned.  They played for awhile until Gracie suddenly stopped and
perked her ears.  She moved close to Kristine and pressed against her, as her
eyes did a visual search for something amiss. 

Kristine hadn’t heard anything, but
decided to go back inside.  She’d no sooner stepped into the family room than she
heard the sound of the doorbell.

As she hurried to answer it, she glanced
back at Gracie.  The pitsky had climbed onto the couch and burrowed under a
throw blanket.  Her head and shoulders were covered, but her back side
protruded conspicuously from underneath.  Kristine shook her head with
chagrin.  “Some help you are,” she called to the terrified dog.  “Afraid of a
doorbell…”

When she reached the door, she rose up
on tippy toes and peered out the peep hole.  Her eyes widened in shock. 

Her mother and sister stood on the front
steps.  Lori had never looked angrier.