“Don’t tell me,” Kelly said as she slid the chocolate cake recipe in front of him. “No pun intended?”

“Make no mistake,” he said. “Everything I do is intentional.”

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

It was a little awkward being in the kitchen with Andrew again, but once they got to work, their rhythm came right back and those worries fell away. He preheated the oven, gathered the dry ingredients, and put them in the mixer while she started the process of working the wet ingredients together.

“Do you mind getting the pans prepared?” she asked.

“Not at all,” Andrew said.

She was half surprised that he didn’t mind taking on the menial task. “They’re on the second rack over there. The square ones. Three.”

He tapped a drumbeat on the bottom of the pans as he went to the other end of the huge worktable to butter and flour them. “Why three?”

“It’s the groom’s cake. It can’t outshine the wedding cake, but it still needs to have enough size to it to be a focal point too. I’m thinking of doing two dark chocolate fudge layers and a white chocolate layer. The contrast will look pretty when it’s cut, plus I can use the leftover white chocolate cake mix for the fish.”

“Sounds like a great plan.”

She was surprised at how smoothly it was going. He’d taken her instructions and completed each task without complaint. He was actually very helpful.

“So it’s really weird being back in town,” he said. “I left and didn’t keep up with anyone, so in my head everything here stayed the same. But seeing everyone at the party tonight, I realized everyone has moved on and things have changed a whole lot.”

“Main Street Cafe hasn’t changed.”

“Not true. There’s outdoor seating now. Nice touch, I have to say.”

“Well, that’s the only change.”

“Thank goodness. The café is a landmark. If it wasn’t here, I wouldn’t believe I was home.”

She turned on the mixer. “Where is home now for you? Paris? Or do you still consider Bailey’s Fork home?”

“I don’t know.” His face clouded with uneasiness. “Both?”

“No. It has to be one or the other,” she said, standing her ground.

He stopped, and for a moment she wasn’t sure he was going to respond. “Does it?”

“Yeah. I think it does,” she said as she stirred. Then she stopped. “You know what? I’m sorry. That’s really none of my business. Let’s change the subject.”

“Okay. That works for me.” He wiped his hands on a towel and tucked it into the ties of his apron. “Do you want me to work on the chocolate or the peanut butter frosting?”

“The chocolate, please.”

“Great.”