“What do you think?” Joan asked when she was done.

“Too sour,” Ryann said. “But I like the raspberry.”

“Same,” Maddie said. “But it’s really good, too.”

“Okay. The next is a vanilla cake with strawberry filling and champagne frosting.”

Once again, Ryann took the smallest bite she could that included all three parts of the cake. In this case, the strawberry was mellow, the frosting light and sweet on her palate.

“Mmmm,” she said. “I like this one a lot. But it’s a little plain for Stuart’s tastes.”

Maddie finished her bite and nodded. “Totally agree. I love it, but it’s not for him.”

This went on for each of the eight pieces. The next was chocolate cake with hazelnut filling and vanilla frosting; then yellow vanilla with chocolate filling and frosting; then a dark chocolate with cherry filling and whipped frosting, Black Forest style; and on and on. By the end of the first plate, Ryann’s mouth was grainy with sugar, and she was having a hard time tasting any differences—it all seemed much too sweet.

“Wow,” Maddie said. “This is really hard. I had no idea I could get tired of cake.”

“Ideally, you’d try two or three kinds at a time and come back another day,” Joan said. “But I understand you two are under a bit of pressure with that silly brother of mine. Why he couldn’t wait for next year, like a normal person, is anyone’s guess.”

“He’s just excited,” Maddie said, waving a hand dismissively. “You know how he is.”

Joan grabbed Maddie’s hand, squeezing it. “Of course. They’re so damn cute together I can’t even be mad at them.” She looked at Ryann. “We’re all so crazy about Stuart. You must be really happy, too.”

Ryann smiled. “I am. And Jai seems like a real sweetheart.”

“He’s the best,” Joan said, and stood up. “How about I make us some coffee? That way the two of you can have a little break between the sweet stuff.”

“That’d be a lifesaver,” Maddie said.

Joan squeezed her shoulder and disappeared in the back somewhere again.

“So?” Maddie said. “Did you like any of them besides the plain one?”

Ryann stared at the leftover bits of cake. “I mean, they’re all really good. I’m sure Stuart would like almost all of them except my favorite. But he’s a chocoholic, so I think we should go with a chocolate cake, at the very least. Maybe this dark-chocolate hazelnut, or the Black Forest?”

“Agreed. Should we try them again?”