Reese will fire me himself.
As I’m looking up the stairway leading to the bridal suite, my phone beeps in my back pocket. I slide it out and read the message.
Mason: How’s it going, sweetheart? You doing okay?
A door closes at the top of the stairs. I glance up and see the bride and a woman walking with her in my direction. I look down and quickly type my response.
Me: I’ll let you know in a minute.
I tuck my phone away. Standing beside the table, I clasp my hands in front of me and concentrate on remembering to breathe. It’s a challenging task, and one I might benefit from disregarding.
Passing out right now does have it’s allure. I’ll miss the rejection.
The bride gasps, raising a hand to her mouth when she gets halfway down the stairs. Her eyes glued to the cake.
I don’t know what to do. I debate on giving this disaster a right shove and fleeing out the doors behind me.
“Oh, my God. Look at it, Mom!” She hurries down the remaining steps and stops in front of the table. She fans her face. “Shit! I’m going to cry. I can’t cry.” She cuts me a look. “Don’t make me cry!”
“Okay? Um . . .” I gesture at the cake. I pray I don’t vomit all over it. “I’m s-so sorry. The flowers weren’t the easiest for me, but I’m very certain it takes good. It’s at least edible.”
“What?” she laughs, moving quickly and throwing her arms around me. “You’re so funny. I love it!”
“You do?”
“Yes!” She releases me and admires her cake. “The flowers are perfect. They look just like my bouquet, right, Mom?”
The older woman beside her nods. “Absolutely stunning.” She gives me a warm smile. “You have a real talent, young lady.”
I look from the woman, to the bride, then back again. “Um . . . thank you. Dylan, our main baker, is on bedrest so I did this by myself. I was really nervous. I ate some of the practice one I did.”
“It’s perfect. All of it. God, thank you again.” The bride squeezes my hand, then grabs her mother and flees back up the stairs.
I stand there for a moment staring at the cake. My cake.
I did it.
Holy fuck, I did it.
Pressing my hands against my cheeks, I spin around to walk toward the door. A figure halts my steps.
Mason stands in the doorway of the estate house, smiling at me, still in his sleeveless tank and running shorts. His phone in his hand.
I sprint across the marble floor and hurl myself into his arms.
“You’re here! Did you see?” I lean back to see his face, my feet dangling in the air. “She loved it. She thought it was perfect. Even the flowers.”
“They match her bouquet,” he adds, kissing me sweetly.
“You saw.” I squeeze him tighter. “What are you doing here? What about your class?”
He puts me down and walks me outside, resting his hand on my lower back.
“I don’t have any until this afternoon.”
After stepping off the last stair, I look up at him. “What? You canceled them again?”
“No. I never had any scheduled until later. I just let you think I did. I knew you wanted to do this alone. I just wanted to be here if you needed me.”
I tug on his hand, pulling him against me. I press a kiss to his chest. “I love you.”
“Yeah? Wanna get married?”
My laugh cuts with a squeal when thunder claps over our heads. My hands immediately fly to my ears. I slide closer to Mason and lower my arms.
“Oh, my God. That was so loud.”
He looks up at the rapidly darkening sky.
The first few drops of rain pelt against my face. The wind picks up around us.
“We should get going, yeah? It’s coming fast.”
Mason tugs on my hand and we dart through the parking lot.
There is no gradual incline of precipitation. The rain goes from a few sprinkles darkening the asphalt to buckets being dumped from the heavens.
I shriek, staying close to Mason as he humorously tries to shield me with his T-shirt. My hair sticks to the sides of my face and water pools in my sneakers. We’re both drenched by the time we reach the delivery van around the side of the building.
I tug my keys out of my pocket.
“Out of nowhere. It was so nice today too. The sun was out.”
I look up at Mason after he speaks, watching as he wipes his hand over his face and pushes back his wet hair.
He gives me an odd look. “What is it?”
Buckling over with my hand clutching my stomach, I fall into a fit of laughter as the rain continues to beat down on us.
“Something funny, gorgeous? You’ve lost me here.”
I grab his face and stand on my toes to kiss him. “It was beautiful today. All day, and now it’s raining.”