Page 17 of Grounding the Baker
“I’ve heard, but . . .”
“You prefer them to have floppy brown hair and smell offlour.”
“No comment.”
“I look forward to seeing you both at the Festival of Love,” said Michael.
Austin left, laughing. He could never stop his friends interfering in his life, and he’d never want them to.
“Can I have a cake, Dad?”asked Maisie as they walked into Sylvie’s Slice.
Austin watched as Liam looked up and broke into a huge smile when he saw who it was. That had to mean something, didn’t it? Austin couldn’t help but smile as well, and his stomach fluttered. He was so fucked!
“Hi, Austin, and this beautiful young lady must be Maisie.”
Maisie was suddenly bashful and looking at the floor. Austin couldn’t blame her.
“Maisie, this is Liam. This is his family’s bakery.”
Liam came round the counter and crouched down so he was at her height.
“What’s your favourite flavour cupcake?” he asked with a beaming smile.
Austin was momentarily jealous of his own daughter getting all this attention from Liam. Yeah, he might need to speak to someone about that.
“Chocolate,” said Maisie with a smile.
“Then I’ve got something special for you. Get a table with your dad and I’ll bring it over.” He stood up. “Your usual, Austin?”
He nodded and smiled at Liam, who blushed. He then hurried off and whispered something to Chloe before going into the kitchen. Austin took Maisie to one of the boothsand got her settled. They peeled off their respective layers. It was always warm inside the bakery.
“Are you okay, Maisie? You were quiet with Liam.”
“He’s so handsome,” she whispered.
Austin chuckled. Well, that could be awkward if anything did ever happen between him and Liam. They chatted about her homework for a bit before Chloe arrived with Austin’s coffee and a mango drink for Maisie. How they knew she loved mango he wasn’t sure, but she squealed with delight.
“Liam will be out with the cupcakes in a second. He didn’t want to ice them until the last minute.”
“Oh, he didn’t need to make fresh ones. We can have whatever’s in the counter,” said Austin.
“These aren’t available in the counter,” she said with a wink, before walking away.
What was that all about?
Austin didn’t have time to ponder it too much as Liam came out with a box that he assumed housed the cupcakes– and he was thinking plural, as it looked to be the size that held half a dozen.
“Sorry about that. I just needed to take care of something in the kitchen. These are for you, Maisie. I’m sure your dad will let you take the rest of them home after having one now.”
He slid the box over to her. Maisie carefully opened the lid and practically deafened them all with her scream.
“Dad, look at this,” she exclaimed, pushing the box towards him.
Inside were six beautifully decorated cupcakes with unicorns on them. One of Maisie’s teachers had commented she was a bit old to still be obsessed with unicorns, but his daughter loved them, and Austin would never takesomething away that brought her joy. There was something about the design that looked familiar, and then it hit Austin. They looked like the unicorn she was holding in the picture he showed Liam the other night. He’d made these specially for his daughter. Austin felt his eyes watering, but kept his voice steady. He was also fighting the urge not to grab Liam and kiss the fuck out of him.
“They look amazing, sweetheart. I assume you’re keeping them all to yourself?”
“Well . . . I suppose you could have one.”
