Bitter Sweet Read Online Free

special
seasonings, she’d produced some chocolates with amazingly strong aphrodisiacal
qualities. She blushed at the memory of how well some of them had worked.
    By Easter she’d thought better of
using the special powders at all—turning the town’s kids into raving sex
maniacs would not have been good for business. All her cute little bunnies and chickies were virginally pure. She shook off those thoughts
and got busy mixing the current day’s batches of breakfast breads and cookie doughs .
    At six, Becky came in and began
filling the display cases with each new item that came out of the oven, and Sam
decided that like it or not the landlord was getting an early phone call. He
groused about it and never really promised anything, so Sam was astounded when
a panel truck pulled up to the front door right at nine o’clock.
    “You think Tafoya took everyone’s
threat seriously last winter?” Jen asked, after showing the repairman how to
access the roof.
    Sam shrugged. When he’d
threatened to evict her, the neighboring businesses—a mystery bookstore on one
side, and the dog grooming shop on the other—threatened to leave at the same
time. Maybe there really was safety in numbers.
    She relaxed into the routine of
the day, finishing two wedding cakes and reviewing the delivery schedule. Becky
reminded her that there were also two birthday cakes due that day.
    “I can handle those, if you
want,” her assistant said.
    “Remember, one of them is the
curly ribbon design.” The fondant covered cake with dozens of fondant ribbon
curls could get tricky.
    “I’ll give you a shout if I run
into trouble,” Becky assured her.
    She pulled out large balls of
fondant that she’d tinted the previous day and began to roll them out. Within
fifteen minutes she’d cut the ribbon shapes of red, purple and yellow and wound
thin strips of the same colors around dowels to form curlicues. Sam relaxed and
turned her attention to her own work.
    With four dozen ivory buttercream
roses Becky had made the previous day, Sam finalized the more formal of the two
cakes, a tone-on-tone affair where luster powder made all the difference in
giving the cake depth and glow. Into the fridge it went to set up while she
applied pale pink-tinted fondant to a heart-shaped cake and added bright pink
piped flowers and mossy green leaves. A simple rope border and romantic bisque
bride and groom figures completed the two tiers. Sam rinsed her hands and
peered through the curtain to the sales room.
    “Jen, if you’re not busy a
second?”
    The shop was empty at the moment
and Jen helped load the two cakes into the van.
    “I better get going immediately,”
Sam told her. “When the repairman is done, if you need to sign anything, that’s
fine. Just get the air going as soon as possible. Meanwhile, make sure Becky is
running those fans in the kitchen. If you need one for the sales room, that’s
okay too.”
    Jennifer assured her everything
would be fine.
    Sam ran the van’s air
conditioning until she thought she would have to put a coat on, checking the
addresses for the two deliveries. As usual, heads turned as she drove down the
street in the vehicle with its vivid design—like a box of pastries on wheels.
The big ivory cake went to a nearby church so she drove there first, finding
the kitchen entrance and calling upon a man in custodial clothing to help her
get it onto a wheeled cart and then onto the decorated table in the reception
hall.
    The heart-shaped cake was for an
anniversary party at a private home and it took her a minute to locate the
exact street address on the south end of town. The hostess was delighted with
the finished piece and had Sam carry it to the center of her dining table,
where the pink theme continued throughout the room.
    “My sister and her husband are
going to love this,” the woman raved. “They eloped so this is kind of their
first real wedding cake.”
    Sam left a couple of her business
cards and turned the