“Some of the violets are actually real violets that I candied. The rest of the violets and the vines and leaves I made from sugar and a kind of gum paste and then painted with edible color. It's for the wedding over at The Inn tomorrow evening.”
“The garden wedding?”
“Do you have more than one weekday wedding?” I asked, curious. Most of our wedding cakes were for Saturdays, but the date was important to the bride and groom, and they didn't care if their wedding was on a Tuesday.
Royal laughed. “Not this week. Three over the weekend, though. The event planning staff is going a little crazy.”
I handed off the tray of cookies to Grams and watched her hustle through the kitchen door to the shop. “Is that what messed up your morning? The weddings?” I asked.
Royal looked away and let out a breath. “No, that was my aunt and my cousin. And my former sister-in-law. Long story. Family.” He shook his head.
“Family's always complicated,” I said, knowing better than anyone how family could turn a great day upside down.
Royal unpacked my lunch from the paper bag as Grams came back in holding two glass bottles of sweet tea. Royal took his with thanks and Grams left, saying over her shoulder, “Make sure she eats every bite, Royal. She’s been skipping too many meals.”
I tried not to fall on my lunch like a ravenous fiend, but I'm pretty sure I ended up with mustard on my apron and plenty smeared across my face. After I got the first few bites in my stomach, I remembered to use my napkin.
Royal was smiling at me again. I wiped my face one more time just in case I'd missed a glob of mustard.
“I like watching you eat,” he said.
My eyebrows knitted together as I thought about that. “That's interesting. Do you have some kind of food fetish?” I was mostly kidding.
Royal’s rich, full laugh filled the room again. I was starting to really like that sound. “No food fetish,” he said, still laughing. “I just like the way you eat. Full throttle. It's sexy.”
I smirked. Saying I was a full-throttle-eater wasn't the kind of flirting I was used to.
But it made me smile, so maybe it was the kind of flirting I needed. “I'm pretty sure I still have mustard all over my face. Maybe you have a mustard fetish.”
“I think I have a Daisy fetish.”
At that, I shoved a chip in my mouth. I didn't trust my own response. Royal was just too easy to talk to. He made me forget to be careful.
“What kind of family situation do you have that’s complicated?” he asked. “It seems like you get along pretty well with your grandmother.”
I glanced at the swinging door between the kitchen and the shop. It was soundproof, but it did swing open without warning. “I do get along well with Grams. She raised me, for the most part. I love her to pieces.” Another glance at the door. “The rest of it is—better saved for another time, I think.”
“Fair enough,” Royal said. “I'll tell you about my morning instead.”
He launched into a story about his aunt and weasel of a cousin who were trying to milk The Inn for every penny they could charge to the room they weren’t paying for. Every family had one, I guess. At least Royal and Tenn were smart enough to cut theirs off before they handed them a chunk of cash like I had with my dad.
“And the ex-sister-in-law?” I asked. “What did she do to ruin your morning? Was she Tenn’s wife?”
Royal let out a bark of surprise before he grinned. “Oh, hell no. Vanessa was engaged to Griffen, then dumped him to marry Ford.”
“Oh, that sister-in-law.” I shook my head. “I don’t know her, but I heard the story. Why is she bothering you? I thought your brother divorced her years ago.”
“He did. She’s been living off our name and his alimony all this time. But their divorce decree said the alimony was based on Ford’s income.”
I didn’t need Royal to fill in the blanks. “And he’s not collecting a salary from jail, right?”
“Exactly.”
My eyebrows shot up. “And she expected you and Tenn to do what? Give her a job?”
Royal busted out with a belly laugh, his eyes so bright they made my chest hurt. He laughed until his eyes teared. Wiping them with the back of his hand, he said, “Damn, I needed that.” He shook his head, still chuckling. “No, Vanessa didn’t want a job. Vanessa doesn’t work, except at the gym. She wanted a big fat check.”
“Ugh. So, you spent the morning getting hit up for money? That doesn’t sound fun.” At least he had practice saying no. I needed to get some of that. If I’d been prepared, maybe I would have sent my dad packing like Royal had his own moochers.