Part 8 (2/2)
”Don't you mean 'magnificent'?” he teased.
”Yes,” she said, flinging her arms around his neck. ”Mike the Magnificent.”
”Magnificent enough to marry me?”
”Very funny.” She laughed. ”Now, be serious.”
Mike kissed her and then looked around the interior of the shop and frowned. ”What's all this?”
Rachel glanced behind her. ”Decorations for the party.”
”They're . . . fancy.”
Silver and gold streamers hung from the ceiling. Silver tiered trays held dozens of beautifully decorated cupcakes with gleaming candy pearls. White tablecloths covered every table, and s.h.i.+ny silver ice buckets held bottles of wine and champagne.
Kim marched toward her. ”This isn't who we are at all. I told you not to go overboard. Andi, tell her.”
Instead, Andi scowled and held up a handful of flyers. ”What's this?”
”Release forms,” Rachel replied.
Andi narrowed her eyes. ”Release forms for what?”
”The party is going to be on YouTube,” Rachel explained. ”I thought about Gaston's reality TV show and figured we could do the same. I've arranged for a camera to film short, sporadic segments throughout the night.”
”Where is it?” Kim asked, looking around.
”In the corner, hidden behind that fake tree,” Rachel told her.
Andi and Kim glanced at the tree and then stared at her, as if shocked. Didn't they realize how much a video of a party like this could boost their shop's reputation?
”Why don't the two of you dress up for the party and wear something a little more stylish,” Rachel suggested.
Kim glanced down at her black cap-sleeve s.h.i.+rt and jeans and pursed her lips. ”You're the party girl, not me.”
”I don't have any elegant dresses to change into,” Andi complained. ”And I had no idea you planned to turn the shop into a glitzy Hollywood extravaganza. How could you do this without talking to us about it first?”
”I wanted to surprise you.”
”Oh, yeah,” Kim said, her tone heavy with sarcasm. ”We're surprised, all right.”
Great. Now, Andi and Kim were mad at her.
Okay, she should have let them in on the plans. But Andi had been busy with Jake, and Kim had kept her nose stuck in her paintings most of the week. They'd left it up to her to make Creative Cupcakes a success. And a success it would be.
”Here they come,” Rachel said and pasted on a dazzling smile as the guests began to arrive.
The gla.s.sblower, Danielle Quinn, and Mike's brother, Tristan, headed toward them hand in hand.
”I won the raffle for two tickets to Hawaii at the Crab Festival,” Danielle announced. ”But I can't use them because my brother is getting married that weekend in Ohio. If you want them, I can sell them to you cheap.”
”Thanks,” Kim said, ”but I'm terrified to fly. Besides, I have my own trip to go on. Not far, but I'm traveling to Portland to display my paintings in my first art gallery show.”
”I have no money right now,” Rachel told her. ”Every penny has to go to help my mom and my grandpa.”
”I'll take them,” Andi said in a rush. ”Jake and I would love to go on vacation, and I've never been to Hawaii.”
Rachel smiled and congratulated everyone else on getting everything they ever wanted. Danielle had Tristan. Kim had her art gallery show. Andi had her vacation with Jake. Life was wonderful, wasn't it? Perfect. Just great.
”The cupcakes are fabulous,” one woman raved, latching on to her arm. ”Are you the one who created these exquisite crystallized designs on the tops of each cupcake?”
”No,” Rachel said, wis.h.i.+ng she had. ”That was done by Kim. She's the skinny one with the shoulder-length dark hair.”
”Looking good, Rachel,” a man she'd met at a friend's party the previous month called to her.
She glanced down at her glittery gold dress and then at the young man's Armani suit. ”So are you, Gabe.”
Rule number one at a party: learn everyone's names. Rachel smiled at him and turned to the throng of others waiting to speak to her.
”Lots of gorgeous guys here to help celebrate,” another female acquaintance said, her tone appreciative. ”Great going, Rachel. You've got it going on, girl.”
”This place is the 'cupcake connection,'” Rachel told her. ”The perfect place to meet and fall in love.”
”Is that why we haven't seen you lately, Rachel?” asked another guy. ”Have you fallen in love with someone?”
”Oh, no. I'm single and loving it,” Rachel replied. Turning her head, she caught Mike's eye.
He didn't blink, didn't turn away, but looked straight at her. What had he wanted her to say? They'd never discussed the L word.
Then why did she feel so guilty?
Maybe because she was single and not loving it.
She hadn't been to many parties the past two months. She'd been busy working. But now as everyone flirted with her and she flirted back, the whole popular party girl persona she strived to keep up felt more unnatural than ever before.
Fixing her attention on the goal of promoting her party, she walked over to Caleb O'Neal. He worked with a local media crew, and they'd met when Jake had him install a security camera in the shop.
”Are we being recorded right now?” Rachel asked.
”Yeah,” Caleb a.s.sured her. ”It's on a timer, and I'll upload to YouTube as soon as the party's over.”
<script>