Holiday Cheer from Andrew Grey and Amy Lane

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

RHYS STIFLED a snicker. “It’s okay. They were empty. Just pick them up and put them in the sink.” Some of them had been clean, and he was going to have to wash them before he could use them.

“Maybe I can do the dishes,” Gregory offered.

“Put the layers in the pantry first,” Rhys said, and shook his head as soon as Gregory turned away. Knocking over the pans was no big deal. Sure, it was more dishwashing to do, but he had the last of the layers he needed to bake for today in the oven, so the pan drop hadn’t affected anything. But Gregory’s shoulders set a little lower, and his head hung. “It really isn’t that big a deal. Don’t sweat it, okay?”

“But I can’t do anything.” He came back out of the pantry and closed the door. “The last time I tried to help Annalise get ready for one of her parties, I nearly impaled her on a meat thermometer.” Gregory was so earnest, and it took all Rhys’s willpower to try not to laugh.

“Really?” he asked and snickered anyway, and Gregory nodded. “I don’t even want to ask how you did that. But I remember seeing your sister once. She was pretty intense. So relax and try to have fun instead of worrying what you’re going to mess up.” He finished the crumb coat on the last cake and transferred it to the refrigerator.

The doorbell rang, and he hurried out front and ushered in Mrs. Halstead. “Are they done? I know I’m a little early,” she said as she followed him through.

“I have them both. Let me get boxes for you.” He pulled the cakes out of the refrigerator, and she exclaimed with delight, hands on her cheeks as she looked them over.

“I have parties Saturday and Sunday. The season is starting so early, and these are going to be perfect.”

“I’m glad.” Rhys got the boxes and put each cake in one, then handed her a box and followed her out to the car. After they were loaded in her trunk and level, she paid him and slowly drove away. Once back inside, he noted her payment on the receipt and put it in a drawer. Then Rhys returned to work.

“Those were beautiful,” Gregory told him.

“I try to make each cake special and unique. You aren’t going to find standard designs here. I have books that people can look through, but I have made train cakes and even a cake that was the replica of a home for a housewarming. This time of year, it’s all about the desserts.” Rhys pulled out one of the large iced cakes and set it on the turntable, then grabbed his piping bags of colored icing and got to work.

“You do all that by hand?”

Rhys got out his notes for this cake, made a few design marks for scale, and then began piping. “Yes. I know exactly what I want to do.” He piped the outline of a Santa face on nearly the entire surface. The beard would fall down the one side. He returned to concentrating, while Gregory started the dishes behind him.

Usually he hated having other people in the kitchen—they asked a lot of questions and messed up his concentration. Gregory didn’t do that. He worked quietly, cleaning and drying the pans. When the oven timer went off, Gregory used the mitts to take the last layers out of the oven and set them to cool.

Detailed cake decorating was the most time-consuming portion of making the cake. He sometimes took hours on one cake, and with the concentration it required, he sort of sank into the creative process and didn’t even realize that Gregory brought him some water until the glass appeared near the edge of his vision. “Thanks.” He piped the fluff of Santa’s beard and stepped back to look at his work.

“That’s really beautiful.”

“Thanks.” Rhys was pleased with it too, and put the finished cake in to chill. Then he iced the remaining cakes that had been crumb-coated and checked the clock and his order sheet. “I still have some items to be picked up, but thanks to you, I got that Santa cake done, and that was scheduled for tomorrow. So I’m ahead.” Which was always a good place to be. His order book was full, and so were his days.

“I did?”

“Sure. I would have had to stop to handle the layers and wash the pans and all that.” He checked his watch once again. “People should be arriving at any time, and then I thought that if you wanted, we could go get the ribbon and things we need for your sister’s decorations, and maybe we can get some dinner, if you’d like.”

Gregory seemed shocked. “That would be nice. I have no idea what kind of ribbon to get.” It was pretty clear that Gregory was out of his depth, but Rhys had to give him credit—he hadn’t given up, and he was really trying to do what he could for Annalise and her friend. That impressed him, because not many guys, gay or not, would be willing to plan a bachelorette party with decorations, food, and especially Santa-hatted penis baguettes.

“I need to finish cleaning up in here, and hopefully the remaining—”

The bell interrupted him, and he answered it, let in one of his customers, and helped her take the cake to the car. As usual, this time of day, when people got off work, was a popular pickup time. He also took orders for items later in the month and for New Year’s. Soon there was only one order left to pick up.

“Do you wait all night?” Gregory asked.

“No. They are told when they place their orders that all pickups must be made by seven.” Rhys finished his cleanup and checked his watch as the bell rang, just before seven. He had had a very productive day, and he locked the front door with a sigh after the last customer left.

“Do you always have people coming and going to your house?”

“Yes. The area here is zoned residential/small business, so I can operate the bakery out of the house. I had to have the entire place inspected, but that turned out to be no big deal. I’m a real neat freak, and everything in the kitchen is restaurant grade. I like working from home, and it keeps the business overhead down so I can do the things I really enjoy.” Rhys turned off the kitchen lights and took Gregory’s apron. “Ready to go?”

“Sure. Working around all that cake, I’m starved.”

“There’s a nice small diner down the street. They have good sandwiches.” Rhys sighed. “After baking all day, I usually get something quick to eat and collapse. This is my hardest time of the year, but maybe instead we could go to a burger place I know. It’s near the craft store.”

“That would be awesome. And dinner is my treat.” Gregory held his gaze, and Rhys’s heart beat a little faster. He really did feel bad about what he’d done to Gregory in college. He’d been stupid, and Gregory was a really nice guy. And if he were honest, it had been quite a while since he’d spent time with a guy like that.

“Bring your file, and we’ll see what we can get ticked off your list.”

“Cool. I love a good burger. Do you want me to follow you?” Gregory asked.

Rhys nodded. He saw Gregory out, then locked up and went out the back and through the yard to the garage, where he got in his car and drove it around. Gregory pulled out in his Corolla and made sure he stayed behind Rhys.

The burger place was a chain, but they had really good food, and once they were inside and seated, the server took their drink orders.

“What are you doing now for work?” Rhys asked. They hadn’t talked much about themselves during the afternoon.

“I always loved math and building things, so I work for an engineering firm. I apprenticed there during the summers, and they hired me on afterward. I didn’t have to work today because it’s Friday.” Gregory drank some of his water. “Our office allows some of us to work nine, nine-hour days in a two-week period, so I get every other Friday off. I really like it, even if I don’t often take the extra time.” Basically he worked. It was what he did.

“So that was why you were able to help me today?” He liked it when Gregory smiled. Rhys had missed that and felt pretty lucky to see it again.

“Yeah. I would have gone over to see Annalise, but Jonathan is guarding her from any excitement or interruptions like a bulldog. It’s actually kind of nice that he loves her so much.” Gregory sighed loudly.

“What was that for?” Rhys asked.

Gregory shrugged. “I should just keep quiet. It’s not something anyone can do for me.”

Rhys nodded. “Loneliness is a real bitch sometimes.”

“How did—?”

“Pretty simple, really. You were free on a Friday afternoon to help me in the kitchen all day. And I know what it’s like to be lonely. Being alone is fine, but there are times when all I want is someone else’s company.”

The server returned, and Rhys ordered a bacon cheeseburger. Gregory got the same, with some ranch dressing for the fries.

“You’re alone? I doubt that… really.” Gregory seemed shocked.

“I work mostly by myself, and then… well… I haven’t had a boyfriend in a long time. Guys don’t want to date someone who works six days a week and falls into bed at the end of the day because he’s been standing on his feet for nine hours or more and is just dead tired. Don’t get me wrong—I love baking and what I do, but most guys don’t understand. They want to go out on Saturday night, and I’ve been up since six and don’t have the energy for that kind of stuff.”

Gregory shook his head. “Well, I think that anyone would be lucky to have you and they should get over themselves.” The way Gregory said it, like there was no argument, made him laugh.

“That’s nice of you to say, but I know the life I have isn’t really conducive to dating. I was thinking of getting a cat, but then I’d have to clean up after it, and the hair…. Or a dog, but I’d have the same issue, and I need the kitchen to be clean. So I live alone and pretty much work alone.” He wasn’t going to whine.

“What about your parents? I thought they were in the area?”

“Mom and Dad moved to Florida about two years ago. They wanted to retire, and six months later, my brother-in-law got a job in Tampa, so they moved there as well. So pretty much my family upped and relocated, and I’m still here.” Rhys didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Things were the way they were, and he just needed to figure stuff out.

“Are you going to visit them for Christmas?” Gregory asked, and Rhys shrugged.

“They were going to come up here to visit, but Mom hates the cold, and they got the chance to go on a holiday cruise. They asked if I wanted to go, but I already had commitments and orders that I couldn’t cancel. I told them to go and have fun with my sister and her husband.” He was really thinking that decision had been a mistake, but it was too late to change it now. “It’s okay. Are you spending Christmas with Annalise?”

“I hope so. This pregnancy is taking a lot out of her. She’s due right at the new year, so things are really up in the air.”

The server interrupted their conversation with their food. Rhys took a bite as food-induced silence took over. He was grateful for it. Rhys didn’t talk about his family situation or his bouts of loneliness with most people. But with Gregory, he felt comfortable enough to give his feelings words, which was both nice and strange at the same time.

“This is really good.” Gregory hummed around his food.

Rhys sort of lost himself in his lips and the delight in his eyes. Damn, he wished he’d been the one to put that there instead of the food. He stifled a snort when he realized he was slightly jealous of a hamburger.

“Yeah. The trick is to have the grill at just the right temperature. If it’s too hot, the burger chars on the outside, and if it isn’t hot enough, you don’t get that ‘grilled’ flavor that makes it taste so good.” Rhys took another bite. “It took them a little bit before they found that right temperature, but they have now, and the manager is really good about her food quality.”

“Do you know everyone in food?” Gregory’s eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief.

Rhys chuckled. “Pretty much. Once word got around about my baking, it seemed every foodie wanted to be a customer.” He took another bite and swallowed before finishing his answer. “It isn’t everyone who’s willing to spend nearly a hundred dollars for a cake. But that’s what it costs if you want one that’s custom-designed and made. At first I wondered if it would be worth it, which is why I started at home instead of a stand-alone bakery. But people have responded, and I get a lot of business. But it was still a struggle. It takes a lot of customers to keep a place like mine going. I do wedding cakes, but that’s only a single occasion. Everyone only has one anniversary or birthday a year. Let’s see. So I get three cakes per customer per year… plus maybe some other order. It takes a large number of customers.” Rhys had figured all that out before he decided to try to make a go of it. “Finish your dinner, and we’ll go shopping.” He was delighted when the mischief crept back into Gregory’s eyes. Someone might not be much of a cook, but he was a shopper. That was awesome.

Gregory ate a little faster, and soon he had paid the bill, and they walked across the shopping center lot to the craft store. For as tentative as he was in the kitchen, he seemed to burst with energy once they entered the store, which was exciting and attractive as hell.