Read Adore Me for Free Online

offered. “I’m Nanette Ogilvy, and this is my daughter Julia, the bride-to-be. As you know from our phone conversation, your work came highly recommended by a number of quite reputable people.”
    “Thank you. It’s wonderful to hear that,” Meredith said as she smiled even more broadly and sensibly refrained from revealing that those reputable people were her Aunt Gertrude and a cadre of Gertie’s faithful friends.
    “And I must say the smells in here are absolutely luscious,” Nanette added, sniffing delicately at the air.
    “Cinnamon,” Julia said, performing her own nose-in-air-sniff-test. “I adore cinnamon.”
    “You’re absolutely right. It is cinnamon.” Meredith smiled warmly at the girl. “At the moment, we’re baking a variety of muffins, including cinnamon. You might also be able to smell chocolate. We’ve just finished preparing some chocolate-caramel ricotta tarts. Of course you’ll be able to sample them and anything else you’d like. Why don’t we go into the conference room and discuss what you were thinking of in terms of a wedding cake.”
    She ushered them into the large space that was decorated in the kind of calming springtime shades almost every bride and especially every mother-of-the-bride loved.
    Carafes of coffee and tea as well as a selection of cakes had already been set up at the center of the long conference table. Meredith did a quick scan to make sure nothing important had been left out, but nothing had been, so she gestured to the food.
    “I provided samples of some of the cake flavors you might be interested in using in a wedding cake—banana, white amaretto, red velvet, devil’s food, French vanilla. Why don’t you both sit down and try a few. Then we can get started.”
    She carefully watched, without seeming to watch, as they both sat and helped themselves to coffee and several cake samples. After a few moments, when neither of them had made an ungodly face at her baking or run from the room demanding an ambulance or a personal injury lawyer and both women had expressed their mutual delight with her skill at the same time that they also reached for a few more samples, she finally relaxed and settled herself in one of the chairs to begin the hardest part of this meeting—convincing these two that Divine Desserts more than lived up to its name and would produce the perfect wedding cake for a blushing bride who wore Cinzia Rocca and carried Louis Vuitton.
    She picked up the pen and pad she’d put there to make notes and leaned forward.
    “Now exactly what kind of cake would you like?”
    “Big,” Julia said, spreading her arms a good two feet apart to indicate big.
    Meredith nodded. Okay, a little vague, but “big” she could do.
    “There’ll be several hundred guests, so I would think at least a very large six-tier cake would be required,” Nanette Ogilvy chimed in as she sampled a bite of Meredith’s white-amaretto cake and smiled with approval. “What do you think, Julia?”
    Julia nodded. “Sounds perfect to me.”
    Actually, it sounded pretty good to Meredith, too, and her mind began swirling with possibilities. Six tiers that needed to be packed with special fillings. Maybe all the same type. But maybe not. Maybe the bride would want variety, a potpourri of different flavors, colors, and textures.
    One layer with apricot jam, one with crème patissiere, another with chocolate hazelnut, a fourth with caramel mascarpone, and the last with strawberry mousse. The whole thing slathered in luscious fondant or buttercream. Rich, smooth, sumptuous, and each mouthful an unforgettable culinary experience.
    “If there’s a specific filling you like, we can use that,” she explained as she made notes in her pad. “But if you prefer some variety, it would also be possible to use diverse fillings so you can experience a different taste treat with every bite. Then the entire cake can be covered by—”
    “Candy hearts,” Julia burst out gleefully as she