Free The Traveling Tea Shop by Belinda Jones Page B

BA in history, went on to do a law degree with a master’s in public health, and it was while he was working as a litigator for the inspector general that he found his true calling as a cake baker. He now owns three CakeLove bakeries and is moving into wholesale with an ingenious cake-in-a-jar product called Cake Bites.
    Aren’t people fascinating?
    And annoying. Ravenna is now on the phone, slowing her all the more. At one point she even takes a few steps in the opposite direction.
    “Come on!” I yell back to her. “We’re going to miss the crossing.”
    I can see a tall ship approaching, and goodness only knows how long the process takes for the bridge to split, rear up and then rejoin itself.
    At least Pamela and Gracie are safely across. I weigh my options—if I forget Ravenna, I can make it to where I need to be. On time. If I stay and play babysitter, I’ll look unprofessional to the man I worked so hard to set up this meeting with.
    “Ravenna!”
    She turns away in annoyance, hand covering the phone. I begin marching toward her and then hear the sound of the barrier lowering across the street.
    Will I never learn?
    What is it that makes some of us choose to try and save the contrary person while others accept that they need to be responsible for their own lives and don’t even look back? Why am I still doing this when I really should know better?
    “What’s going on?” Ravenna finally appears by my side.
    “They’re letting a ship pass through.”
    “So now we just have to wait here?” she grumps.
    “Because of you!” I want to scream, but what’s the point?
    It’s like they say—if you want to develop more patience, spend more time with frustrating people.

Chapter 10

    Pamela and Warren are getting on famously by the time we arrive. (Famously being an apt word, since they’ve both had their own TV shows.) Coincidentally his wife’s name is Pamela and they both agree that patience is key when it comes to baking—taking your time every step of the way.
    “The best parts of life are in the roads traveled to get to your destination.”
    (When I read this line on his website, I knew he had to be part of this project!)
    He’s equally thoughtful while ruminating on the joy-inducing nature of cakes: “I think it’s all about memories—cake harks back to the earliest recall we have of gathering with others, celebrating with song, cheers, wishes and being in the spotlight. Everyone likes that a little and, even if you don’t, it’s still a special moment of every year that forces everyone to focus on themselves. I think that has something to do with the staying power of cake—especially when it’s targeted as the unhealthy bogeyman in one’s diet!”
    As we watch him top the now-cooled cupcakes with old-fashioned buttercream frosting, I ask which recipe he liked best from his state-wide research for the
United Cakes of America.
    “Well, there are so many,” he muses. “I enjoyed the avocado cupcake for California because it’s so different.”
    “I’ll say!” Gracie concurs.
    “It’s good; most won’t give it a try. And the sweet potato cake for Louisiana is great—it reminds me of the holidays we spent with family from that part of the Deep South.”
    He then brings us neatly back to New England as he sets his finished batch of Nutmeg Spice Cupcakes before us.
    “They smell so wonderful!” we chorus.
    In between mouthfuls of flavorful sponge (and licking frosted fingertips), I show Pamela the 1796 recipe for the traditional Hartford Election Cake, which Warren notes “makes enough to feed an entire church.” It also makes for amusing reading—the instructions may only comprise one paragraph, but they are curiously specific:
    “Make a sponge of the milk and flour at four o’clock, at nine mix together . . .”
    “Did you actually test it out?” I ask Warren.
    “I did,” he cringes. “Very bad. The entire pound of raisins made it way too heavy.”
    Gracie can’t help