Free Before the Dawn by Kate Hewitt Page B

But I love baking, and I love cakes.  I wasn’t going to let my family’s despair of me destroy that.
    That night I sighed as I looked in the mirror.  Perhaps if I dropped two dress sizes Kevin Hutchinson would take another look at me... that was, if he wasn’t already dating Miss Gourmet, who’s probably a size six.  Who knows, perhaps she liked cake.  She must, if he was buying her one.
    I made Kevin Hutchinson’s chocolate tiramisu.  It was Friday, the day he was supposed to pick up my creation, no doubt for a special birthday celebration that night.  I was expecting him at his lunch hour, although hadn’t said, but he didn’t come.  I watched the door most of the afternoon, waiting.  He didn’t come.
    What happened, I wondered.  Did he forget?  I normally closed the bakery at six, so at quarter to I rang the hardware.  He’d already left work, so I expected he’d be on his way here soon.  I didn’t know why, but I was disappointed.  Why didn’t I want him to pick up the cake?
    Six o’clock came and went and still I wavered, wondering whether to flip the sign in the door to closed or not.  I felt torn... part of me wanted to see him again, even if he was buying a cake for his girlfriend.  The other part, all right, the mean, petty part, wanted him not to come... wanted something to go wrong with the girlfriend I’d constructed in my mind, Miss Thin and Perfect.
    At six-thirty I finally closed the shop. Outside the high street was just coming to life... as much life as our high street had, that is.  The sound of tinny music came out of a pub, and the few restaurants that served dinner were filling up.
    A light rain was falling, and I wished I’d brought an umbrella, or at least a coat. I shivered in the early spring chill and headed for the bus stop.
    “Wait... please, wait!”
    He hadn’t forgotten.  Kevin Hutchinson ran up to me, breathless and damp with rain.  “I’m sorry I’m late.”
    “I thought you weren’t going to come.”
    Kevin smiled.  “I wasn’t.  But then I thought... well, it looked like a very nice cake, in the photo. And you’d gone to all the trouble of making it... not to mention I’d already paid for it! Do you mind opening the shop again?  Am I keeping you from somewhere?”
    “No, it’s all right.”  It was raining quite hard now and we both hurried to huddle under the striped awning of the bakery.  I fumbled with the key.  “Why weren’t you going to come, then?  Did something happen?”
    “We broke up.... my girlfriend and I.”
    I turned off the security alarm and flipped on the lights. “I’m sorry.” I tried a smile, saying lightly, “did she not like cake?”
    I was rewarded with a dry chuckle.  “No, actually she likes cake fine. She didn’t like me.” 
    There didn’t seem to be anything to say to that, so I just murmured, “I’ll go get the cake, then.”
    I’d left it in the fridge, in one of my made-to-order cake boxes with gold lettering.  ‘Sherry’s Bakery’.  It still made me proud.
    “Here you go.”  I put the cake on the counter top so it rested between us.  “Perhaps you could give it to your mum?”
    “Well...” Kevin grinned.  “Actually, my mum doesn’t like cake. She’s one of those no-pudding people.  That’s what I call them anyway.”
    “No pudding people?” I queried with a lifted eyebrow.
    “Women who won’t eat anything but a lettuce leaf.  I hope you’re not like that.”
    I couldn’t help but laugh.  “Can’t you tell that I’m not?”
    “You look pretty good to me.”  Kevin flushed and I gently nudged the cake towards him.  “Well... enjoy.  With whomever ends up eating it.”
    “How about you?”
    A tingle ran through me, like getting a pleasant shock.  “Pardon?” Although I thought I knew what he meant. I hoped.
    “You made it, so you must know how good it is.  I don’t have anyone to share it with now, and frankly...” he shrugged, spreading his hands and