Taste of Romance by Darlene Panzera Page A

forward—except
     it wasn’t Nathaniel’s blue Honda Shadow but a black Harley-Davidson.
    “Andi! Rachel! You have to see this,” Kim called as she headed for the door. “I think
     Guy Armstrong got his license back.”
    Kim remembered Guy telling them he’d never drive again after his DUI ten years before.
     That’s why he rode to work each day on his bicycle. Guess he changed his mind.
    Andi and Rachel followed her outside to the curb, where Guy pulled an old black helmet
     off his head.
    “What do you think?” he asked, pride making him puff out his chest like a prizefighter.
    “Very nice!” Rachel exclaimed.
    Andi agreed. “Looks great.”
    “Took a few hundred dollars to fix, but after seeing Kim’s friend on his bike the
     other day, I decided to go for it.”
    Kim’s gaze took in his short stature and pale white ponytailed head, and she frowned.
     “Where did you get the money?”
    “I sold a few things,” he told her and grinned, revealing his missing tooth, which
     gave him the appearance of a . . . troll.
    Could Guy Armstrong be their cupcake thief?
    A shriek sounded from within the shop, cutting into her thoughts and making her run
     back through the door behind Andi and Rachel.
    “What’s wrong?” Andi demanded.
    Theresa cowered in the corner, her hands covering half her face. Instead of answering,
     she pointed to the end of the counter, her finger trembling.
    Rachel gasped. “Where are the wedding cupcakes?”
    “The cupcakes for Nathaniel’s brother’s wedding?” Kim asked. She froze, staring at
     the empty counter where they’d stacked the luscious white sponge cakes with toffee
     icing she’d decorated all morning. “No!”
    “I didn’t see anything,” Meredith said, lifting her nose.
    “That’s because you were texting on your cell phone,” Theresa accused.
    “No,” Meredith shot back. “It’s because you were flirting with Eric.”
    “Meredith, we told you no cell phones while working,” Andi said, walking toward her.
    “Andi,” Kim said, counting to ten before she spoke so she wouldn’t scream, “the wedding
     is in two hours. What are we going to do?”
    “The thief must have slipped into the shop and taken them out the side door while
     we were out front,” Rachel said, and pursed her lips. “I wish the mailman would bring
     us the dye pack we ordered. The Cupcake Bandit has gone too far this time. We need
     the sales from this event to buy the building.”
    “I need the cupcakes,” Kim exclaimed. “What am I supposed to tell Nathaniel and his
     family?”
    “We’ll bake a new batch,” Andi said, pulling out a bowl from under the counter. “Quick!
     Everyone work together. With a little luck, we’ll have them baked, iced, and decorated
     just in time.”
    H OWEVER, TIME DIDN’T seem to be on their side, not with Mr. Warden calling to tell them he’d found a buyer
     for the building if they couldn’t purchase it themselves within the next three days.
     Andi and Kim’s father’s sudden appearance didn’t help either.
    “What’s going on in here?” he demanded. “I’ve never seen such chaos.”
    Theresa bent down to clean the icing she’d spilled on the floor, but Eric rushed from
     the kitchen with a tray of hot cupcakes in his hands, didn’t see the mess, and slipped.
     Andi’s cry of warning came a second too late, but she did manage to save the cupcakes
     by lifting the ends of her apron and using it like a catcher’s mitt.
    Kim let out a sigh of relief. “Great play by Andi Burke.”
    Then, careful to use potholders, Kim retrieved the tray from her sister and took the
     cupcakes to her workstation where she’d been creating white wedding doves out of a
     combination of fondant and piped sugar frosting.
    “We’re under pressure,” Andi told their father.
    “What pressure?” he asked, furrowing his brow. “How hard can it be to bake cupcakes?”
    “Dad!” Kim shouted, using a knife to ice a previous batch that had cooled.