Chapter 26: The Cake

"I know," I said out loud, to the dark.

The cold sat behind my eyes a moment longer.

Then it was gone, and the room was just a room with a radiator in it.

I got up and checked Margo.

I checked the window. I checked the lock. I checked the stairs.

Then I lay back down with my phone on my chest and did the math one last time.

Seven days.

The order came in through the bakery's website at ten the next morning.

The probie read it off the tablet at the register, and his face changed halfway down.

"Clem," he said. "You need to see this."

Customer: Mrs. Bradford Kingsford.

Item: custom celebration cake. Three tiers. Pink fondant. A sugar crown on top.

Inscription: "Happy 1st Birthday to Daddy's Two Little Miracles. Love, Mommy and Daddy."

Delivery: the Kingsford house, Brookline. April 9, two p.m.

Paid in full, with a twenty percent tip.

"Mommy," the probie said. "Like there's one."

"She wants me to carry it in," I said. "In front of the cameras. Her cake. Her party. Her name on the order."

"Refuse it."

I looked at the screen for a long time.

"No," I said. "I'm baking it."

The big guy looked up from the dough he was murdering at the back table.

"Why?"

"Because it's their birthday. Both of them." I tied my apron. "And nobody else is going to bake that boy a cake that's any good."