10 Days of Spring Fantasy Contest Book

The Romance Cake ~ Day 4

Based on a picture prompt of a cake. Please ignore the mixed up quotation marks. No matter how many times I fix it, they're always messed up next time I look.

"Madeline, why would you choose this cake for Mom and Dad's fiftieth wedding anniversary?" Trent frowned at the spectacle before him. "It has twigs on it, for crying out loud.'

"Trent, that's so you. Drop by at the last second and spout off with one of your spurious remarks. I—"

"Spurious? Someone's been hitting the books, Little sis."

Madeline smacked her brother's arm. "Don't 'little sis' me. I'm furious. It rhymes with spurious. You see this flaming red face and flushed neck? My trembling hands?" Madeline held out a hand for inspection. "This is me about to go nuclear on you."

"Okay, okay." Trent held his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm not looking for Miss Armageddon."

"Well, it's too damn late for that." Madeline pointed to a kitchen chair. "Sit down and listen. Then go ahead and make any of your idiotic observations."

The kitchen chair looked like kindling in Trent's arms as he swung it around and sat backward on it, arms laced across the top. "Happy now?"

"No. Close your eyes."

"Madeline'"

"Close them and open your mind." Madeline strode toward her brother and stared him down. "Do it."

"Okay, you win."

"You're an ignorant jerk who thinks love involves cigarettes and whiskey. Mom and Dad symbolize love. I snooped around a little and found an old diary of Mom's.'

'You snooped?'

Madeline squeezed her brother's shoulder. 'Not a topic for discussion. I'm telling you a story about love."

"In a cake?"

'The sky was slate-blue when Mom met Dad--the color of the fondant. Mom was all of sixteen and still silly, running around in the woods with her best friend. Mom tripped over a hydrangea bush and twisted her ankle. Josie ran to get her big brother, who was home from college for the weekend." Madeline paused and drew a large breath.

"Let me guess. The older brother was Dad."

'No rolling your eyes, Trent. Dad carried Mom out of the woods. He laughed while he pulled twigs from her tawny hair."

"So, that's what the twigs are for?"

"Trent, be careful. You're showing some intuitive skills. Your current squeeze, Rebecca, might decide you're not a total waste of space."

"Rebecca said that about me? To you?"

"Never mind. The four layers of the cake represent the four years of their engagement. Open your eyes. What do you see?'

Trent made a big show of opening his eyes and rubbing them. "A blue cake with brown branches and what-cha-ma-call-it flowers.'

"Hydrangea. Mom said the flowers carried spring magic and cast a love spell.'

'Spring magic? Typical female fantasizing.'

'Rebecca will add two points to the minus side if I tell her.'

"Just how often do you talk to my girlfriend?"

"Enough to know you're in the negative. Care to earn positive points?"

"Game on."

"I had to choose a flavor and a filling. First clue. Dad said Mom smelled like--"

"Vanilla!"

"Lucky guess. Why?'

'Dad was drunk?'

"On their honeymoon night, Dad told Mom her skin tasted like vanilla satin."

"Dad said that? He was drunk."

Madeline kicked her brother's shin. "Use the big head and think. Maybe you'll learn something about love.'

"Rebecca thinks I don't understand love?"

Madeline squished her eyes tight in concentration, then busted out laughing. "She says you're clueless."

"What?"

"Enough. Mom and Dad will be here any minute. The first cake Mom tried to bake flopped. It was supposed to be lemon cheesecake, but she forgot the lemon. Dad ate it like a real man, even though it tasted disgusting. You and I paid big bucks to make the filling explode like fresh lemon in your mouth.'

"We paid?'

Madeline waved off her brother's concern. 'For their engagement party, Mom wore a yellow chiffon dress with a brown satin ribbon tied around the waist."

"And?"

"Think romance. Close your eyes again."

"Madeline."

"Do it. Now listen again.

'Slate blue fondant for the sky. Branches and flowers for what Dad teased from Mom's hair. Four layers represent four years of engagement. Vanilla flavor for Mom's skin. Lemon for the cheesecake and the color of her dress. Brown bands accented with bronze for the ribbon and the copper highlights in her hair. Engage your brain before your mouth.'

Madeline ticked one fingernail against the counter. "Open your eyes. What do you see?'

Trent hesitated. "Mom and Dad's romance in a cake."

A grin spread across Madeline's face. 'I'll tell Rebecca there's hope for you.'

w/c 749