Devil's Food Cake [✓]

53 | devil's food cake

My dad and I had been invited by Heather and her mother Eve to their London townhouse in Chelsea. We would have afternoon tea and Heather would decide on the type of sponge she would prefer for her wedding cake. I was excited to meet Heather again, but more importantly, excited to finally meet her supermodel mother for the first time.

I was curious to see if she would be as beautiful in the flesh as she was in pictures on the web. To my delight, I had no reason to be disappointed on that front. She was both beautiful and down-to-earth. I could see where Zachary and Heather had got their charm from.

I apologised on my dad's behalf as I settled onto the coach in their drawing room. 'My dad couldn't make it. We're having issues with the pipes in the bakery. Sorry for the short notice.'

Eve sat across from me, at a right angle, while Heather sat on the same side as me. The room was bright, light and airy with beautiful views onto their manicured garden. It was the sort of house which looked tasteful decorated, but not without any personality. There were blown-up photographs of The Malones on the on the walls and it seemed they had a lot of love to share.

'Oh don't worry about it, Candice,' Eve beamed. When she smiled, her whole face lit up — I understood completely how she had attracted so much success. She just had a fantastic energy around her. 'Things happen in our lives that we can't control. But you're here. We've both heard so much about you.'

'Really?' I sat up a little in my seat, curious and more than a little bit flattered that I had been the subject for discussion in this family.

Eve nodded. 'Yes, Peter and I have never seen Zachary so enthused about someone. You've really made an impact on him, I think.'

Astounded, I stared at her, unwilling to believe that I could have touched him in such a way when I hadn't really known how to handle my whirlwind of emotions in the first place. I hadn't had enough experience.

'You look surprised,' Eve smiled.

Her daughter peered at me and giggled. 'Candy's right to be stunned, Mummy. Zach isn't exactly the easiest person to befriend. We still love him though. However temperamental he is.'

I was blushing so much I thought I'd never recover. But I somehow managed to string a sentence together. 'Thank you. I had no idea. I've enjoyed getting to know Zach. He's been a very good friend to me.'

Mother and daughter exchanged smiles with me.

Eve began to pour tea into the dainty porcelain cups in front of us. She did all this so smoothly that it was like watching an art performance. I marvelled at her sense of control and calm. Heather was just as serene as she as she observed her mother. When Eve was finished, she passed me a cup to give to Heather and we settled into a peaceful companionable silence.

The mantelpiece clock ticked and the birds sang.

It was a lovely afternoon to be taking tea with two other women. For the next hour or so, I took out all the thirty sponge samples Heather and her fiancé had narrowed their wedding cake preferences to over the last few weeks.

Luckily Heather was quite decisive in rejecting the flavours she didn't like. Although, she took care to assure me that some of the samples were splendid, but she couldn't imagine her cake being made of it completely.

'We can make different tiers, different flavours, if you like,' I suggested.

Heather took a sip of her tea and lay back on the coach, her fingers threaded over her stomach in defeat. 'That's a good idea. We might do that. What do you think, Mummy?'

Eve complimented me on the lemon cake sample, before turning to address her daughter.

'Whatever you want, baby. You could have a vanilla sponge and a chocolate sponge, so people can choose whichever flavour they like best.'