I do not own anything from Janet Evanovich. This story popped into my head in the middle of choir last night (bad girl thinking of the MM during Choir practice). I have to bake 4 to 5 doz cookies for a wedding this Friday and this thought stuck in my head. I hope you enjoy.
Thank you FINANCEBABE for making this thought stick in my brain!
Told By Stephanie
Why do I get myself into these things? I could just have said no and that would have been the end of it, but oh no when asked I just smiled and said sure. Why did she ask me in the first place? She and everyone in the building, everyone in Trenton knows I am no cook.
I guess I should tell you why I am in such a state of panic. Last week Ella came to me to tell me that she and Louis was renewing their Wedding vows. This Friday was their anniversary and they will have been married for 35 years and wanted to do a re-committal ceremony and Ranger was paying for a wedding for them. I congratulated them and then she went on to tell me that since they had been together for so long that they didn't need a fancy shindig and just wanted a small ceremony and a dessert reception. I nodded my head that this sounded like a wonderful plan to me, and then she laid the bomb on me.
"Stephanie dear since I'm the one that cooks and looks after the boys, I think it would be in poor taste to have the bride do any of the baking for her own wedding" she said to me and I agreed
"We are having just our family and close friends attending and I hope you will come too" she said
"Sure Ella I wouldn't miss it for anything" I told her as the wheels in my head were turning thinking of shopping for a new outfit and shoes for the event
Of course I wouldn't miss the wedding and I thought it was so sweet that Ella and Louis are doing this. Ella has always accepted me like her own and I just couldn't dream of not being there and supporting her after all the stuff she has done for me.
"Thanks dear, but do you think you can do me a small favor?" she asked and I nodded
"Since I can't be the cook for this I'm asking some people to make a few dozen cookies and other pastries for the reception. Do you think you could make 4 to 5 dozen of cookies?" she asked and I felt my heart drop into my chest
"You want me to bake cookies?" I asked making sure I heard right
"Yea, it doesn't have to be fancy just any kind you want"
Ok don't panic Steph you can do this, just go to the freezer section of the store get a few bags of the cookies you bake when you need a sweet fix and make them for Ella I said to myself.
"Sure it wont be a problem, I'll be happy to do it" I said, how could I not it was for Ella
"Thanks Steph, I really do appreciate it" she said hugging me and kissing me on the cheek " now I've got to run I'm going dress shopping and meeting with Ranger to see what he has in plan for us" she said turning on her heels and bustling Off
Over the next few days I didn't really worry about making cookies for Ella and Louis's wedding. I had bought a lot of bags of the frozen kind over the years and knew all I had to do is stick them on a baking sheet and bake them for a few minutes, the only hard part would be spending a couple of hours at the most making all the dozens she asked for. I knew I could do this so it was no sweat off my brows.
Wednesday evening came and I had picked this day to go to the store and buy the bags of cookies. I grabbed a cart and made my way to the frozen section. Finding what I was looking for I began to load my cart up of the bags of frozen cookies. While I was just browsing the store a thought came to me, Ella always goes to the store and makes great meals for the guys and it is never frozen. Here is a loving mother like figure that's does a lot for them and for me and I'm going to bring her frozen cookies. Don't you love her a little more than that Steph? I asked myself
"Yes I do" I said looking at the cookies in my cart "Dammitt I'm going to bake Ella some homemade cookies" I said putting the frozen ones back and going to the baking isle and loading up my cart with everything I could find. Checking out I went back to RangeMan and went in search of Bobby.
I had two reasons that I needed Bobby. One was he and I have kinda started seeing each other and two he was a medic and if I burnt myself or cut myself he would be there to fix me up.
"Hey" I said seeing him placing supplies in to his medical cabinet
"Hey yourself" he smiled at me
"Can I ask you a favor?" I asked sliding up to him placing my arms around his neck
"Why do I get a suspicious feeling this is not going to end well?"
"Have faith" I told him "you know about the wedding happening on Friday right?"
"Yes" he said slowly looking at me
"Wellll I said I would make cookies for Ella and I was wondering if I could make them in your apartment?"
"Uhhhh" he said getting a funny look on his face " Steph honey I don't mean this in a bad way, but you bake?"
"No, which is why I was gonna make them frozen ones, but Ella means much more to me to make her a frozen cookie. I want to do something special for her because she is very special to me and to all of us" I told him giving him what I hoped was my puppy dog eyes
"Please Bobby"
"Ok and not because that look worked on me" he said placing his arms around my waist and pulling me to him
"It most certainly did" I said leaning up and kissing him
The next day Bobby dropped off his apartment key as he, Lester, and Cal went out for a take down with Ranger and Tank. He told me that he should be out most of the day and to feel free to use his apartment whenever I was ready. Giving him a quick peck on the lips he headed to the stairs as I got up and headed over to the elevator to go down to his place.
I spent the next several hours shifting, mixing, measuring, and dropping dough onto cookie pans. When I placed them into the oven, I looked around and saw that Bobby's kitchen was covered in flour, I'll have to clean it up but right now I'm gonna have a sit down with a cold bottle of water as I wait for the cookies to bake.
After a while I wondered what was taking the cookies so long to get done, I had sat the timer and surely it would have gone off by now. Lifting my head up from where I had laid it down on the table I looked into the kitchen and saw thick white smoke coming from the oven.
"SHIT" I swore as I took off running into the kitchen. As I ran in to grab the cookies that I knew where done good and burnt, I burned my fingers as I held the pan from the oven and then slipped on some flour that was on the floor. Going down with a loud bang from the cookie pan, I clipped the counter and sent the bag of flour falling to the floor where it spilled covering me and everything it came in contact with.
"STEPHANIE" I heard as boots came thumping on the carpet. When I looked up I saw Bobby, Lester, and Cal looking at me as they rounded the island counter.
"Don't do it, don't you dare do it" I said when I saw their faces "if you value your lives you will not laugh" I said getting up and watching the flour fall off me
"Are you ok?" Bobby asked coughing to get himself under control
"No I'm not ok" I said shooting a warning glare at the other two seeing their faces turn red and their lips between their teeth " I burnt the cookies, I burnt my fingers, and I made a mess" I said tears falling but just making goo on my cheeks as they fell.
"Oh honey" Bobby said wrapping me up in his arms instantly turning his pristine black uniform white "Come on" he said taking me down to his bathroom " lets clean you up, fix your fingers and then we'll help clean the kitchen up ok?"
"K" I said as Bobby picked me up and carried me down the hall and into his bathroom, so that I wouldn't track flour all through his house. He sat me down in the tub and I pulled the curtain too so that I could strip and hand him all my stuff so that he could place it in a large garbage bag to get washed.
"I can help" he said when I turned on the shower
"I'm sure you could but we just started dating, we haven't got that far yet" I told him
Bobby took my flour soaked clothes out of the room and placed a pair of sweats and one of his shirts on the sink for me to change into when I got out of the shower. When I did and placed the clothes on I took a huge whiff of the shirt and smiled as I smelled the essence of Bobby. Going into the kitchen I saw Cal, Lester, and Bobby sweeping up the mess and cleaning the kitchen.
"Let's see the fingers" Bobby said when he saw me in the room
After getting some burn cream on my fingers and getting them bandaged up, I felt so defeated. I had failed in doing something nice for a woman that was always so nice to me.
"I'll be back" I said putting my shoes on and going to the door
"Where you going?" Bobby asked
"To the store" I said walking out. I was going to go buy the frozen cookies, the ones I should have bought in the first place. I should have never tried to make the cookies myself.
On the way to the store I stopped by my mom's house to have a consolation sandwich and iced tea. I told my mom how I was trying to make cookies for Ella because she had always been so nice to me and this was what I wanted to do for her for her wedding. My mom came and sat next to me and handed me a small card.
"Russian Tea cakes?" I asked reading the card; it was a recipe for cookies
"Mom I'm not baking anymore cookies, it's a disaster waiting to happen" I said handing the card back
"Read it again Steph" she said scooting the card over the table to me again
"1 roll of sugar cookie dough all ready prepared, vanilla, flour, and chopped pecans"
"Mom?" I asked knowing she always made from scratch cookies; she wouldn't dare make something from already made cookie dough
"Shhhhh" she said lifting her finger up to her mouth "Sometimes Steph a little cheating doesn't hurt. Just read the instructions and do exactly what it says and you can't go wrong"
"Thanks Mom" I said taking the card. I really did want to do something special for Ella.
Feeling a new pep forming in my step, I made it to the store and read over the card again and got everything that I would need to make 4 to 5 dozen Russian tea cakes. Getting back to Bobby's apartment he helped me unload my bags and then quirked and eye brow as he looked at me.
"Yes I'm going to bake cookies" I said
"What happened to the frozen ones you went after?"
"I didn't get them"
"I see that" he said looking at the three rolls of sugar cookies, pecans, powdered sugar, and flour laid out on the counter
"The only thing I'm dreading is rolling all the little balls for the dozens" I said having counted how many I would need "65" I said sighing
"Ill help" Bobby said kissing my cheek
"Thank you" I said "but I think we need more hands"
"On it"
A few minutes later Hal, Lester, Cal, and Bobby were all helping me roll all the little balls that I needed after I had mixed up all the ingredients, it was a RangeMan assembly line. This time when I placed them in the oven all the guys watched over them so I wouldn't have a disaster like I did the last time. When the timer dinged, Bobby got the pan out and placed the hot cookies in the bowl of powder sugar and I gently tossed them to coat them. After they cooled I tossed them all again and laid them in a nice cookie tin for the wedding. Seeing all the cookies baked and prepared I kissed all the men that helped and handed them a cookie for their troubles. Each of them looked at the cookie and then over to me.
"Eat it" I said warning them
They popped the small cookie in their mouths and then started to moan "these are great Steph" they said chewing the cookie
I beamed with pride. I had done it. I had actually baked a cookie and it was good. I couldn't wait to give them to Ella for the reception.
"Way to go Honey" Bobby said pressing my back to his chest and kissing my neck
"Thanks" I said popping a cookie into my mouth and letting my own moan come out as I tasted the fruits of my labor.
THE END!