Confectionately Yours #2: Taking the Cake! by Lisa Papademetriou Read Free Book Online

Hayley,” she says.
    Okay , I tell myself. Okay .
    But my hands are shaking as I pull off my socks, and I don’t even know why.

C hloe and I are downstairs in the café, ready, when Dad pulls up on Saturday morning. I’m wearing jeans and my hiking boots, and I have a backpack with water, a few granola bars, and — naturally — three cupcakes. We’re going for a hike, so of course I had to bring a few snacks. You can’t hike without snacks.
    Chloe jumps out of her chair the moment she sees Dad’s car. “Bye, Gran!” she shouts, heading for the door.
    “Tell your father that I said hello,” Gran says to me.
    “Okay,” I say. Right. Um, hey, Dad, your ex-mother-in-law says hi! I’ll skip it.
    I head out to the sidewalk, where Chloe is giving Dad a huge hug. “Where’s Annie?” Chloe asks, peering in the front seat.
    “She’s going to meet us at the mall,” Dad says.
    “Mall?” I echo. I look up at the perfect blue sky. “I thought we were going hiking.”
    Dad cocks his head, as if this is the first he’s hearing of it. “Annie wanted to help you girls pick out something to wear for Thanksgiving.”
    “But … last week we talked about what we wanted to do and —” I have to fight to keep the tears from rising to my eyes. I wanted to go hiking with my dad and Chloe, not shopping with Annie.
    “I’m sorry, Hayley. I didn’t realize you thought that was a definite plan. But now I’ve told Annie to meet us.”
    “I don’t mind,” Chloe chirps. “This’ll be fun!”
    I sigh and feel like a jerk for complaining. If Chloe doesn’t mind going to the mall, then I am definitely not going to make a big stink about it. Even if it is probably the last nice weekend before winter hits us with a frigid slap.
    Annie meets us in the cosmetics section of a big department store. She’s spraying something from a purple glass bottle onto a strip of heavy white paper when Chloe rushes up behind her and gives her a huge hug. Annie startles in surprise, then hugs back.
    “Chloe, I’m so glad you’re here! What do you think of this?” She waves the paper under Chloe’s nose.
    “Mmmm,” Chloe says. “Beautiful!”
    “What do you think, Bill?” Annie asks, handing it to my father.
    Dad shrugs. “Nice.”
    Annie sighs. “Men never take fragrance seriously.” She smiles at me with perfectly even white teeth. My father’s girlfriend is really pretty in an ultrafeminine way — long, glossy black hair, high heels, short skirt, full makeup. “What do you think, Hayley?”
    I sniff the card. “Smells like room deodorizer.”
    “Hayley!” Chloe grabs Annie’s arm. “Don’t listen to her.”
    “She’s just being honest,” Annie says, but she places the card on the counter and leaves it there. “So — should we go look at a few dresses?”
    “I think I’ll —” Dad gestures vaguely over his shoulder and pulls out his iPhone.
    Annie nods, and in a moment, the three of us are heading up the escalator. “I made an appointment with a personal shopper,” Annie tells Chloe.
    “Oooh,” Chloe says.
    I shake my head at her. Chloe doesn’t care about shopping — but she gets excited about new experiences. I watch her gaze down at the shoppers below as we ride the escalator to the second floor. She’s soaking up the beauty ofthe place — the floral arrangements and elegant displays. I bite my poor thumbnail, wishing that I felt the same way.
    A petite blond woman in all black meets us in one of the boutique sections. Her name tag says sheila. “I’ve set up a dressing room for you,” Sheila says, smiling at us. “I’ve selected a few things.”
    “You’ve already chosen our clothes for us?” Chloe is excited by this, not alarmed, as I am.
    “Just some things to get you started, so you won’t have to spend time hunting through the racks,” Sheila tells her.
    We head into the back of the formal gown boutique and go through a gray door. It takes me a moment to realize we’re in some kind