The Cakes of Wrath by Jacklyn Brady Read Free Book Online Page A

“I’m going to touch up my makeup,” I said to Edie. “Will you let me know when Miss Frankie gets here?”
    With a gasp of horror, Edie glanced at the stairs. “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it slipped my mind. You walked in and I saw your face, and everything else flew out of my head.” Her voice dropped to a near-whisper. “She’s already up there, waiting for you.”
    â€œMiss Frankie has been here the whole time?”
    Edie nodded. “Sorry.”
    I waved off her apology. It wasn’t the idea of keeping my mother-in-law waiting for a few minutes that had me worried. “You didn’t mention anything about the accident, did you?”
    The guilt on Edie’s face sharpened. “I wasn’t supposed to?”
    I thought she knew Miss Frankie well enough to answer that herself, but I didn’t waste time saying so. Miss Frankie had been bound to find out about what happened last night. I just hoped she hadn’t been sitting up there and fretting over me this whole time.
    I climbed the stairs quickly, groaning softly as my sore muscles screamed in protest. It wasn’t until I heard the phone ring and Edie answering questions about that afternoon’s supply drive that I realized I’d also completely forgotten to warn her about Destiny. But maybe that was for the best. She was bound to react badly to the news, and right now I had to focus on showing Miss Frankie that I wasn’t at death’s door. I’d have plenty of time to warn Edie later.

Five

    I made it all the way to the second-floor landing before I was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps and equally heavy breathing on the stairs behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and found Estelle Jergens laboring to catch up with me. Her ample chest heaved and her face matched the color of her curly red hair. Estelle is the oldest member of the Zydeco staff. I don’t know her actual age, but I put her somewhere around fifty, though I could be off by a few years in either direction.
    â€œHold on a minute, Rita,” she wheezed. “I need to talk to you.”
    I didn’t want to keep Miss Frankie waiting much longer, but I felt bad about turning Estelle away when chasing me had clearly required such an effort. “Okay,” I said, “but I only have a minute. I’m late for a meeting with Miss Frankie.”
    Estelle climbed the last three stairs and paused to catch her breath. “Oh.”
Huff-puff.
“Sorry.”
Puff
. “I . . .”
Huff.
“. . .
didn’t realize you were busy.”
Huff-puff.
“I can wait until after. It shouldn’t take long.” She finally managed a deep breath and wiped a trickle of perspiration from her cheek. “It’s about Edie.”
    We’ve all been walking on eggshells since learning that Edie’s doctor had warned her that her pregnancy was high-risk and I didn’t want to ignore a potential problem, especially since the crew at Zydeco was Edie’s only support system. I knew Miss Frankie would understand the delay. “What is it?”
    Estelle looked over the banister at Edie’s desk and tugged me away from the landing. “We need to talk about Edie’s baby shower,” she said in a near-whisper.
    I laughed, relieved that we weren’t facing some actual
emergency. “What baby shower?”
    Estelle looked confused for a moment, then chuckled and slapped my arm lightly. “For a minute there, I thought you were serious! We are going to give Edie a shower, aren’t we?”
    I was a little embarrassed that the idea of a baby shower hadn’t even crossed my mind. In my defense, Edie was only five months along, which seemed early to be talking about a shower. But since Estelle had brought it up . . . “Sure. Go right ahead. I’m sure she’d appreciate it.”
    â€œMe?” Estelle rocked back on her heels.