Read Online Coming Up Roses by Catherine R. Daly - Free Book Online Page B

see this,” she said, dialing a number. “Alison,” she said into the phone, “can you drop everything and round up the committee?”
    Mom and I exchanged a hopeful glance.
    About ten minutes later, the room was filled with faculty and students.
    The room was buzzing as everyone gathered around me to take a closer look. “It’s amazing!” someone said. “Beautiful!” said another.
    This time, Mom and I exchanged excited glances. The dress was a hit!
    There was a knock on the door. A very pretty student with long, straight, dark hair and dark eyes popped her head in. “Oh, Professor, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize …” she said when she took in the crowd of people jammed into Marcia’s office. Then she saw the dress. She stared at it, her eyes as round as saucers.
    “This is Emily, one of our Homecoming finalists,” Marcia explained. “So what do you think?”
    “Oh. My. God,” Emily said. “If I don’t get to be Homecoming Queen and wear that dress I am just going to die.”
    Mom and I grinned at each other.
Yes!
    Marcia nodded. “Okay. We’ll need to discuss it and take a look at our budget and get back to you,” she said,shaking my hand and then my mother’s. “Thanks so much for coming in.”
    My face fell. I thought we would get our answer today. Mom and I walked through the familiar campus in silence. We passed by the quad on the way, filled with students acting like it was a warm spring day: eating lunch, tossing Frisbees, playing guitar. I stared at one guy who was walking around barefoot.
    “There’s one on every campus,” said Mom.
    “Well, everyone really seemed to love the dress!” I said. “I’m sure we’ll be hearing from Marcia soon with good news.”
    Mom shrugged. “They did like it. A lot,” she said. “And a ‘we’ll see’ is definitely better than a ‘no.’ But they might not have the budget for it. A dress made entirely of roses is not going to exactly be cheap, you know.”
    “I know,” I said. The wind gusted, swirling dead leaves around our feet. I pulled the shawl around me more tightly.
    “We should have brought your clothes with us,” said Mom worriedly. “You’re going to catch your death of cold.”
    I smiled at her Gran-ism. “I’m fine, Mom,” I told her.
    As soon as we reached the parking lot, Mom stopped in her tracks. “Delly? Do you happen to remember exactly where I parked the van?” she asked, looking around the parking lot. I groaned. I had been distracted and anxious when we arrived and hadn’t made my usual mental note.
    She cupped her hand over her eyes and squinted. “Oh, there it is!” she said, relieved. We headed over to the white van. I walked over to the passenger side and jerked open the door. I blinked. Something wasn’t quite right.
    Mom looked at the air freshener that hung from the rearview mirror. “Vanillaroma,” she read. “Where did
that
come from?”
    “Mom,” I said, looking at the floor mats, which were decidedly unfamiliar. “This isn’t our car.”
    Laughing sheepishly, we slammed the doors shut.
    “You know what Dad would say,” I told Mom.
    She nodded. “ ‘ That never would have happened if people would just lock their cars!’ “

Chapter Eight
    “That never would have happened if people would just lock their cars!” Dad said after we relayed the story to him that night over dinner.
    The rest of us burst out laughing.
    “I don’t get it. Why is that funny?” Dad wanted to know, which only made us laugh harder. So predictable!
    He took a sip of water. “So what do you think? Will they take the rose dress?”
    “Your guess is as good as mine,” Mom said. “We’re just going to have to wait and see.”
    Dad cleared his throat. “You do know that even if Marcia does take the dress, it doesn’t change the fact that we may still have to sell the store.”
    Mom and I exchanged glances.
    “We understand,” I said. “It’s just the principle of thething. Fleur can’t just take all the