Read Online Confectionately Yours #3: Sugar and Spice by Lisa Papademetriou - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Lisa Papademetriou
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all right?” Gran asks.
Uzma cocks her head, clearly surprised. “Yes, thank you,” she says sharply. There’s an edge in her voice. It definitely sounds like something is not all right. I look over at Gran, and see her right eyebrow lift slightly.
“Would you like a cupcake?” Gran asks her.
“No, thank you.” Uzma’s tone is as cold as the frigid February air outside.
“Oh, come now, I insist,” Gran says. “Hayley has just made a fresh batch, haven’t you, dear? Surely you won’t refuse my granddaughter’s recipe?” She unties her apron and comes out from behind the counter, smiling her most engaging smile. “Hayley, dear, would you mind bringing us each a cupcake? And perhaps a pot of tea?” Gran takes Uzma by the arm and steers her toward the table by the bay window. “Is Earl Grey all right?”
“That would be lovely,” Mr. Malik’s sister replies a little uncertainly. I mean, who can say no to Gran when she’s being so charming — and forceful.
I get out two plates and set a cupcake on each. Then I pour some hot water into a teapot. I take over the cupcakes and then come back for the tea. When I return, Uzma is telling Gran about her ungrateful nephew, and Gran is nodding sympathetically. I think about what Mr. Malik said — that his sister needs a project — and wonder if Gran might be able to help her out.
Maybe we could teach her to make cupcakes, or something.
When I turn around, there’s a customer standing at the counter. “Rupert, how did you sneak in without jingling the bell?” I ask him.
Rupert shrugs. “Is Chloe home?”
What is this? The lost and found? Why is everyone looking for someone today? “Actually, she’s out shopping with Mom,” I tell him.
“Okay.” He looks over the treats in the glass case.
“Rupert, can I ask you something? Chloe tells me that you’re moving away. Is that true?”
Rupert tears his eyes away from the profiteroles. “Just across town.”
“But you’re changing schools?”
He looks away. “Yes.”
“But — you know — Northampton has school choice. You can choose where you go.”
Rupert sighs. “I know. You can choose your school. But that doesn’t mean they’ll send a school bus out to get you. If you want to go to a school you’re not zoned for, you have to have someone take you. And my dad’s job starts early in the morning. He can’t drive me.”
“Oh.” I wonder if Gran or Mom could take Rupert. But no. The café is always super busy in the morning. We open at six A.M. “Are you … How do you feel about living with your father?”
“I love my dad,” Rupert says, and his voice is so warm that it actually surprises me. Chloe’s best friend isn’t exactly the most expressive guy.
“Well … we’ll miss having you so close.”
“I know,” Rupert says, and his eyes travel to the floor. “I’ll miss Chloe. And the Daczewitzes.”
“Who are they?”
“My foster family.”
“Oh.” I flash back to a memory of Rupert at Halloween, with his sisters. I noticed at the time that they were much older, and that they looked completely different from him. You can never predict a family , Gran had said then.
“Mr. Daczewitz is my dad’s good friend, from when they were in the National Guard together,” Rupert explains. “He said he’d take care of me, while my dad went … away.”
“Where did he go?” The minute I ask, I want to take the words back. Where the heck do you think he went, Hayley? On a Caribbean vacation? “You don’t have to answer that,” I add quickly.
“It’s okay. He was in a residential treatment program.” Rupert’s shoulder rises and dips. “He made some bad friends.”
“Got it.” Residential treatment. That means drugs or alcohol. A shiver goes through me as I imagine what that must have been like.
“It’s not what you’re thinking. He was never bad to me. He just messed up his life.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything.” Sometimes it’s okay to tell a
Uzma cocks her head, clearly surprised. “Yes, thank you,” she says sharply. There’s an edge in her voice. It definitely sounds like something is not all right. I look over at Gran, and see her right eyebrow lift slightly.
“Would you like a cupcake?” Gran asks her.
“No, thank you.” Uzma’s tone is as cold as the frigid February air outside.
“Oh, come now, I insist,” Gran says. “Hayley has just made a fresh batch, haven’t you, dear? Surely you won’t refuse my granddaughter’s recipe?” She unties her apron and comes out from behind the counter, smiling her most engaging smile. “Hayley, dear, would you mind bringing us each a cupcake? And perhaps a pot of tea?” Gran takes Uzma by the arm and steers her toward the table by the bay window. “Is Earl Grey all right?”
“That would be lovely,” Mr. Malik’s sister replies a little uncertainly. I mean, who can say no to Gran when she’s being so charming — and forceful.
I get out two plates and set a cupcake on each. Then I pour some hot water into a teapot. I take over the cupcakes and then come back for the tea. When I return, Uzma is telling Gran about her ungrateful nephew, and Gran is nodding sympathetically. I think about what Mr. Malik said — that his sister needs a project — and wonder if Gran might be able to help her out.
Maybe we could teach her to make cupcakes, or something.
When I turn around, there’s a customer standing at the counter. “Rupert, how did you sneak in without jingling the bell?” I ask him.
Rupert shrugs. “Is Chloe home?”
What is this? The lost and found? Why is everyone looking for someone today? “Actually, she’s out shopping with Mom,” I tell him.
“Okay.” He looks over the treats in the glass case.
“Rupert, can I ask you something? Chloe tells me that you’re moving away. Is that true?”
Rupert tears his eyes away from the profiteroles. “Just across town.”
“But you’re changing schools?”
He looks away. “Yes.”
“But — you know — Northampton has school choice. You can choose where you go.”
Rupert sighs. “I know. You can choose your school. But that doesn’t mean they’ll send a school bus out to get you. If you want to go to a school you’re not zoned for, you have to have someone take you. And my dad’s job starts early in the morning. He can’t drive me.”
“Oh.” I wonder if Gran or Mom could take Rupert. But no. The café is always super busy in the morning. We open at six A.M. “Are you … How do you feel about living with your father?”
“I love my dad,” Rupert says, and his voice is so warm that it actually surprises me. Chloe’s best friend isn’t exactly the most expressive guy.
“Well … we’ll miss having you so close.”
“I know,” Rupert says, and his eyes travel to the floor. “I’ll miss Chloe. And the Daczewitzes.”
“Who are they?”
“My foster family.”
“Oh.” I flash back to a memory of Rupert at Halloween, with his sisters. I noticed at the time that they were much older, and that they looked completely different from him. You can never predict a family , Gran had said then.
“Mr. Daczewitz is my dad’s good friend, from when they were in the National Guard together,” Rupert explains. “He said he’d take care of me, while my dad went … away.”
“Where did he go?” The minute I ask, I want to take the words back. Where the heck do you think he went, Hayley? On a Caribbean vacation? “You don’t have to answer that,” I add quickly.
“It’s okay. He was in a residential treatment program.” Rupert’s shoulder rises and dips. “He made some bad friends.”
“Got it.” Residential treatment. That means drugs or alcohol. A shiver goes through me as I imagine what that must have been like.
“It’s not what you’re thinking. He was never bad to me. He just messed up his life.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything.” Sometimes it’s okay to tell a
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