Read Online On Any Given Sundae by Marilyn Brant - Free Book Online Page A

do the photos next week she can—”
    “Oh, right,” he said. “That’s why I called.
There’s no way I can make it out to Wisconsin next week or, really,
anytime this month. Annabelle and I are going on a little jaunt out
to Yellowstone where I’m going to shoot her doing karate poses in
nature. Can you be a darling and let me reschedule for early or mid
July?”
    “W-Well, sure, I guess. I’d hoped we could
have the shots taken and developed well before the publisher’s
deadline, though, just in case anything needs to be redone.”
    “Not a problem. Not a problem. We’ll have
plenty of time to re-shoot if necessary. But you know I’m a
one-shot wonder.”
    Elizabeth heard another booming crash over
the phone line.
    “Ohhh,” he groaned. “Just watching her kick
those muscled legs so high…and break bricks with a slice of her
fragile hand…and flip unsuspecting opponents in the air the way I’d
toss my Nikon bag over my shoulder… Man, it’s like hottest foreplay
ever.”
    “Thanks for sharing, Cam.”
    “What?”
    “Nothing,” she said. “Okay, so we’ll talk in
a few weeks and set the date. Jacques here is especially excited to
get his éclairs immortalized on Kodak paper.”
    Another bash, bang, boom. “Fine. Fine. Tell
him we’ll get it done. Gotta go now. Thanks for being so flexible,
darling.” And on that note, Camden hung up.
    She stashed her phone in her purse and
stepped onto the sidewalk. A young man and woman strolled by
holding hands. Teen lovers, oblivious to the world, made out on a
bench across the street. An elderly, longtime married couple
window-shopped in the stores nearby.
    And Camden was in love with Annabelle the
Karate Queen.
    And Rob was probably daydreaming about
Tara.
    And she was still alone…and needing to go to
yet another heartbreaking dinner at the house of the man who only
wanted her to pretend to be his girlfriend.
     

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Could this day get any worse? Rob
thought as he cleaned up after his three to five-thirty shift and
prepared to hand the reins over to Nick and Gretchen.
    Tara Welles and Lance Burk. Now there was a
pair who deserved one another.
    He shook his head remembering their
visit.
    Seeing Tara was like running into a pesky
little sister, but seeing Burk always inspired him to violence. To
want to sack him. It was the very way of him. So. Damned.
Annoying.
    He spotted Elizabeth’s car pulling up in
front of the shop. Punctual, as usual.
    Jacques stood by the counter, chatting it up
with Gretchen. Nick played a final round of his favorite electronic
game on his smart phone. Some sports thing, of course. A couple of
customers lingered over waffle cones and sodas. Rob slipped out
unnoticed.
    “Hey,” he said to Elizabeth. “Recovered from
the rappin’ jugglers yet?”
    One small corner of one side of her mouth
lifted into a very literal half-smile. It was a funny thing. For
someone who didn’t talk much, the lady sure had a way of expressing
herself.
    “Ah, don’t worry,” he said. “They’ve got gigs
lined up for weeks. We probably won’t see them again.”
    She stepped out of the car and he saw she was
wearing a long skirt. A nice one in a pretty shade of green. Very
delicate ankles.
    “Th-That’s not what w-worries me, Rob.”
    “What worries you?”
    She raised a brow at him and sighed. “Let’s
just go.”
    He put his palm on her shoulder to stop her
from turning away. “No, c’mon. Tell me. Please.”
    Some kind of private battle duked it out on
her face, but she seemed to give in to his request. “This
m-m-morning, what you did, getting those jugglers. I-I didn’t like
it. It was risky and it made me nervous, but—”
    “But what?”
    “But it was also k-kind of ingenious. How you
p-pulled it off. It’s not something I would think of. Ever.”
    A pride he didn’t want to admit, but couldn’t
deny, crept into his spine and crawled up it, making him stand
taller. “Thanks, I think,” he said.
    “You’re