Cindy Eller 01 How (Not) to Kiss a Toad by Elizabeth A. Reeves

Author:Elizabeth A. Reeves [Reeves, Elizabeth A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Speculative Fiction
ISBN: 9781480272132
Publisher: CreateSpace
Published: 2012-12-08T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“Mom,” I said into the phone as I tried to pull my apron over my arms. “I can’t talk right now, I woke up late. I have a whole day of baking ahead of me.”

My mother sighed. “Baking is completely unimportant at this moment. I called to tell you that your sister and I are coming into town.”

I pulled a block of butter out of the fridge to soften. “Which sister, Mom? I have five of them.”

“Rose,” my mother answered. I could hear her mutter to someone in the background.

Rose Redding, the sister just younger than I. My mother’s name-shaming skills had no limits.

“Mom, I’m really busy right now. The bakery is going to close. I’m losing my job. I don’t even know how I’m going to manage to pay rent and…”

My mother huffed into the phone. “Surely you can spare a few moments for family? I always told you baking was a dead-end deal.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be if I could come up with twenty five thousand dollars in two days!” I shouted over her tirade, knowing if I didn’t that she would never stop. “I don’t suppose you’re willing to lend me that?”

“I don’t think so,” my mother offered. “I think you should look at this as a wonderful opportunity to get into bigger and better things. You are far too talented to be stuck in an armpit like Tucson for the rest of your life.”

Had my mother just called Tucson an ‘armpit’?

“I like it here,” I told her, “and I love my job. If you can’t help me I’ll just have to figure things out myself.”

“Lunch, tomorrow,” my mother said firmly. “At that little Italian place down the street from your house.”

Trust my mother to come to Arizona and eat Italian food. I sighed. “Fine. I’ll be there, but I don’t want to hear anything more about it being a good thing that I’m losing my job.”

She didn’t answer. I had been talking to empty air. She’d already hung up.

I tossed my phone onto the counter and started pounding dough that I had left in the fridge to rise over night. The mass was stiff and was great for working out my frustrations. I didn’t even have to pretend that the dough was my mom, just the physicality of throwing my fists into the sticky stuff made me feel worlds better.

Jessi came into the back and stood, watching for a moment. “Remind me not to bother you when you’re in a bad mood,” she said cheerfully. “What did that dough do to you, steal your wallet?”

Despite my bad mood, I had to laugh. “Something like that. I don’t suppose you know where I can get a fortune in two days, do you?”

Jessi shook her head. “Sorry, no. You know that I barely make enough here to cover rent. I’ve been looking all over town for a job.”

“Any luck?”

She shook her head again. “Nope, nothing. Why do you need a fortune?”

I hesitated. I hadn’t wanted to tell my friends about my opportunity to buy the bakery because I didn’t want to get their hopes up.

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