Stories To Make You Smile: The Reading Agency by Eva Verde

Author:Eva Verde [Verde, Eva]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2021-04-23T00:00:00+00:00

The Wrong Cake

by Katie Fforde

‘I do understand the concept of “stuck in traffic”,’ said Betsy into her phone. ‘How far away are you? Gah!’ He must have gone into a tunnel, she thought as she was cut off.

‘That didn’t sound good,’ said the only other person in the foyer, an attractive man in a suit, who she took to be the manager of the hotel.

Had she groaned out loud? She hadn’t meant to. ‘It’s the worst! The cake that I’ve made for a wedding today probably won’t get here in time.’ She threw her hands in the air in despair. ‘Then the bride will go on to my website to leave a dreadful review, and my tiny, precious business will die!’

The manager seemed confused. ‘I’m sorry. When I saw you, I thought you were one of the bridesmaids.’

She gave a rueful laugh. ‘It’s the orange dress that suits no one – a dead giveaway! But I also made the cake. And I care more about that because that’s my business. I’m only a bridesmaid for today. Thank goodness.’

Thinking of the bridezilla upstairs in a bridal suite, surrounded by a make-up artist, a hair-dresser and a troupe of her ‘closest friends’ made Betsy shudder. Did Chelsea have some sort of hold over them all, like she did over Betsy, because she was making the cake and needed a good review? At least the dresses had pockets they could slip a phone into. But it turned out this was so the bride’s attendants could be summoned at any time, even from the ladies’ loo.

She’d been surprised to be asked to be a bridesmaid – she had only met Chelsea recently through a mutual friend. But when she’d been told that all the bridesmaids had to chip in for the bride’s spa day she understood why so many had been asked. The spa had been outrageously expensive. Betsy had been heartily relieved that she had a genuine reason not to go, so only had to contribute to Chelsea’s five-star package that cost the same as a small second-hand car, without having to shell out for her own as well.

If only she’d just agreed to do the cake and not got sucked into being a bridesmaid, she could have just delivered the cake and not involved anyone else. But she’d been delayed finishing it and the icing needed to set before she could transport it so she’d had to ask her brother to help. What could she do to save this situation now?

‘There’s a lovely cake for the wedding that’s happening a couple of hours from now, in the orangery at the other end of the house,’ said the manager, ‘but I don’t suppose that helps.’

Betsy’s mind whirled like a fidget spinner. ‘I think that could help a lot!’

‘I really don’t see how,’ he replied. ‘I’m Rob, by the way.’

‘Betsy. Couldn’t we quickly borrow it? Just for the photos! Unless it’s totally different, of course. Chelsea probably won’t remember what she ordered, she wasn’t all that interested.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.