The Promise of Home (11 page)

“Sure, Daddy, we can dance,” she said, gently taking his raised hand and squeezing it.

There was a portable CD player on a shelf in the room, with a small stack of discs beside it. Karen rose and went to the shelf, selected one of the CDs, and loaded it into the machine.

The instrumental introduction to the song seemed to have no effect on her father, but when he heard Louis Armstrong's gravelly voice, he turned toward the music, then looked at her and smiled.

“Can you stand up, Daddy?” she asked with her hand outstretched. After a moment, her father grasped it and got to his feet unsteadily. She kept hold of his hand as she slowly positioned herself in front of him and placed his other hand around her waist. She began to sway in place, in time to the music, and her father followed her lead. Their role reversal wasn't lost on her, but it didn't matter. She was so thankful for this moment, a father-daughter dance that might well be the last she would ever have with him.

When she looked up at his face, his eyes were closed, but he was smiling. She was reminded again of how wonderful the world was, and how their special song was one of strength, and love, and hope.

On Monday after school let out, Claudia stopped by the bakery on her way home. While she usually tried to limit her visits to the bakery and its myriad delicious and incredibly fattening offerings, it was time to start thinking about a cake for her wedding. The fact that Ruth would be making it was all the better. Claudia had yet to try something from the bakery that wasn't superb.

Humming to herself, she pulled open the door to the bakery and was surprised to see the DiSanti sisters talking at the counter. Emily held a disposable cup of coffee in one hand and a takeout bag in the other. Emily's older sister, Rose, was standing behind the register. Claudia regularly saw Emily around town and had spoken with her several times, but it had been several months since she had seen Rose. With her perfect blond hair and fashionable attire, Rose was the last person Claudia expected to see working the counter at the bakery.

She would never forget the day last July when the sisters had moved to Mill River. After backing her U-Haul truck into Emily's car, Rose had been anything but apologetic. The only other time Claudia had had any contact with Rose was the day a few weeks after their initial meeting, when she and Daisy Delaine had found Rose's son, Alex, unconscious in the yard after falling out of a tree.
It'll be interesting to see how she behaves,
Claudia thought now.
The two times I've seen her, she's been either totally rude or understandably hysterical.

The sisters stopped talking and looked toward the bakery door as she entered. Emily gave her a warm smile. “Hey, Claudia. How's it going?”

“Hi. Pretty good,” Claudia said. “I came by to see Ruth, if she's here. I wanted to look into ordering a wedding cake.”

“Oh, how exciting!” Emily said with what seemed like genuine enthusiasm. “Sounds like a lot more fun than what I'll be doing in a few minutes.”

“Which is?” Claudia asked.

“Replacing an old, leaky toilet,” Emily said casually. “I'm just picking up a sandwich for my dinner before I head up to the mansion to work for a while longer.”

“Wow, you're putting in long hours,” Claudia said. “Is everything coming together?”

“Yeah. I think the inside will be spectacular by the time your big day's here, but there's a lot to do right now. I've gotta run—hey, you remember my sister, Rose?”

“Of course.” Claudia made eye contact with the older DiSanti sister and smiled cautiously.

“I can try to help you with cake questions,” Rose said quietly. “I've been covering for Ruth when she needs a little time off.”

“I'll leave you both to it,” Emily said as she headed for the door. “See ya.”

“So, when are you getting married?” Rose asked once Emily was gone. “And congratulations, by the way.”

“Saturday, December twenty-first. We figured a holiday wedding would be beautiful, and we'd get to see our families right before Christmas. Kyle's mom is going to stay with Rowen so we can get away for a quick honeymoon sometime between Christmas and New Year's.” To Claudia's surprise, Rose was smiling and listening attentively. “I have to be back teaching on January second, and Kyle doesn't have much time off, either, but we didn't want to postpone a honeymoon until the summer.”

“So, it'll be short but sweet,” Rose said. “Where do you plan on going?”

“Sanibel Island, in Florida. Neither of us has been there, but it's supposed to be quiet and beautiful, and it's known for tons of gorgeous shells washing up on the beach.”

“And it'll be much warmer than Vermont in December,” Rose said. “It sounds really nice. What are you thinking about in terms of a cake? Ruth will be back tomorrow morning, and I could leave her a note with the basics, at least.”

“We'll have about sixty guests,” Claudia said. “Our colors are silver for the bridesmaids' gowns, with red roses. I thought it would be nice to have part of the cake chocolate and part vanilla so that people can have whatever they prefer.”

“Hmmm.” Rose was taking notes on a pad of paper. “You know, I think Ruth has a photo book here somewhere.” When she knelt behind the counter, Claudia peeked over it and saw her pulling out and examining various binders and books from a shelf. “Here it is,” Rose said as she stood up and laid a three-ring binder open on the counter. “All the photos in here are of cakes Ruth has made. Take a look and see if you like any design in particular. Or if you have a picture of a cake you like from a magazine or something, you can bring that in and show her. She could probably duplicate it.”

Claudia barely heard the end of Rose's sentence. The photos in the cake binder were stunning. There were so many tiered masterpieces, some covered with delicate icing flowers and others with smooth, elegant exteriors highlighted by swirls and pearls and ribbons. She flipped the page and gasped.

The picture there took up a whole page. The cake was a nontraditional design, with the various layers held on separate platforms that rose higher and higher, like a spiral staircase. The icing was smooth, but each layer had glistening bands of lavender around the base and a spray of matching lavender roses cascading over the top.

“This one is amazing,” she told Rose. “Simple and really beautiful.”

As Claudia stared at the picture, the bell on the bakery door rang, but she didn't realize that someone had come up to stand beside her until Daisy spoke.

“Oh, Miss Claudia, that is such a beautiful cake!” the little woman with gray, curly hair breathed as she peeked over her arm at the picture. “Maybe it has a special potion inside to make it float in the air like that.”

Claudia smiled down at Daisy and then made eye contact with Rose. Rose smiled in return and spoke kindly to Daisy. “I think Ruth actually calls them floating tiers. She has the stand in back. It's made of clear plastic, so the cake layers look like they're hovering in midair.”

“Well,” Daisy said, shaking her head in wonder. “It must still be a pretty special cake.”

“If she could do this for us, but with silver around the layers and red roses on top, it would be perfect. Plus, each layer could be a different flavor.” Claudia smiled as she envisioned cutting into one of the layers to reveal a moist, chocolate interior.

“Let me just make a note of the one you liked,” Rose said as she scribbled the additional information on the paper. “That way, Ruth can get a better idea about pricing before she calls you. And Daisy, I'll be with you in just a minute.”

“Oh, sure, Miss Rose. I'm not in a hurry. You must be so excited about your wedding, Miss Claudia. I just know it'll be beautiful, especially with a cake like this one. Maybe someday I'll get to go to a wedding.” Daisy sniffed and smiled up at her.

If it were anyone else, Claudia would take the comment as an inappropriate request to be invited to the wedding, but Daisy was so sweet and innocent. Claudia believed she was simply expressing a sincere desire without any ulterior motive.

“Hmmm,” she said, looking into Daisy's face. “Well, you know, Daisy, wedding invitations always come in the mail.”

“The mail? Are you sure, Miss Claudia?”

“Yep, they always come in the mail. And you never know when you might receive one.”

“I suppose that's true,” Daisy said. “I think I'll pay more attention to my mail. I sure like checking each day to see what's in the mailbox. You know, there might be mail waiting for me right now!” An excited look came over her face. “Miss Rose, I think I'll come back a little later, if that's okay.”

“Sure, Daisy, I'll be here until five.”

“Thanks, Miss Rose. See you around, Miss Claudia.”

Claudia chuckled under her breath as Daisy rushed out the door. As she waited for Rose to finish writing, she began to imagine how her cake would look on a table on one side of the great hall in the McAllister mansion with the gorgeous layers spiraling up. She could picture her hands and Kyle's, holding bites of cake to feed to each other in front of everyone they loved…

“What? I'm sorry, I missed that,” she said as she realized Rose had spoken to her.

“Oh. I was just saying that I never saw you after my son's accident this past summer. We were up at the hospital in Burlington for a few weeks after it happened, and then it was kind of crazy once we had Alex back home and Sheldon and I decided to stay here in town. I meant to call you a long time ago to thank you for everything you did for Alex when you and Daisy found him. I don't know what would have happened if you two hadn't been there.”

“It's nothing,” Claudia said. “I did what anyone would have. I'm just happy he's all right. I see Alex at school all the time, and he's always smiling.”

“He does love it here,” Rose said. “He's made lots of friends, and his teacher, Betty Martin, has done a great job keeping him challenged.”

“Betty's a good friend of mine. She's commented so many times about how brilliant he is, and also that he's a really great kid.”

A huge smile lit up Rose's face. “He is. Sheldon and I feel incredibly blessed to have him.”

Claudia nodded. “Well, I should get going. Kyle and his daughter are coming over for dinner, and I'm late getting it started. Thanks so much for your help.”

“Sure. I'll make sure Ruth sees this note first thing in the morning.”

She was like a different person,
Claudia thought as she left the bakery and went to her car.
Friendly, genuine, and normal
. She'd heard all the rumors about Rose being a closet drunk, and about the longtime feud between her and Emily. But the sisters had seemed quite civil toward each other, and Kyle had heard from Fitz that Rose had completed an inpatient treatment program for alcoholism. Maybe the sisters had worked out their issues, and maybe Rose was turning her life around.
Or maybe Rose is actually a sweet person, and I misjudged her based on my first impression,
Claudia thought.

Pauline had told her that “Sometimes things and even people aren't what they seem.” It was an odd coincidence to recognize a possible real-life example so soon after visiting The Stitchery, and it made Claudia wonder what words of wisdom the seamstress might offer her at her next dress fitting.

When she arrived home, Claudia took in the mail and set her purse on the counter. There were several reply cards from the wedding invitations she had sent out, and she was still opening them when Kyle and Rowen arrived for supper.

“I haven't started cooking yet,” she told them. “I stopped by the bakery to see about cakes on my way home.”

“That's no problem, it's early,” Kyle said. “I can help you in the kitchen.”

“And I can watch the Discovery Channel,” Rowen said with a toothy grin.

“Sure, go ahead,” Claudia said.

“She's been bugging me to get cable,” Kyle said as Rowen grabbed the remote control and made herself comfortable on Claudia's sofa. “You've spoiled her with all your channels.”

“Compared with most kids these days, she doesn't watch much TV. Besides, you don't let her watch junk programs when she's here.”

“True,” Kyle said. “Everything in moderation. Although once we move in, that might be easier said than done.”

“Have Fitz and Ruth found someone to rent your apartment once we're married?”

“Nope. Not as far as I know, anyway. They've still got time, though.”

“Yeah.” Claudia opened the refrigerator and started taking out various ingredients for dinner.

“Hey, I almost forgot. Kevin called me this morning,” Kyle said. “He and Misty want to get together for lunch this Saturday and maybe go looking at the leaves afterward. I thought they could meet us at the bakery. We can go for a drive after we eat.”

“Sure, that sounds like fun,” Claudia said. She set a package of chicken and a jar of roasted red peppers on the counter. “Their wedding reply card was in the mail today, along with a bunch of other ones. The Swedhins, the Millers, and the Ottusches are all coming.”

“That's great! It's probably a good thing we sent the invites a little early, before people had set holiday plans.”

“Yeah. Listen, while we're on the topic of the wedding, I wanted to ask you about inviting one more person.” Claudia closed the refrigerator door and cuddled up to Kyle.

“Oh, sure. Who?”

“Daisy.”

Kyle's eyebrows went up. “Daisy? Seriously?”

“Yeah. I just ran into her in the bakery, and I don't think she's ever been invited to a wedding. It'd be a nice thing to do for her, and it'd totally blow her mind if she got an invitation.”

Kyle shrugged and slipped his arms around her waist. “Okay. I wouldn't mind if she came. It might be a nice thing for her to be able to see the mansion at the reception, too, since she spent so much time up there with Mary.”