Bakers on Board Read Free Page A

case. Instead of twelve dozen, you have thirteen dozen.”
    â€œThat’s nice of you,” Ms. Cushman said. “But I’m afraid we need more than that for our guest list.”
    Kylie held up her hand, motioning for Jenna, Sadie, Lexi, and Delaney to stop loading the car. “Exactly how many more cupcakes are we talking about?” she asked.
    â€œOh, just another twelve dozen.”
    Kylie’s mouth hung open. “Are you serious? You need us to double the order? Now? We can’t!”
    Sadie grabbed the phone out of her hand. “What she means is we can’t—unless you pay us a rush fee. A dollar more per cupcake.”
    â€œFine,” Ms. Cushman said. “I’ll wait for you to get here. But please hurry. My favorite show, History Chronicles , is on TV tonight and I never miss an episode.” She hung up.
    â€œSadie, are you crazy?” Kylie gasped. “We can’t bake and decorate twelve dozen more cupcakes. It took us three hours yesterday to get this batch done—and it’s already four o’clock.”
    â€œI don’t even think we have enough ingredients left over,” Jenna piped up. “We’re low on berries, big-time.”
    â€œIt’s a lot of money,” Sadie pleaded. “And I’ve had my eye on a new bike for the summer.”
    â€œWe’ve been in a cupcake crunch before,” Delaney insisted. “We can do it if we work together.”
    â€œLet me think,” Kylie said, pacing back and forth. If there was one thing she was good at, it was dealing with a cupcake crisis. “We’ll leave these cupcakes in my dad’s car. It’s cold out here, so they’ll be fine as long as we don’t move them. Jenna will ask her sister Marisol to drive her to the market while the rest of us get to work on the fondant toppers.”
    Lexi shook her head. “I have to roll out fondant for another hundred and forty-four Georges?” she complained. “My poor aching wrists.”
    â€œWe’ll all help,” Kylie assured her. “If we’re gonna do this, it has to work like an assembly line. Sadie cracks; Delaney mixes; you and I roll.”
    Jenna gave her the thumbs-up. “I texted Marisol and she’s not thrilled, but she’s on her way.”
    â€¢ • •
    When Marisol pulled up in her car she had a scowl on her face. “You owe me,” she told her younger sister as she jumped in and buckled up.
    â€œIt’s not like you have anything better to do,” Jenna teased her.
    â€œFor your information, I was working on something very important.”
    Jenna yawned. “What? A physics experiment? Memorizing War and Peace ?”
    â€œNo, nothing to do with studying,” Marisol replied.
    Jenna looked puzzled. “Did I interrupt you alphabetizing your book collection?” she joked. “ Lo siento! I’m so sorry!”
    â€œForget it,” Marisol said in a huff. “You wouldn’t understand anyway.” She pulled up in front of the market and clicked the door lock open. “Go on. I’ll wait for you here.”
    Jenna actually felt a little bad for teasing her sister. Something was clearly bothering her.
    â€œOkay, I’ll be quick,” she said, jumping out. “Thanks for the ride.”
    Marisol shrugged. “Whatever.”
    When they returned to Kylie’s house, the kitchen was in full swing. “Bring those berries over here,” Sadie said, motioning to the mixing bowl. “We’re ready for them.” It took them two hours to bake all three flavors and another hour to frost and decorate. It was nearly seven o’clock before they were ready to hit the road for Mount Vernon.
    â€œMarisol said she’ll help us drive them over,” Jenna told her friends. “Though she’s not very happy about it—or anything actually.”
    â€œGreat. My dad’s backseat is packed to