Wedding Matilda (Redcakes Book 6) Read Free Page A

saved a person from serious consequences.
    Irene smiled at her uncertainly. “Would you like me to summon Mr. Hales?”
    “No, I’ll just go up and see what he has to say about Lord Judah’s schedule. I did come all the way from Bristol for this meeting.”
    “I’m terribly sorry, Miss Redcake. I hope Mr. Hales can assist you.”
    Matilda nodded as she reviewed the details of Lord Judah’s letter to her, complaining about the cakes the factories under her control were supplying. He hadn’t bothered including details or a sample, so he had the upper hand. Sometimes he still thought like a military man, only sharing the most minimal details, as if everything was a security matter.
    As far as she knew, no espionage had entered the world of London cake shops, so they were both safe from spies. She went up the three flights of stairs, glancing at the framed, hand-tinted photographs of cakes with envy. No need for anything this decorative at the factories.
    At the top of the building she reached the manager’s aerie. The secretarial area was as full of ledgers and paper as the accounting office on the floor below. She knew Mr. Hales was the spider at the center of a web of information about Redcake’s.
    The man himself had his back to her, one finger on a row of figures in an open ledger and the other on a typewriter key. She had no idea how to operate such a machine, but it did make reports easier to read, so she had insisted that her own secretary, her cousin Greggory Redcake, learn to operate one.
    “Mr. Hales?” she inquired.
    The finger went up in the air in a request for silence. Her eyebrows lifted. When had the man become so imperious? He probably thought she was a cakie, the Redcake’s name for waitresses. Still, she’d have expected him to be more charming. Her sister Alys said he was notorious for relationships among Redcake’s female employees, having worked his way through accounting, the Fancy, and the bakery staff.
    His finger moved down the row of neatly printed numbers in the ledger. The keys clicked a few times. A pause. He turned a page in the ledger and repeated the sequence.
    “Mr. Hales,” she tried again.
    His fingers stopped moving, pinched around the page he was turning. His back stiffened as he slowly resumed his page turn. His other hand left the keys and he swiveled his chair around.
    “Yes?”
    He remained cold. No little bow, no small obsequious smile, as she had seen from him in the past. His hair had been mussed, she now realized.
    Didn’t he recognize her? “I’m Matilda Redcake.”
    Her announcement brought no change in his demeanor. “I know who you are, Miss Redcake.”
    Taken aback, she cleared her throat delicately. “I had a meeting with Lord Judah. About the factory cakes?”
    His eyes narrowed. “The first delivery of the Easter shipment, to be specific.”
    “Very well. Lord Judah was not specific in his letter.”
    “I regret that he went to Scotland somewhat unexpectedly.”
    “No one canceled his appointment with me.”
    He nodded gravely. “I do apologize. Holidays are hectic here.”
    “I came all the way from Bristol, Mr. Hales. Surely it is your duty to manage Lord Judah’s schedule.”
    His head tilted as he considered her. “He has a girl in during the mornings to handle certain details while I work on reports. While I am aware of his schedule, she handles the mundane tasks.”
    “I am not a mundane task; I am the manager of the factories.” She wanted to stamp her foot, but her professionalism prevented her from doing so. Why was he affecting her emotions? He was merely a rude employee. She would tell her sister that her employee had behaved badly.
    “Yes.” He drawled the word.
    “My understanding is that you are in line to manage the new Redcake’s shop when it opens in Kensington. I hope you realize, Mr. Hales, that you will have to work closely with me in your capacity as manager there. That is, if the family decides to keep you on after