Confectionately Yours #2: Taking the Cake! Read Online Free PDF

Ramirez.
    He smiles. “And a cup of coffee, please.”
    “I’m glad you policemen don’t all fancy doughnuts.” Gran nods in approval.
    “I love doughnuts,” Chloe pipes up from her perch at the end of the counter. “But they aren’t as good as Gran’s scones.”
    “Or Hayley’s cupcakes,” Rupert adds.
    I gape at him. Rupert has started talking more, but it always surprises me when he does.
    “You should make doughnut cupcakes,” Chloe suggests.
    “What’s that?” I ask. “A cupcake with a hole in the middle?”
    “No clue. That’s your job. Figure it out — and when you make them, you can tell everyone it was my idea.”
    Officer Ramirez laughs just as my mother comes out from the back room, frowning at the phone. She stops in her tracks when she sees him, then smiles. It’s a tight smile, though, like it’s covering something.
    I nibble my fingernail, then get annoyed with myself, because now I have to wash my hands before I can go back to frosting the cupcakes.
    “Is everything all right, Margaret?” Gran asks as she passes Officer Ramirez his scone.
    “It’s just —” Mom waves her hand, then huffs out a sigh. “I just got off the phone with William. He wants to take the girls on Thanksgiving.”
    Gran looks indignant. “Well, he can’t!”
    Mom smiles a little sadly. “It was part of the terms of the divorce, Mother.”
    “We aren’t going to have Thanksgiving with you?” Chloe looks like she’s about to cry.
    Mom touches her arm. “You will, sweetie. You’ll have dinner with us here, at noon. Then you and Hayley can join him afterward.”
    I feel my heart sink. I’m not sure I want to have two Thanksgivings. I was really just hoping that the one with my dad’s new girlfriend’s family would get canceled. I mean, does that sound Thanksgiving-ish to you?
    “It’s good you agreed to share the holiday,” Officer Ramirez puts in. Not that anyone has asked him. “I don’t get to see my son at all on Thanksgiving.”
    Chloe is aghast. “You spend Thanksgiving alone ?”
    “I usually volunteer at the soup kitchen,” Officer Ramirez explains. “It puts things in perspective.” He looks at his mug, then takes a long sip of his coffee.
    We’re all quiet for a moment.
    “I wish I could spend Thanksgiving alone,” Rupert says suddenly. “Instead, all of my Polish relatives come over and pinch my cheeks and holler and laugh and sing. It’s noisy .”
    “You don’t like noise?” Gran asks.
    Rupert shakes his head. “I like to read .”
    “Well, at least they’re your family,” I say to him. “And you have just one Thanksgiving.”
    Chloe stares down at the floor.
    “Hayley —” Mom starts, but I tug off my apron and place it on the counter.
    “I’m going out for some air.” The door jingles as I push my way out onto the street.
    Two Thanksgivings.
    I like turkey — but not that much.

5. Watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. Be sure to check out the people who dance in the street around the floats. They’re always dressed as presents or candy canes, or something else equally ridiculous. You can tell they hate it — it’s awesome!
    4. Gran’s cinnamon buns, which we always have for breakfast that day.
    3. Post-turkey walk. We used to walk around our neighborhood after dinner. Some people have Christmas lights up already, and it’s lovely.
    2. Playing the Thankful Game. We go around in a circle, naming things we’re thankful for. Each person has to remember what everyone before has said, then add something new. We usually go around two or three times, and it’s nice to remember how much we have to be happy about.
    1. Stuffing. Mom just uses the kind that comes in a box, but it’s sooooo gooooood.
     
    So — those are the things I’m thankful for. But … are we even doing those things this year? We’ll be off at some random country club while we’re supposed to be on our walk. And we’ll probably have to eat our first turkey while the parade is