Red Velvet Revenge Read Online Free PDF

Sal if there was any way we could clean out the interior or slap a fresh coat of paint on it, he said, ‘Don’t worry. I know a guy.’”
    Mel looked warily at Joe. A few of the DeLaura brothers were well-known to Mel’s uncle Stan, who was a detective on the Scottsdale police force. They were known to him not because they had careers in law enforcement, but rather because they tended to operate on the fringes of the law. It was not something that made Joe happy.
    “A guy, huh?” he asked.
    “Yeah, so now I’m baking my behind off, trying to freeze several thousand cupcakes and make tubs of frosting, when I may have no place to store all of these cupcakes, and I could find myself selling cupcakes out of my nephews’ red rider wagon.”
    “I’d buy one from your wagon.”
    Mel laughed. Per usual he knew just what to say. Joe pulled her close, and for the moment all thoughts of the rodeo, the van, and the mountain of cupcakes that needed to be baked were forgotten.

    Mel and Angie spent the following week baking until they dropped. The plan was to bake as much as they could, freeze the cupcakes, and then defrost them once they were up at the rodeo.
    Mel tried to maintain her optimism. Angie checked in with Sal daily, and in his usual car-salesman suave, he assured them that the van would be ready and tricked out in ways they couldn’t imagine. Somehow, Mel did not find this as reassuring as Sal might think.
    It was the day before they were to leave for the rodeo, and Mel and Angie surveyed their walk-in cooler at the bakery. There was a staggering amount of cupcakes in it. In fact, Mel was quite sure she had never seen so many cupcakes—not even at the annual Cupcake Love-In, a charity event held in Scottsdale every year.
    “If Sal doesn’t come through…” Mel didn’t want to think about it.
    “He’ll come through,” Angie said. “It may be with a king cab pickup truck and a refrigerator trailer, but he’ll come through.”
    “Mel! Angie! Get out here!”
    Mel and Angie exchanged a look and backed out of the walk-in.
    “What is it?” Angie yelled back.
    “Just hurry up!” Marty said.
    “Maybe we have customers,” Mel suggested.
    “Well, his yelling is going to put them off their cupcakes,” Angie said.
    They sped up and pushed through the swinging kitchen door as one.
    “What is it?” Mel asked.
    But Marty wasn’t behind the counter where he was supposed to be; instead, he was at the front door.
    Oz poked his head around the doorframe. He looked hot and sweaty, and the thick curtain of bangs that usually covered his eyes had been secured back by a blue bandanna. He caught sight of Mel and Angie and beamed.
    “Are you ready for the big reveal?”
    “You mean it’s done?” Mel asked. She felt her ribs compress into her chest with a nervous squeeze.
    Oz nodded.
    “He looks happy,” Angie said. “That’s a good sign, right?”
    “He’s seventeen; it has four wheels and an engine. Of course he’s happy,” Marty said.
    The three of them stepped out of the bakery into the midday heat. Mel had expected to see the van parked in front of the shop, since presently there was plenty of parking to be had.
    Outside, however, there was a large coal gray lump with Angie’s brother Sal and a guy in a blue mechanic’s uniform, with the name Lou stitched onto the front of his shirt, standing beside it.
    “Baby sister,” Sal said with a warm note of affection as he gave his sister a squeeze. “Didn’t I tell you I’d come through?”
    Angie laughed as she squeezed him in return. “Yeah, you did.”
    “This is Lou. He’s my guy,” Sal said.
    “Nice to meet you.” Lou shook hands with Angie, Mel, and Marty.
    “Thanks for helping with this, Lou,” Mel said. “We really appreciate it.”
    “Oh, you have no idea,” Sal said. “Are you ready?”
    Marty had wandered over to the van and was trying to lift the huge car cover to sneak a peek under it. Without turning away from them, Lou