Icing on the Cake (5 page)

Back at Kylie's house that afternoon, Jenna admired the beautiful antique sapphire ring that Mr. Higgins had entrusted to them.

“Let me get this straight,” Sadie said. “He wants us to hide this engagement ring in the cupcake?”

“It's his grandmother's ring—so it's really special,” Kylie explained. “Juliette is gonna flip!”

“Or freak out,” Jenna cautioned them. “What if she doesn't feel the same way about Mr. Higgins? What if she doesn't want to marry him?”

“Oh, she will!” Lexi smiled. “If Jeremy gave me an engagement ring in a cupcake, I'd say yes.”

“Please…not you too!” Jenna groaned. Lexi and Jeremy Saperstone had been “an item” since they played Romeo and Juliet, but they were both eleven years old! “I can't take one more engagement!”

“Relax,” Lexi said, putting an arm around Jenna. “I plan on studying art at Sorbonne University in Paris before I settle down.”

“Thank you,” Jenna said. “At least someone around here hasn't gone totally crazy.”

“What'll we do?” Delaney asked. “How does Mr. Higgins plan on getting Juliette to take a bite?”

Kylie laid out the plan: “We're going to tell Juliette we need to do a taste test of our new spring flavors. We'll tell her we asked Mr. Higgins and Jack Yu to be the other tasters. When she bites into a cupcake and sees something sparkly, Mr. Higgins can pop the question.”

Lexi pulled out a list of flavors the club had planned on trying for their spring orders. “I have pink lemonade, mint julep, cherry blossom, peach cobbler, and coconut cream pie.”

“Perfect!” Kylie said
. “
Let's whip 'em up and call a meeting for tomorrow after school. We'll be ready…I hope Mr. Higgins is!”

•••

The next day, Kylie passed Jenna in the hall before the last period of the day and gave her a thumbs-up: “Just forty-five minutes 'til Operation I Do!” Honestly, Jenna didn't see what the big deal was. Juliette was perfectly happy being the Blakely drama teacher and their cupcake club advisor. Why did Mr. Higgins have to go and change all of that? She secretly hoped Juliette would reply, “
Gracias
, but no thanks.”

Jack and Mr. Higgins came as planned to the PLC meeting. “So are we going to taste some delicious new cupcakes today?” Rodney said, entering the teachers' lounge kitchen. “I'm starving!”

“Wow, he's a pretty good actor,” Kylie whispered to Jenna. “I'd never know he was a bundle of nerves, would you?”

“Okay, tasting panel,” Kylie announced. “Please jot down your notes on the pads in front of you. Tell us if you think the cupcakes need more or less of something, or if you'd like to see some different decoration. We want your opinions.”

Jack raised his hand. “Do I get to eat all the cupcakes?”

“Sure,” Lexi answered. “If you'd like to. But save room—there are lots of different ones to taste.”

“That's okay,” Jack said, rubbing his belly. “I've got plenty of room in here! And I love cupcakes!”

Delaney brought out the first tray with pink lemonade cupcakes. She and Lexi had created tiny, pink fondant pitchers on top.

“It reminds me of summer,” Juliette said, taking a sniff of the lemon-scented frosting. “Did you use zest?”

“Just a tiny bit,” Sadie replied. “Is it too much?”

“No, no. It has a sour kick, but I think the sweetness of the cupcake balances it out,” Rodney spoke up. “Don't you agree, Jack?”

“What? Huh?” Jack asked. He had gobbled up the cupcake in two bites.

“How did you like it?” Jenna said.

“Oh, it was good. What's the next one?”

The girls brought out tray after tray, and Jenna noticed that Mr. Higgins was starting to lose his cool.

“So, what's your
best
cupcake?” he asked. “Is there one you
really
want Ms. Dubois to taste today?”

“Bring out our
favorite
cupcake,” Kylie said, elbowing Delaney.

“I thought I did,” she whispered. “Wasn't the ring supposed to be in the mint julep one?”

“I thought you put it in the peach cobbler,” Sadie replied.

“Excuse us…” Kylie said, dragging the girls to the corner of the room. “There will be a brief intermission before the final course.”

Juliette looked concerned. “Is everything okay, girls?”

“Great! Fine! Perfect!” Kylie tried to cover.

When they were out of earshot, she handed each girl a pile of toothpicks. “Start poking all the cupcakes till you find that ring!” she said. “Mr. Higgins is going to kill us!”

“I just had a horrible thought,” Lexi said, watching Jack lick his fingers. “What if we accidentally gave the cupcake with the ring in it to Jack? He practically inhaled them. What if he ate Juliette's ring?”

Jenna cracked up. “Over the teeth and under the gums, look out, tummy, here it comes!”

“It's not funny, Jenna,” Kylie said, gently poking through mounds of frosting.

“Aw, I think it has a nice
ring
to it, don't you?” Jenna joked.

“Wait! Did anyone put nuts in the coconut-cream-pie cupcakes?” Sadie asked.

“No,” Kylie answered. “They're supposed to be light and fluffy, no nuts.”

“Then I think I found the missing ring,” Sadie whispered. They raced over to present the last cupcake tray to the tasters.

“I'm sorry, ladies. I'm stuffed,” Juliette said. “And I have costumes to go sew for the second-grade spring festival. I'll take a pass on the last flavor. Jack and Rodney can give you their verdict.” She pushed her plate away and started to get up from the table.

“Wait! No!” Kylie shouted. “We really need you to taste this one!” She looked nervously at Jenna and mouthed, “Help me!”

“Right. This is the best one,” Jenna improvised. “I used a rare blend of shredded coconut…from Canada.”

Juliette looked skeptical. “Canada? Don't coconuts grow on palm trees in the tropics?”

“That's what makes this coconut so rare,” Jenna continued. “It's called the Coco Canadian. And since you're from Canada, Juliette, you're the only one who can really tell us if it tastes, um, authentic.”

“Absolutely!” Mr. Higgins added. “I defer to Ms. Dubois on this cupcake.”

Juliette looked at the cupcake: it seemed normal enough. Lexi had created a delicate meringue frosting to hide what was really inside.

“Okay, I'll take one bite,” Juliette said. She poked at the cupcake gingerly with her fork before digging in. “It's good. Very moist. Very fresh. I think your Canadian Coconut is a hit, Jenna.”

“What? That's all?” Kylie cried. “What about what's inside?”

Juliette was puzzled. “I don't taste any filling. Am I missing something?”

Mr. Higgins suddenly grabbed the cupcake and mashed it on the table with his fist. There was no ring.

“Rodney!” Juliette gasped. “What are you doing?” Frosting and crumbs went flying everywhere. He started sniffing the plate like a hunting dog.

“It…must…be…here…” he stammered, digging through the frosting.

“If you didn't like the flavor, you didn't have to destroy it!” Juliette exclaimed. “What's come over you?”

“I didn't love it either,” Jack said. “Mine was kinda lumpy.”

“Lumpy?” Jenna asked. “Gimme your plate.” She seized the cupcake out of Jack's hands.

“Hey!” he protested. “I didn't say I was done with it! I'm still hungry!”

Jenna used a fork to pick through the remaining cupcake half on his plate. There, on the very bottom of the wrapper, was the sapphire ring.

She handed it to Mr. Higgins, who was frantically trying to explain his strange behavior to Juliette. “I think your cupcake was missing an important ingredient,” Jenna said, handing the ring to Juliette.

“What's this?” Juliette asked.

Mr. Higgins got down on one knee and recited his favorite lines from Shakespeare's
The
Tempest
: “Hear my soul speak: The very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly to your service.” Then he took a deep breath, looked into Juliette's eyes, and asked, “Will you marry me?”

Juliette was speechless. Here it comes, thought Jenna. She's going to turn him down. No one said a word. They just waited.

Finally, Rodney spoke. “I know it was a crumby proposal…literally.” He dusted the cupcake crumbs off his shirt. “I wanted it to be perfect.”

“It was totally our fault,” Kylie added. “Please don't blame Mr. Higgins. We mixed up the cupcakes. We ruined everything.”

“Nonsense!” Juliette insisted. “It was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“Does that mean you're saying yes?” Rodney asked. Jenna could see the beads of sweat on his brow and the tears in Juliette's eyes.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Juliette cried and kissed him. Everyone cheered—even Jenna. But Juliette could see the concern on her face.

“Don't worry, Jenna,” she said. “We won't be getting married in a month. We both have the school year to finish out before we think about walking down the aisle.”

“Will you get married in Vegas too?” Delaney asked.

“Oh, no! Canada where my family is,” Juliette replied.

“Really, darling? I was thinking more of London where I hail from,” Rodney said.

“No, sweetheart,” Juliette said, patting her fiancé's hand. “You know I always dreamed of getting married at the Chateau Frontenac in Quebec.”

“But, Buttercup.” Rodney smiled sweetly. “What about the Barbican Centre Conservatory in London? It doesn't get more theatrical than that.”

“Some things never change, I guess,” Kylie said, shaking her head. “You two will always disagree.”

“It's called having strong opinions,” Rodney replied. “And it's one of the reasons I love Ms. Dubois. She challenges me!”

Juliette blushed. “Aw, I love you too. We can get married in London if it means that much to you.”

“No, no, no,” Rodney countered. “You're right. The Chateau is magical. Canada it is.”

“Guys, guys!” Jack suddenly interrupted. “Can we talk about this later? Bring out the rest of the cupcakes. I'm still hungry.”

The weeks flew by, and Jenna continued visiting Dulce and the other dogs at Rescue Rover as often as Leo or Marisol would drive her to Danbury. But there was so much to be done in such a short amount of time for the wedding: invitations, dress fittings, floral arrangements, even finding someone to officiate the ceremony.

“What about this one?” Gabby suggested, showing her mother a wedding chapel she had googled on her phone. “It's called Viva Las Vegas—and instead of limos, we ride to the ceremony in pink Cadillacs!”

“
Dios
mío!
” her mother said, looking at the photo. “That is not for me! My
mami
is coming all the way from Ecuador. I want
una
ceremonia
de
la
boda
that is less—how do you say it?” She tried to find the right word in English.

“Tacky? Obnoxious? Disgusting?” Jenna offered.

“I think your mother is trying to say she wants our wedding ceremony to be
dignified
,” Leo said. “Whatever she wants is okay by me. Although I agree, Gabby—that pink Caddy rocks.”

It was Kylie's suggestion to contact the hotel about using their kitchen to bake the wedding cupcakes.

“We're all set,” Jenna told the girls. “We arrive Saturday at two p.m., and we can hit the kitchen by four. The concierge says there's a small one that they use for event catering, and it's all ours for as long as we need it. We just email them a list of ingredients and they'll stock them.”

“How long is it going to take us?” asked Delaney. “That's a ton of cupcakes.”

Sadie raised her hand. “Let me do the math—I need some practice before my algebra test next week.” She jotted down the figures. “We know we have to bake fourteen dozen cupcakes—plus the giant one on the top tier…”

“And the oven will hold four dozen at a time,” Jenna explained.

“So we can bake four dozen every thirty minutes if we get crackin' on the batter,” Sadie continued. “So we'll need at least two hours to get all those cupcakes baked.”

“Figure in another fifteen minutes per batch to cool and at least another hour to frost them,” Lexi said. “I'll also need at least an hour to decorate the giant cupcake—I want a Cornelli lace pattern on the sides and carnations on top. Delaney can handle the fondant monogram while I pipe.”

“And the giant cupcake will take over an hour to bake through,” Kylie reminded her. “Remember last time when we made that giant Christmas tree cupcake for my dad's holiday office party, and it was mushy in the middle?”

“It wasn't mushy,” Delaney defended her creation. “It was just a little overly moist…”

Sadie held up her sheet filled with calculations. “We're looking at six hours to be safe for baking and decorating. I don't see how we can do it any faster.”

“Which means it will be ten p.m. before we even can start building the tower.” Jenna sighed. “It's gonna be a long, long night.”

•••

The cupcake club was used to pulling all-nighters—especially on holidays and for special occasions. Kylie made sure that every single one of the Easter orders were delivered on the Friday before Easter.

“Let's get hoppin',” she said, packing up dozens of cupcakes for the Golden Spoon's order. “I promised Mr. Ludwig we'd deliver no later than five p.m.”

“These are so adorable,” Delaney said, admiring the V.I.Peeps cupcakes they'd made with marshmallow chicks on top. “Mr. Ludwig is going to love these.”

“I like the little lambs Lexi made out of mini marshmallows,” Sadie said. “This is our best Easter yet.”

“And our busiest,” Kylie reminded them. “As soon as your brothers get back with the last batch of orders for delivery, there are twenty more that need to go out.”

Jenna was glad that things were so hectic. It kept her mind off leaving tomorrow for Las Vegas.

“You must be so excited,” Delaney said. “I am—and it's not even my mom getting married.”

“I don't want to think about it,” Jenna said. She popped a mini marshmallow in her mouth. “So some-
bunny
change the subject.”

“How about this,” Kylie said, waving an order form in her hands. “We just got an emergency email from Principal Fontina. She wants a dozen Easter cat cupcakes for her Sunday brunch party.”

“Easter cats? Who ever heard of Easter cats?” Lexi said. “I've heard of bunnies, chicks, and lambs…but cats?”

“She's the principal—don't argue with her!” Sadie said. “If she wants Easter monkeys, give 'em to her! I'm barely passing math—I need all the brownie points I can get.”

“You mean cupcake points.” Kylie corrected her. “We can do some cute little kitties with pastel bows and put them on top of our basic Easter dozen.”

“I guess she's a cat person,” Jenna shrugged. “I'm a dog person myself.” Thinking about Dulce alone on Easter morning made her sad. She would have gone and brought the puppy a little pupcake and a bunny chew toy if it weren't for the stupid wedding.

“Mom, we have a Cupcake 911!” Kylie called from the kitchen. Her mother was on deadline writing an article for a magazine—something about the latest bagless vacuum cleaners and how they were better for the environment.

“Kylie, I told you—I'm chained to my desk this afternoon,” her mom answered.

“But we have to get these over to Principal Fontina.”

“No can do, honey,” her mom said. “I've got five hundred more words to write, and I've run out of ways to describe dirt and dust.”

“My bros are both out on orders, and my dad is on a contracting job,” Sadie said. “So we don't have any cars.”

“Ugh,” Jenna said. “I think I know someone we can call…”

•••

Ten minutes later, Leo rang the Carsons' doorbell. “Cupcake Delivery Man at your service,” he said, standing at attention. “You bake it…I bring it. Where to?”

“Blakely Elementary…and step on it,” Jenna said, placing the cupcakes in the trunk. She and Sadie piled into the backseat.

“Thanks so much for saving us, Mr. Winters,” Sadie said. “I know Principal Fontina will be very grateful. Hopefully grateful enough to overlook my last test score for my report card…”

“It's Leo…and you're welcome,” he said, hitting the gas pedal. “Hold on, girls. I'll have you there in a jiffy.”

“Jiffy?” Sadie whispered to Jenna.

“Don't ask.” Jenna slumped in her seat. “He's weird.”

When they arrived at Blakely, Principal Fontina had her coat on and was waiting at the door to leave. “Here ya go!” Sadie said, handing the box to her. “Just what you asked for: a dozen Easter cat cupcakes.”

“Easter cat? Whoever heard of an Easter cat?” their principal said. “I emailed Kylie for a dozen Easter
hat
cupcakes. You know…like people wear in the Easter Parade?”

Jenna took out a printout of the email and double-checked it. “Nope. You wrote Easter cats—as in meow, meow.” She showed the principal the paper.

“I hate typing on this new phone,” Principal Fontina sighed. “I'm always making typos. I know it's my fault, but how am I supposed to serve Easter cat cupcakes for dessert Sunday?”

“Well,” Jenna improvised, “you can say they're the ‘purrfect' treat for Easter?”

Principal Fontina mulled it over. “That's very clever…”

“And why not serve them with a side of ‘mousemallow' topping…” Jenna continued.

“Brilliant!” Principal Fontina replied, taking the box and hurrying on her way. “I can't wait to see my guests' faces.”

•••

When they got back in the car, Sadie hugged Jenna. “Did anyone ever tell you you're a genius?” she said. “You seriously saved our butts. I was afraid she'd make us stay after school for messing up her order.”

“Did she like the cupcakes?” Leo asked.

“Like them? She loved them!” Sadie replied. “Thanks to Jenna's quick thinking.”

Jenna wished she could come up with an equally brilliant solution to get her mother to cancel the wedding. But it was no use: Leo was determined.

“Now that all your Easter orders are delivered, you girls can relax and get ready for
la
boda
del
año
—the wedding of the year!” he said.