Page 6 of Royal Icing
Emma whirled around. “Are you insane? I’m not leaving you for ten days. And besides, we can’t afford it.”
Maya looked up from her phone. “Oh, did I forget to mention? Everyone who’s going gets 25k, plus free lodging in a fairytale castle. And they’re covering all the materials, equipment, and travel. There’s even a stipend for food.”
She flashed her phone at Emma, revealing a picture of a gorgeous castle overlooking a lake.
Emma’s hand froze on the doorknob. Her pulse thudded in her ears. Twenty-five thousand dollars? She couldn’t have heard correctly.
The possibility rose in front of her like a lovingly tended sourdough. That money would be enough to cover her mother’s medication for the next year. In fact, she’d have to run the numbers, but it might even cover the first few months of rent in a commissary kitchen. If this was a legitimate offer, her days of saving every spare penny and subsisting on dented canned goods would be over. She could quit, freelance social media or waitress for a year until her noncompete wore out, then start her own baking empire. And more importantly, she could start saving for better care for her mom.
But shit. She couldn’t leave her mom. What if something happened again, and this time she was thousands of miles away?
Lisa’s hand closed around Emma’s. “I’ll be fine, sweetheart. Helen from next door will check in on me. I insist you go. You need an adventure. I’ll even help you set up the nanny cams that you think I don’t know about.”
CHAPTER THREE
EMMA
Despite a very longconversation with her mother about why this was an insane idea, Emma had somehow agreed to get on a plane. Now she was bleary-eyed and sandwiched in a middle seat between a businessman drowned in cologne and Cooper, who she had insisted on bringing along in a last-ditch effort to avoid going. But apparently the royal family had no problem with pulling strings to arrange red-eye airfare for gigantic canine companions.
Maya, meanwhile, was just visible taking selfies behind the curtain that separated first class. They were somewhere over the Alps, preparing to touch down in Spain, then they’d travel by chauffer to a country that until yesterday she wouldn’t have been able to find on a map.
Emma had never been a spontaneous person, so jetting off to a foreign country with twelve hours’ notice had felt like being kicked out of an airplane with a partially assembled parachute. She had dipped into her savings to grocery shop and frantically prepare freezer meals for her mom, so there had been no time to research. She didn’t know what the primary language was in Lynoria or if the SIM card she had picked up in the airport would actually work. She knew nothing about the royal family beyondthe princess who liked their espresso croissant. Every part of this trip was giving her anxiety, but it had the potential to change the trajectory of her entire life.
According to the terms the royal family had sent over, half of their pay would be sent before, and the other half would be given after they assembled their dessert. She had checked her bank account before takeoff and saw a pending wire for over $12,000, so some part of this was real.
The stakes were almost insanely high. Baking for one of the Kardashians had been stressful enough, but this wasroyalty. In an unfamiliar kitchen. In a country that might not even speak English.
But if she could pull it off, everything would change. Gone would be the days of Maya taking endless advantage of her—claiming credit for her baked goods, using her for their social media, shifting the responsibility of running the entire business to her while paying her a pittance.
She would have control over her schedule, the ability to bring her mom along to keep an eye on her, the freedom to take on only the projects she wanted. Her next step was closer than ever, and she could have it if she could just make it through this trip. A better life was within her grasp, and it was as subtly sweet as her legendary buttercream.
The plane shifted, signaling their descent. Emma leaned around Cooper’s floof and peered out the window. A dreamy blanket of snow covered the land. A city was in the distance. Patchwork farms bumped up against rolling hills and rocky mountains. Lights dotted the mountainside, marking ski slopes. It was a pity it wasn’t a Mediterranean climate, but at least it would still feel like Christmas.
Her heart ached. Even though they were on a shoestring budget these days, they always found a way to make the holiday season magical. She was missing their most treasured tradition—Decoration Day. Lisa promised that they could celebrate from afar, but Emma’s ability to stick to the schedule was going to be limited.
The worst part was having no way of knowing how many more Decembers she would have with her mom.
At baggage claim,Emma’s phone rang. Oh good, at least the new SIM card was working.
She looped her wrist through Cooper’s leash and answered without checking the caller ID. “Hello?”
“I can’t believe you’re in freakin’ Europe right now. What alternate universe have we stumbled into?”
Warmth spread through Emma’s body at the sound of Lola’s voice. They had been best friends since elementary school, and even though Lola had gotten married and moved to Chicago, they still talked every day.
“I know, right? I’m still pretty sure that we’re going to show up at the castle and they’ll have no idea who we are. But at least it got me out of the 5 a.m. shift for a day or two.”
“Great point. How’s your mom?” Lola asked.
“She claims she’s fine. Our neighbor agreed to take her to her appointments this week and next. But I’m going to check the nanny cams the second I get connected to Wi-Fi.”
“She’ll be fine,” Lola said. “She’s not going to take risks while you’re gone.”
“Have you met my mother?”
“You have a point.”
Emma glanced around the airport. It was a good thing she had taken Spanish in high school. At least she could find thebathroom. “How are things? Writing any interesting proposals this week?”
