“Quick! Clara, will you wash the dishes? Eva, will you wipe off the table? I’ll get some treats out and try and create a nice display!” said Rosa as she scurried about the kitchen looking worried.
“What’s the rush?” asked Eva. “I mean you don’t usually get all flustered like this.”
“What? Haven’t you heard? Kiki is bringing the new girl over to see the bakery kitchen and have lunch at the diner. We need to make a good impression.” Rosa was moving so fast she could hardly catch her breath to speak.
“So? That’s no biggy. Don't get your apron in a twist. I mean I doubt she will look very carefully at the kitchen. She’ll just want to eat at the diner,” said Eva, being practical. "Anyway, we can be ready in time. Right, Clara?"
Clara explained, "Grace, that’s the new girl, is a baker. She has studied in Paris and everything. I just know she is going to want to join the baking club. She’d be awesome to have and could probably teach us tons of recipes.”
"Paris, huh? Well that is pretty impressive. I wonder if she's into fashion?" was Eva's first thought, since her real goal in life is to be a fashion designer.
Clara went back to calmly washing the dishes. “We just need to be ourselves and everything will work out fine. Don't worry, Rosa.”
After carefully placing some treats on a plate Rosa stood back to inspect the kitchen. “Well, she’ll be here any minute so I guess this will have to do. I wish I had some flowers to make to decorate the table…” But, just then Kiki brought Grace in to meet the girls.
“Bonjour!” said Rosa just a little too loudly.
Grace looked surprised. “Bonjour! Do you speak French?” and proceeded to say something more in French, but none of us caught that.
Rosa was immediately embarrassed. “Um, no. That’s all I know. Yeah… So… I mean… Welcome,” she said looking down at her shoes.
“Thanks!” replied Grace. “I don’t really speak that much French either.”
Kiki introduced Grace to Eva and Clara and they began chatting about how pretty Pleasantview is this time of year, but wishing it was less rainy. Rosa stayed in the background and listened, still feeling anxious. Pretty soon she realized she actually was twisting up her apron in her nervous fingers. “Get a grip!” she said to herself as she smoothed the apron back down.
“So, Grace, would you like a cookie or a pastry?” she finally asked.
“Well, sure. Maybe just one cookie. We’re about to go have lunch, so I don’t want to spoil that. Did you bake all of these?”
“Yes, I mean no, not me. I mean not alone I didn’t. I mean we all did,” stammered Rosa as Grace looked on politely.
Eva jumped in, “Actually, we have a baking club. Rosa is the main one who leads us and we are all hoping you will join since we know you love to bake. We made these treats together.” Grace responded with excitement, “Oh my gosh! I’d love to join your club! I was worried about finding a way to continue my passion for baking when I came here, so this is perfect.”
Rosa ran over to Grace and gave her a big hug, crushing the cookie Grace was holding into a million crumbs.
“Oh, no! I’m so sorry. I was just so afraid you wouldn’t want to join us, but when you said yes I could hardly believe it!” she said as she brushed crumbs from Grace’s shirt. Suddenly Grace began to laugh. Then Clara, Eva, Kiki and even Rosa joined in! “You must be very serious about your baking,” she said to Rosa while still giggling. “I know just how you feel and I think I’m going to like it here. But, maybe this is a sign that I should wait and have dessert after lunch!”
That brought more laughter. The girls had a group hug and group photo before they headed for the door discussing the specials for today in the diner and what they’d like to bake after lunch.
