Eclairs and Extortion (PAPERBACK)

Fit as a fiddle, Gran talked about reducing her days, but apart from Monday, her scheduled day off, and Tuesday afternoons when she had her community center meeting, the only compromise was leaving early the other days. It was definitely going to be hard to keep their secret.

“They can contact me or Angel to confirm attendance.” Suzy suggested.

“What about me? I don’t mind fielding calls,” Laura offered.
“You work here too. If she knows the caller and they ask for you instead of speaking to her, Gran will become suspicious. You’re not a very good liar, sugar, but there’ll be other ways you can help,” Angel explained gently.

“Gran does have a suspicious nature.” Maddie gave a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Another aspect had been bugging her since she decided to go ahead with the party. Of course, Angel noticed.
“Are you still feeling bullied into this?”

Maddie frowned. "Not bullied. I so want to make it a special day for Gran, but what if people show up just to ruin it?”
Laura was confused, but Angel and Suzy grimaced.
It was Suzy who addressed the elephant in the room. 
“Do you mean that your mom might come?”

Maddie nodded and a lump formed in her throat just thinking about it. Her mom did not do family get-togethers very well. In fact, not at all.

“But you are sending her an invitation, right?” Angel asked.
Maddie ran her fingers through Big Red’s fur and sighed. “There’s a couple of people I still can’t decide about.” 

Suzy shook her head. “That won’t do. We have two weeks to get this organized. So far we have a list of people to invite who will hardly fit in the one place that could possibly cope. We need to at least confirm who we’re inviting so we know numbers.”

Maddie leaned back on the white leather couch. “I know. Let’s count those on the list already—definites and probables. As for Mom, well, it’s a really hard decision to make.”

“You know she probably won’t come?” Angel said gently.

“She didn’t make any of my birthdays or graduation, but . . . .” Maddie broke off.

“Ava marches to a different drum and there is a chance she’ll come for the heck of it,” Suzy finished for her.

Maddie nodded again. Her friends knew how her mom’s leaving one day, rarely to return, upset her. But they couldn’t truly appreciate the rejection she’d felt.
With no other family to speak of, if it hadn’t been for Gran and her late grandad taking her in, she might have ended up in care and taken away from Maple Falls. 

She’d learned to live without a mom, but the idea that she could have missed out on the wonderful life she had made her shiver.