Ashley followed behind me, furious.
“Stop! Stop right now!”
I parked the cake beside my table and sat down.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ashley hissed.
“Well,” I said, “I paid for it. I thought I might as well enjoy it.”
“You can’t take the wedding cake!”
“Grandma deserved to be paid. Since you refused, I paid her. This is my cake now.”
“It doesn’t work that way! It was made for my wedding!”
I picked up a spoon from the table and examined it under the lights.
“Grandma’s cakes are superb. I’m sure this one will taste wonderful.”
Very slowly, I raised the spoon toward the frosting.
“Stop!” Ashley shrieked. “Don’t you dare!”
I paused.
The spoon hovered barely an inch above the fondant, and the room seemed to freeze with it.
“You’re petty!” Ashley shouted, loudly enough for guests at the back tables to turn. “You’re jealous! You’ve always hated me, and you’re doing this to ruin my wedding!”
I kept the spoon perfectly still.
Ashley spun toward Daniel, who’d followed us across the room looking completely bewildered.
“Daniel! Do something! Make her apologize and put the cake back. Right now!”
Daniel glanced between us.
“Will someone tell me what’s going on?”
“Because Ashley promised to pay Grandma for the ingredients and her labor,” I said. “Then, after Grandma finished it, she refused.”
He frowned.
“What? Ashley told me Grandma was making it as a wedding gift.”
He turned toward his bride.
“Is that true?”
Ashley folded her arms.
“Okay, fine. She mentioned she wanted money at first. But you don’t charge family for a wedding cake, Daniel. That’s ridiculous. And now your sister is making a huge spectacle over nothing.”
“Grandma didn’t want to spoil your wedding,” I explained.
Daniel glanced toward her table, where she sat perfectly still.
“Why did you pay her back yourself?” he asked quietly.
“She needed the money for her medication.”
Daniel turned toward Ashley.
“You knew she needed money for medicine?”
“Oh, please.” Ashley waved dismissively. “She was being dramatic.”
“When Grandma explained it,” I said, “Ashley laughed in her face.”
I’ll never forget the expression on my brother’s face.
He stared at his wife, waiting for her to explain.
I could almost see him hoping she’d deny it, say there’d been a misunderstanding, or at least apologize.
Instead, Ashley rolled her eyes.
“Oh, for God’s sake. She’s not going to die because she has to wait a few days for her medicine.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
Ashley continued speaking, seemingly unaware.
“And honestly, everyone’s watching, the photos are going to be ruined, and I can’t believe you’re all making such a huge deal out of…”
Daniel looked toward Grandma again.
She sat with her hands tightly folded, desperately trying to appear unaffected.
Her chin trembled once.
Then he turned back to Ashley.
“Enough of this,” he said.
He walked away from her and headed directly toward me.
My stomach dropped.
I assumed he was furious that I’d disrupted his reception and was about to demand that I leave.
Ashley apparently thought the same thing.
She sighed with relief.
“Thank you,” she said. “Finally. Somebody around here has some sense.”
Daniel stopped beside my chair and extended his hand.
“Give me that.”
I looked down at the spoon, having almost forgotten I was holding it.
I hesitated briefly.
Then he took it from my fingers.
He turned toward the cake.
Ashley smiled triumphantly and began smoothing her hair, apparently preparing for the photographer.
