Ansley's Big Bake Off Read online

  “Dagny? Who’s Dagny?” I asked.

  “I have no idea,” Taylor said.

  We both burst out laughing. “Oh, well,” I said. “Better luck next time! We still got a lot of blue ribbons!”

  “Yeah,” Taylor said. “Because our cake was awesome!”

  “Especially your unicorns.” I bent down for another look at them. I must not have been the only person who thought that they were too cute to eat. “Can I take the ‘Ansley’ unicorn home?”

  “Sure!”

  As I carefully transferred the fondant cutie onto another plate, I waved Guadalupe over. “Let me cut you a nice piece,” I said, “since I made it gluten-free just for you.”

  Guadalupe gasped. “Really? Wow! That is so nice of you! Thanks!” When she took a bite out of the fluffy, white wedge, her face took on a blissful expression. “So good. Just like—”

  “Sweet clouds, I hope!” I said.

  Just then, Lena, Cammie, and Kitty gathered around us.

  “Can your sisters get a piece too?” Cammie asked.

  “Of course,” I said, and I began slicing small pieces for them all. “You deserve one for all the help you gave me with ideas and stuff. In fact . . .”

  I plucked the blue ribbon for “Originality” up and stuck it on Cammie. “Thank you for all the cake decorating ideas and for recording me and for your advice and everything.”

  “You’re welcome.” Cammie smiled proudly.

  Then I grabbed the blue ribbon for “Taste” and stuck it on Kitty. “Thank you for the sprinkles and also for recording and for all your support.”

  “You’re welcome,” Kitty said shyly.

  Last, I stuck the blue ribbon for “Presentation” on Lena. “And that is for your performance today! It was amazing! Plus, you deserve it for praying with me and well . . . just for all your help!

  “Three blue ribbons for three true-blue sisters!” I thrust my arm out in the middle of our circle. “Even in times when we’re apart, the Daniels sisters promise with all our hearts . . .”

  My sisters all joined in. “That we’ll always be . . . Together four-ever! Together four-ever! Together four-ever! Together four-ever!”

  We cheered and jumped up and down.

  “Come on, Daniels sisters,” Dad said, wrapping his arms around the four of us as best he could. “Let’s find a good place to eat together. Mallory said to just let her know where and she’ll join us. What about you, Taylor? Would you and your grandmother like to come with us? Guadalupe?”

  “Yeah, guys,” I said, excitedly. “The more the merrier. Let’s make it a big party! Like a heavenly feast!” And we all began singing “Happy Reunion” as we headed off toward the picnic section to look for the perfect table to seat us all.

  Read this excerpt from Book 2 in the Daniels Sisters Series:

  Ashton’s Dancing Dreams

  Chapter 1

  My dad, sisters, and I were all in the car, just about to pull up to school, when my favorite song came on the radio—“God is Good,” by our favorite singer, Mallory Winston.

  “Oooh! Turn it up! Turn it up, Daddy!” My three sisters all spoke at once.

  Ansley started swaying to the music. Lena (my oldest sister) and Amber (my twin) started singing along. I closed my eyes to listen to the lyrics:

  They gave me the bad news

  And I didn’t know what to do.

  And I wondered what to say

  Do I laugh or do I cry?

  Do I scream or do I sigh?

  Or I just kneel down and pray?

  As I kept my eyes closed, I imagined a dance to go along with the words to the song. Daydreaming like this had become one of my favorite things to do lately. It was fun for me because I was taking classes in lyrical dance (a way of acting out a story with dance moves) and I loved it!

  The daydream usually went like this: I would be standing on a stage, silently waiting in the dark. Suddenly, the spotlight would come on and focus right on me, making the sequins in my pink dance outfit shimmer ever so slightly. Then the music would begin. I could just picture the exact arm gestures I would do to the opening line “When they gave me the bad news.” Then I would do a half-turn on “I didn’t know what do.” I would flip my hands up on “Was there something I should say?” and would, of course, fall to my knees on “or should I just kneel down and pray.” Next, I would leap . . .

  “Cammie!” a voice called me from far off in the distance. (Cammie is my family nickname.)

  My eyes were still closed as I made a joyful leap across the stage . . .

  “Cammie!”

  Now I was hunching my back and covering my face with my hands . . .

  “Ashton Joy Daniels!”

  Uh-Oh. The music had been shut off and Dad had used my full name. I popped my eyes open and met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “Yeah, Dad?”

  “Will you be joining your sisters in school today? Or were you planning on coming back home with me?”

  I giggled and unbuckled my backseat belt. “I guess I’ll be joining my sisters.”

  “Good idea,” Dad said, nodding. I watched the reflection of his eyes as they crinkled in a smile.

  “Come on, Cammie!” Amber called to me from outside. I popped out of the car and hurried to catch up with her. We were not identical twins, so we didn’t look alike. People had no problem telling us apart. But they were always comparing us to one another anyway. Like, “Oh, she’s the shy one and you’re the more outgoing one.” Or “She likes singing and you like dancing.” My favorite one though was when someone called Amber “sugar and spice” and me “fire and ice.” I liked the sound of that! Anyway, I guess when you’re sisters, people are always going to compare you to each other, whether you are twins or not.

  “What happened? Did you forget something?” Amber wrinkled her forehead with the question.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I forgot to get out of the car!”

  We followed Lena and Ansley as they walked through the opened front gates of our school campus, Roland Lake Christian Academy. The school was made up of three buildings. The main building was a big, old-fashioned mansion with white columns, and two other brick buildings stood one on either side of it. The middle building actually was the middle school, and Ansley dashed off to meet her friends there. Lena veered off to the left, toward the high school. Amber and I headed to the right, toward the elementary school building. But since students from all three schools were gathered together on the front lawn, we could all hear greetings to each one of us coming from different directions. Everyone knew us Daniels sisters because there were four of us and we were the only set of siblings that year who were attending classes in all three buildings.

  “Ashton! Amber!” Our friends Esperanza Harrison and June Harlow called out to us.

  We waved at them and stopped walking to allow the girls time to run over and join us. Rani (which is what we called Esperanza) and June were really best friends to each other, just like Amber and I were. But at school a lot of the time Rani was more like my best friend and June was Amber’s. June had pale, reddish-blonde, wispy hair that she usually wore in a simple ponytail, very light blue eyes, and eyelashes that were almost silver. Rani was practically her opposite. She had dark hair that she wore in two thick braids, super dark eyebrows, super dark eyelashes, and eyes that were almost black. But today, by the time she reached me and came to a panting stop, I could see that her eyes were looking red . . . and puffy

  “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I asked.

  Rani nodded as she caught her breath. Then she shook her head. “Yes. Actually, no. I have bad news!”

  “What happened?” Amber and I asked together.

  “It’s my dad,” Rani said with a sob. “He got a promotion!”

  I paused and exchanged glances with Amber. Wasn’t a promotion supposed to be a good thing? “You mean . . . he got a better, more important job?” I asked, squinting my eyes.

  Rani nodded again.

  Amber ti
lted her head. “Will he be paid more too?”

  Rani nodded a third time.

  I was definitely missing something. “So . . . what exactly is the problem?”

  “Well, he didn’t say ‘yes’ yet,” Rani said. She started biting her fingernails.

  “Why not?”

  “Because the job’s in London!” Rani blurted out, and she began to cry.

  Amber immediately reached out to give her arm a squeeze. June patted Rani on the back. But I was still having trouble understanding.

  “That’s . . . terrible, Rani,” I said. “I know you’re going to miss him a lot. How long will he be away?”

  “No! Don’t you get it?” Rani accepted the packet of tissues June handed to her. “I won’t miss him. I’ll be with him! We’ll all have to move!”

  I sucked in my breath. “Oooh. You won’t be missing him . . . we’ll be missing you.”

  “Right!” Rani groaned. “And I’ll miss all of you too!” A fresh batch of tears began to stream down her face.

  “When is this supposed to happen?” Amber asked. Her voice was softer and higher than mine. “Like, by this summer?”

  “That’s the worst part,” Rani said with a sniffle. “The job opened up unexpectedly. Dad needs to give them his answer in a week. And if he says ‘yes’ we’ll probably be moving in two weeks!”

  Amber and I gasped together.

  “But there’s more than two months left of school!” I shook my head. “It makes no sense to take you out now.”

  Rani shrugged. “It’s supposed to be a really great job.”

  “No, no,” I continued. “We can’t let it happen. There’s got to be some way to keep you here. I just know it.” I patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll think of something.”

  The four of us trudged up to the school, each quietly lost in our own thoughts. June had her head down. Amber was humming something to herself. Rani was still sniffling.

  Think of a plan, I commanded myself. I led the pack to the front doors of our building and toward the auditorium where our classes were lining up. It was when we were passing by the main office that it caught my eye. There was a colorful mini-poster on the bulletin board on the wall.

  Do you sing? Do you dance? Are you a musician or comedian?

  Don’t hide your light under a bushel! Sign up for

  THE ROLAND LAKE LOWER SCHOOL

  Spring Talent Show!