Apron Strings and the Dangers of Electric Hand Mixers

. . .

Her kitchen was a mess, but Esme could not have enjoyed the sight of her son baking with his new girlfriend any more. They'd been at it for the last few hours, working to make a variety of cookies for their Yearbook class. Esme sat on the opposite end of the long kitchen island, grading assignments and "supervising"—that was code for peeping. Swirl and Daisy were too cute together.

"Do you want to take a turn mixing the dough?" Swirl asked, pouring a concoction of flour, salt, and baking soda in with the rest of the ingredients.

"I'm not sure," Daisy said shyly. "I've never used one of those before."

"It's quite thrilling. Here. I'll show you how to use it." After demonstrating to her the proper mixing technique and which buttons to press on the electric hand mixer, Swirl stood behind Daisy, debating if he should make a move. Esme could tell because he kept lifting his hands to put them on either side of the girl, then dropping them back to his side.

"Am I doing it right?" Daisy asked, giving Swirl the push he needed.

"You want to go a little deeper so the flour can mix with the other ingredients. Like this." Finally, Swirl put his arms around Daisy so he could show her how it was done, like a true boyfriend.

It happened as if in slow motion. Daisy, surprised by Swirl's sudden touch, glanced over her shoulder and the mixer lifted to glance with her. Daisy must have felt it coming, because she ducked out of the way just in time for the mixer blades to whip a blast of flour at Swirl.

Esme rushed to hide her face behind her gradebook, a fit of laughter overwhelming her. Everything from his hair down to his waist was dusted in white.

Daisy was mortified as she fought to find the off button. "Oh. Oh, Edward. I am so, so sorry."

Peeking above her book, Esme saw Edward wiping the flour off his glasses. "It's quite all right," he said. "It wasn't awful for a first try. Really."

"You're just saying that to be nice."

"Not at all. You couldn't have anticipated my sudden… uh, interference. I should go wash this off. Can you help me untie my apron?"

"Of course," Daisy said, hurrying behind him with shaky hands. She tugged at the strings unsuccessfully. "It's knotted. God, I couldn't even do that right. What's wrong with me?"

Esme knew exactly what was wrong. Daisy was in love with Swirl, distracting her into oblivion. "Here, Bella," Esme said, rolling open a drawer and pulling out a pair of scissors. "Go ahead and cut the strings."