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phone rings.
    “Hi there, Rachel Roo.”
    “Hi, Dad. How’s Florida?” I try to keep the bitterness out of my voice. If I let on how upset I am about him leaving, it might scare him off and then he’ll never come home.
    “Oh, you know,” he says, chuckling. “I’ve got sand everywhere, even in my ears. But otherwise good.”
    “How’s the scuba business going?” I ask. What I’m really asking is: Have you finally given up on your crazy-face dream?
    “There’s been a little more red tape than I expected with permits and things, but it should all be sorted out soon. Tell your mom I’ll be sending her some money any day now.”
    “I’ll tell her.” Of course I won’t, because he made the exact same promise last month, and we never got any money.
    “What’s new with you, Roo?”
    I want to tell him about Mom’s latest weird behavior, but when I mentioned her labeling obsession to him last week, he just laughed it off like it wasn’t a big deal. I hope he’s right.
    Since I don’t even want to think about everything that’s been happening at school, I start telling him about all the brownie recipes I’ve been trying out for the bake sale. “I was thinking of perfecting cheesecake brownies next, since they’re your favorite.”
    “What does your mom think about you spending so much time baking?”
    So much for luring Dad back home with baked goods. “She keeps saying that if my grades start slipping, I’m cut off. But I don’t know if she’d really do that. Her boss has been way nicer to her ever since she started bringing leftover brownies in to work.”
    Dad laughs. “Even stuffy lawyers love chocolate.” He starts doing an over-the-top impression of Mom’s boss, which makes me laugh too. But laughing with Dad only makes me miss him more.
    “Don’t you want to come home?” I can’t help asking, my voice wobbling.
    “Roo, of course I do. But this was just something I had to try out. When you come to visit this summer, you’ll see just how great it is down here.”
    My heart starts hammering away. I just have to act normal so he doesn’t suspect anything. To make my Get-Parents-Back-Together Plan work, I had to tell Dad that Mom knows all about the trip. Since she still refuses to talk to him after what he did to us, I can get away with lying. At least for now. Normally I’d feel horrible about being so sneaky, but I don’t really have a choice.
    “While we’re on the topic, I have a special surprise for you,” Dad goes on. “I was going to wait until you came down here, but I just can’t keep it a secret any longer. How would you like to go see a taping of your favorite show?”
    I blink. “Do you mean Pastry Wars ?”
    “That’s right. It turns out they’re shooting an episode right near here in July. So I was thinking that I could buy some tickets and we could go see the taping together.”
    “Holy avocado dip, are you serious? That would be amazing!”
    “I’ll have to clear it with your mom, of course. But I don’t see why she should object.”
    “ No! ” I yell, almost dropping the phone. “Er, I mean, don’t say anything to her yet. She’s been on this real money-saving kick, and she might not approve of us going to see the show.” My lungs feel like they’re burning. I hate lying, but there’s no other choice.
    “It’s my money I’ll be spending,” he says. “She should be all right with it.”
    I want to ask Dad how he has money to spend on the tickets and none to send to us, but I don’t want to start an argument. Besides, how can I pass up a chance to see my favorite show? “Dad, she still doesn’t want to talk to you. Just give her some more time.” At least that part’s mostly true.
    “I guess you’re right.” He sighs. “I can’t wait for you to come down here, Rachel. We’ll have a great time, just the two of us, okay?”
    I close my eyes. It sounds perfect. “Okay,” I tell him. “I’ll be there.”

Chapter 12
    The next morning I