Page 30 of Bake You Mine (Port Fortune #1)
twenty
Between the oven emergency and a last-minute catering order, the meeting with Gary about the last challenge nearly slipped Aubrey’s mind. She ducked into the tiny bathroom staff shared with customers, wedged into the far back of the café.
Crème patisserie was smeared across her cheek, and her bun keeled to one side like that tower in Italy. Luckily, she kept a change of clothes at the patisserie.
Tom raised an eyebrow when she pushed her way through the kitchen doors. “You clean up nice. Trying to impress anyone in particular?” Before she could answer, he carried on speaking. “Maybe someone who answers to the name of Liam?”
“Can’t a girl look nice every now and again for no reason? Besides, I need to go. I’m running late.”
That wasn’t enough reason to stop Tom.
“Of course, you can, but we both know there’s someone you want to look pretty for, duh. I won’t press you for deets before you’re ready.”
She ignored Tom. With the third challenge coming up, the reality of the competition had settled in on her a bit. She wanted it to be over, but on the other hand, she loved this happy little bubble encasing her and Liam. The last challenge was a wrecking ball looming at the edge of her vision.
Aubrey scurried over to the vacant space. The back door was thrown open, and voices carried into the alley.
“So, what you’re saying is that the winner will have this space sooner than anticipated?” Liam’s voice had a skeptical edge to it.
Gary and Liam looked in unison toward her when she arrived. They weren’t the only ones there: two other men moved around in the rear of the space. One had a tape measure in one hand, the other a notepad.
“Good, you’re here. Aubrey, meet Brad and Kevin. Brad is my go-to contractor. He works on all of my projects. Kevin is my architect. They’re here because, as luck would have it, Brad had a job fall through. He can start work shortly after the winner is announced at Port Fortune’s Night Out.”
“By shortly, like the day after,” Brad said.
“Seriously? I mean, I guess that’s a good thing?” Liam said.
“That’s why we’re all here,” Gary said. “If we have it all planned out, construction can start immediately, and you won’t have to be closed for as long as we originally thought.
If you win, that is. At this stage, it could be either of you.
All the more reason I’m glad I made this third challenge so vital! ”
“Thanks for the reminder,” Aubrey groaned.
“It’s a little unusual, but I figured we could take advantage of this schedule change.”
“Well, that’s something,” Aubrey managed.
Why did the prize suddenly feel like one of those cartoon weights hovering on a rope above her head?
Once Brad and Kevin left, Gary rounded on the two of them.
“It’s the final challenge,” he sang the old Europe song “The Final Countdown.” Ah, shit. She’d completely forgotten the original reason for their meeting .
“I’m waiting for circus monkeys and clowns to come barreling through the door,” Liam said.
“It’s funny you mention that, because this final challenge does have a bit of theater to it.” Gary dragged out the syllables in the word theater.
They groaned in unison.
Gary tutted at them. “Oh, have a sense of adventure.”
Aubrey stared out the window, wondering what theatrics would accompany this challenge. She didn’t have to wait long, as Mary and Ashley appeared through the back door. One handed a tablet to her boss, and another gave him a tatty old top hat and striped jacket. He howled with laughter.
“A proper ringmaster hat and jacket. Oh, how utterly wonderful!” He donned them both, then thrust his phone at Aubrey. “Be a dear and snap a photo.”
“The look is top-notch, but can we get on with this?” Liam asked as Aubrey took the photo.
“Oh, fine.” He doffed his hat. “I have special guests announcing this challenge.”
He turned the tablet around, revealing a video with a black screen. He hit play, and Chip Sanchez and Diana Brighton, the hosts of Sunrise Washington , the area’s most popular local morning show, appeared on the screen.
Gary tapped the screen to pause the video. “Any guesses so far?”
The anxious thoughts of the hamster wheel started squeaking again. No, no, no, not live TV. Anything but that.
She’d had traumatic memories from embarrassing herself on a segment on military television when she was a teenager.
It’d been when they’d lived in Japan and involved an unfortunate event with a chopstick—she’d become something of a meme.
Thankfully, her “fame” hadn’t expanded beyond her school, but it was traumatic nonetheless .
“You’re pale,” Liam said.
Liam’s features stayed blurry until her gaze snapped to focus. “Yeah, sorry. Hit play, Gary.”
He cast a curious glance between them but did as asked.
“Hello, Liam and Aubrey,” Chip said. “I bet you’re wondering what we’ve got to do with your contest. Well, we’re running a series on day trips from DC, and Port Fortune is our next stop! Thanks to Gary’s insistence, of course.”
Gary paused the video. “Guilty as charged!” He hit play again.
“You two will come to our studio in Arlington to present recipes. The theme is Halloween party showstoppers.”
Aubrey inhaled. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“We’re super thrilled to have hot chef himself in the studio,” Diana said before diplomatically adding, “Aubrey, I’ve had your macarons; they were out of this world delicious. I can speak from experience, and we’re all thrilled to try whatever you come up with.”
She was an afterthought, but that wasn’t a surprise when dealing with the real star, hot chef.
She braided her fingers together and forced herself to pay attention, all the while feeling like she was at the center of her mind’s storm.
“The good news is you’ll get a break before your third challenge. We’ll see you a week from today in the studio. We’ve got to get back on air, so Gary will fill you in on the particulars. Bye!” Chip and Diana waved at the camera, then the screen went black.
Seven days for her thoughts to spiral. But only if she let them. “You’ve got a face made for TV, so I guess I have my work cut out for me.”
Liam’s laugh was dry. “Gimme a break, Aubs. You know you’re beautiful. ”
Gary stood there with a smirk, still wearing that stupid outfit. Aubrey braced herself for an inquisition. None came.
“The segment is slated for six thirty a.m. We’ll drive up to the city together on the day, around two thirty a.m., so make sure you get a good night’s sleep the night before.
You’ll each have a sixty-second segment to demo your recipe.
Chip and Diana will cast their vote, and I will, too, of course, but it won’t be revealed on camera.
Each vote will be worth one point, for a total of three possible points, just like the other challenges.
“They will send a crew for the Port Fortune’s Night Out dinner for the final reveal. The winner will be announced then. But you’ll both need to hold off sharing it on social media until the segment airs that Monday.”
“Ugh, way to delay our misery,” Liam said.
Misery was a good way of looking at it. Aubrey deflated forward.
“It’s a great way to shine a light on the fundraiser.
The city council wants to have more fundraising events to help the homeless population, and this segment will help.
And, of course, the potential tourist dollars will make the chamber of commerce happy, which is kind of the whole point of this contest, isn’t it? ”
“Of course,” Liam said.
“So, Halloween showstoppers. I think I can manage that.” Aubrey’s gaze was fixed on the white wall behind Gary’s head.
Liam groaned. “Way easier for Aubrey than me to come up with something with that theme.”
“Maybe I should make a Halloween-themed chocolate cake,” she shot back, surprising herself with the sass.
Liam snorted. “Point taken. I’ll stop my whining.”
“Good, because you have plenty of time to develop something, my boy. We’ll talk before then, I’m sure. Have fun!” Gary whistled to himself as he left .
She stood, needing to tell Tom everything; she would have to catch him or head straight over to his place since he lived a few blocks away.
“Where are you off to? Isn’t Petit Chou closed? I was hoping we could talk.”
“I have to tie up some loose ends before I head home.”
“Oh. Can you come over tonight?”
As comforting as the thought was, she had to start working on this stupid challenge because she would not embarrass herself on television and become a meme or the subject of a viral video. Technology had advanced quite a bit since the last time she went mildly viral.
She reached for her jacket. “I would, but I’m dead on my feet. I want to spend the night with my kid. Could we do it tomorrow, maybe? She’ll be back at Chris’s.”
“Of course, I don’t mind.” He reached forward to give her shoulders a rub, and she let out a low groan. Some of her stress seeped out under his expert hands. “Do you think he will step up to be more involved now that Kayla’s gone?”
Aubrey leaned against him as he rubbed her shoulders. “I hope so. She’s moved out, but she could move back in again. It’s happened before. I’m closely monitoring things, but I’m not rooting for him to fail. I want my kid to have her dad in her life.”
He brushed his cheek against hers. “I think that’s a good idea. I’ll see you tomorrow, beautiful.” He laughed. “Sorry about the slip in front of Gary.”
She shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t notice.”
Gary never missed a thing, but there was a chance. Even if he had, there were bigger things on her mind right now.
Aubrey ran out, eager to catch Tom. Hopefully, she’d feel better after a good old-fashioned vent session with her best friend.