Page 34 of Bake You Mine (Port Fortune #1)

twenty-three

“Eww!” Kiki and Brody recoiled, giggling when Liam set the serving tray in front of them. He could think of no better audience to try this recipe on than his niece and nephew.

“Uncle Liam, what is that?” Kiki asked.

“It’s a meatball-stuffed pasta brain. I’m making it for when I’m on TV later this week.”

“Ooh, cool,” Brody exclaimed. He leaned forward to poke it with his finger, earning him a stern glance from his grandmother.

“No poking the cranium, young man.”

Brody removed his hand. Liam could tell the kid wanted to see the brain jiggle, and he couldn’t blame him.

“You’re going to be on TV!” Kiki danced around the kitchen.

“Go set the table with your cousin,” his mother said, gently patting Brody’s shoulder.

With a groan, Brody hopped off the stool and tugged Kiki along to help him. The table was pretty much already set. The kids just needed to lay the silverware.

His mom dropped by with the kids after their after-school activities, and Liam had been eager for them to try out the brain.

It sounded gross when he thought of it that way.

He liked experimenting with food and had the opportunity to dabble with it at Elevation, but not to the extent he had hoped.

Their limited space meant sticking to a smaller, core menu, but that would change if he won the competition. He could foster all his wildest ideas.

“So, how did the trial go for this one? Get it down to one minute?”

The recipe was a shoo-in for the wow factor. He had to be sure he had each part down pat for the tight TV segment, which meant preparing each part of the pasta brain to show as they worked through the segment. It was amazing how quickly one minute passed when you were trying to explain a recipe.

“Not quite there. I have time before Friday and enough ingredients to try again later. Can you grab the serving spoons, please?”

He grabbed the plate with his brain and a small pitcher of marinara, the finishing touch.

The cutlery had been laid haphazardly, and both kids crouched in their seats, leaning over the table, lazily shoving one another.

“Please sit like normal people,” Liam said.

He was surprised when both kids dropped into their chairs. He’d been spending more time with them, so they’d started to listen better.

“Okay, are you ready?” Liam held the tray. They both laughed as it jiggled upon impact. Liam reached for the pitcher and poured the red marinara sauce into the crevice between the two halves of the brain.

“Cool!” Brody said, just as Kiki screamed, “Gross!”

“Do you want to see what’s inside? I do!” his mother said.

Liam reached for the serving knife and cut the brain down the center, revealing the stuffed meatball and bacon layers. The brains were made up of udon noodles encased in a thin layer of flavorless pink gelatin.

“Wow, Uncle Liam, that’s super cool,” Brody said.

Liam served and watched as the kids tore into it with no hesitation. Now, the kids in his family probably weren’t typical, growing up in a family of foodies, but they murmured happily as they ate. The conversation turned to a video game.

His mother reached over. “Kid tested, mother approved. This is fantastic, Liam. If you can get the timing down, it will go over like gangbusters.”

“That’s the last obstacle.”

“Then you’ll know who won next week?”

“Yep. So, a little more than a week until my fate is decided. I have plans to meet with Jason Morse either way. I don’t think he’s a bad connection to have.”

As far as a plan B went, it was excellent. But he shouldn’t get too far ahead of himself just yet. You had to learn to swerve in the restaurant business. He wasn’t sure if swerving meant moving back to the big city, but his opinion changed daily.

She sighed. “No, I suppose you’re right. There are other options, too.”

“Like what?”

She waved her hand. “Let’s see how things go before turning down that road. Either way, you and Aubrey can move forward. I can’t wait for all of us to celebrate at dinner on Friday.”

She touched Kiki’s arm. “You have marinara on your chin.”

Kiki dutifully wiped her face, and his mother turned to him.

“How’s Aubrey?”

They hadn’t had much time together since Sunday’s haunted house. They were both busy getting their segments ready for Sunrise Washington .

She was nervous about being on live TV, but he’d assured her the odds of something going wrong were slim.

She’d been the one to drill into his head that he should practice his timing and bring a backup brain just in case of disaster. She was kind, even to someone who could potentially snatch her dream right out of her hands.

His mother smiled. “You two are good for each other. Sometimes that’s not enough, but is it for you two? I think it just might be.”

In the days since Liam had told her about meeting with Jason Morse, Aubrey couldn’t shake a bad feeling. She’d already been hesitant before he’d dropped that bombshell. Now, she was as skittish as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

His face lit up when he talked about his life before returning to Port Fortune. She relished her time in Paris, so that feeling was easy for her to understand. A golden hue covered that period—she was young, happily married, learning her trade, and thriving as a mother.

Enough time had passed, so she no longer craved it.

On a recent scroll through review sites to check on Petit Chou’s ranking (back at a solid 4.4, despite the shitty reviews), she’d noticed Elevation’s numbers had dipped slightly.

It’s a great place to eat—if you can get through the door!

My girlfriend and I thoroughly enjoyed our experience at Elevation.

This restaurant deserves the high praise bestowed on it.

But it took us four solid tries on multiple days of the week to get a table, and only after waiting for nearly forty minutes!

Elevation needs a bigger space, STAT, or people will give up trying.

She set her phone down on the counter and sighed. As much as she’d love the space and the big fat check, she knew if Liam didn’t win, he’d be out of Port Fortune sooner or later.

Even though they were even entering the third challenge, the odds were stacked in his favor to win. Still, she wouldn’t count herself out just yet. As much as it would hurt if Liam left, she would be damned if she gave up now.