Hot Dish (Lost and Found Book 4), page 13
The one person I wanted to run into the arms of to feel safe was the one person I worried had been lying to me this whole time.
There were so many questions, and perhaps I didn’t want to know the answers.
TWENTY-TWO
Konrad
“IS THIS LUNCH CONSIDERED a tax write-off?” Chloe asked before she took a bite of her BLT.
I told Chloe that her brother had stopped by yesterday while she was in Bangor, but she refused to discuss it. She said she’d accept the coffee as part of his apology because he gave it willingly, but it would take much more than a box of coffee to make up for what he did.
She had spent the morning at Carter’s farm looking for inspiration for a new baking project she wanted to tackle.
I thought it was too much with her focusing on the competition and figuring out how to sustain her business, but she swore it might bring in new business. I think she was having doubts about the animal cookie project. Maybe even more than the project, because when she came back from the farm, Chloe avoided me.
I bet she didn’t want me to tell her I was right. Which I was, but I wouldn’t do that to her. I offered a working lunch to help her and hopefully discuss her brother.
I suggested we discuss her business plan over lunch, hoping to bring up examples of deals her brother made to get her talking about him at least.
“I guess it could be since we are going over the plan for your business.” I picked up my fork and stabbed at a cucumber in my salad.
“I was thinking about taking the money I could win from the contest and investing it in a new bakery. Even if I make it to second place, I’ll win ten thousand dollars. That’s enough for a few months’ rent for a bakery.” She smiled and took another bite of her sandwich.
She let me see how much money she had left for the bakery last night, and it wasn’t much.
“Yes, but what about tables and chairs? And then you would have to purchase all new appliances. I don’t know if the bank will loan you that.”
She sat back, her smile falling. “I wasn’t thinking about the bank. I still have to pay back that loan. Crap.”
Chloe narrowed her eyes and said, “Maybe I shouldn’t have a bakery at all.”
I hated to be the one who threw reality into her face, but it was business. The more realistically she thought about it, the more likely she would be successful. I knew too many friends who had wild ideas with no grounding or research put into them, and they threw a bunch of money at it, only to lose it all.
“You can’t depend on a what if? What if you don’t win anything in the contest? What then? Maybe we look at this differently.”
She sank lower in her booth seat. “I thought you wanted to help. You mentioned your business background, and you’re working hard on the inn. But it doesn’t sound like you want to help me at all.”
“I’m talking about you earning money from your business. Not about maybe winning it or buying things you don’t have the money for. That’s not how I would run a company.”
She threw her arms up in frustration. “I’m a baker. You’ve talked about profit margins and net loss. Maybe you should start a bakery since you’re so good at business. I’ll just bake maple bacon donuts for myself.”
Debbie strolled up to the table with another glass of water for me. “Maple bacon donuts? Is that your latest recipe? If so, I’ll order three dozen.” She placed the water down and looked at Chloe, eagerly awaiting confirmation on her donut order.
“Shh.” Chloe gazed around the diner to make sure no one was eavesdropping. “It’s a special recipe I’m breaking out tomorrow at the competition. I think it has an actual shot at winning.”
“Even if it doesn’t win, I still want my three dozen for the diner. The customers will gobble those up quickly.”
“Okay, after tomorrow, you get first dibs on the donuts.”
Debbie waved her fist in the air. “Yes.”
“Hey, Debbie, maybe you can settle a bet for us?” Chloe asked with a mischievous gleam in her eyes.
“What bet?” I asked.
She waved me off and looked up at Debbie expectantly.
“I’ll help you.”
“Do you have to be a business wizard to run a bakery?”
I groaned. That wasn’t what I was saying to her. This was her business. I only wanted to help her.
“Not really.”
“Great. Thanks. You helped more than you know.” Chloe turned to face me and mouthed the words I told you so.
“But, if you are discussing your bakery business, then learning how to work the numbers and make a profit is important. When Jack and I first started the diner, I knew nothing about bookkeeping. It took us a while, but we learned enough to do everything ourselves. If you want to run your own business, you have to take on all the jobs, not just the fun ones.” Debbie turned to me and winked before waving goodbye.
I was realizing why everyone loved Debbie.
“That didn’t work out at all how I had expected.”
“She’s right.” I stared at Chloe. She was cute when she was pouting.
“I just want to get a feel about how you want to run your business so I can help you.”
“I can do this myself. I don’t need your help. I did all the accounting for my brother’s business, Fire Lake Coffee. I know what I’m doing.”
I sighed. I didn’t want to bring this up, but she was being stubborn. She needed to hear it. “That’s Bea’s job now. And she told me something about the books you had kept . . ..”
“What? That she had never seen such perfect numbers in all her life?” Chloe raised her brow.
“More like the opposite . . .. She had to hire an accountant to straighten them out. The accountant said he would have thought you were trying to steal money from the business with how confusing they were, but after fixing them, only a few dollars were missing. Usually crooks create a confusing accounting system to cover their tracks, but he thought you just didn’t know what you were doing.”
“So, I suck at accounting. What now? Give up being a baker because I can’t math?” She pressed down on the table with her fingers like she was typing on a keyboard, only using one finger on each hand.
I reached across the table and placed my hands over hers to stop the ridiculousness. She flinched.
I didn’t realize me helping her would cause such unease. I knew she’d be guarded, but it was as if she was afraid of me.
“No. You’re too good at baking to do that. Why don’t I take over for a bit until you are making enough to hire an accountant?”
Her shoulders sagged. “I don’t think that would be a very good idea.”
I squeezed her hand and then let go. “It’s hard work. It’s not someone else’s dream you’re working toward, it’s yours. It’s more personal. Suddenly, you have all these worries that you never knew existed. But I’m here to help.”
“I bet you are,” she mumbled.
“Do you think I want to sabotage your business?”
Chloe had been acting strange all morning. Was she having doubts about being with me?
“The only business I know you run is the inn, and that isn’t even open yet. You say you helped your father, but he’s the head of Love Foods, not you. And when I talked to Bea about that resort in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia that Mica sells his coffee to, she said you were only an investor. It’s easy to throw money at something. It’s hard to actually get your hands dirty building it from nothing.”
My head went back in surprise. “I’ve been working on the inn.”
“You ended up hiring contractors because you couldn’t do the job. It was too hard, so you ran to someone else to do it for you. Well, I’m not you. Chloe’s Bakery is mine, and it will stay that way.”
She pushed out of the booth seat and stood. “I know you want it to fail, to see me fail. And don’t think for one second that I’m blind to how you’re trying to trick me all because you embarrassed yourself helping me outside the bear’s cave. I knew rich people could be vindictive and had an obsessive need to be seen as powerful, but I thought you were different.” Chloe turned and walked out of the diner.
I sat there and watched as the woman I loved strolled out of my life all because I wanted to help her business.
Debbie came back over. “Lover’s quarrel?”
“I guess. I don’t understand. One minute I was discussing how I could help her business so she could focus more on baking, and the next, she was accusing me of being vindictive.”
Debbie sighed. “Some people need to fall down to accept a hand to help them back up.”
“Chloe has fallen down repeatedly. The first time I met her she fell flat on her face and twisted her ankle. She refused my help then, and she’s refusing it now. She doesn’t even have a home for the bakery. I thought I could help her with that at the very least.”
Debbie reached over and patted my hand. “She needs time and to see that you care.”
I nodded. Perhaps she was raw from what had happened with her brother. Maybe she thought I was being overly protective like him.
I needed to show her I cared.
TWENTY-THREE
Chloe
I TRIED MY BEST NOT to wince with the spotlight in my eyes. I now understood why people in show business were always walking around with sunglasses on.
“The final contestant is Chloe Angrov. She hails from Fire Lake, all the way up in the mountains near Canada. Tell me, Chloe, what have you baked the chefs today?” Iona’s smile widened as she turned her attention to me.
It surprised me to discover Iona Dell, Tyler’s wife, was the host of the contest. She was a big Hollywood star. I wouldn’t think she’d want to host a contest only broadcast to the residents of Maine.
But when I talked to her backstage, she said she wanted to stay closer to home and do more local projects.
“It’s a new donut I’ve been working on. I call it my ‘Maine Donut.’ Filled with lavender cream, it’s topped with a maple icing and sprinkled with crumbled bacon.”
She swiped her finger under her bottom lip and turned to the camera. “I think I’m drooling already.”
There was laughter. Everything about the moment was surreal. I never had the desire to be a star like Iona, and now that I was getting a taste of what it was like to perform, I knew I made a wise decision to bake.
Iona took my tray of five donuts and walked over to the judges. One of them was the woman, Mandi, who came in my bakery a few weeks ago.
I tried not to wring my hands as they slowly took a bite. A few of them said something into the camera and to each other, but I couldn’t hear over the deafening pounding in my ears.
There were many “ohs” and “ahs” from the crowd. I suspected they could hear the judges just fine. The crowd had been here the entire morning while we went through two other rounds, before we even got to this point.
Originally there were ten of us at the start of the day, and now we were down to three. I had made my spiced cookie, and then we each had to bake something we thought reflected our talent. Baking the raspberry and maple cream tart was a no-brainer for me.
When I came here today, I was so confident, but after seeing what the other bakers could do, I was wondering if I even had a chance at winning.
I stayed with Bea and Shelby last night. Mica was out for the night. I didn’t ask where he was because I didn’t want to know. He was probably on one of his lengthy road trips to deliver coffee to customers. He didn’t fly because of what had happened to our parents.
Unable to sleep due to nerves, I lay in bed last night and thought about how Konrad had reacted to me calling his bluff. I had dealt with my sister’s ex before, Shelby’s father. Anytime someone confronted him with the truth, he’d deny everything and act as if you were attacking him because you didn’t like him. That you were making up lies because you wanted to destroy him.
Konrad didn’t act like that at all at the diner. He wasn’t angry at me for saying those things. He was shocked and confused. It was as if he really didn’t know what I was talking about.
He’d make an excellent actor.
Iona stepped back onto the platform and faced the audience. “The judges have decided . . ..”
I tried to keep the grin on my face, but it was difficult. Even if I wasn’t the winner or in second place, I would still have made it to third place. If that happened, then I would receive a thousand dollars and a baking pan set from a local cookware shop here in Bangor.
That wasn’t enough to restart my bakery, but it was something at least. And maybe the publicity from the show might get me a few more orders.
I had to think positively.
The intense lighting was causing me to overheat. I wanted to pull at my blouse to fan myself or just rip it off, but I was on television. Instead, I kept still and stood straight.
Iona spoke again, but she sounded muffled. I leaned closer, hoping to hear, but then the audience erupted in applause.
The baker from Bangor was being called up. He must have won third place.
That was good. That meant I still had a chance at first place—at the hundred grand and a spot on the local cooking show, Maine Eats.
I was parched, and I rubbed my lips together. The moment this was over, I would suck down an enormous glass of water.
Iona was speaking again, but this time, the lights dimmed. I glanced up to see what was going on, but the spotlights were still on. No one else appeared concerned. Perhaps this was part of the lighting effect for the show.
I shook my head as I felt woozy. My hand gripped the small wooden counter I stood behind, and I heard the baker beside me ask, “Are you all right?”
After that, everything went black.
TWENTY-FOUR
Konrad
SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL. The pink flower blouse she wore went well with her auburn hair, which was swept up in a twist.
I wanted to run down to the stage to hug Chloe, but this was her moment to shine. She was about to win this contest.
Chloe didn’t know I was here. After she didn’t come home yesterday, I got a text from Bea telling me she was with her. I hoped she was patching things up with her brother, so I left her alone.
Our fight at the diner could wait. She had more important things to deal with right now.
Once Iona announced the guy from Bangor was in third place, I knew Chloe would win. I had seen what the woman from Gorham made, and it didn’t look half as appetizing as what Chloe had baked.
I noticed Chloe sway a little as she stood behind the long counter they had on stage. That concerned me. I leaned forward and noticed she appeared pale.
Right as Iona was about to announce the second-place winner, Chloe collapsed.
There were gasps, and I jumped to my feet. Running down the bleacher stairs, I tried to push past the guy at the bottom.
“No one but cast and crew are allowed on stage at this time, sir. Please go back to your seat, or I will have to call security.”
He was a big guy, and as much as I was willing to take him on, I knew I wouldn’t win.
My only hope was Iona. I called out her name, but she hadn’t heard me. I called again, leaning closer despite the guy holding me back.
This time, she turned. Her eyes widened, and Iona quickly came over.
“It’s okay. She’s Chloe’s boyfriend. I can vouch for him,” she said as she took my arm, refusing to let go.
The guy looked at Iona and then at me and then back at Iona again. He nodded and let me pass. Both Iona and I ran over to Chloe. Thankfully, she was sitting up by the time we got there.
I fell to my knees and cupped her face. “Chloe. How are you feeling?”
“Thirsty.”
I turned my head and yelled for water. A few people scurried off, and I hoped they would fulfill her request.
“What happened?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I felt hot, like I was overheating, and I was having trouble hearing Iona. The next thing I knew, I was blinking up at the lights overhead from the floor.”
She was leaning against the show backdrop. I had no idea how stable it was as these things were usually made quickly and cheaply.
I looked up at Iona. “Is there a room she can sit in for a while?”
“She can use my dressing room.”
I reached over and scooped Chloe up in my arms.
“I swear you need to stop carrying me,” Chloe said as I got to my feet.
“Then stop falling to the ground whenever you’re around me.”
She chuckled, but her head leaned heavily against my shoulder.
Once we were inside the compact room with two padded leather chairs and a table filled with makeup and a mirror, I placed Chloe in one of the chairs. Someone came in the room and handed her a bottle of water. Once he was out of the room, I closed the door.
“I don’t understand why I fainted. I was fine all day. I ate, not much, but I ate today. I guess it was nerves.” She shrugged.
“Maybe.” I had a feeling I knew what it was, but I kept my suspicions to myself. The last thing she needed right now was more stress.
I sat beside her and clasped her hand. “You did great today. Everything you made looked delectable. Watching you bake was fascinating. This may sound silly, but I felt like you were doing what you were always meant to do. You worked so hard, and even when a hiccup occurred, you worked with it, instead of freaking out.”
She tilted her head. “Then why do you want to take my bakery away from me?”
I sat up, letting go of her hand. “What are you talking about? I only offered to help with the business part. You’re the baker. I could never bake like you do. I don’t even know how to make a grilled cheese sandwich.”
