Page 102 of Go Cook Yourself

“That’s weird because I bought them from the local supermarket. Try again. Why haven’t you made it since?”

He bashes his fist on the table. “Tell me what the ingredients are.”

“Clive, why are you so angry? You must know,” Barry Barringer replies. “Whisper them to me, and I’ll get Ruby to whisper, too, and I’ll tell you if they match.”

“I can’t,” he snaps.

“Why not?” An unsuspecting Barry does my job for me.

Clive looks around. His eyes are wild. “Maybe we should cut to something else.”

“That’s not how livestreaming works, Clive.”

“Tell them, Clive,” I say slowly. “Tell them why you can’t reveal the ingredients, or I will.”

Clive looks set to run off, but that’s when Dad and Garett walk on. They stand on either side of him.

My family in the audience start the chant, “Tell us. Tell us. Tell us” Soon, the audience roars the words while the cameras film. A staff member whispers that the number of viewers are going up and up.

Barry silences the crowd with his raised hand. “Maybe you should tell us what this is all about,” he says, turning to me.

I don’t miss a beat. “For this year’s Cotswold’s Best Restaurant, Garett Kelsey made a special pasta dish with his secret ingredients.” Barry tries to jump in, but I shake my head. “As soon as it went to judging, Clive Macdonald ditched Garett. They’d developed the restaurant together, but for reasons Iwon’t share, Garett wasn’t on the deeds. Once he’d ousted Garett from the restaurant, Clive threatened every restaurant, eatery, and cooking school in the area with ruin if they employed him. The Cloud Cookery School doesn’t respond to the threats of bullies, so he’s run sessions at our cookery school ever since. He’s made pasta and bread using the secret ingredients at school. I used them in the cake today to show what a fraud Clive is. Clive can’t distinguish what they are because he never knew.”

Barry rounds on Clive. “Is this true?”

“Clive also stole Garett’s dog, Cookie, the face of the restaurant, and sent cruel messages to Garett. He treated Cookie badly, but we rescued him,” I add.

The audience shouts in disgust.

Clive bellows, “You took him?”

“We rescued him,” a member of the audience hollers. Red hair flies as she runs down the stairs to stand in front of the camera.

Barry’s eyelids flicker. “Who are you?”

“I’m Clive’s sister. Everything Ruby said is true. My brother is a nasty piece of work. I’ve tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I can’t anymore. Do you know that he now employs the prettiest inexperienced women in his restaurant and then tries it on with them even though he already has trained and experienced staff?”

The audience gasps.

My sister yells, “Oh my God. He’s a dog-stealing misogynist.”

“And he’s stolen someone else’s hard work. He’s the worst. I’d hate to eat his food. I bet it tastes of lies,” my mum shouts.

It’s all I can do not to laugh. There’s no one like a Cloud woman.

“Everyone, calm down. There’s one key person we haven’t heard from. Garett Kelsey, I recognise you,” Barry says, turning to Garett, who works his jaw like he’s trying to destroy his teeth.I slip a piece of gum out of my pocket and pass it to him. His stare is all knotted eyebrows and twisted lips. I’m not surprised. I angrily blasted him out of the cookery school the last time I spoke to him. “You’re an amazing chef. I still remember the focaccia starter you made at a restaurant two years ago. I asked for extra to take home.”

“You should taste this.” I tip my head at Mum, who rushes down with a Tupperware box.

“I'm a big fan, Barry. Massive. If I weren’t married, I’d want your number,” Mum says with a wink.

“Mum, get back up the stairs,” I hiss.

She winks at Barry. “I’ll look you up if anything happens to my man.”

Amber moans, “Mum.” Kath chuckles, and Dad shrugs.

“Anyway, I'm afraid this is a day old, but we’ve tried to keep it fresh.” I pass Barry some of the bread that Garett brought to our Christmas meal yesterday. “While you enjoy it, Garett can fill you in.”

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