Page 7 of Bake You Mine
Aubrey’s mouth dropped open before she turned away.
He whirled toward Gary. “You think those are bedroom eyes? Those are the direct opposite.”
Gary only cocked a brow while Aubrey slipped further away.
“So, are you going to tell us what this competition entails or not, Gary?” Aubrey called over her shoulder.
“How much fun would it be if I revealed everything now?” Gary’s eyes danced with mischief.
When they only gaped at him, Gary sighed. “Oh, you royal pair of sourpusses. I will reveal a card or two. The Chamber has given me carte blanche in contest creation. With the condition that we all consent to the contest being used as promotional materials for the city.”
Gary extended his arms. “The competition will consist of three…” He whirled around in a circle and tapped his chin. “Yes, three rounds of challenges. Each will be scored on a scale from one to three points. The winner of each challenge will earn the highest number of points, a maximum of three. The loser may receive anywhere from zero to two points.”
Gary chuckled and muttered, “Yes, yes,” under his breath. He’d probably crafted the rules on the spot.
“Do the points carry over from challenge to challenge, or do you start over at zero each time?” Liam asked.
“Hm, what? Oh yes. Points obviously carry over. So, the points you have going into the third challenge will factor into the total score. So, it’s important to score as high as possible in the first two challenges, even if you lose.”
Liam took a moment to run the math. “So, if I win the first two contests with the max of three points each, I’d bring six points total into the third challenge.”
“Or, if I brought in two points for each challenge that I won, and you brought in one for each that you lost, I’d have four points and you’d have two, you arrogant asshat,” Aubrey snapped.
“Or—” Liam started.
“Yes, we’ve all mastered elementary school arithmetic,”Gary cut in. “There are numerous ways this can play out. The most important takeaway is that all the challenges matter.”
Aubrey folded her arms across her chest. “Now that we’ve got the scoring out of the way, there will be three rounds of what kind of challenges, exactly?”
“All will be revealed, my dear.”
When they groaned, Gary threw up his hands. “Fine. After the challenges, the winner will be revealed at Port Fortune’s First Annual Night Out. The chamber of commerce wants as many eyes on the event as possible. Happy?”
“I mean, that’s a little more information, but not what we asked for,” Liam groused.
Advertisements for the Night Out had papered the town over the last week. A charity dinner to raise money to help open a shelter to help the city’s growing homeless population, all the chefs in town had signed up to donate a dish. The event was over a month away.
Liam rubbed his eyes. “Well, I guess this is my life now.”
He had to win Gary’s crazy competition. Because as far as Plan B went, he had one paddle and a map to shit’s creek.
“Oh, don’t appear so dour; there’s good news, too,” Gary admonished. “The winner will get the space, with construction due to start in the new year. The chamber of commerce is also graciously offering a prize of $10,000. And I will cover the renovation costs, except for any upgrades you want to add.”
Aubrey kept a neutral expression on her face until the mention of the cash prize. “This sounds like a reality TV pilot that failed to get picked up, but screw it, I’m in,” Aubrey said. “Maybe it could be fun.”
“You’re sure about this?” Liam asked. “It seems like a whole song and dance. Who knows if the contest would bring any tourist dollars to town, anyhow?”
“Given that you have nearly two million online followersbetween the two of you, how could it not? I’m mad at myself for not capitalizing on this idea earlier, honestly.”
He did have a point, but Liam wasn’t going to admit it. “Fine, whatever. I guess I’m in, too. Can you tell us about the first challenge?”
Gary went silent for a moment. “It will occur a week from tonight. A dinner for thirty-five, taking place in this space. You will collaborate on three courses. Course one: bread and salad. Course two: main with two sides. And course three: desserts and cheese.”
A dinner didn’t sound so bad, but Aubrey began to protest. “This challenge seems skewed to Liam?—”
“And you’d be selling yourself short by assuming that,” Gary shot back. “There’s an opportunity for you to showcase Petit Chou as a whole. Not just your sweet treats.”
Aubrey started to interject, but Gary clapped his hands.
