Page 48 of Cupcake
“Think about it. These kids are already extremely talented. We could be bringing one or two into the bakery a few times a week for extra help and to teach them more about the process of baking in a large business like The Fluffy Cupcake.”
“You mean as apprentices?”
“Sure, or as part-time help if they want the work. Either way, if they’re in the bakery, they’re learning life skills before they go off to college.”
“Or they stay and work their way up to master baker,” she said, gazing at the cakes spread out before us. “I like the way you think, Brady. I think we should come back tomorrow after the judging is done and write down the names of the winners. We ask one pastry baker and one bread baker if they’d be interested. If they say no, we move to the second-place winner. What do you think?”
My grin must have covered my entire face when I answered her. “I’m all in! I would love to pass on some of the knowledge I learned over the years as a way to repay the bakers who taught me about the craft. That includes you,” I promised, kissing her nose. “But for now, we better get home, or Amber will have our heads when we don’t get all the cupcakes baked for the morning.”
She nodded once. “And you don’t mess with Amber when it comes to cupcake selling.”
We strode toward the door of the barn but stopped short near a room full of people. There was a woman on the stage, and she was giving an oratory about fashion.
“What is going on?” I asked, searching for a sign to indicate why Darla was up there talking about mini-skirts and leather jackets. I spotted the sign at the same time Haylee gave a derisive snort next to me. “Strawberry Fest Princess,” I read aloud. “Are you kidding me? She’s running for Strawberry Fest Princess after what happened in the bakery the other day?” My voice was a little loud, and a few of the people in the back of the room turned to glare at us.
We shrunk back and headed for the door again, with Haylee’s arm slung through mine and laughter on her lips. “Darla will run for anything if it means the spotlight is on her.”
“How does someone her age run for Strawberry Fest Princess?” I asked, confused.
“As long as you’re single, you can enter the competition. Is it meant for the young girls of Lake Pendle? Sure, but until they change the rules, you can be ninety-five and enter as long as you’ve never been married.”
“God knows she will still be running at ninety-five then,” I muttered.
Haylee grinned and leaned her head on my shoulder. “Today is the interview and oratory portion and tomorrow night they hold the pageant. We can go watch if you want to.”
“I would rather clean out the grease trap at the bakery on a Friday night than watch that witch prance around on a stage. Besides, how is she going to do that when she has to bake cupcakes in the afternoon? She’ll barely have time to put on her ballgown and get on stage.”
“Don’t you know?” my cupcake asked with laughter in her voice. “Witches wear the same gown to everything.”
Just when I thought I couldn’t love her more, she reminded me that I could. The fact that I’d finally come to terms with the idea that I loved her wasn’t as startling as I expected it to be. Gazing down at her beautiful face turned pink by the sunshine told me it was time to admit that truth to her, too. I had to take the next step. I just hoped she was ready to walk beside me.
Nineteen
Night had fallen, andthe stars were out when we left my apartment to start baking. It was relatively early at one a.m., but with the bake-off later today, we had a lot of ground to cover. We wouldn’t be open since the bakery had a booth at the fair, but we still needed goodies to sell at the booth. Able Baker Brady refused to make any of his artisan bread a day ahead, which meant we had to do it tonight. I couldn’t blame him. No one would be happy with day-old bread when they were expecting fresh from the oven.
“Come here,” he said, grabbing my hand and dragging me away from the doorway of the bakery and across the street.
