9. Lila
CHAPTER NINE
Lila
Ismooth both hands down the front of my sunshine-yellow dress and scan the crowd again.
No Max.
He was supposed to meet me before the open tasting so we could—
Well, so we could see if either of us has an exhibitionist kink.
Unfortunately, we never exchanged phone numbers. That’s the downside of having the most amazing sex of your life and then falling asleep before covering basic details.
A few feet away, Candi turns from rearranging the curtains along the side of the stage. The sight of her standing here in a colorless dress and her reigning Frosting Queen sash makes my hands curl into fists.
Last night, she nearly killed me.
Today, she’s fluffing drapery.
Mayor Wren and the ride operator questioned her, but Candi performed a flawless rendition of Innocent Local Woman Traumatized by Freak Carnival Accident.
She gives me a slow once-over. “I’m surprised you have the nerve to show your face.”
I blink. “You literally stole the words right out of my brain. Don’t tell me you’ve developed a new magickal power.”
“That isn’t how magick works. But I suppose you wouldn’t know.”
The familiar barb lands differently today. Maybe almost falling to my death rearranged my priorities. Maybe Max spent the night making me feel beautiful and wanted in ways that had nothing to do with magick, crowns, or Candi’s opinion.
Whatever the reason, I don’t want to spend another moment sparring with a woman who decided we were enemies before either of us was old enough to understand what that meant.
“Look, Candi—”
She reaches behind the curtain and retrieves a hot pink notebook.
My hot pink notebook.
“Give it to me,” I snap.
“Touchy.”
“It contains private information.”
“I know. Your clients’ passwords were extremely easy to locate. You’re lucky I’m happy enough with my own identity and don’t want to steal anyone else’s.”
With a sweet smile, she offers me the notebook.
I hesitate, suspicious of the sudden surrender.
“Go ahead,” she says. “Take it. I already found what I needed.”
I snatch it from her and hold it against my chest. “What does that mean?”
“Operation: Butter Up the Fox made for fascinating reading.”
My stomach drops, and a cold sweat breaks out along my brow.
“You told Mayor Wren, and now I’m disqualified,” I whisper.
Candi laughs. “Better.”
I look toward Mrs. Abernathy, Mayor Wren, and Never who are getting settled behind the judges’ table.
“What did you do?”
“I may or may not have had a fascinating conversation with Max this morning.”
The pounding of my heart drowns out the festival chatter.
“He was leaving your house. Looking rather rumpled.” Candi’s expression hardens. “I have to admit, Lila, I’m surprised. Even for you, sleeping with a judge to get a vote reeks of desperation.”
“You almost killed me.”
She shrugs. “But I didn’t. You are very much alive.”
My fingers dig into the notebook. “What did you tell him?”
“The truth.”
“That’s not—”
The denial dies in my throat.
It was true. In the beginning.
I brought Max a cake because I wanted his vote.
I invented reasons to run into him. I fed him baked goods and asked his opinion because every interaction was technically related to the competition.
Until it wasn’t, and I started looking for him because seeing his crooked smile became the best part of my day.
And now…
Now I can’t imagine my life here—my life anywhere—without him.
“I didn’t sleep with him for a crown. I wrote that before I knew him.”
Candi’s expression gets as close to soft as I’ve ever seen it. “Either way, he now knows your original motive.”
I glance back toward the judges table. Max is there.
My heart leaps before crashing against my sternum.
Even across the crowd, I can see the exhaustion lining his face. The hurt.
His brilliant green eyes find mine.
I take a step, everything inside me reaching for him.
Max’s gaze drops to the notebook clutched against my chest, and my heart breaks.
I start toward him, but the microphone squeals.
“Contestants to the stage.” Mrs. Abernathy announces. “The judge’s ballots have been cast, and we have the name of our next Crescent Cove Summer Festival Frosting Queen!”
Bakers make their way onto the stage, and I’m swept up in the crowd.
The stage lights are bright against the fading sun, and I squint against them, trying to spot Max through the glow.
“Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s competition,” Mrs. Abernathy continues. “The scores were extremely close.”
The familiar wave of desperation should have crashed over me by now like it has every year before. This time, it doesn’t come.
I don’t need to win the crown or the prize money or to move away to prove that I’m worthy of being in this town. This is my home. Although, it will feel a lot less like it without Max.
Mrs. Abernathy unfolds the result card.
“This year’s Frosting Queen is…”
The crowd falls silent.
“Candi Honeycutt.”
Applause erupts.
Candi gasps as though she didn’t position herself beside the throne the moment she walked out onto the stage.
Mayor Wren places the rhinestone tiara over her dark hair, and she waves to the crowd while Mrs. Abernathy drapes another sash across her chest.
I wait for my heart to break, but it can’t. It already has.
“Wait!” A woman’s shout rises above the applause.
Judith Collins charges toward the stage, her silver-streaked braid flying behind her, tablet held over her head.
Mrs. Abernathy lowers the microphone. “Judith?”
“I found it. Proof Candi Honeycutt is a liar and a cheat!”
Candi’s smile vanishes as whispers ripple through the crowd.
Judith reaches the stage and thrusts the tablet toward Mayor Wren.
“The historical society recorded opening night for the town archives,” she explains breathlessly. “We placed cameras throughout the festival grounds. The stage, the boardwalk, the rides—everywhere. I heard what happened on the Ferris wheel, so I reviewed the footage.”
Pink sparks flash between Candi’s twitching fingers.
Judith whirls on her. “Don’t even think about it. I spent three years digitizing the town’s newspaper collection onto this iPad. I will take you down with my bare hands.”
Mayor Wren takes the tablet and presses play while Mrs. Abernathy huddles beside him. A few moments later, they exchange horrified murmurs.
Hope pushes through the cracks in my heart.
Maybe they’ll finally believe me.
Maybe Candi will finally have to answer for what she’s done.
Mayor Wren stops the video and strides toward Candi. Without a word, he removes the rhinestone crown from her head.
“What are you doing?” she squawks. “That proves nothing. The footage could have been altered.”
Judith guffaws. “The historical society would never.”
“Deputy, please escort Ms. Honeycutt to the station. I believe she has several questions to answer.” Mayor Wren motions toward the sheriff’s deputy standing at the edge of the crowd who startles then jumps into action.
Candi’s face loses all color.
“And, Candi,” Mayor Wren continues, “you are disqualified from the Frosting Queen competition and hereby permanently banned from participating in any Crescent Cove festivals.”
“You can’t do that!”
“As mayor and chairman of the festival committee, I assure you I can,” he says as Mrs. Abernathy pulls the sash from Candi’s shoulder.
The sheriff’s deputy meets Candi at the edge of the stage. She leaves with her shoulders rigid and every townsperson finally knowing the truth.
Mayor Wren turns toward me. “Lila, we owe you an apology. We should have listened years ago. I’m sorry.”
Around the stage, people begin offering apologies of their own. The voices swell until I can no longer separate one from another.
Mrs. Abernathy clears her throat. “With Candi Honeycutt disqualified, the contestant who received the next highest combined score from the judges is…Lila Hart!”
The festival explodes with cheers.
Mayor Wren places the rhinestone crown on my head while Mrs. Abernathy drapes the Frosting Queen sash across my chest.
I won.
After years of trying, I finally won.
And I feel…
Exactly the same. Worse, actually.
The crown can’t erase what Candi did. It can’t undo the years I spent believing I was the problem. And it can’t bring Max back to the empty seat behind the judges’ table.
The price I paid to stand here is far greater than the prize.
Mrs. Abernathy holds out the microphone. “Would our new Frosting Queen like to say a few words?”
The crowd blurs behind the tears filling my eyes.
“I’ve wanted this crown for a long time,” I begin. “I thought winning it would prove that being human in a town filled with magick didn’t make me less talented or less worthy of living here.”
My fingers tighten around the microphone.
“I thought it would change how everyone saw me. Maybe even how I saw myself. But it doesn’t feel the way I imagined.”
I take a shaky breath.
“This crown doesn’t make me enough. It only made me realize I already was. I might not be able to cast spells or shift into an animal, but I can transform other things—butter, flour, sugar, fruit. I turn them into comfort and celebration, memories you carry home. That’s my kind of magick.”
Applause rolls over the stage as I hand the microphone back to Mrs. Abernathy.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “But I have somewhere I need to be.”
I lift my skirt and hurry down the stage steps.
“Where are you going?” Judith calls.
“To find Max.”
“Go get him, Frosting Queen!”