Chapter 12 #2
The way he asked it so casually showed how little he knew of the situation.
Then again, she never talked about it with anyone.
It was a matter of public record that she was the daughter of a brokerage empire, and she’d never sought to explain the reality of her relationship with her family.
She’d never denied what was, at its core, the truth.
“They disagreed with my choice of husband and refused to help. I thought they were bluffing at first, but they weren’t. Really, I was the idiot for thinking they’d bluff after . . . well, everything.” She shrugged. “They would have let me starve to prove the point.”
That got both Laurin and Patty’s attention. A flutter of whispers down the line made it obvious that others had heard it as well. By the time the happy couple in front of them sent the loser — Candace — packing, everyone would know that family secret.
“I guess it’s a good thing you got rid of him, then,” Laurin said with a pleased smile, as though he thought his comment was the perfect salve.
Candace nodded silently and turned her attention back to the couple, letting Laurin think his assessment was correct. Truth be told, she would have stayed in that awful marriage forever if she hadn’t been forced out of it. It wasn’t something she was proud of, but it was the truth.
The couple and an additional judge, Food2Love resident wedding expert Natsuki Pop, had a quick discussion before coming to an agreement.
They signaled to Kate and Jannie, and the handlers came by to get all the contestants into proper formation.
With the cue given, Jannie spouted out an intro before deferring to the newlyweds.
“We’re totally blown away by the cakes,” Madison said.
“Really, this was great,” Ronnie agreed. “I don’t think we would have ever come up with some of these designs for ourselves. I think we’d have had a very boring wedding cake if we didn’t have all of these to choose from.”
They bounced back and forth, picking out three cakes and asking who made each one.
Patty, Harper, and Mark all took ownership of their cakes and were notified that they were in the middle.
They nodded and thanked the couple before stepping back and allowing the four remaining contestants to pull closer together.
Zara took Patty’s place to the side of Candace, Belle to the side of Laurin. The older woman had a satisfied look about her, like she was sure she was in the running to win. Since it was obvious where Laurin and Candace ranked, Belle probably thought the couple didn’t like Zara’s bold style.
Madison giggled about who remained. “Honey, check this out, we have two veterans and two new people. Neat!”
Ronnie didn’t look so pleased. Since the two who had chosen him stood here, he likely thought his two were the failures of the bunch.
“Can I guess who made what?” Madison asked Natsuki, who nodded. “Okay, this stained glass one, is it Zara?”
Zara nodded.
“Sweet! So then the peacock.” She glanced back and forth between the cake and the remaining contestants.
“Hmm, they said the cake for this was the second we sampled. It was good, but the icing wasn’t as sweet as I usually like it.
Okay, this is crazy, but you . . . uhh, guy? I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Laurin.”
“Oh! Okay, I didn’t realize that you were a—anyway, is this yours? Great! But how did you . . . I didn’t mention the peacock thing to anyone.”
Laurin’s laugh was robust as he patted his thigh. “When you spin, your dress flares out. I saw the bottom of your thigh tattoo. I took a guess that it was a peacock. Was I right?”
“Yes! Good eye!”
“You guys had the best cakes,” Ronnie said. “Hands down. Most of the debate we’ve been having is over which is more important, the taste or the look, but you did great on both accounts. I want both to win just so we could cut both cakes.”
“You can,” Kate told them.
“Oh? Well, that makes this easier then. We pick for our wedding cake . . .”
“Laurin’s!” Madison shouted.
There was the usual explosion of chatter, which Jannie silenced with, “Laurin, your prize for winning today’s challenge is a Food2Love-sponsored booth at the wedding expo of your choice.”
“Jeez, that’s a good prize,” Candace said with a whistle. That sponsorship went well beyond a simple booth. There’d be tons of media coverage, and he’d get a spread in at least two wedding magazines. It was one of the most coveted prizes, one they gave out once a year at most. “Congratulations.”
“Hey, save that for later,” Laurin said as he grabbed her hand. “Like, way later.”
Candace thought it was a peculiar thing to say in response to congratulations, but then she felt a wet streak on her cheek and realized he was talking about her tears. She tapped them away before the camera could zoom in. “Damn. I’ve been leaking all day.”
“It’s not over yet.”
“It is. It’s okay.”
“Candace,” Ronnie said. “Your cake was delicious.”
“I was really excited to try something of yours,” Madison said. “And the slice we tried was everything I hoped it would be. Maybe the best cake I’ve ever had.”
“I liked the concept of the decoration, too. But . . .”
Ronnie and Madison frowned at each other, and Candace frowned right along with them. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I let you both down.”
“What happened?” Natsuki asked.
“It was a technique I hadn’t tried before,” Candace said, “and I went at it the wrong way. I nearly dropped the whole cake, actually, so I’m just happy to have a cake to present to you at all.
” She said that with the best smile she could muster.
Honestly, it was true. Of all the disasters that had befallen her through her seasons, the absolute worst were always the ones when there was nothing to present. It was an automatic elimination.
Even if it was because the director was getting handsy in the pantry.
The couple nodded in understanding or sympathy; it didn’t matter which. Their decision had already been made, and the right one to send home was Candace.
“Belle,” Madison said, “we liked your cake, too. We weren’t wowed by your flavors, but it was well done.
Neither of us could find anything to complain about.
Even Natsuki liked it.” That was a great compliment, in fact.
Natsuki was notoriously picky, and with good reason.
Wedding cake wasn’t served and eaten immediately like birthday cake.
It wasn’t unusual for the slices to sit for several minutes, even hours, before getting eaten, and the cake itself would have been sitting out for hours before that.
A good cake now might be terrible later, and Natsuki had identifying that down to an art.
“When we saw this cake, though,” Ronnie started, gesturing to it with a scowl and a wrinkle in his nose. He gave a half-hearted shrug as though defeated by the thing’s very existence.
“This cake is hideous,” Madison blurted out when Ronnie’s silence went on too long.
“I’m sorry, but the design is awful. It looks like my grandma’s wedding cake, but my grandma’s was all white, at least .
. . or ivory. Something like that. The pictures suck.
I don’t get why I spent fifteen minutes talking to you if you were going to take two seconds of that conversation to base your entire cake on.
You wasted my time. You wasted our time. Mine and Ronnie’s and Natsuki’s.”
Everyone remaining on the contestant row was stock still, not even breathing.
There had been some severe bashings over the years, but this was particularly scathing.
Then again, messing with the bride on her wedding day could get someone taken out back and beaten.
Candace was tempted to lean forward to see if Laurin was holding Belle’s hand, too, but she was too scared to be the first person to move.
She felt bad for Belle. Yeah, they were in a competition right now, and Belle was a bitch at even the best of times, but that had been terrible to witness. Belle’s cake was ugly, no doubt about it, but Candace was nearly ready to argue for the old bat.
But then Belle said, “I just wanted to bring some dignity to your wedding,” in that old grandma way that was also judgmental grandma, and Candace lost any sympathy for the woman.
She’d gotten that speech at her own wedding.
She may have been too pig-headed then to realize her mother was looking out for Candace in her own awful way, but she still wished her mother had shown her kindness on that one, singular day.
Ronnie took Madison’s hand the way Laurin still held Candace’s, absently but reassuringly, and said, “Candace, Belle, we expected more from both of you. Knowing these came from bakers who we had great respect for, knowing what you could have done but didn’t, really did hurt us.”
Candace wasn’t sure if she had leaned or if it was Laurin, but their arms brushed against each other, and the contact was good. She could hang her head in shame and know someone was watching out for her.
“Ultimately, this was about which cake we’d rather share at our wedding.
” Madison sighed. “We wouldn’t want either, but if we had to pick between the two, we’d rather one that didn’t look very good, but the baker was at least thinking of us.
This wedding is about us, not about impressing our guests.
I’m sorry, Belle, but we choose Candace. ”
Candace had struggled to keep herself calm all day. She’d been so ready to say goodbye now that raw emotion broke loose in a rough sob. She spun away to escape the prying cameras, not wanting anyone to witness her melting down over good news like a crazy person.
Laurin caught her and pulled her into his arms. “You made it,” he said as he rubbed her shoulders briskly. “You’re going to do better on the next challenge, and we’re going to get all the way to the end together, right?”