Chapter Fifteen
The bell over the door tinkled cheerily when JT and Ali stepped into the café. Inside the air smelled of warm chocolate, coffee, and flour. JT steered Ali along the exposed brick wall to an open space to listen to the owners.
“Welcome, contestants. We’re so glad to have you at Hart’s Bread & Pastries.
And thank you to the town council for picking us to be the first stop for the competition this year.
” Tim, a tall, thin Black man with close-crapped hair, and one half of the couple who owned the bakery, spoke to the crowd.
His wife, Patty, a short white woman with a beaky nose and a dyed-blond bob, stood next to him, clutching a piece of paper and appearing ready to interrupt him at any second.
“For this first event, we want you all to make two perfect mugs of cocoa.” Patty put on her reading glasses as she went over the rules.
One mug could be any flavor and one had to be a take on a classic cocoa.
This one had to avoid any “auxiliary” flavors and had to showcase the chocolate the store was so well-known for.
“I spend hours perfecting that chocolate, so don’t screw it up,” Patty said with a smile that came across more menacing than kind.
“Jesus, don’t mess with Patty’s chocolate,” JT said, leaning down to whisper in Ali’s ear.
Ali giggled but stopped quickly when people looked their way.
“You will have fifteen minutes to familiarize yourself with the ingredients we’ve provided and another hour to make your cocoa. You have all been given a standard recipe so we don’t end up with anything inedible,” Tim said with a laugh.
Ali covered her mouth.
“What?” JT asked, feeling curious to be let in on the joke but also a little nervous.
Ali shook her head. “I’ll tell you in a minute.”
They were dismissed to workstations set up at the tables in the bakery and café. Each had a hot plate and a jumble of ingredients laid out for each pair.
“Why are you laughing?”
Ali inspected the ingredients on their table. “Kyle added salt instead of sugar two years ago. Patty was so mad at us I thought we were going to get disqualified. We laughed so hard all the way home.” She looked across the room at Kyle, and JT fought the twinge of jealousy blooming in her chest.
They had history. They’d entered this contest together. Of course Ali would have some memories and even nostalgia, but that didn’t mean JT liked it.
“So you’re saying the bar for me is so low it’s in the basement?”
Ali smiled. “Yeah, don’t poison the judges with a quarter cup of salt and you’ll be a massive improvement. Also don’t be a gigantic tool and you’ll be an upgrade.”
JT took a spoon to taste the various add-ons. “Don’t be a tool. Well, that sounds like something I can handle.” She liked the caramel and the fudge but wasn’t sold on the peppermint-infused cream. She made a face Ali caught.
Ali tried a bite. “Oooh, that’s good.”
JT shook her head. “Crap, now I know you have terrible taste. How is that supposed to make me feel?” She made a disgusted face. “That shit tastes like toothpaste. You cannot put that in the cocoa.”
“Peppermint cocoa is like the number-one drink at Starbucks starting in November. What are you even talking about?”
“Maybe, but it doesn’t make it less gross!” JT moved the bowl of cream to the side. “I cannot, in good conscience, serve that.”
Ali rolled her eyes. “You’re kind of a big baby, you know?”
JT looked at her siblings, who were tasting everything like they were freaking cocoa sommeliers.
Beth and Jonathan had their heads bent close together like they were sharing secrets about the ingredients.
Emerson and Clark held up containers to the light like the color of the ingredients mattered.
“I am the youngest, but I am not a baby. I like what I like. How is that a bad thing?”
Ali sighed but gave up the argument. JT felt momentarily triumphant.
“What flavors do you like?”
JT pointed to little pots around the table. “Caramel, fudge, not those fruit flavors though. Orange and chocolate is an abomination.”
“You’re wrong, but fine. I can go with no fruit flavors. I hate cherry flavor. So, salted caramel, maybe? How do you feel about peanut butter, or Nutella?”
JT moaned. “Fucking love them. Both of them, all of them. What about a caramel peanut butter cocoa? Or is that too much?”
Ali shrugged. “Maybe, but why not give it a try?”
Patty’s voice cut through the room. “All right, everyone. You have one hour. Your time starts now.”
JT picked up the recipe and measured ingredients to hand to Ali. “Here, why don’t we make a double batch of the cocoa and then we can add the flavors to each batch? That way we can get the base right before we try to make it fancy.”
Ali nodded and warmed the milk as JT handed her sugar and cocoa. She whisked like a boss while JT organized the table into the two possible flavors.
“Wait, can we put booze in these?”
Ali shook her head. “No. The bakery doesn’t have a liquor license and Tim’s too much of a stickler for rules.”
JT sighed. “Fine, but I maintain that the best way to make amazing cocoa is a little whisky. Or maybe some bourbon.”
Ali looked over the pot to catch JT’s eye. “Maybe you can make me some of that later?”
“Oh, you want to hang out with me later?” JT asked, her smile creeping up at one corner of her mouth. “I don’t make boozy cocoa for just anyone.” She shook her head. “Very presumptuous.”
Ali added the dry ingredients and whisked them together until the pot steamed and the smell wafted toward JT. “Silly me. I bet you have a date later.”
“Nah, the girl I have my eye on only wants to be friends. But maybe if I tell her how cute she is, she’ll change her mind one of these days,” JT said, her lips curving up on one side. Ali’s eyes found JT’s.
“Oh, you might be too smooth for your own good.”
The time passed so quickly. They tasted the concoctions so many times that by the end, JT wasn’t sure if they were any good because all she tasted was sweet.
As the time ticked away, Ali hurried to decorate the mugs to make them look as good as possible.
There wasn’t much to work with, though. She ladled the cocoa into each mug, then put some extra fudge in one and a drizzle of caramel and peanut butter sauce on the other.
“Marshmallows?” JT asked, tossing a handful into her mouth.
Ali held out her hand for the bag. “Yes, we need those, so stop eating them.” JT looked chastened but held out a marshmallow to Ali.
Ali looked at her hand and then JT’s face. Holding eye contact, she opened her mouth and allowed JT to place the mini marshmallow on her tongue. JT didn’t break eye contact as she watched Ali lick the sugar off her lips.
Okay, this just-friends thing was a bit harder than she’d expected. Her current status was jealous of a freaking marshmallow.
“Feeding each other? How friendly of you.”
JT spun around. Kyle. She rolled her eyes right in his stupid face.
Ali swallowed the marshmallow. “What are you doing over here, Kyle? Your station is on the other side of the room.” She nodded in the direction of his partner. “Leaving your partner to do all the work is a classic move from you, though.”
He scowled. “I came to say hi but got a bit of a show from you two. Surprised you’re making such a public display, Ali. There are some parents of your students here, aren’t there?”
Ali blushed and looked around the room.
“Dude. The only difference between me giving Ali a marshmallow and how I would have given one to her brother is I would have whipped half a dozen at Tommy. She and I aren’t at the ‘bombard me’ level yet. But maybe friendship is a concept beyond your understanding.”
Kyle crossed his arms over his chest. JT had had her fair share of run-ins with dudes who thought they were tough and intimidating because they were big. Usually, these happened on the rink where she could skate circles around them. It was less comfortable in a café.
“Kyle, your date is looking for you.” Ali pointed to the woman scanning the crowd with a bit of marshmallow fluff on her cheek.
“I’m just looking out for you, Al. You know how people are.”
Ali rolled her eyes this time as he left to stomp across the room to his own counter.
JT used a rag to wipe up a bit of spilled sauce. “He’s a bit of an ass.”
Ali nodded, adding a dash of chocolate shavings to the whipped cream. “He’s gotten worse over the years. His insecurity has made him unbearable. But my mom still thinks we belong together.”
Sure enough, within a minute of Kyle walking away, Mrs. Porter arrived at their station.
“What did Kyle want?”
Ali’s body tensed.
“Hi, Mrs. Porter. Do you want to try our concoction? We have a little extra if you want a sample.” JT poured a small mug of the cocoa and held it out to Ali’s mom.
“No, thanks. Ali, why did you send Kyle away? Honestly, I don’t understand why you aren’t doing this competition with him. You know, what starts out as friendship can often lead to more.”
JT, who had taken a sip of the cocoa Mrs. Porter had rejected, nearly snorted it with surprise at what Ali’s mom said. Clearly, the concept that she and Ali might be more than friends, or might develop into more, had never crossed her mind. Hetero-goggles were very powerful.
“Mom, if you like Kyle so much, please feel free to visit his station. I’m not sure he’s single but, again, you have my blessing if you want to date him. Grandma might have opinions, though.”
Mrs. Porter made a sour face. “Joke all you want, but I’m right about this. You two belong together.” She walked away as the café owners stepped up to the microphone to tell all the contestants they had three minutes to finish.
“God, why does she have to come in and throw me off my game? Get it together, Ali.”
JT grabbed for the mug, gently taking it from Ali and setting it on the display tray. “Ali, this looks amazing. You did a great job.” She wiped the tray with a cloth where some of the cocoa had dripped. “Don’t worry about your mom, she’s full of shit.”
Ali laughed, but her eyes had a red tinge to them. JT held the cloth out. “You have a little bit of sugar that must be irritating your eyes. Do you want me to get it for you?”
Ali closed her eyes, her shoulders relaxing down.
JT gently wiped her skin, making any hint of a tear disappear before anyone could see it. JT would have given anything to remove Ali’s pain, but for now she had to settle for this. Wanting more was dangerous.