Chapter Eleven

What had Eli been thinking, challenging Adeline to a baking competition? He wasn’t worried about losing—he knew he could win. But he didn’t have time for stuff like this. He should be in his trailer, rehearsing his lines. Spontaneously challenging Adeline was exactly the type of thing Benjamin would have done, though.

Too late now.

In order to have a kitchen that was big enough, they’d had to set up the baking challenge at the bed and breakfast. Which would have been fine—last weekend. But now that the crew was starting to arrive, and they of course had heard what was happening the moment they’d checked in, he and Adeline were gaining an audience. The kitchen was big, but not that big. Not big enough to house both the crew and the entire town that seemed to have shown up for the event.

Anyone other than Jessie, who was both moderator and judge, wasn’t allowed in the kitchen, but there were plenty of people gathered outside the open windows, jostling to get a good view. A few had even managed to snag a spot in the wide doorway that led to the dining room.

Eli had tried to convince Jessie to allow him to shut the windows—it was freezing in there, considering they’d given full access to the brisk morning air. Adeline had backed him up, saying it would be difficult to bake while wearing a coat. No such luck. So, they had turned the ovens on early to pre-heat, hoping they’d be able to warm up the kitchen a bit.

“I’m not used to doing live events,” Eli murmured to Adeline, who was just tying an apron behind her back. “Maybe if we tell them this violates fire codes, people will give us some space.”

Adeline laughed, straightening the apron and pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “Fire codes aren’t going to make people back off. Then they wouldn’t be able to film us.”

“What?” He glanced at the gathering crowd. Sure enough, most had their phones out, and by the look of it, they were already recording.

But what had he expected?

He was used to people filming him or photographing him when he wasn’t looking, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. And besides, he was going to win. All of those cooking and baking classes he’d taken in preparation for various roles over the years were going to pay off. Adeline didn’t realize the extent he’d gone to to make certain he really could think like a pastry chef.

He grinned at the thought.

“What are you so happy about?” she asked, her eyebrows raised as she adjusted the ingredients that had been placed on her half of the long counter.

“Just thinking about what I want to get out of our little bet.”

Adeline folded her arms over her chest and snorted. “You’ve sure managed to fit a lot of misplaced confidence in that persona of yours.”

What did she mean by that? Was she referring to Benjamin? Because it didn’t matter if he was Benjamin or Eli at the moment. He’d win either way.

“I think I just decided what I’d like if I win,” he said with a grin. This one had been Benjamin’s idea, all the way. “If you’re so sure that I don’t stand a chance, you won’t mind my prize being a kiss. From you.”

Adeline appeared momentarily stunned. Everyone watching had apparently heard, because there was a lot of whistling going on.

Once she recovered, her eyebrow lifted, like his request hadn’t fazed her in the least. “I have something even better,” she said. “I happen to have a full-body chicken costume, similar to what the store owner in Toy Story 2 wore. Loser has to wear it all day tomorrow and allow as many pictures as the town wants to take.”

He supposed that was a bit fairer. Rather than the winner receiving an unwanted kiss, the loser had to suffer public embarrassment. Of course, it would be more embarrassing for him, because just the fact that Adeline owned a chicken costume probably meant she’d worn it before. In public.

As if she could read his mind, she followed it up with, “No one has ever worn the suit, if you’re worried about that. No sweat. No germs. It was a gag gift from my father and has sat untouched in the deepest corner of my closet.”

Eli smirked. “That’s not a very nice thing to do with a gift from your dad.”

Without missing a beat, Adeline said, “Well, he’s not a very nice dad.”

Huh. That was an interesting thing to say, but Adeline didn’t elaborate. Eli studied her for a moment before lifting one shoulder. “All right, we have a deal. But you also have to walk like a chicken, clucking included.”

The gathering crowd roared with laughter, and Adeline’s gaze darted to the open windows, then back to Eli. “Fine. But the same goes for you.”

“Fine.”

Jessie entered at that moment, pushing her way through the spectators blocking the doorway. She held two pieces of laminated paper in her hand. Her eyes were bright as she took in the scene before her. “Well, this is something I never thought I’d see.” She handed Eli and Adeline one of the papers each. “Here are your instructions. You have four hours to complete your cake.”

“That’s a long time for a cake,” Adeline said, her gaze flitting over the paper. Eli agreed as he turned his attention to the paper.

A three-tiered cake. Okay, no big deal there. Ingredients seemed simple enough, and there was a lot of leeway on how they wanted to give the cake their own signature style. Eli thought he’d probably do one layer of chocolate, one layer of lemon, and one layer of vanilla, with a cream cheese frosting between the layers, instead of the usual buttercream. It was a bed and breakfast, so they had to have cream cheese in the fridge, right?

It wasn’t until he got to the end of the instructions that he saw why Jessie was giving them so long. “Hold up.” His gaze shot up, meeting Jessie’s. She smiled. “You want us to make a wedding cake?”

“Where does it say that?” Adeline asked, sounding panicked. Her gaze bounced all over the paper, like she was trying to read so fast, she wasn’t reading anything at all. “There’s nothing indicating what kind of cake it is.”

“Read the very last line,” Eli said. “Place your bride and groom on the top of the cake.”

Jessie nodded, grinning like this was the most fun she’d ever had. “And make sure they are straight. No one wants a crooked bride and groom on their wedding cake.”

Adeline groaned. “Out of all the things you could have us make.” She rubbed her temples, like she felt a headache coming on. “I thought you’d have us make tarts or something, since that’s your specialty.”

“I can see why you’d think that,” Jessie said. “But the thing is that I’ve been having trouble coming up with just the right cake for Leanne and Isaac’s wedding, and the day is coming up fast. As long as this little film stays on schedule, we only have three weeks. The wedding scene is supposed to be on December twenty-first, the last week of filming before Christmas. And I haven’t been able to come up with just the right thing yet. I’m hoping you can help me with that.” She paused. “Holiday themed would be nice, but it’s up to you. You are the creators, and I left it open-ended for a reason. Whatever ingredients you need, I’m sure I have it on hand.”

“I think it’s brilliant,” Eli said, exuding Benjamin’s signature level of confidence. So what, they hadn’t gone over wedding cakes in his baking classes. He totally had this. It was no different than baking a regular cake, there were just three of them. That were decorated super fancy. And something that could potentially make or break the happy couple’s wedding day. No big deal.

“All right, start your timers,” Jessie called out, like she was an announcer at a racetrack. “Because…it’s time to bake!” She pulled out an air horn from behind her back and squeezed it.

“Owwww,” Adeline said, clutching her ears. “Was that necessary?”

Eli couldn’t agree more. His ears were still ringing, and there was a possibility that his eardrums had ruptured. It took a moment to clear up, but once they did, he noticed that Adeline was already pouring flour into her bowl.

Ringing ears or not, he needed to get started.

Many of the ingredients had already been set out in front of his workstation. Flour. Check. Sugar. Check. He supposed the eggs would be in the fridge, and he hurried over, scouring for what else he’d need. Eli noticed there were two sets of everything, so he grabbed his milk at the same time.

“Is there any strawberry jello?” Adeline called over to Jessie. “You know, the powder stuff?”

Jessie smiled. “Ask and you shall receive.” She opened a cupboard and handed a small box to Adeline.

So, she was going to do a strawberry layer. Not a bad idea if she was going for a holiday theme. Eli was questioning his choice to do lemon. But he couldn’t very well copy what Adeline was doing, so he’d need to stick to his original plan. He could still decorate the outside of the cake with holiday themes.

Eli was measuring his dry ingredients when he heard a tap on the window.

“Eli,” a woman called. “Hey, Eli Hunt. Over here!”

Eli glanced over his shoulder and saw a young woman holding a homemade sign up to the window. He recognized her as one of the lifeguards from the beach. The sign read, Eli Hunt, I love you! He laughed and turned back to his mixing. Eli had thought that fans from small towns would be different, but he supposed they were the same as anywhere else.

Adeline glanced over at the window where the woman still stood with the sign. “Eliza, you’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Hello, this is Eli Hunt we’re talking about,” Eliza called back. “And have you heard his accent?” She pretended to faint.

Eli laughed, and Adeline threw a scowl in his direction, though her lips were twitching, like she was fighting a smile.

Okay. How many teaspoons of salt? He glanced at the recipe. 4/3. That couldn’t be right. He looked again. 3/4 teaspoon. That sounded better. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. Now was not the time for his dyslexia to kick in.

“You okay?” Adeline asked from her side of the counter. She was placing her bowl on the mixer, but she was watching him, her eyebrows knit in concern.

Eli’s hand dropped, and he mentally shook himself out. He grinned, throwing every ounce of Benjamin that he could into it. “Of course. Just contemplating how you’ll look in that chicken costume. Sexy, I bet.”

Chuckles erupted from the doorway. Adeline took a step back, like she didn’t know what to make of the comment. If anything, she now looked annoyed. “You wish.”

“You don’t look sexy in a chicken costume?”

More laughter.

She slammed down the top to her mixer, and it shook the whole table. “No, you wish you could win.” Adeline turned the mixer on, the whirring drowning out anything else he might have to say.

Note for future reference: Benjamin might be a womanizer, but his charm didn’t work on someone like Adeline. Come to think of it, it didn’t work on the fictional chocolate-shop owner from Amaretto either. It would take half the movie for Katrina to finally start seeing Benjamin as more than the arrogant actor he portrays himself to be.

Eli turned his attention back to his recipe. Solving the puzzle that was Adeline Baker would need to wait. Right now, he had a cake to bake.

“This is looking all wrong,” Eli muttered. He pulled the three cakes out of the oven. They were golden brown, as they ought to be, but much flatter than he’d expected. If he made the wedding cake out of these, it was going to end up short and stubby. Not exactly what he was going for. Eli glanced at the clock. He didn’t have time to make more. Eli sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He was just going to have to make the best of it.

Eli stole a side glance at Adeline. Her cakes were already out and looking beautiful. She was just finishing mixing her buttercream.

He’d been dumb to think he could beat her in a baking challenge, considering she spent every day in a kitchen. But that was how Benjamin rolled. He thought so highly of himself that he figured he could do anything, win anything, and if Benjamin didn’t actually know what he was doing, he’d make it up as he went along.

And this was where he’d gotten himself. With flat cakes and a chicken costume. Maybe there was a way to salvage this. Even if the cakes were messed up, he could at least make them pretty. This was where his artistic side could come out.

Eli was no longer going to worry about something fancy like cream cheese frosting. He just needed to make it look good.

Eli studiously read the entire buttercream recipe and then began to add the ingredients, slowly, making sure the measurements were just right. It was looking beautiful, with a nice texture. He spread a thick layer between his cakes and then started on the outside. Eli wanted to have a holiday theme but incorporate chocolate as well. Everything was better with chocolate. Surprisingly, Adeline didn’t seem to be using any.

Raspberries would add some red to the rim of Eli’s cake, and then he planned on coloring his leftover buttercream green so he’d be able to pipe a large wreath on top, with the wedding couple standing in the middle.

The spectators had come and gone over the course of the challenge, but four hours after Eli and Adeline had begun, everyone was back, eager to see the outcome.

Eli placed his little wedding couple on top and stepped back. They were a little crooked, and he adjusted them. He had to say, in his completely unbiased opinion, his cake looked amazing. That there was professional quality, and from what Eli could hear, the spectators seemed to agree. But would Jessie?

Adeline glanced between his cake and hers, then back to his, obvious surprise etched in her features. Hers was at least the right height, but it looked terrible. She’d used chocolate-covered strawberries, which she’d done a nice job on, but they were sliding down the sides of the cake, leaving tracks. She’d also tried to pipe small flowers around the edges, but they’d come out more as blobs.

Eli was going to win. There was no way he wouldn’t.

“I’m impressed,” Adeline finally conceded. “I didn’t expect much, but it seems I misjudged you.”

Eli threw her a smile, then turned back to where Jessie was entering the kitchen. “I know.”

He gave her a side glance, having to keep himself from laughing as her surprised expression morphed into a scowl and she turned away from him. No wonder Benjamin’s life was filled with one-night stands. Once the women saw through their infatuation, no one would have been able to handle being around him and his ego for much longer than that. Eli could see how infuriating that would be.

“Wow,” Jessie said. She walked up to each cake and scribbled notes in a little book. “I will be judging both your decorating ability as well as the quality of the cake itself.” Jessie walked past both cakes, several times, but spent longer on Eli’s, her gaze flitting between it and her notebook as her pencil flew over the page. After a few minutes that felt like eternity, she set her notebook down and grabbed two plates.

Jessie started with Eli’s, and he suddenly felt very nervous. He knew he hadn’t baked the best cake, which had been why he’d needed to make it look so good. Jessie sliced a small piece and studied it.

“Your cakes are so thin, you tried making up for it by heaping buttercream between the layers.”

Despite the cold air, Eli was suddenly very hot. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Um…yeah. I don’t know what happened, but they didn’t rise, and I didn’t have time to make new ones.”

Jessie nodded, and after another moment of study, she said, “I think you forgot the baking powder.” She tried slicing through the cake with her fork but was having a tough time of it. “Yup. You definitely forgot the baking powder.” To her credit, she tried to eat it, but ended up giving up. She gave him a kind smile. “Nice attempt. You made a beautiful cake.”

He nodded but couldn’t help but feel disappointed in himself. It happened a lot with his dyslexia…skipping lines altogether. Eli should have slowed down a bit, making sure he’d done everything correctly, but he’d been anxious to give himself enough time to decorate the cake the way it warranted.

Jessie moved on to Adeline’s cake. She cut herself a slice, then prodded it with her fork, like she was making sure Adeline hadn’t made the same mistake that Eli had. “I like the even layers of the buttercream and cake.”

Jessie took a bite and chewed slowly and thoughtfully. “It’s very moist, and I love the strawberry layer. I can tell you added in something extra to the vanilla layer.”

“Coffee.”

“It’s delicious,” Jessie said, before quickly finishing off the piece. When she noticed everyone watching her with amused smiles, she added, “Didn’t want it to go to waste.”

Jessie picked up her notebook and stepped back, leaning against a counter on the other side of the kitchen. She made more notes, then stared at the page, as if it would give her the answers to who should win the competition.

Finally, after an agonizing five minutes, where even the spectators were quiet, everyone waiting with bated breath, Jessie looked up and smiled.

“I’ve chosen a winner.”