Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania (27 page)

There were two tables between Sadie’s and Smith and Jones’s, and as the judges moved on, Sadie flitted around to make sure everything was just right. Her dessert certainly
looked
impressive with its crumbly shell, creamy bottom layer, and the glossy reddish-purple berry compote dribbled over the top. The generous dollop of whipped cream along with the strawberry fan slices on top certainly made things
appear
convincing. She could only hope it tasted that way.

Nightmarish visions of every failed dessert (and heaven knew there were plenty) in her lifetime came washing over her in waves of nerve-racking assault. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, felt Jasper’s hand in hers, and determined that it would be fine. Everything would be fine this time. She had put far too much effort and thought into this dessert for it not to turn out right. She had spent hours in the kitchen, neglecting her family and her business…. What more could she do? Her sacrifice had been worth it. This was the moment where she proved them all wrong. This was it… .

At Jasper’s squeeze, she opened her eyes to find the panel of judges standing before her. She cleared her throat and quickly presented them with their individual plates and forks. They went through well-practiced motions: marking off numbers on their clipboards for presentation—no worries there. Then sniffing carefully like bloodhounds on a scent. This part left Sadie a trifle nervous. Truthfully, there wasn’t much
smell
to her dessert, although she couldn’t be sure why. Of course, it wasn’t as if she had loaded her entry with savory scent factors such as
chocolate ganache
or
Reese’s peanut butter cups
. She forced herself not to glare at her competitors nearby.

A wash of indignation touched her momentarily as the judges each exchanged nervous glances before raising their forks. What was that about? How far had word spread of her dessert disasters, anyhow? Not that she really had to ask. Thanks to Smith and Jones, pretty much everyone in her acquaintance, and even a few outside of it, knew that desserts had never been her strong suit.

And then came the moment of truth.

The spoons dipped into the compote…. Was it her imagination, or had the berries started to congeal? Bite-sized portions were scooped onto the utensils…. Was it just her, or did the judges choose
very
small bites? The spoons raised and slowly, ever so slowly, entered each judge’s mouth. Sadie found herself actually widening her own mouth and pantomiming the bite.

Their jaws closed shut and the tasting began, the judges’ tongues seeming to roll thickly inside their mouths. Someone cleared their throat. More tasting…and then…was that a gulp? Did they really just
gulp
down that itty-bitty bite of mousse? And had Mrs. Strausbaugh, the judge on the far end, actually held a handkerchief to her mouth to dispose of her tiny mouthful?

Sadie’s eyes darted to each face, measuring their reactions. To their credit, they kept their expressions rather impassive. But Sadie had been feeding people for a very long time. No one needed to tell her, and not a single judge need show their score sheet, to prove what she could read in their thin lips and quivering jaws.

Failure. Absolute and utter
failure
.

She bit her lip and forced back tears as she exchanged the expected pleasantries and watched in disappointment and frustration as they moved on, now only one table away from Dmitri’s entry.

“Sadie?” Jasper’s voice sounded softly beside her.

“Give me a spoon,” she demanded, still staring after the panel’s retreating backs.

There was a silent pause before Jasper once more spoke. “Sadie, sweetheart, don’t worry about it. Let’s get out of here, go home…”

“Give. Me. A. Spoon.”

He handed one over without protest. She reached for her dessert on display, dug the plastic spoon into it with angry force, and cut through the layers of whipped cream, berries, and mousse in one decisive motion. She didn’t hesitate as she raised the bite to her mouth and stuffed it in. Beginning to chew, she immediately noted several errors in texture. The whipped cream was grainy, the berries tasted rubbery and chewy, and the mousse felt thicker than it should have been. And then came the taste factor. The almond extract was far too strong. The berries were bitter and the syrup acidic. The whipped topping had a sharp flavor. Her delicately spiced graham cracker base had no taste at all. Was that her fault? Or had she once again been the victim of a cosmic conspiracy?

She threw the spoon down on the table without a word and turned to watch, with the rest of the spectators, as the panel approached Dmitri’s table.

The difference in reaction was unmistakable. Where Sadie’s dessert had caused hesitation, Dmitri’s invited eagerness. Where hers had provoked pinched expressions, Dmitri’s garnered smiles. Where hers triggered puckered lips, Dmitri’s drew circles of awe.

Chocolate ganache and ginger tart topped with poached pears. Why had she thought she could compete with that?

The judges sniffed in appreciation and marked wildly on their clipboards. Before, with the other entries, they had restrained themselves to only a few bites (and in Sadie’s case, only one), but now they gorged themselves shamelessly, taking up to six and seven bites apiece before reluctantly lowering their plates back to the table. Mrs. Strausbaugh actually carried hers away, and Sadie had suspicions that the older woman planned to lick the plate later.

As the judges shuffled off with obvious unwillingness, casting several longing glances behind them at the second ginger tart still on display, Sadie watched several people rush forward to congratulate Dmitri, even though the results wouldn’t be officially announced for another thirty minutes or so.

Jasper laid a hand on her shoulder, but she found the action irritated her. Without being too obvious, she shifted and turned so he was forced to draw it away. With her back turned to him, she missed the frown that creased his forehead.

She filled the next half hour with cleaning up her display table and the surrounding area, ignoring Jasper’s worry-filled eyes and Mac’s decision to take Kylie for a walk. When it finally came time to announce the winners, every inch of Sadie’s area shone neatly, the remains of her dessert entry bagged somberly in the trash.

Her mind wandered during the opening preliminaries—who needed to hear how happy they were at the turnout and the impressive level of skill at their little old Cocoa Cook-Off, anyway? Her thoughts simply slipped away to her culinary training, her mother’s deft touch at making truffles, and Ned’s constant delight in the meals they had shared at the table. Jasper didn’t touch her again, and she found herself both disappointed and relieved.

Why did this have to be so hard?

She ran a finger against the freshly scrubbed tabletop and tuned in briefly to the announcer. He was still rambling on about all the different kinds of chocolate desserts and how this expressed the unique individuality of every person who had competed, blah, blah, blah. She turned inward once more, her shoulders hunched protectively against the outside world.

When had desserts become such an issue for her? She actually remembered laughing over them with Ned, back when they were dating. He had presented her engagement ring in a white cake filled with raspberry torte, and she had joked how she almost preferred the torte to the ring since it was far more edible than her desserts had ever been. Ned had laughed, giddy with her answer to his proposal, and they had finished the torte together and spent the rest of the night gazing at the stars.

These days if someone had brought her a ring tucked in torte, she’d probably shove the entire offering—ring, torte, person, and all—off the top of the Hersheypark Kissing Tower. What was wrong with her?

“And without further delay, it is my great honor to announce the winners in our first-ever annual Cocoa Cook-Off competition.”

Her head snapped up. Despite her bitterness, she found herself drawn to the announcement. She didn’t expect to win anything, but somehow it made all the difference in the world just who
did
win. Dmitri was practically assured first place, but since it had become clear to her that he was her archrival in the restaurant business, she could only pray such a thing didn’t happen.

Fourth and third place went to people Sadie knew relatively well. One was a darling gentleman widower from her church’s smaller group class, so she really couldn’t begrudge him the prize. She even managed to applaud rather nicely. But when second place was announced, her stomach twisted with sourness.

“…for their Reese’s peanut butter cup pie—Mrs. Eugenia Smith and Mrs. Dorothy Jones. Congratulations!”

As Smith and Jones ambled up to accept their shared ribbon, Sadie folded her arms against her chest—and even Jasper’s subtle nudge couldn’t prompt her to applaud them.

And then it came, the blue ribbon…first place.

She held her breath.

“I think it goes without saying which dessert, if you can even call such a delicacy by so humble a name, deserves to be presented with this little honor of distinction we have here.” The announcer waved the blue ribbon back and forth, its golden trim glittering in the flash of camera bulbs exploding here and there throughout the gymnasium.

“He may be a newer member of our town, but it’s clear he’s earned a place here with us.”

Sadie snorted. “Because he baked a pie?”

Jasper’s soft “
Shhh
” left her feeling ashamed. The next words, however, erased all feelings of guilt.

“In fact, rumor has it, our winner plans to open his very own eatery here in town. Renovations are already underway.”

They were? How had she missed that?
Oh
. She blushed. It wasn’t as if she’d been spending a lot of time at the restaurant in the past few weeks. Otherwise she might have noticed.

“But enough introduction. It is my honor and privilege to announce as first place in our first annual Cocoa Cook-Off competition…”

The announcer paused with a deep breath while Sadie mumbled ferociously, “Out with it.”

“Chocolate ganache and ginger tart topped with poached pears by Dmitri Velichko!”

Applause thundered the gymnasium as Dmitri made his way to the front, his perfect white teeth glowing brightly in his face. The local newspaper photographer snapped away as Dmitri shook hands with the head of the judges’ panel.

Sadie’s conflicting emotions left her feeling drained. Jealousy raged furiously within her, but at the same time—against everything within her screaming that she had to remain ruthless—a part of her felt happy for Dmitri. He was a nice enough guy, and it wasn’t as if he’d been smug about the competition.

On the other hand, it was probably all part of his plan—to be all sweet and charming while he took her out at the knees, inching out her restaurant for his. She huffed in annoyance and blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes.

Smith and Jones ambled by, grinning like two Siamese cats with a bucket of cream, while they flashed their ribbon none-too-demurely.

“We’re so sorry you didn’t win, Sadie,” Smith practically purred.

“There’s always next year,” Jones offered with a smirk.

For the first time ever, Sadie turned her back without acknowledging them. If they wanted to be snooty with her, then she could be snooty with them. They were just two old ladies, after all. What did their good opinion matter?

She reached for a rag and moved to wipe down her table, only to remember that she’d wiped it down three times already. But Smith and Jones had shuffled on, whispering furiously and throwing sharp looks behind them.

Well, if they wanted to gossip about her, let them. She didn’t care. It was only dessert, after all. She twisted the dirty dishrag in her hands and searched for something else to occupy herself.

“It’s just a competition,” she muttered with an attempt at nonchalance. “It’s not that important… .” But as her words faded softly, she felt tears filling her eyes. It had been more than that to her. It had been her last chance to prove to herself, and to everyone else, that she could do the impossible.

The stress and tension of the last few weeks suddenly fell fully upon her, and she sagged beneath the strain of her own making. Tears filled her eyes, and she was suddenly so very, very tired.

And then Jasper was there, his arm holding her up, as she laid her head against his chest. He smoothed her hair and murmured words she really didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter, because he was there. He was always there. He’d
always
been there, and he always would be.

“I wanna go home, Jas,” she murmured. “I just want to go home.”

He nodded his understanding. “Why don’t I find Mac and ask if he can bring Kylie back to the house when she’s had enough?”

Sadie nodded gratefully and allowed him to wipe her face with his T-shirt, hoping with all her might that everyone was still so distracted by Dmitri they hadn’t seen her emotions on display.

“Wait here. I’ll be back in a minute.”

As he waded into the crowd in search of Mac and Kylie, Sadie hoped they hadn’t gone far. She didn’t relish spending another minute more than necessary at the Cocoa Cook-Off. Let Dmitri have his moment; all she wanted was the safety of her own home and Jasper’s comforting arms around her.

As she gathered her things and stood waiting, the enthusiastic throng pressing around Dmitri broke a little and several people moved on toward the talent competition. Much to her vexation, Principal Dwayne Roop appeared out of the crowd and approached her table.

“Sadie, good show! It’s a shame you didn’t place at all!”

Sadie gritted her teeth, smiled graciously, and made some inane remark about not winning them all. She had never really liked Kylie’s principal. He seemed to think himself superior to women just because he was the head of a school where Jasper was the only other male employee. His occasional comments about guiding his “flock of hens” had never impressed her…not to mention that his teeth were big and his breath horrendous.

“…anyhow what with Jasper’s new job.”

The endless drone of Principal Roop’s voice suddenly struck her with earth-shattering significance.