“That’s what I thought. What reason did she give?”
“She said the marshmallow would be better because it was different and highly innovative.” Brooke gave another sigh. “I know now that I was a fool for believing her. It was just that I was so nervous. And I really wanted someone else’s opinion.”
“Don’t ask Gloria for advice again,” Michelle warned her. “She doesn’t want you to succeed. If you want to ask someone, ask Hannah or me. We’ll give you an honest answer.”
“Thanks!” Brooke looked very grateful. “Do you think I blew the whole competition tonight?”
Hannah shook her head. “Not at all. Tonight was only the first night. You have three more chances to impress the judges. I doubt that anyone will come in first every night.”
“And don’t forget that all our scores are tallied at the end,” Michelle reminded her. “Everyone’s nervous tonight and mistakes are bound to happen. I was listening to the judging and they didn’t say anything negative about your mousse.”
Brooke looked a bit more hopeful. “You’re right. Chef Zales even said he liked it.”
“Exactly.” Hannah took up the effort to reassure Brooke. “Why don’t you come up to our hotel room when we get back? We’ll relax and have a glass of wine and some snacks on our balcony.”
“Thanks! I’d love to, but . . . it’s the end of October. Isn’t it really cold on your balcony?”
“No, it’s heated,” Michelle explained. “Hannah’s fiancé upgraded us to a really nice suite. You’ve got to see it, Brooke. It’s the fanciest place I’ve ever been.”
“Michelle is right, you’ve got to see it,” Hannah said, smiling at Brooke.
“Are you . . . sure that you want me to come over?”
Brooke sounded very tentative and Hannah gave her a quick nod. “Absolutely. We’ll be in the competition for another week. It’ll be nice to have a friend who’s in the same boat as we are. Bring your assistant too, if you like.”
“Thanks, but her husband came with her on this trip. It’ll be just me, if that’s okay.”
“That’s fine,” Hannah assured her.
Hannah, Michelle, and Brooke watched as the other contestants presented their entries. None of them fared particularly well. Chef Duquesne criticized Loren Berringer for a soggy pie shell on his cherry pie, and Rodney Paloma drew critical comments from Helene Stone for his meringue because it contained “beads” on top. Then it was Gloria Berkeley’s turn, and all three of them leaned forward to see how the contestant who’d given Brooke bad advice would do.
Gloria’s entry consisted of two little cakes for each judge, one vanilla and one chocolate. Her assistant had mixed up the cake batter, and all Gloria had done was ladle it into the pans. While the mini cakes were baking, the assistant had made the two sauces, and Gloria hadn’t really done anything at all except turn the cakes out when they were done.
“Frosting?” Michelle guessed.
Brooke shook her head. “It looks more like two different sauces.”
“One’s strawberry,” Hannah said. “And the other is . . . uh-oh!”
“What?” Michelle asked her.
“I’m not positive, but . . .”
“I know what you’re thinking, and I’m almost sure you’re right.” Brooke interrupted her, and Hannah noticed that she looked deeply troubled. “That’s my marshmallow sauce! I noticed that the recipe was missing when I got back to the hotel this afternoon, but I didn’t worry about it. I just thought I’d probably left it at my workstation and the people who came in to do the cleanup had thrown it away.”
“Did you go down to the Food Channel building to check?” Michelle asked her.
“No. I brought my laptop and portable printer with me, and I just printed out another copy.”
“Are you sure that Gloria’s assistant made your marshmallow sauce?” Hannah asked, hoping that wasn’t the case.
“I’m sure. I noticed that Gloria’s assistant added hazelnut butter, and that’s my secret ingredient.”
“Are you going to say anything to the judges?” Michelle asked her.
“I don’t think it’ll do any good. She’d probably claim that it was her recipe in the first place and I took it from her!”
“Let’s wait and see how she does in the judging,” Michelle suggested. “One of the judges might notice that your marshmallow sauce and Gloria’s marshmallow sauce taste the same.”
“Maybe,” Brooke answered, but she sounded doubtful.