“Probably. At least it sure can’t hurt.” Loren buttoned up the placket of his chef’s jacket and turned for the door again. “Gotta run. I’m up right after Brooke finishes and I still have to put a couple more decorations on my cake.”
“Good luck,” Hannah said as he went out the door. And then, the minute he had closed it behind him, she said, under her breath, “And bad luck to Gloria. She deserves it.”
“You won!” Michelle said, heading out to Hannah’s cookie truck with their box of leftover ingredients.
“I didn’t exactly win,” Hannah reminded her. “I tied for first place with Rodney Paloma.”
“Yes, but Gloria wasn’t even in the running tonight. Doesn’t that make you feel good?”
“Actually . . . yes!” Hannah admitted. “And Rodney’s cake probably deserved to take first place instead of tying with my Double Rainbow Swirl Cake. It was absolutely beautiful, and I got to taste it after the competition was over. I wasn’t sure how I’d like the taste of violets, but it was really good.”
Michelle gave a little sigh. “I wish Brooke could have scored a bit higher.”
“She didn’t do that badly. She came in third. That’s pretty good in a five-person completion.”
“It’s not that hot when there’s a tie for first and second doesn’t count. It means she took fourth and there’s only five of us.”
“But Gloria came in below Brooke. Brooke’s got to feel good about that,” Hannah said. And then she focused on the positive. “They said nice things about Brooke’s cake, though. It’s just that Chef Duquesne didn’t think it was innovative enough.”
“Aunt Nancy was right. He’s a real snob.”
“And Aunt Nancy was right about the Jell-O, too.” Hannah gave a little smile.
“And also the fact that Chef Duquesne was impressed with appearances way back in high school. He liked the way the winning cakes looked, both yours and Rodney’s. And from what Loren told us about Gloria last night, he still chooses his dates by the way they look.”
“You’re talking about Gloria,” Hannah said, opening the driver’s door of her cookie truck and sliding in behind the wheel.
“Right.”
“But Gloria didn’t win,” Hannah pointed out, waiting until Michelle had climbed into the passenger’s seat and buckled her seat belt.
“Neither did Aunt Nancy as far as her date with Allen Duke was concerned. He took her to the prom, danced with her, and then he dumped her at home so that he could go out with his girlfriend.”
Hannah thought about that for a moment as she started the cookie truck and backed out of her parking spot. “That’s interesting,” she said at last, once they’d turned onto the access road and they were traveling toward the highway. “Chef Duquesne likes the right woman on his arm because it makes him look good, but he doesn’t necessarily want to spend the whole time with her. Gloria looked good sitting next to him on a bar stool, and even though she spent the night with him, it had no effect on the score he gave her in the competition.”
“Exactly.” Michelle turned to smile at Hannah. “His obsession with appearances doesn’t necessarily affect his professional judgment. He liked the way you looked as a bride. He thought that was the perfect way to present your wedding cake. But if your cake hadn’t tasted as good as it looked, you would have dropped way down in the ratings.”
“The way Gloria did?”
“Yes. He criticized her cakes for being too dry and not having enough flavor. But it was very clear he really liked the outfit she was wearing.”
“Or not wearing!” Hannah said, referring to Gloria’s extremely short skirt.
“Exactly right.”
Both sisters sighed as Hannah drove up the on-ramp and onto the highway. It was almost eleven in the evening and there was very little traffic. Before either one of them had time to introduce a new topic of conversation, the lights of the Corner Tavern appeared in the distance.
“Hamburger and fries?” Hannah asked.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Michelle answered with a laugh. “I started thinking about one of their double-doubles the minute I saw their sign.”
Less than five minutes later, they were sitting in a booth at the back, sipping coffee and waiting for their food. Michelle yawned once and took another sip of coffee. “Tonight was exhausting.”
“Yes, but the cookie competition will be better. You don’t have to decorate those.”
“True. I know Ross was busy, but did you get a chance to say good-bye to him before you left?”
“Yes. He’s going to come over for breakfast early tomorrow morning before he goes to work. He said he’d be at the condo by six. I thought I’d make something easy, like pancakes.”
“I’ll make Breakfast Puffs,” Michelle offered. “One of my roommates gave me a recipe from her mother, and I’ve been dying to try it. She said they’re like doughnuts, except better.”