Page 21 of The Best Trick

I confirmed with Mary Ann that my judging would end with this aged goat cheddar gig—the last thing I needed was to be judging my sisters’ sheep cheese. Mary Ann assured me that it would just be this one small section. She wasn’t even planning on spitting out the cheese after tasting—with just one section, she wasn’t worried about palate fatigue. Naturally, I preferred not to spit out my cheese, either. Because, cheese!

A few minutes later I was wearing a white lab coat of my own.

“Report back here in an hour and we’ll start gearing up for the first round,” Mary Ann said.

“Will do,” I said. “We're going to make a quick round and then I'll be back.”

Zeus and I set off. “You're going to be an amazing judge,” he said. “If there's one thing that you have no shortage of, it's opinions on cheese.”

I punched him in his padded arm.

“Also, I like the doctor’s coat.” He lowered his voice. “A lot.”

“I’ll have you know that cheese judging is both an art and a science, and that this is a lab coat, not a doctor’s coat, and it is most certainly not a prop for sexy games. I know that’s what you’re thinking. So I will ask you to get your mind out of the gutter, sir!”

Zeus snorted. I was kidding, of course. The gutter was one of my favorite places for his mind to go.

“Seriously, why the lab coat?” he asked. “What’s so sterile about cheese?”

“I know! It should be a toga,” I said. “Cheese is a pleasure.”

We walked on, sampling cheeses here and there, but we paused when we got within five tables of my sisters. I pretended to talk with Zeus while watching them from afar.

Odin was still at their table, in an animated conversation with Candace from the looks of it.

Vanessa and Kaitlin were talking to people and sampling. Ice chests were stacked up behind the table—full of cheese to sell, no doubt. I was hoping that they'd brought enough. People loved Sunny Sisters cheese.

I continued to pretend to be talking to Zeus, who expertly maneuvered us around so I could see them better. They looked great, but they really were growing up fast. Vanessa had matured into a poised young woman. Candace, who would be in her second year of community college by now, had her red hair twisted into an elaborate design held together by something sparkly. Kaitlin would be graduating from high school soon. She'd added several wild pink streaks to her red hair. It looked nice. I wished that I could tell her that.

“Odin better buy a lot of their cheese,” I said.

“Oh, I'm sure he will,” Zeus assured me.

Good luck, I whispered to them, striving to send them all of the good luck vibes possible. Zeus grabbed my hand. Not good to linger. I didn’t want to leave, but eventually I let him pull me away. We headed back to the opposite corner.

I sampled some soft goat cheese on a raisin cracker. “Heaven!” I exclaimed.

“Don’t spoil your dinner,” Zeus warned.

“So weird to be recognized.” I snagged another goat cheese treat. I loved goat cheese a lot, but as animals, sheep were way cooler, personality-wise.

I was eager for Odin to come back with his report, but that would have to wait; it was time for me to judge.

We ambled over.

Mary Ann waved and pointed to the tasting station next to her, and I took up my post. The three of us stood there in our lab coats, ready to decide which aged goat cheddar would rule them all.

People crowded around to watch. Most of these people were probably the makers and their families and friends.

A festival volunteer rolled up a cart with twelve blocks of cheese on it. The cheeses were identified by numbers only, and it was our job to grade each one on appearance, flavor, body, and color. We would be grading them numerically, and the five highest-scoring cheeses would compete for ribbons in the final round.

We weren't supposed to discuss anything on this first round. We were just to grade, and then on the second round, that's when we’d have discussions about the merits of the different cheeses.

And yes, for the record, I have very extreme and specific opinions on cheeses.

The cheeses were presented one by one. The three of us examined the appearance and makeup of the blocks, looking at things like uniformity and deducting points for irregular finishes.

A volunteer then bored a hole into the cheese and pulled out three samples, one for each of us and we evaluate the firmness and color.

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