Page 44 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes
“So he’s a hypocrite and a gross control freak who sexualizes his own niece.”
The more Daisy heard about Peter Perry, the more she hated the man. Candace’s eyes popped open at the bald-faced truth. Then, she deflated. Her arms dropped to her sides with her reluctant shrug.
“Yeah. That's the gist of it. I’m sorry for being weird.”
Daisy shook her head. “Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to yourself for internalizing that horseshit. You’re hot, princess. You could wear a potato sack and make it look like a designer dress. That doesn’t mean you’re out for attention.”
“No,” she confirmed with a shudder. “The last thing I want is to be front and center. I’ve just gotten good at putting up with it to make him happy, and for my job. But it’s difficult. Which is exactly why I should have known better about taking that picture of you without asking. Sorry again.”
Daisy scratched the back of her head, unsure of what to say. She had not been expecting another apology for the social media snafu. In fact, she’d been sort of excited by how positivea response it got. She read over the comments last night and even screen-shotted a few for when she needed an ego boost.
“I appreciate you saying that. We’re good.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
The hopeful shine of Candace’s eyes was almost bright enough to make Daisy squint. Instead, she loosened up. She transferred her weight to one leg and leaned a hip against the table. Musing aloud, she said, “You know, if it’d been a promo shot with you, we’d have gotten an even better response.”
“You think?” Candace considered with a coy tilt, “What about both? That way, you and I have an equal share of the spotlight.”
Candace pivoted on her heels so that they faced the same direction. She retrieved her phone from her pocket and held it up selfie-style. Her back brushed against Daisy’s front as she adjusted her placement in the frame.
With her thumb hovering over the capture button, she asked, “Is this okay?”
A sense of deja vu hit Daisy. They were the same words Candace said right after their fateful kiss. The same spike of anticipation shot through Daisy as well. Before she’d even processed the action, she saw her reflection on the screen nod.
It was over in an instant. Candace snapped the picture and maneuvered away in one smooth, swift twirl. For all of Daisy’s apprehension, it had been painless. Even so, the idea of strangers seeing her share a frame with Candace Perry filled her with a different kind of worry.
What if it was not a good picture? Could they do better? ‘Do it once, do it right, it won’t come back to bite.’Daisy had creative control, so it was time she exercised it.
She pitched, “How about a video? I need to finish bagging these puppies up and set my next batch of dough to proof before I make an ingredient run. You need to learn how to do this so you’re not useless. It might be good marketing material to show how the gravy’s made.”
Candace stuck out her tongue. “I wouldn’t call doing the dishes useless. But I love the idea. Hm…” She thought for a moment, then grinned. In a decisive swipe, she grabbed a gloop-covered spoon and held it up to her mouth like a microphone.
“I’m the interviewer, you’re the expert.”
Daisy snorted. “Damn right I am. Let’s see if we can get you up to speed.”
That being said, they started slow. While packaging the finished bombs, Daisy did her best to give Candace an overview of the process.
For Daisy, it was like explaining how to breathe. She’d been making bagel bombs since she could reach the countertop with her step stool, helping her dad with small tasks until she could handle larger ones. He always made her feel like the best helper, and every new technique she mastered was a celebration. So, she tried to be patient with her own would-be helper… even though she had to show the woman how to properly set a kitchen scale.
“What can I say?” Candace defended herself with a nonchalant shrug. “The campus cafe I worked at only served premade pastries.”
Daisy did not hide her eye roll.
Baking was an exact science, without room for error. The bagel bomb recipe started with portioning out the cream cheese filling. Each dollop needed to be exactly the right size, and the right weight, so that it would fit inside of the bagel bomb. Too much, and it would burst during the boil step. Additional elements—from bacon grease to Candace’s beloved peanut butter and jelly—brought the complication of extra moisture.
There were many points of failure. A complete novice for a helper added another.
Daisy had to prevent a pouting Candace from adding more to just about everything she portioned out. She was slow thanks to keeping up her mock-interview bit. And messy. AndDaisy was concerned she was going to chop her fingers off thanks to her poor knife technique.
But, to her credit, she was trying.
Once Candace got the hang of how to prepare the fillings, Daisy was able to leave her to it while she started the dough. Dry ingredients went into the stand mixer, followed by water. At this point, she knew what she wanted by sight and feel; she would work the dough until she got it to the proper elasticity, then place it in a proving container to rest for about an hour.
It was while Daisy was kneading her last dough—manually—that she noticed Candace watching from behind her phone camera with a strange expression.
