Page 4 of Off the Grid
Her phone vibrated against the wrought-iron tabletop.
McKenzie pulled her gaze from the street and glanced at the screen. Her grin widened as soon as she saw the message flashing across it, even as her brows scrunched together in confusion.Addy? At this hour?
@Sprinkle-Ella: HELP!!!
Addison was one side of what McKenzie liked to think of as her little baking trio, a threesome that was completed by their other friend, Jo. Addison was a cake designer in the south, and though her fixation on flowers, the color pink, and all things frilly made McKenzie roll her eyes on a somewhat daily basis, her heart was pure gold. And Jo, well, Jo was the entertainment. She was an at-home baker longing to turn her hobby into a profession, and though McKenzie was at the complete other end of the spectrum—a French-trained pastry chef with a bachelor’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America—Jo’s drive and enthusiasm were nothing if not admirable, and completely infectious.
They’d met about two years ago in an online forum for fans of a baking competition. Even though they only chatted online, McKenzie still thought of them as her best friends. In some ways, her only friends. The food industry in Manhattan, like every other industry in this city, was cutthroat. She regarded her coworkers as competition instead of as colleagues, and the backwards hours of working in the evenings instead of the mornings didn’t exactly make socializing outside of her job easy. She didn’t mind being alone though. McKenzie was fine by herself. She was used to it. An only child with two absent parents didn’t have the luxury of acknowledging loneliness.
Her phone vibrated again.
One more time.
Whatever was going on, McKenzie was sure it could wait a few more seconds while she finished her oatmeal. Addy and Jo were both prone to dramatics, while she was more practical—she liked completing one task before moving on to the next. But her curiosity got the best of her, because McKenzie honestly couldn’t for the life of her remember the last time either of her friends had texted before noon. She liked to keep to her morning-run routine, Jo was perpetually sleeping in, and Addy never liked to text while she was at work. The afternoons and the evenings were usually their sweet spot.
Okay. What the hell is so important?
Putting her spoon down, she lifted her phone and opened the group chat.
@Sprinkle-Ella: Baking emergency!
@Sprinkle-Ella: This chocolate-obsessed bride is driving me crazy. She wants some sort of soufflé style cake, with a gooey exploding center, covered in a rich, melty ganache…on her wedding day!! Does she not understand she’ll be wearing white??
@Sprinkle-Ella: It’s a total code brown situation!
Oh, come on! I’m eating.McKenzie nearly spit out the bite of oatmeal she’d been chewing. This conversation was wrong on so many levels. Was Addy serious right now? The last things she wanted to start the day thinking about were code brown situations—of any variety. Not the chocolate kind (that bride was deranged), and especially not the other kind.
Before she had time to respond, a message from Jo came through.
@TheBakingBandit: Code brown?
@Sprinkle-Ella: Code brown.
McKenzie shook her head, unable to quite believe what she was reading. Her friends were…unique. But this was special, even for them.
She opted to give them the benefit of the doubt.
@TheGourmetGoddess: Do either of you actually know what code brown means?
@TheGourmetGoddess: I really don’t think you do…
After a moment, a response from Addy came through.
@Sprinkle-Ella: Chocolate emergency…?
McKenzie barked out a laugh, unable to hold it back. The sound gave way to a sigh.Typical, so typical.She took a sip of orange juice and another bite of oatmeal before she sank into her seat, eagerly typing into her phone.
@TheGourmetGoddess: You’re too pure for this world.
@TheBakingBandit: Email me your recipe for the melty ganache and I’ll see if I can think of a way to make it less messy!
@TheGourmetGoddess: You? Help make something cleaner? Am I in an alternate universe?
@TheBakingBandit: I’m a whole new Jo! ;)
@TheBakingBandit: Send me the recipe…
@Sprinkle-Ella: Will do!
