Page 75 of Holly Jolly Cake Fight
A flicker of panic in Candace’s eyes that made Laurin’s breath catch and Manon tighten her grip on his hand as though to keep him in place. But only a flicker, and then Candace took a deep breath and brightened back up.
“Well, I’ve never been a woodsy person myself,” Leta laughed, “but if the forest looked this delicious, I might change my mind! And the cabin? Your gingerbread structure? This is a gingerbread challenge after all.”
Candace nodded. “I’ll admit, usually I’m in a hammock. Tent if I’m lucky. The cabin is more of an idea than any place I’ve stayed before.”
Except it wasn’t. Anyone who’d spent those two weeks here in November would have immediately recognized the porch as the one they’d decorated a Christmas tree on that second day. She couldn’t admit that, but when he looked around, he saw that several of the other contestants were looking back at him knowingly. Harper was smirking. Zara went so far as to waggle an eyebrow.
“And the owl and the fish?” Pat asked. “Do they have any significant value?”
“Well, if I was staying in a place like this, I’d want to be with a friend.”
That got the group in the cafeteria murmuring and Candace blushing as Pat and Leta joked about that, but Laurin’s heart sank as he realized they were about to move on.
“What is it?” Pauline whispered.
“It’s the gingerbread challenge,” Laurin groaned, “and she never told them how much of it is gingerbread!”
“And this is all a mountain of cake?” Leta asked.
“Of course not!” Candace laughed. “That wouldn’t have stood up at all. That’s a gingerbread tower stuffed with cake.”
Laurin beamed as she explained further, shocking both judges with the incredible structure, and even Pauline’s whisper of, “We’ll figure something out, maybe move into a smaller house outside town,” couldn’t take a chip out of his pride. He knew it would embarrass her terribly, but as soon as Candace joined them in the cafeteria, he was going to kiss her like crazy.
Except she never joined them in the cafeteria.
Candace was surprised at how much colder December was than November in North Georgia — it just didn’t seem right that the south would get this cold — but that didn’t get her to turn around.
She didn’t have anyone waiting for her in the pavilion except Laurin and his family. She was used to having no one at all, and this was so much worse. Before, she was a lone wolf. Now, she was . . . pathetic. Not deliberately so, of course, but how would it look to everyone else? And how lame would she lookto Laurin’s family to not have any family or even a friend close enough to invite to the finale? She had good friends, she wasn’t that freakish, but the divorce had hit that pool hard, and it was Christmas Eve. They had their own families.
It was what it was.
But she was as good as her word, and this time when she wandered out into the woods while the judges deliberated, she felt okay. She wasn’t going to win, and she shouldn’t have said everything she had, but it was cathartic. If Food2Love ever invited her back in any capacity, they’d have a better understanding of what they were getting. And she’d spent the month working in boutique bakeries in the tri-state area. A guest spot of sorts. Some had invited her to stay full-time, or she could make her own niche using her name to do a bakery tour. She wanted her own bakery again, but she’d survive without it.
She’d be okay.
She rested a hand on a scrubby, distinctly unattractive pine tree that had a holly pacing-distance away. She doubted it was the one she’d punched, but it could have been. “Well, ugly pine,” she said, looking up at the sparse canopy, “I made it this far. Bet you didn’t expect—”
She was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. Laurin.
Candace sighed. Why had she even grabbed her phone on her way out?
She was not about to admit to herself that she’d hoped he would text her. That would be lame. Pathetic, even.
And she was absolutely not going to return to the pavilion just because he told her to—
LAURIN
You’re all anyone can talk about. Your mountain and what you said.
Oh.
Because that thing AND I are so ridiculous!she typed back.I can’t believe I said all that. Hopefully they won’t air it. I doubt they have that much time for it so that’s good. At least they didn’t call me out to my face about how oversized the build was or how it’s not even really a gingerbread house, more cake than anything. Sometimes they get really mean about people who make a giant entry to compensate for how rough it is. If they’re just not mean to me, that would
She tilted her head back and addressed the tree. “I shouldn’t be rambling over a text, should I? It looks crazy.” She hit the backspace button and changed her response to the sweaty laugh emoji.
There was a short but melodic ding behind her. She wasn’t surprised to find Laurin approaching with a plate of sweets. The entries wouldn’t be cut up until after the winner was announced — the competitors would be lined up next to their gingerbread houses for the final shots — but there were always mountains of scraps to snack on while everyone waited.
“You should be with your family,” she said as she selected a slightly smushed chocolate petit four.
