by Emily Greene
I didn’t even know where to begin with her saccharine-filled comment that was wrapped in poison. Courtney was still the same conniving, rude person she had been in college. I would have thought she would have matured over the years, but if anything, she seemed to be worse. She barely tried to conceal her nastiness and I was already sick of having her around. There was no way I was going to relive the college nightmare that was Courtney Laidig, so I had to get to the bottom of why she was really in Prairie Cove.
“I always say a little competition never hurt anybody. Welcome to Prairie Cove, Courtney!”
My words were a little forced but I didn’t care, I was annoyed that Courtney was in town and I was going to do my best to make sure she left just as quickly as she had arrived. I had no interest in standing there and talking to her any longer so I gave Carrie a look and she knew that it was time to go.
“Courtney, it was so good to see you but we have to get going. Good luck with your business!”
I waved goodbye as we left her bakery and when I got outside I wanted to scream in frustration but I waited until we were back inside my bakery. Business had been really slow since Courtney opened her bakery, so unfortunately mine was empty as we stepped inside.
“Ugh! Carrie! Can you believe the nerve of that girl? I can’t believe she is back in my life again! What am I going to do? She is ruining my business!”
“Take a deep breath, Harper, and try to calm down. There is no way that she is going to ruin your business. This is just a temporary bump in the road. I don’t think she can even bake so I don’t know how the people of Prairie Cove will feel about her food. One thing I can say about your customers is that they appreciate the homemade goodness of your food.”
“Why do you think she can’t bake?”
“Do you remember the sorority meet and greet our sophomore year in college where we all had to cook something for the new potential pledges? And do you remember that we had to cook in the kitchen in our sorority house in front of each other to prove that we actually made what we were serving? Don’t you remember how every single person nearly gagged on Courtney’s cookies? They were horrible!”
I started laughing and for a minute it helped relieve the stress of knowing that Courtney was back in my life.
“Oh my goodness, I had forgotten all about that! How on earth did she manage to open a bakery with her cooking skills? I suppose she could have taken a few cooking classes over the years, but from what I remember she was a really awful cook and she had no interest in learning more about it then. Now that I think of it, Courtney has always wanted to take the easy way out of everything. She never worked hard for anything and that is probably why she latched onto me and copied everything I did. You know she got into our sorority because I felt sorry for her and put in a good word for her.”
“I know you did, and I know you kind of wish you had known her better before you did that. Harper, I seriously doubt Courtney is making those pastries herself. I think we need to do a little digging into her business.”
I looked at Carrie and smiled.
“See? That is one of the many reasons I love you. You are such a good, loyal friend.”
“Yes, I am, and I am not going to let that woman ruin your business!” Carrie was visibly angry and I was so appreciative to have such a great friend. Just when I was about to tell her again how much I appreciated her, she looked at me with a huge smile on her face. I could tell that something was cooking in that brain of hers.
“What’s that look for Carrie?”
“I just had the best idea! Let’s have a bake-off!”
I was a little confused. “A what?”
“A bake-off, you know, a contest to see who has the best pastries!”
I thought about it for a while and it actually seemed like a good idea. Not to sound arrogant, but I was pretty sure I would easily win such a contest.
“Carrie, that is a great idea! Who is going to judge the contest?”
“I think we need to call in big favors and advertise it everywhere to create a lot of buzz and excitement about our bakery again. I am going to ask Jeff to reach out to the mayor and see if he is willing and has time to be a judge. Also, I will see if Mary Chase, the head of the Women’s League will be a judge.”
“Oooh! That is a great idea! I am going to ask Cheryl Mays at KTPC if she can possibly do an entertainment piece on the news. Maybe one of the anchors can be a judge.”
Cheryl was the local news anchor and we were in the same kindergarten class so I had known her forever. She had just recently moved back to Prairie Cove after being a field reporter in several different towns all across the country so we really had not had time to catch up. I was going to call her to see if she wanted to get together for coffee to get caught up and hopefully talk her into featuring the contest on a small entertainment piece. I knew that the local station was constantly looking for someone or something to feature, so I was pretty sure it would not take a lot of convincing to feature us. When I expanded my business and renamed my bakery, the local station did a small piece on me and I think it helped spread the word about my business and I am almost positive my increased sales were a direct result of being on the news.
“Harper, that is a genius idea because it will for sure generate interest in the contest. How soon do you want to have it?”
“I would love to do it as soon as possible to turn my business around but we have to secure judges first. I am going to see if Cheryl can meet for coffee tomorrow morning. I am hoping she is free because she doesn’t go on the air until 5:00. If she can arrange to feature us by the end of this week, I would love to do it next Saturday afternoon.”
“I think that sounds good. How and when do you want to tell Courtney that we are challenging her to a bake-off?”
“Let’s tell her tomorrow morning. It will give me a chance to set something up with Cheryl. If we have a guaranteed spot in the entertainment segment, I bet she will agree to do it. Courtney loves the spotlight.”
“Okay, that sounds good.”
“Great, well I need to call Cheryl and you should probably throw that latest batch of cupcakes in the oven. We won’t have the crowd we are used to but I am sure we’ll get a few people in here and we don’t want to have empty cases.”
“Right, I’m on it!” Carrie declared as she rushed off to the back.
Luckily, I was able to get Cheryl on the phone right away.
“Harper! It is so good to hear from you! How have you been?”
“Good, busy with the bakery!”
“I love your pastries. In fact, your call reminds me that I need to order cupcakes for a going away party for a co-worker.”
“Okay, great! I was calling to see if you have time to meet for coffee tomorrow. I want to run an idea past you.”
“Hang on a quick second and I will check my calendar.”
She was back in a few seconds.
“I am free from 9:30 until 11:00 tomorrow. Do you want to meet at Marie’s Place at 9:30?”
“Yes, that works for me. I am sure you are busy so I don’t want to keep you on the phone. I will see you tomorrow morning at 9:30.”
“Okay, sounds good. See you then!”
I hung up the phone and took a deep breath. Part one of my plan to save my business was put in motion. All I had to do was get her to agree to feature us and step two would be completed. The final step would be the results of the bake-off, which I was sure that I was going to win, and that would get the Savvy Baker back to its position as the number one bakery in Prairie Cove. My plan sounded good to me, but as I had learned time and time again, things don’t always go according to plan.
Chapter Two
“Hi, Harper, it’s been a long time, you looked terrific!” Cheryl said as she gave me a hug.
“So do you! It’s good to see you too, Cheryl!” I said as we sat down.
“So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?”
“I don’t know if you are aware, but Cour
tney Laidig opened a new bakery across the street from mine and my sales have suffered as a result. I was thinking of having a bake-off between my bakery and the new bakery to kind of remind Prairie Cove how delicious my pastries are, and hopefully generate new interest in my bakery. I know that you guys do an entertainment segment on the news each week and I was hoping that you might feature our bake-off in that segment.”
Her eyes grew big with excitement. “That is a wonderful idea! I would love to do a piece on that and, actually, I think it would be a great idea if we broadcast the results of live on the air! What do you think?”
“Really? I think that is an amazing opportunity if you can get the go ahead at work. Thank you!”
“Two other things, when did you want to have the bake-off and where did you want to have it?”
“I know it is short notice but I was hoping we could do it next Saturday at the Prairie Cove Middle School.”
“Good, I was hoping you would say that you wanted to do it soon. The middle school? That is a great idea. I love that old building; it has such character. We had a cancellation for an on-air interview during the entertainment segment this Friday and we can feature the bake-off during that time, but I will double check.”
“Do you think they will really go for this at the station?”
“I think this is going to be a no-brainer once I present it to my bosses because it will be an event that the whole town can attend. I will call them right now and let you know in a minute. I will be right back.”
She stepped away to make a phone call and the possibility of broadcasting the results of live had not even occurred to me, and I thought it was a fantastic idea.
Cheryl came back about ten minutes later with a huge smile on her face.
“It’s a done deal! We will announce the bake off this Friday during the 11:00 a.m. news and the bake-off will be next Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at Prairie Cove Middle School. The station manager reached out to the principal while I was on hold and made the arrangements. She loves the idea!”
“Oh my goodness, Cheryl, thank you so much! This is going to be an incredible event!”
“Yes, it is! Can you get me Courtney’s information ASAP?”
I nodded. “Of course.” I didn’t tell Cheryl that I had not even asked Courtney yet, but I was pretty confident that she would say yes. I was going to walk over to Cheryl’s bakery that afternoon and present the idea to her.
“Great!”
We talked for about another half hour and then we both had to get to work. I gave Cheryl a hug goodbye and thanked her one last time.
“I will text you Courtney’s information later this afternoon.”
“Sounds perfect, have a good day!”
I called Carrie right away.
“Carrie, she said yes! We have a featured segment this Friday and the bake-off will be broadcast live next Saturday afternoon! I am so excited!”
“Oh my gosh, Harper, this is going to be amazing! You’d better go tell Courtney about this right now, or all of this will have been for nothing.”
“I am on my way to her bakery as we speak.”
“Good. Let me know what happens after you talk to her.”
“Okay, I will.”
I made it to Courtney’s bakery in 10 minutes and my heart was pounding as I opened the door. I was a bit caught off guard by how busy it was because my bakery used to be that busy. I saw her at the counter and went right over to her with a forced smile on my face.
“Harper, twice in two days! To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Carrie and I were thinking about how our bakeries are right across the street from each other and how they probably appeal to different customers, and we had an idea. Let me know what you think.”
She looked at me with hesitation. ”Okay… what were you guys thinking?”
“We were thinking of having a bake-off next Saturday afternoon.”
“A bake-off? What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean we would both bake something and the judges would decide which one was better. Just a little friendly competition.”
She didn’t look convinced but one of her customers overheard us and chimed in.
“I think that sounds fun, you should definitely do it Courtney,” a person I have never seen before, said.
“Oh, Courtney, did I mention that KTPC is going to feature the bake off in this Friday’s entertainment segment and the results will be on the news?”
She perked up and her demeanor completely changed.
“This is going to be on the news? We are going to get that kind of coverage?”
“Yes, I have already received confirmation that the KTPC is going to cover the story.”
A huge smile spread across her face. “Well then, I guess I better decide what I am going to bake! This is a wonderful idea, Harper, it will be a lot of fun!”
I wanted to jump up-and-down with joy but I had to compose myself because I didn’t want Courtney to think that I was feeling overly confident about the context. I was so relieved that she agreed to the bake off that I almost did not notice the man in the black coat, sitting in the corner, staring right at us. I got a very strange feeling from him and I had never seen him before. I subtly motioned toward him and looked at Courtney.
“Do you have any idea who that guy is? He keeps staring at us and does not have the nicest look on his face.”
She glanced over at him and I could see that she was startled but she recovered quickly.
“Oh him, he’s a semi-regular customer. He doesn’t say much but he comes in at least once a week, orders a cookie, and just sits there. I don’t know his name but he seems harmless enough.”
“Really? I think you should try to find out a little bit more about him. He gives me the creeps,” I said.
“Yeah, I know, maybe I will ask around to see if anyone knows him.”
She looked visibly shaken even though she was trying to cover it up, and I almost felt bad for her. Almost. But then I remembered how awful she was to me in college and those feelings of sympathy went right out the window.
“So, back to the bake-off, it is going to be at the middle school at 11:00 a.m. next Saturday. They have all of the space that we will need for the news station to set up their cameras and for us to set up display tables.”
“Wow, okay, I guess we are really doing this!” I could tell that the wheels in her mind were turning and she looked a little bit nervous.
“Yes, it will be fun,” I said.
“Okay, great. When do you need to know what I am making?”
“Oh, that part you keep to yourself, it will be revealed on the day of the contest on air.”
“Okay, that makes sense.”
“Well good, I am happy that we are going to do this. I have to get back to the bakery, and I can see that you are very busy here so I am going to say goodbye. Good luck with the contest!” I said as I dashed out of her bakery.
I couldn’t be there another minute because I could feel myself getting angrier by the second as person after person entered the bakery. What was her secret? There was no way that her pastries were that much better than mine, was there? I was going to have to get to the bottom of what was really going on in her bakery because in my gut I just did not feel that Courtney was able to bake.
When I walked back into my bakery I was happy to see that we had a few customers and even Edna and her girls were there.
“Harper! We were wondering where you were. We have missed your delicious food so we are back. How have you been, dear?” Mavis asked.
How had I been? If they had kept coming to my bakery like they used to they would know exactly how I had been. It was very hard for me not to feel bitter because I felt that they had abandoned me, but deep down I knew that all four women were very sweet at their core and they would never intentionally hurt anyone. However, I did want to know why it had been so long since I had seen them and what it was about Courtney’s bakery that made them leave mine, even for a
little while.
“I have been well, ladies. I have missed you around here.” I pulled out a chair and sat down with them.
“That’s good to hear. How is everything going with your handsome detective friend?” Edna asked with a gleam in her eye.
I smiled at her.” Things are going well there also. Andrew is a very kind man and we have a lot of fun together.”
Doris lightly patted my hand. “That is so nice to hear, dear. We are very happy for you and we know for sure that your mother is over the moon.”