There was also the matter of timing. I could make all of these in two weeks, sure, but there was no way that they would be fresh and tasty for the day of the competition, even if I tried to plan them in order of what could keep the longest.
“You mentioned something about teams?” I murmured as I flipped back to the beginning.
“Yeah, we can have up to ten in our team,” Cas said, still looking a bit chagrined. His slight embarrassment was what made me suspicious that there was something he was leaving out, but I figured one conversation with Polly, Penny, and Gammy McCallister would get the rest of the details out of him.
I knew it had to do with a rival pack, though, and that was enough.
I blew out a breath. “Okay, so here’s the thing. Most of this stuff needs to be baked fresh. I can do a whole lot of prep and start the showstopper the day before, but I won’t be able to do everything.” I tapped my chin. “I can do the cookies, cobbler, and the showstopper, as well as help anyone else decide what recipe they wanna use, but that’s probably it without any of our stuff getting stale.”
“I think they mentioned there would be ovens there,” Saoirse said.
“That’s good to know.” I headed over to my shelf where I kept all my recipe books and binders from school. Grabbing a notebook, I sat down to see if I could come up with the bare bones of a plan. I didn’t expect to make a ton of progress since it was during working hours, but my mind was starting to whirl in a pleasant way. It helped a lot to know that I was going to have three people’s help for my Sunday prep. Even if they weren’t professional bakers, they were a huge help.
Time slipped by pleasantly despite the lack of customers coming in. It embarrassed me that Cas, Chris, and Saoirse were seeing just how few people frequented my store on a Saturday, but if they thought anything about it, they didn’t say so.
“Hey, I had a thought,” Cas said, stopping by where I was sitting when I stole another ten minutes to write out ideas. “My mother makes amazing beef wellington on very special occasions. Think that could be our savory dish?”
“Beef wellington?” I repeated. “As in, Gordon Ramsay’s signature dish?”
“Uh… yes?”
Right. Cas had mentioned he didn’t watch much television and also hated reality TV with a passion. He likely didn’t know the blond, foul-mouthed chef.
Huh, so Mr. Ramsey had an untapped market in the shifter community. I doubted that would come in handy, but it felt good to know.
“That would be perfect, Cas. Does anyone else in your family have any claims to fame?”
“Well, Auntie Letitia could do her rhubarb and sweet cream cake that you filled in for after my daughter massacred the baking kitchen,” Chris offered.
Of course, it was Arietty who had been the one who burned the cake. I’d forgotten if I knew that already, but it made a lot of sense.
“That works for me.”
Bit by bit, we went through it, putting together who we could ask to do what. It was far more fun than it had any right to be, and for a while it felt like I actually owned a massive, successful bakery, and we were planning an elaborate menu for our next week.
Maybe someday, I mused to myself as I paused our planning to take my afternoon loaves out of the oven.
Saturday sped by much more quickly than it usually did, and before I knew it, Saoirse was asking to lock the door and flip my OPEN sign over to CLOSED, so we could get started on prep. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and I found myself looking forward to the Sunday slog way more than I usually did.
“All right, let’s start with bagel dough. We’ll do the plains, then the specialties. After that, we’ll prep everything we need for doughnuts and croissants.”
“Okay. I remember bagels from this morning.”
“You remember all the steps that come after they’ve proofed,” I corrected gently. “Now we’re going to do everything that comes before that.”
“Like putting them in the retarder?” she asked brightly.
“Yes, very good,” I said, a bit surprised she knew the term. “Do you have something like that at home?”
“No, but Uncle Cas warned me about it and said I needed to be mature about the name.”
I shot Cas a fairly amused look, and he gave me a wry smile. “Just being proactive. Teenagers, ya know?”
“Just because I’m not a billion years old like you doesn’t mean I’m a little kid,” Saoirse countered, and I took that as my cue to cut in.
“Anyway, Chris, would you mind grabbing me a couple of bags of flour? We’ve got a lot to do.”
Despite having a pupil at my side, we got through my Sunday prep in record time. I was so thrilled at the leap forward in my schedule that I could kiss Cas. But then I remembered we were dating, so I did kiss him.
I managed not to get carried away for once, if only because his niece began to make gagging sounds after a few moments.
Ah, to be young again.
My feelings for him were growing so rapidly in such a short time that I could scarcely believe it. I’d never felt so supported, and I could feel myself quickly growing addicted to the ease of it all. It wasn’t just what he did for me-that would be a pretty shallow basis for a relationship. No, it went beyond that. He made me want to be a better person, while also making me believe I could. The world felt so much more manageable whenever he smiled at me. Which was a feeling I never wanted to grow tired of.
By the time everything was turned, I found myself wishing they could all stick around longer so we could really dive into planning, but I could tell poor Saoirse was exhausted, and Chris was beginning to check his phone more and more, no doubt missing his wife and daughter. Another thing I liked about the McCallisters was that they all genuinely liked each other. There were no jokes about parents hating children or husbands hating wives. It was refreshing. While I’d never experienced that in my own family for obvious reasons, I’d seen it on television far too often and always thought it was weird. Why marry someone if you hated them?
We said our goodbyes, even if they were incredibly reluctant on mine and Cas’s part. When we kissed, his niece had the good sense to step outside, which was a good thing because I wasn’t about to shorten my goodbye for her sake.
“See you Monday?” Cas asked, his voice low and rough once our lips broke apart. Yet again, I felt that thrill of attraction rock through us, but I had to let it simmer rather than flare up. There was a time and a place, and having his beta and niece a few feet away pretty much put a stop to anything like that.
“Yeah.” I loved that he understood how slammed my Sundays were and that I needed a break from socializing to concentrate on the day. Although, it definitely required a little less concentration now with how they’d helped me get ahead. I’d get to sleep an extra thirty minutes. “See you Monday.”
“Be safe until then.”
“No promises,” I teased, only to have him catch me up in an embrace, his strong arms squeezing me like the world’s most welcome cage. “All right, all right, I’ll behave myself.”
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