Free Sweet Bits by Karen Moehr Page B

complicated relationship?”
     
    Ben pursed his lips and nodded. “Yep, that’s it.”
     
    “Well, I won’t ask for details about it, but what were you doing in San Francisco?”
     
    “We were out there looking for housing for her. She was going to go to culinary school out there, but…well, it’s a long story.”
     
    Jason just nodded in understanding.
     
    They finished lunch talking about sports and various friends they’d had back in school, catching up on each other’s lives. By the time lunch ended, they were closer than they’d ever been and Ben really liked Jason. He respected him and his choices.
     
    They promised to stay in touch and parted outside the restaurant with a handshake and exchange of business cards. Ben had no idea why Jason, who’d just been a casual friend so many years go, had called him to have lunch, but he was sure glad he did.
     
     
     
    ***
     
     
     
    “Contestant Number Fourteen? Contestant Number Fourteen?” The heavy-set woman shouted out over the large auditorium.
     
    “That’s me!” shouted Ali waving her hand. She had a large number fourteen badge on and her favorite yellow apron. “It’s my lucky apron,” she had told Ben who waited with her in the crowded auditorium, full of hopeful bakers and their friends and families.
     
    Ali wove her way up to the front. She was assigned a kitchen space and she and Ben hustled her pans, utensils and ingredients to the space. She could set up for the next half hour and then the competition would begin.
     
    “Flour over there with the sugar,” said Ali. She was barking orders and Ben was her faithful servant. He wanted to help her as much as he could. She was allowed one assistant during the process and he had happily agreed to do it.
     
    A large clock was at one end of each kitchen space. Each baker had ninety minutes to make their creation. Nervous contestants scurried around their spaces in a flurry of activity. No actual cooking could begin until the bell rang and the clock counted down the minutes.
     
    Ali kept the clock in her view and made sure to prepare her baking mise-en-place. “It means everything in its place,” she explained to Ben who nodded, happy to be helping and learning.
     
    As the clock neared the start, she took a couple of minutes to breathe and steady her nerves. Nerves only caused error and she couldn’t afford any errors. This had to be a win. She’d made six cakes in the past week and between she, Ben and Josie they had all agreed on one recipe.
     
    Clang! The bell rang and she jumped a bit. She started mixing the batter while Ben prepped the strawberries. He could chop, bring her things, stir things and put things in the oven, but he could not add any ingredients to the batter himself. He was fully aware of the rules and careful to stay inside of them.
     
    Ali lightly sugared the berries and added a teaspoon of fresh-squeezed orange juice. They were to soften and sweeten before being folded into the whipped cream and layered into the baked cake. It was just a matter of steps and she must carefully follow each one as she’s done in her practice baking. She was confident in her skills and in the time that she had.
     
    “Cake’s ready for the oven,” she announced and carried two full tins to the large ovens set up at one end of the auditorium. Ben walked with her and opened the oven. She carefully slid them in and watched the time. “At 2:18, they must come out, OK, Ben” 2:18.
     
    “Got it,” he said looking at the clock. They gave each other a quick high five and scurried back to the kitchen space where set about making the whipped cream. “I’ll make it and get it good and cold in the fridge before I add the berries,” she informed Ben.
     
    He nodded. “Whatever you say.”
     
    “What would I do without you today?” she asked him as she eyed the clock and patted his back. She didn’t want to let her cakes over bake. Ben was a Godsend. Josie had to work and she