The shrill ring of my phone cuts me off. I huff out a few steadying breaths as the ringing dies out, thankful for the pause to collect myself. A second later, it drones on once again.

I swipe my phone from the counter. “Let me get rid of this. Then I’ll explain.”

Penelope’s name flashes across the screen before I answer. “Hey, Penelope.” My throat strains to keep my voice at a pleasant tone. Penelope doesn’t need to endure an in-person breakdown and an over-the-phone breakdown from me two days in a row.

“I just wanted to say, don’t worry about a thing,” she says. “I’m on it.”

“On what?”

“I know your phone has probably been blowing up with notifications after that statement the Flavor Network just sent out concerning your win at the Maui Food Festival.”

I let loose a heavy sigh. “I actually haven’t seen their statement yet. I got an email from them, though, which I’m sure says much of the same, so I think I’ll skip the post.” Closing my eyes, I pinch the bridge of my nose.

“I’ve got it all under control,” she says.

Penelope’s voice still boasts its bubbly inflection, but there’s something firm behind it now. Whatever she’s talking about, it’s clear she’s a thousand percent sure she’s got it handled.

“What do you mean?”

“You know how I said before that I did social media for a living?”

“Yeah.” I glance at Mom, who now boasts a confused frown as she listens to my side of this conversation.

“A lot of my clients are TV networks. One of them is Chic TV.” There’s a smile in her voice when she speaks. “You’ve heard of it, right?”

“Um, of course.” Chic TV is the most popular lifestyle channel on cable television.

“Chic has been interested in dipping their toe into something cooking related for a while now. They were going to team up with the Flavor Network to do a cooking show last year, but Flavor tried to screw them over during the contract phase of things, so Chic pulled out. They’ve held a grudge ever since. And this is the perfect opportunity to get them back.”

My head spins trying to keep up with everything Penelope says. “Oh . . . what does that mean?”

Penelope chuckles. “Sorry, sometimes I get so excited about something that I don’t explain it fully. Check your Instagram.”

I pull up Instagram on my laptop and see that Tiva’s has been tagged in a post from the Flavor Network’s account. It’s a photo of the crowd during the Maui Food Festival with a brief caption explaining why they rescinded our prize. Thankfully, there’s no mention of my name or Callum’s, just that Tiva’s was caught breaking the festival rules and that we were disqualified.