“Both of these Marry Me entries are unique in their own way, but equally as lovely in presentation,” Martin announced. “The uncanny thing is that both cakes taste nearly the same. For the first time, we have a tie.”

A tie?

“But we can’t have a tie, can we?” Martin was dramatically building excitement with the audience.

“Noooo,” the crowd yelled.

“We measured both cakes.” Martin moved around the stage with great animation as he led the contestants and the audience on. Still not revealing the competition, he said, “Madam, your cake came in one inch shorter than the maximum height.”

The audience applauded.

“Sir, your cake is obviously shorter.” He moved to that side of the stage in front of Andrew’s cake. There was an audible groan from the audience. “The macaron layers are thin, but the cake layer is significant. Thank goodness you have that tall declaration of love on top, because if you’d left off the ‘Will You Marry Me?’ cake-topper, you’d have been below the minimum height. You’re both within the limits.”

The audience applauded wildly.

“I’m the tie-breaking vote,” Martin said. “So let’s bring out both of our pastry chefs.”

The theme music filled the room, and applause rose.

Lori prodded Andrew to the stage door. “Go!”

He headed straight for his cake, located the tape outline on the floor behind it, and stood facing the judges and Martin.

The music continued to play.

Movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention. He saw the other cake and couldn’t take his eyes off it. Someone had definitely brought their A game.

He blinked against the bright lights, then turned to face his competitor and almost choked.

Her mouth hung wide.

“Before we talk to our two finalists, I want to bring out the other two contestants in this Four Square Valentine’s Day Bake-Off.”

Music played, and Frank walked out on stage.

“Welcome back the first chef to be eliminated, Frank Wells. Frank is the Executive Pastry Chef at the Elk Traxx Ski Resort in Colorado.” They shook hands. “His wife, Danica, nominated him. She’s in the audience tonight.”

Danica stood and waved.

Frank said, “I promise it’s the only time I’ve lied to you, honey.”

“I’m so proud of you,” she said, blowing him a kiss.

Martin walked a few steps to the right. “Our second contestant to be eliminated was Kacey Nugent. Come on out, Kacey.”

She walked on to the stage, waving.

“It was a close competition. Kacey is known for her New York cheesecakes around here. She owns Kacey Cakes here in the city, and was nominated by a customer.”

Kacey smiled and clapped. “Who?”

“We’d like to share with you and our studio audience who nominated you for this show.” The camera scanned the audience, then settled on a New York City police officer in uniform. “Do you recognize him?”