“I know. I’m so sorry.” He brushed her hair back from her cheek. “This cake was more than an entry, it was my heartfelt…I don’t know…my feelings for you coming out. This isn’t coming out right.”

She cocked her head and looked confused, but at least she wasn’t fuming like she’d been a few moments ago.

He took her hand. “Kelly, if I were asking you to marry me again, that’s the exact cake I’d have baked for you.” He rubbed his thumb across the top of her soft hand. “Would you have said yes?”

She pushed her hair back over her shoulder, then touched her hand to her mouth, but she didn’t answer.

“I really wish you would.”

She closed her eyes. “Don’t say that.”

“It’s the truth. I felt it as soon as I saw you again.”

“Don’t throw me off my game. We aren’t done here yet. One of us is going to win.”

He shrugged. “I kind of already did.”

“Excuse me?”

It took him a minute to realize she thought he meant the bake-off. That he was a sure thing. “Not the contest,” he hurried to correct himself. “I mean showing up back home first. It was a good visit. With my family. My dad.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Amazing visit with him. But most of all, you.”

“It was good to see you again.” She shook her head. “You’re the last person I expected to see here.”

“I know. I can’t believe I didn’t put two and two together when I saw you on the street.”

“Your cake out there, it’s gorgeous. I love the way you used the macarons on the other layers. Texture and color. Very clever.”

“Thank you. Yours is beautiful too. You know I like the real frosting layers. Never have been a fan of fondant.”

She laughed. “I remember. This way, it was the best of both worlds.”

“You nailed it,” he said. “I guess I’d better decide what other recipe I’m going to bake. Technically, that cake really is your recipe. You wrote it down, you started the whole idea. I just helped refine and garnish it. It’s yours. It’s only fair that if they’re going to make one of us bake something else that I do that.”

She lifted her chin. “I hope they don’t disqualify us both.”

“They won’t do that,” Andrew said. “It’s not like either one of us knew the other was here or what was being baked. We’ve followed all the rules. We could have just as easily both made chocolate cake.”

“I guess so. Since we never knew who else was competing, we couldn’t second-guess what might separate us from the others. A simple go-to like chocolate might have been a better idea.”