“See? That’s why you are going to win this thing. Hands down. There’s no one better than you at this stuff. You’re so creative.”

“Don’t jinx me.”

“I’m not. I’m spreading good vibes.” Sara skipped around as if tossing fairy dust. “Acting as if it’s already happened. Don’t you know the difference?”

“Apparently not.”

Sara grabbed a whisk from the white stoneware crock and held it up to her mouth. “And introducing the winner of this round of Pastry Practice,” she said in an exaggerated TV host voice. “The grand prize? The right to make me more fabulous treats to try, even though I’m going to have to double my visits to the gym next week!”

“Now to round two,” Kelly said.

“I’ve already filled your buckets with ideas.” Sara glanced at her watch. “I’m out of here for the day. Good luck with practice. I can’t wait to see what you came up with when I come back to work in the morning.”

“Me too.” Kelly watched Sara leave. She was lucky to have such a good friend. It was perfect that she’d been here when the folks from the show had come. If she’d had to keep this news totally to herself, she’d have burst for sure by now.

It had been a busy work day, but even with the steady stream of customers and more than enough to keep her busy, Kelly’s mind had wandered way too many times back to Andrew. She had a lot more important things on her plate than an old flame. Especially one who’d broken her heart. She wished he’d just leave town already.

She was able to try out another challenge after she closed for the night. With nothing better than baking to do on a Saturday evening, Kelly went to her office and pulled a challenge from the pink bucket to get her mind off Andrew. “Just my luck.” The challenge she pulled was for a wedding mini cake.

She was tempted to pull another one instead, but if she could pull this off while she was trying not to think about Andrew, she could work under any pressure.

She pulled an obstacle from the red bucket.

“Peas?”

Sara was taking this challenge seriously. She could easily hide peas by mixing them into the batter, but how she integrated them was as important as just getting them into the recipe. And the judges were always less than pleased when an ingredient disappeared into the recipe and they couldn’t taste them or recognize them at all.

She took a baggie and let herself into the cafe next door. Thank goodness everyone had gone home for the night. She went into the walk-in freezer and scooped a bag full of frozen peas, then went back to the bakery, feeling like a thief in the night.