“Well,” Liza said from the front of the room. “You’ve had all day. Let’s see what you came up with, shall we?” She wore black pants and her white chef’s coat, her auburn hair pulled back in a low ponytail. Hands clasped behind her back, she began a slow stroll from station to station, scrutinizing each cake, turning them so she could see all sides.
She furrowed her brow at Vienna and Maia’s cake, but only for a moment. Then she narrowed her eyes in a squint and gave her head a very subtle shake.
She tipped her head to one side when taking in Paige and Madison’s cake, turning it with one hand while seemingly studying the frosting.
As she moved to Regan and Ava’s cake, Regan caught a mere split second of her eyes going wide with surprise before Liza corrected herself and went back to her usual stoic expression. She bent at the waist to look at the bottom tier, then stood up and tipped her head again, examining the top. More nodding followed.
Hands once again clasped behind her back, she returned to the front of the room, turned to face them all, and clasped her hands in the front. It seemed almost choreographed to Regan, which was something she had always thought about the way Liza moved on her TV show. Slowly and deliberately. Stretching out the tension. Surely, she’d been coached to do so for the most dramatic effect.
“It’s very interesting how different the cakes all are on the outside. Seems each team had their own unique view of what a same-sex wedding cake should look like. Your designs are…unique, that’s for sure. Some are better than others, but as I said earlier, the taste of the cake is just as important, if not more so.” Liza clapped her hands together once. “Let’s cut.”
Regan slid off her stool and grabbed the large knife. “I always hate this part,” she said with a smile.
“Me too,” Ava agreed. “While I do want people to taste the cake and see how great it is, it’s always a bit of a shame to destroy something that took so much work.”
“Exactly.” They held one another’s gaze for a beat before Regan shrugged. “Okay, moment of truth. Here we go.” She sliced a piece off the top tier and laid it onto the plate Ava held up for her. Holy freaking shitballs, it was perfect. Each layer was distinct, its color prominent, the raspberry compote in evidence, but not too much. Regan had tasted the scraps of cake when she’d had to cut down the top tier, so she knew it was awesome.
Next to her, Ava said a very quiet “Ooohhh” under her breath, and Regan turned a grin to her.
“We did good,” she whispered, and Ava nodded her agreement.
Vienna and Maia were up first. They looked confident as Vienna handed a slice of cake to Liza. It was white, so Regan assumed vanilla but was proven wrong when Liza said, “Nice coconut flavor. Could’ve used a bit more punch. Overall, not bad. Not great, but not bad.” Vienna and Maia had twin expressions on their faces that seemed to be a mix of disappointment at her words and relief that they were done.
Liza moved on to Madison and Paige’s cake. With an amused smile, she asked Paige, “Are you going to be sick?”
“I hope not,” Paige said with a sheepish grin. “Nerves.”
Liza nodded as Madison handed her a plate with a slice of their cake. Looked like red velvet to Regan, who thought it was a bit of an obvious choice for a wedding cake.
“Red velvet isn’t terribly original,” Liza commented, almost to herself, as if reading Regan’s thoughts. And Paige’s complexion went back to slightly green. Liza took a bite, seemed to think on it as she chewed. “It’s moist, though. Dense without being too much so. Good depth of flavor. Quite tasty. Just boring.” She set the plate down.
Paige felt behind her, clearly looking for her stool before dropping onto it.
And then it was their turn.
Regan wondered if Ava could hear her heart hammering in her chest. She did hear Ava swallow as she handed the plate to Liza.
“Well, first of all, it looks absolutely lovely,” Liza commented. “You went with the internal rainbow, I see, and left the outside with more of a classy appearance. Subtlety. I like it. Creative.” She put a bite in her mouth, slid the fork out slowly, and Regan was pretty sure her own head might explode in anticipation. Her brain went to people who baked in competitions on tv and her only thought wasJesus, how do people do this?
“Oh.” Just that one word. That’s all Liza said for a full minute. And then she did something completely unexpected…she took a second bite. “Oh, my.” She turned to them with what seemed to be a completely bewildered expression on her face, as if she hadn’t expected any of them to make a decent cake. “Good Lord, that’s delicious.” She pointed at the slice with her fork. “The lemon is tangy and tart, but not too much so, and it’s evened out by the raspberry compote, which is absolutely perfect, by the way.” She gave a nod to Ava on that. “God.” She set the plate down and seemed almost a little irritated as she said, “That might be one of the best pieces of cake I’ve ever tasted.” She turned and headed toward the front of the room.
When Regan turned to meet Ava’s gaze, her dark eyes were wide with clear disbelief. She rolled her lips in and bit down on them to keep from bursting into delighted laughter. Because oh my God, Liza Bennett-Schmidt had just told them their cake rocked.
“I did not see that coming,” Ava whispered when Liza was far enough away to not hear.
“Same,” Regan whispered back, but she reached for Ava’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, and she was surprised to feel Ava squeeze back before letting it go and turning her attention to Liza.
“I am impressed. I threw a last-minute challenge at you, made you work with somebody you’re not terribly familiar with, and you all stepped up. Very nicely done.” She gave them time to bask in that before she went on. “As for who impressed me the most, I have to go with Ava and Regan. Not only did they make a most delicious cake and then color it in deep, vibrant colors, they made it look elegant and beautiful, a cake any betrothed couple—same-sex or not—would be thrilled to have at their wedding reception. Good work, you two.”
Liza began clapping, and the others joined in for a round of applause. Regan knew she was grinning like a big dork, and that was okay because so was Ava. Before she could stop herself, she wrapped Ava in a hug. Just a quick one. Ava looked slightly surprised but went with it. She let her go after only a second or two.
“You all have worked very hard today. Cocktails and appetizers have been set up in the dining room. We’ll have the cakes brought up so you can try each other’s. Feel free to go freshen up and then head that way. Again, nice work today, ladies. I’m proud of you.”
And with that, she turned and left, May on her heels.
Chapter Nine
The rest of the week had flown by. Honestly, it was crazy how fast time seemed to be going. Ava felt like she’d only arrived a day or two ago, but the reality was, it had already been two and a half weeks.
