She looked him straight in the eye. “Correct. But I’ve always done it this way. Just as my mother and grandmother did it before me.”
“Don’t you understand that it’s your ideas about tradition that have caused so many of your problems?” His tone was exaggeratedly sympathetic, as if he really cared about her. She took a deep breath, attempting to suppress the anger that was bubbling up inside her. Apparentlythere was something that could upset her when it came to baking for Christmas, and that was a pompous Henrik Eklund.
“Things don’t always have to stay the same,” he went on. “Not if it’s at the expense of the patisserie’s very existence. What would your mother say about this?”
“About what?”
“About the fact that you’ve let your patisserie fall apart.”
Nora gripped the edge of the table. She had told him why tradition was important to her. Told him that every single cake and cookie was a link to the people she loved and remembered. Explained how important it was for her to bake those particular items because somehow it made her feel less lonely. How could he use her revelations against her?
“It’s a way of remembering the people I’ve lost,” she replied grimly.
“Oh, so you’re doing it to honor your mother’s memory.” Henrik laughed. “We’ve already talked about this. You seem to think you’re doing your mother a favor by making this place into some kind of mausoleum in her honor. But you’re running your business into the ground. That’s not honoring her memory, Nora. On the contrary. It’s dishonoring her memory.”
She stared at him in silence.Dishonoring.She couldn’t believe that he was using things against her that she’d told him in confidence.Mausoleum.She snorted. How could he think it was perfectly acceptable to poke his nose into her life and her unhappiness, pretend to listen and understand, only to exploit it all and make sensationalist TV? Worst of all, she was dependent on his help if the patisserie was going to last the month.
She stood up and ripped off her apron. “Enough.” She threw the apron at Henrik. “I’m sure this will make fucking great TV,” she yelled. Elnaz was looking at the floor, but Nora couldn’t help noticing the satisfied expression on Ted’s face as she headed for the door, with the cameras following her.
Don’s words echoed in Henrik’s mind. Don had probably really wanted to see another panic attack, but Nora’s walkout was probably the next best thing on Don’s scale of humiliation. Henrik’s words had come straight from Don, and he had followed Ted’s instructions to the letter. And it felt completely wrong. When he called Don, his emotions had been all over the place. After the confrontation with his father, Henrik had been willing to do anything to boost ratings and show up his father. But now ... Okay, so it was important to save the show, but did he want to continue withLet’s Get Bakingif its main aim had become the manipulation and humiliation of the participants? Nora had been brave enough to open up to him, and he had behaved with cruel disregard for her feelings.
He took a deep breath, leaped to his feet, and ran after her.
“Nora, wait. I ... I’m so sorry.” He shouted the words, and she stopped as she reached the door. Slowly turned around.
Henrik looked at Ted. “I refuse to do this anymore. I don’t want a show where we deliberately provoke people and mess with their feelings. I’m done.”
“But Henrik, Don and TV24 ...”
“I don’t give a shit about Don. I’m not doing it, okay? We’ve already got enough material. We’re dropping that thread right now. I suggest we redo the scene, and this time I refuse to mention Nora’s family.”
Everyone listened in silence.
“TV24 won’t like it—they specifically asked for something stronger,” Ted replied eventually.
Henrik understood the dilemma, but surely this approach wasn’t the answer.
“I want to do the scene differently,” Henrik insisted.
“Differently?” Nora was staring straight at him. “You mean without cutting me down and making nasty remarks about my family? Is that even possible?” He realized how much he had hurt her by dragging her mother into the conversation.
“I understand why you’re upset, but I’d like us to give it one more go. Please stay.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I thought we could take a look at your list and I’ll suggest scrapping a few cookies, but that’s all. No nastiness.”
Ted sighed loudly, but Henrik ignored him. What could Ted do? Without Henrik there was no show.
Nora nodded slowly and went back to the table. Picked up her apron and put it on before sitting down.
Filming began. “Your list of baked goods is too long,” Henrik began. Nora’s shoulders tensed and she was immediately on the defensive, but Henrik tried to give her a reassuring look. This was a fine balancing act. He had to keep Nora on his side, while giving the producers something with an edge.
He picked up Nora’s list and suggested a few items that could be dropped, like candy canes (who the hell had time to make their own candy canes?), marzipan balls, and a dozen or so cakes and cookies. Then he met her gaze. “We talked about this, how you’d be better off offering a smaller selection.” Before she had time to sigh wearily, he went on. “I’m giving you this advice with your best interests at heart, because I ...”Care about you,he was on the point of saying, but he didn’t. Did he? “Because I care about you.” There, he’d said it. They were supposed to be faking a little romance, so why not? However, as he spoke the words, he realized that he actually meant them. It was true. He did care about her, he wanted things to go well for her, and he wanted her to be happy. Because he cared about her.
With that realization, a very strange feeling came over him.
When they had finished filming, Ted looked at him and shook his head. “Don will go crazy.”
