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The next morning, I rolled out of bed just as the sun was coming up. I wished that I could have slept in more, but my habit of getting up to open Bitter Beans was still ingrained in me.
I stretched and stepped out onto the deck of my little cottage. The morning birds were singing and the weather was perfect. I looked over at Bryce's place. The lights were all off. He had taken his garbage out, however, and I saw a box of empty beer cans. I guess that's how he was handling the whole situation.
The tire on my bike was still flat, and fixing it in the early morning hours was not my idea of a good time.
I decided to walk down to Seaside and enjoy the quiet before all the madness began.
Main Street was quiet and still. I could see the lights were on at Bitter Beans, but as I peeked into the window, Richard was in there with Granny. He gave her a great big kiss on the curve of her neck as she loaded up the pastry case. She laughed and swatted him away.
I decided I should leave them alone. They seemed so happy. Was it possible he was lying to us all?
I walked over to the beach and listened to the waves as they pounded on the shore. Seagulls cried overhead. I gripped my thin sweatshirt tightly to me as the ocean breeze whipped my long hair.
Was it crazy that even with everything that had happened this summer, I was really going to miss this place when I went home next month?
It was crazy.
And yet, as I stared out into the water and saw Johnny pop up on his surfboard to catch the first wave, and I turned to look over my shoulder at the lights twinkling from the Founders Mansion and wondered if Nate was thinking of me way up there... This place felt like a home. The people here felt like home.
All I had ever wanted was to make a name for myself. Learn how to bake in Paris. Win competitions like these. I mean, competitions that hadn't been sabotaged and everyone was fighting fairly.
I wondered if that was still what I really wanted.
I turned back and stumbled across the sand dunes to Main Street.
The only way to solve this mystery was to knock the socks off of everyone in this competition. If I won, I would know what that felt like and if this was my path. If I didn't win, it would be a sign that my best wasn't good enough.
Suddenly, Granny's posse came power walking over to me.
"Morning, Paige!" said Wanda.
"We can hardly wait for you to win!" said Marnie, flicking her gray braid over her shoulder.
Holly took off her thick spectacles and rubbed them on her tracksuit. "You have just been the best! Everyone has been saying so."
"Your Granny is so proud!" said Marnie. "She keeps roping us into watching her table so that she can sneak a peek in to see how you're doing."
"You're a chip off the old block, kiddo," said Wanda. "She's really going to miss you when it is time for you to go."
I gulped. "Yeah. I'm really going to miss all this, too."
"Listen to us, chatting your ear off when you should get focused on your great, big, final bake!" said Holly, putting her frames back on. Her eyes blinked behind the magnifying glass. "Doing something special?"
"Of course she's doing something special," Marnie stated. "She's Cindy's granddaughter. I bet she's got some sort of secret recipe right up her sleeve."
At the mention of recipes, it suddenly dawned on me that all of my recipes had been stolen yesterday and I hadn't replaced them yet.
"Oh jeez," I said, the panic rising in my throat.
"Did I say something?" Marnie asked, her hand flying to her chest in horror.
"We were just trying to be supportive. We're so sorry if it didn't come across that way!" said Holly. "It's okay if you aren't baking something special. Everything you bake is wonderful!"
"No!" I tried to reassure them. "It's not that at all. I just forgot my recipe!"
"Oh!" said Wanda. She reached out and gave me a shove. "Get going, girl! You've got a contest to win!"
I smiled in thanks and took off toward Bitter Beans. I was going to do one of Granny's old recipes and I was just praying she had an extra copy.
I ran into Bitter Beans and the bell tinkled overhead. A blast of cold air hit me in the face. Captain zoomed across the floor, chasing after a checker piece he had knocked off the table. Granny and Richard poked their heads out from behind one of the shelves.
"Can I help—" Granny stopped when she saw my face. "Paige, what is it? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," I said, panting for breath. "I just... Someone stole my recipes from my cupboard yesterday. I need to get another copy of your cake for today."
Granny's eyes widened. "They stole your recipes?" She turned to Richard. "Have you ever heard of anything so terrible?"
Richard's hands raised up. "Wait! I think I may have found them!"
His words took me aback. "What? How?"
He walked swiftly over to his coat, which was lying across one of the chairs by the window. He patted the pockets. "I am so sorry. I found them yesterday. They were lying beside a trashcan in the lobby. It looked like someone had tried to throw them away, but were in a hurry and missed. I was just going to throw the papers away, but looked at them and realized what they were. I had no idea who they belonged to! I'm so sorry! If I had known they were yours, I would have given them back yesterday when we spoke."
"You just carried them around?" I asked.
"I was going to ask everyone when I tasted their bakes, but then everything happened and it just slipped my mind, I’m afraid," he said, holding them out apologetically. "I'm so glad that I found them and that you are the rightful owner!"
"Who would steal these recipes and throw them away?" asked Granny, outraged on my behalf.
But a creeping suspicion was forming in my mind. "Yes, who?" I asked, looking directly at Richard.
He looked from Granny to me. "I should probably be going. I'm sure you two have a lot to do before the morning ferry. Opening up and all." He put on his jacket and walked swiftly to the door. He paused, his hand on the handle, and turned to look at me. "Perhaps whoever stole them was thinking it might stop you from baking yesterday. And that way, no one would think you were the person who made everyone sick. Perhaps they were trying to protect you."
He gave us a grim smile and then left.
"Yes, perhaps..." I said softly.