“You aren’t going to believe who’s here,” Lila said to Amelia as soon as she arrived at The Pink Cupcake for work the following morning.
“Who?”
“Lionel Hascolm,” Lila whispered.
“Where is he?” Amelia asked with wide eyes, completely forgetting about The Old Barn and her experience from the night before.
“He’s at the picnic table. The one in the straw hat,” Lila said and jerked her chin in the direction of the picnic area. There, with his back to them, was a tall, slender fellow in a straw hat like the ones political constituents wear at conventions.
“Are you sure that’s him and not a member of the Republican caucus?” Amelia asked. Just then, there was a loud clatter from inside The Pink Cupcake.
“I’m sure. Bea has been dropping pans and pots and bumping into things since she told me he was coming to speak to us this morning.” Lila shook her head. “She’s a nervous wreck in there. I don’t understand how a girl as weird as she is is suddenly worried about the opinion of that guy.”
“Well, we ought to get this over with for her sake,” Amelia said. “Give me one minute to set my stuff down, and we’ll see what’s all the hubbub.”
Amelia went inside the truck and saw Beatrice fussing with two ingredients in her hand that looked almost identical. She was staring at them as if they might explode at any second.
“Beatrice, are you okay?” Amelia asked.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m all thumbs this morning,” she squawked.
“Did you know that Lionel was coming today?”
“Yes. He texted me last night. I told him that was acceptable. I hope you don’t mind,” she said, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand.
“No. I’m glad you did. Did you speak to him this morning?” Amelia continued her questioning as if she were collecting information for some top secret operation that needed to be handled with the utmost discretion and care.
“For a moment,” Beatrice said before shaking her head and getting back to the orange and poppy seed cupcakes she was supposed to be making.
Amelia was afraid that today might end up being a plain vanilla with cream cheese frosting day. She’d have to put a notice up, saying the gourmet cupcakes will be back tomorrow once the baker gets her faculties back.
“Okay. Well, you take it easy in here. Remember, they are just cupcakes.” Amelia patted Beatrice gently on the shoulder before she left and joined Lila, who had been studying Lionel the entire time.
“You know, he barely moved,” Lila whispered. “He sat perfectly still. I don’t know what he’s doing.”
“Maybe he’s just enjoying the beautiful view and the day. Could that be it? You’re as jumpy as Beatrice is.” Amelia chuckled.
“My gosh, you are right about that,” Lila said.
“Excuse me, Lionel Hascolm?” Amelia called out.
The man straightened even more in his seat before standing up from the picnic table and turning around. He had round spectacles and was wearing a dapper suit with a vintage tie.
“Amelia Harley, I presume. And you are Lila Bergman. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He extended his long arm and slender fingers. Amelia shook his hand, and Lila followed. “I’ve done a fair bit of research on your establishment. You’ve been written up by some of the most prominent food critics, and from the looks of things, this has all the makings of a successful business not just here but nationwide. Just what I’ve been looking for.”
“Really.” Amelia thought Lionel was honest, direct, and very professional. But something wasn’t sitting well with her. “Do you have a résumé that I can look at?”
He looked rather shocked at the request but did reach into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out an envelope that he handed over to Amelia.
“I’ll give you a little bit of my background. I am currently working at the Baumgarten Hotel as their second pastry chef under the tutelage of Pastry Chef Felix Crie, who has been featured on—”
“Oh yes. I’ve seen him on some cooking shows. He has an interesting reputation,” Lila added. “How is it working for him?”
“The experience is noteworthy,” Lionel replied. “But I must admit that I don’t feel he allows for too many experimental flavors in his kitchen. At least not from what I’ve seen.”
“And you know Beatrice. She would be who you would be answering to,” Amelia added.
The glimmer in Lionel’s eye dulled for a second and then returned.
“Beatrice was by far the only person I ever saw as any kind of competition. She has a gift. That is for sure. She’s lucky to have gotten in on the ground floor of such a prosperous enterprise.”
There it was again. The thing Amelia didn’t like.
“Okay, Lila, do you have any questions?” Amelia asked, tight-lipped, looking at Lila.
“I don’t think so,” she said curiously.
“Lionel, thank you for paying us a visit. We do have other applicants we are interviewing. So I’ll let you know by Monday of our decision.”
She watched his expression and saw that he had obviously never been told no before. Amelia reached out, shook his hand firmly, and walked back to the truck. Once inside, she looked at Beatrice, who was staring into one of the oven windows, the red glow highlighting her cheeks and forehead.
“I’m sorry, Beatrice. But Lionel isn’t going to work,” Amelia said softly.
Just then, Lila came up the stairs and into the back of the truck.
“You didn’t like him,” Beatrice said.
“No, I didn’t,” Amelia said. “I don’t care how good a baker he is. I just didn’t get a good feeling from him. He gave me the impression that if given the chance he’d steal The Pink Cupcake out from under me, and he came across smart enough to do just that. This is our business. We’ve made it what it is.”
Beatrice was staring at Amelia and Lila with her mouth hanging open. “You seriously are not going to hire him? But he was the best baker in my school. They all said he had a gift.”
“That’s what he said about you,” Amelia replied.
“I don’t know if you’ve made the right decision,” Beatrice said, her hands in her lap.
“Oh, I did. We’re going to give someone else a shot. I think we need to find someone more like you, Beatrice, who wants to have a job they love and loves the job they have. What do you think?” Amelia smiled.
“Quite frankly, I didn’t care for his hat,” Lila joked. “Anyone who wears a hat like that shouldn’t be trusted around desserts.”
Beatrice stood up and was back to her old self. She returned to her workstation and, almost without looking, gathered her supplies from the shelves and racks nearby to start on the next batch of cupcakes. From the looks of it, she was making something new.
“What have you got there?” Amelia asked as she went to the order window.
“I was thinking of a pistachio mocha with a cherry glaze over the top. It would be just a slight variation on your pistachio cream with orange. It’s not groundbreaking, but it might be nice.”
“That sounds wonderful. Make enough for me to take home to the samplers,” Amelia said. “They love your new ideas. In fact, I don’t think there has been one they haven’t completely devoured.”
The tempo and conversation went back to normal now that the idea of hiring Lionel Hascolm was put to rest. Amelia decided to just place a simple ad as she’d done before Beatrice applied and would hope for lightning to strike twice. Stranger things have happened.