A Cream of Passion: The Great Witches Baking Show by Nancy Warren

Author:Nancy Warren [Warren, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ambleside Publishing
Published: 2021-06-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

To my frustration, Vera quickly excused herself from our conversation and slipped away to talk to Hugo. I was left with the eager and obviously lovelorn man who introduced himself as Logan. Once he’d discovered I was a baker, he began telling me all about his prizewinning scones. He’d won a prize for them at the village fete two years ago. Honestly, was I ever going to escape Broomewode’s obsession with the wretched scone?

I tried to find some inner Zen as I listened to him prattle on about sultanas versus currants, but my mind couldn’t help but wander back to Vera. Why had she implied that she and Luca weren’t close if she was the last person he was thinking of before he passed to the other side? What was she hiding? And why?

Vera struck me as someone who was quiet and thoughtful, though that could have been simply because she was grieving. Of all of the choir members, she and Hugo seemed the most saddened by Luca’s death.

Back at the inn, I returned Eve’s bike and helmet to where she’d parked and thought hard about what my next move would be with the choir. I had to get to the bottom of the group dynamics without drawing too much attention to myself. I could use Sol and Susan as buffers, of course, explaining away my interest in the choir as that of a well-meaning friend and colleague.

The pub was already crowded, and as I entered, I was presented with a dilemma. At the bar, Susan, Reg, and Logan had arrived ahead of the others; at our usual table were the bakers. I stood, looking from one to other, paralyzed as to where to go first.

The bakers looked exhausted but happy, a feeling I knew oh too well. They were talking loudly, caught up in that post-bake rush. It was weird—I wanted to join them, hear all about the day, but as I wasn’t in the running any longer, it also was sort of none of my business. I shouldn’t expect to be privy to the ins and outs of the competition simply because I was a past contestant. But they were my friends, too, and I cared about them deeply. While I stood dithering, Hamish spotted me, and just like that, the decision was taken out of my hands.

“Poppy, come and join us,” Hamish belted in his broad Scottish voice. The other bakers looked up and waved me over, and I went, eager to hear their news.

They were opening a bottle of red wine, and Gaurav passed me a glass as though I were still one of them.

The bakers were all talking at once. From what I could gather, Jonathon had been particularly harsh today and had doled out the criticism as smoothly as spreading perfect buttercream.

“When he criticized the tartness of my lemons, I simply thought I was going to die,” Florence wailed.

“Och, he had nothing good to say to anyone,” Hamish commiserated.

“He sucks,” Gaurav agreed.

“I’m sure he’s only trying to add excitement for the home viewer,” I suggested.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.