Plain Vanilla Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery - Book 12 (Frosted Love Cozy Mysteries) (3 page)

“Well,
I don’t know about you guys,” Kelia remarked, when Missy was done with her
mini-cooking lesson. “But, my stomach has been growling for a good five
minutes,” she grinned. The members of the panel nodded, smiling at the
now-confident baker. “Francesca, I say we do a screen test. Are we all in
agreement?” There were nods all around, with the exception of Kelvin Michaels,
who stroked his chin, gazing at Missy thoughtfully, eyes narrowed.

“Kelvin?”
Kelia prompted. He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly not pleased at being
rushed.

“We’ll
do the screen test, but there needs to be an understanding that when direction
is given, it needs to be followed,” he proclaimed in his gravelly voice,
staring at Missy over the top of his designer reading glasses. Missy stared
right back at him, not saying a word.

“Right,
right, of course,” Francesca said hastily, moving toward the stage to whisk her
newly-bold budding starlet off to a screening room.

“I
just want to go home,” Missy said softly, taking comfort from hearing the rich
deep tones of Chas’s voice on the other end of the phone. “I don’t belong out
here – I feel like I’m in way over my head.”

“Well,
you’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge,” the handsome detective
reminded her. “When will they let you know whether you’ve been selected?”

“Tomorrow
morning,” she sighed. “They’re reviewing my screen test tonight, and I’m almost
hoping that they’ll reject me,” she admitted.

“Sweetie,
you’re really good at what you do. If you can help someone else express their
creativity through teaching them how to bake, wouldn’t you want to do that?” he
asked gently. “I know that when you’re showing Cheryl and Ben a new recipe at
the shop, it’s exciting for all of you.”

“Yeah,
that’s true,” Missy agreed, then changed the subject to ask what had been
happening in LaChance while she was gone. The two chatted easily for several
more minutes before Chas started yawning and needed to get to bed. After
hanging up, Missy felt much better, but had no idea how she was going to handle
it if she was actually chosen to host a baking show.

**

Rubbing
the sleep from her eyes after a night of tossing and turning, Missy groped for
her phone on the nightstand beside her.

“Missy
Gladstone,” she answered, stifling a yawn.

“Melissa,
hi, good morning!” Francesca greeted her energetically, as usual. “Hey listen,
wanted to let you know – it’s unanimous, you’re in. Your driver will pick you
up around 10:00 this morning to bring you to the studio to discuss details,
then there’ll be a luncheon to introduce you to everyone, and we’ll set up a
tentative date to begin filming. I hope you’re as excited as we are to get
started. So, anyway, hon, I’ve gotta run, but I’ll look forward to seeing you
soon – bye!” the producer rang off before Missy could open her mouth. Feeling
fuzzy and befuddled, she glanced at the clock on her bedside table. 9:15??? She
flung the covers back and headed for the shower.

**

Missy
was surprised when a receptionist at the studio ushered her into a room that
was abuzz with activity. A young woman, who said that she was Francesca’s
assistant, handed her a clipboard with a packet of papers and instructed her to
fill them out. Missy sat in a chair next to a muscular, tattooed young man with
a thick, black ponytail, who looked up at her, smiling briefly before returning
to his paperwork. She flipped through the stack of papers, noticing release
forms, performance agreements, and other forms so filled with legalese that she
could hardly make heads or tails of it. Noticing her bewilderment, the man
beside her chuckled.

“It’s
pretty standard stuff,” he reassured her, with a charming British accent.
“Basically it all comes down to “we pay you, you show up on time and don’t
discuss details of the show before its release,” he explained.

“You
sound like you’ve done this before,” Missy observed, thinking it strange that
Francesca was taking care of important details for multiple shows at once.

“I’ve
been around a bit,” the genial man nodded. “Simon Reynolds,” he said,
introducing himself. “You have a lovely accent. I’m guessing you’re the lady
from the South.”

Missy
grinned, gave him her name and shook hands. “Is it that obvious? I’m feeling a
bit like a fish out of water at the moment,” she confessed.

“Don’t
worry,” the Brit assured her. “Once we get in the kitchen, you’ll forget all
about the cameras.”

“We?
Umm…I’m afraid I don’t understand…” she replied, a tiny flicker of dread
growing in her belly.

“Yeah,
we – you know, you, me, the other competitors – once we get cooking, all the
distractions go away and we can focus on our work,” he said, seeming confused by
her question.

“Competitors?”
alarm bells now pealed madly in Missy’s mind.

“You’re
here for Cutthroat Cupcakes, right?” Simon asked, looking at her with perplexed
amusement.

“Cutthroat
Cupcakes??? I don’t think so,” she shook her head vehemently. “I’m here to host
a baking show.”

“Oh
dear, they didn’t explain things to you very well, now did they?” he observed,
making a face. “So here’s the deal…there are five of us competing on a show
called Cutthroat Cupcakes. The competitions all have a theme and the judges
eliminate someone after each round. Whoever is left at the end gets to host
their own baking show. Didn’t they tell you that?” he asked, incredulous.

“No
one mentioned anything even remotely like that, or I wouldn’t have come at
all,” Missy murmured.

“Really?
Why? From what I hear, you’re favored to win.”

Missy
sighed, disappointed and feeling as though she’d been misled. “Thanks for
telling me, Simon,” she said, slipping the packet of papers back onto her neon
blue plastic clipboard. “I’m going to go find Francesca and try to get out on
the next plane back to Louisiana.”

Missy
had been whisked back to Francesca’s opulent office when she told the assistant
that she wanted to go home immediately.

“Sweetheart,
you don’t understand,” the producer leaned forward over her massive chrome and
glass desk. “We have to do the competition in order to create the buzz we need
to get great ratings for the baking show. This gives your fans a chance to see
who you are, how you perform under pressure and how you handle every challenge
with Southern charm and grace. It’s just a way to allow them to get to know
you. Once they see you, they’ll love you!” she promised, pushing the release
forms toward Missy.

“Fans?
I don’t have fans,” Missy blinked, ignoring the forms.

“Not
yet, honey, but you will. It’s only a matter of time,” the producer assured
her, placing an expensive pen atop the stack of papers.

“But
this is a competition…there’s no guarantee that I’ll win, and I might just make
a fool of myself in the process. This could actually hurt my businesses back
home,” Missy protested.

“Actually
no,” Francesca turned serious. “This type of presence on a television show has
shown conclusively that it boosts business for participants, even those who get
eliminated, so you literally have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” she
smiled triumphantly.

“I’m
not a competitive person,” she responded quietly.

“You’re
the best at what you do,” the determined producer reminded her. “By definition,
that makes you competitive. The others will have to bring their A-game to even
be in the same room with you, you have nothing to worry about,” she encouraged,
picking up the pen and handing it to Missy. Feeling as though her entire career
was on the line, and not at all certain that she was doing the right thing, she
took a deep breath and scrawled her signature on the bottom line.

**

The
first week of Cutthroat Cupcakes was surprisingly invigorating for Missy. She
embraced each of the themes and found unique ways to satisfy the requirements
of the judges, creating masterpieces that were spectacular in taste, appearance
and originality. Simon had been correct, once she was set loose in the
sparkling commercial kitchen on the set, the world outside of baking ceased to
exist. Production assistants and judges darted about, trying to stir up chaos
and fear, but Missy remained steadfastly focused on whatever task happened to
be at hand.

The
first two rounds of eliminations had been made, and the three remaining
contestants were Missy, Simon, and a plump, jovial woman from Minnesota named
Penny Mathers. From the beginning of the show, all of the contestants had
shared a roomy, contemporary house in Los Angeles. Penny had distinguished
herself early on as the group’s “mother hen,” making sure that everyone was fed
and comfortable, reassuring the less confident competitors while they awaited
the news of who had been eliminated. She was a force to be reckoned with in the
kitchen, having grown up as a farm girl who spent her free time entering her
baked goods into state fairs, festivals and cookbook contests.

The
three contestants sat around the dinner table speculating about what the
following day’s theme might be.

“I
wish they’d do a dairy theme,” Penny mused. “You should just see what I can do
with fresh whipped cream,” she winked.

“I’d
really rather that they’d propose something a bit more edgy,” Simon replied.
“I’m tired of trying to figure out new twists for old fashioned recipes. I wish
they’d suggest something like a dinner cupcake, or something that requires
non-traditional ingredients,” he said, sipping an iced tea.

“I’m
just relieved that I’ve been able to come up with something original for each
round,” Missy shrugged. “I guess all of those years of coming up with unique
Cupcakes of the Day are finally paying off,” she smiled a faraway smile,
thinking of her two shops. Cheryl and Grayson were doing a fantastic job of
keeping the LaChance store running during her absence, and Ben and his grad
school buddy Chris were holding up their end quite well at the Dellville shop.
Her friend Echo popped into both locations regularly, offering to lend a
helping hand if needed, and Missy was relieved that things were being handled
with the utmost of care at both locations.

“Well,
I’d say so!” Penny agreed enthusiastically. “When I see your presentations to
the judges, they look so good, I want to sneak over and grab a bite,” she
chuckled. “Obviously I sample my own work a bit too often,” she joked, patting
her ample belly.

“All
I know is that after this competition is over, I don’t want to even look at
another cupcake for a couple of weeks,” Simon remarked, shaking his head.

“Well,
that might make it difficult if you win,” Missy teased. She’d seen the artistic
precision of his work and had made mental notes of things that she could do in
her shops that were similar. He was truly gifted, and it wouldn’t surprise her
at all if he won the competition. The interesting thing is that the most
cutthroat competitors among them were the first to be eliminated, and for that,
Missy was secretly glad. The three who were left were kind to one another and
treated each other with courtesy and respect, rather than the sneering
suspicion that the other two contestants had affected.

“I
don’t think there’s much chance of that with you two around,” he grinned across
the table at Missy and Penny.

“It’ll
be interesting to see who that persnickety judge, Kelvin Michaels decides to
humiliate in this round,” Penny worried. “He was just brutal to the two that
were eliminated.”

“Yeah,
I noticed that both times, the poor saps that Kelvin verbally eviscerated, were
the ones who ended up going home,” Simon nodded. “We’ll see who he ravages
tomorrow.”

Missy,
Penny and Simon climbed into the oversized black SUV that ferried them back and
forth between the studio and their living quarters, each feeling a degree of
stress and anticipation. The procedure for the show was that, once the
contestants arrived, their cell phones were taken so that they couldn’t search
the internet for ideas or help, and their theme for the day was given. Once
they’d been briefed on the theme, they were turned loose in an ingredient store
that had every imaginable food item under the sun. They had ten minutes to
select their items and return to the SUV, ready to bake.

“Your
theme for today, my dear Cupcake Cutthroats,” Kelia spoke solemnly as the three
remaining contestants tried not to sweat under the glare of the studio lights.
“…is…Sensual and Sexy.” Before she could help it, Missy cracked up, covering
her mouth with her hand as the judges raised their collective eyebrows at her
outburst.

“Sorry,”
she said, blushing furiously in front of the all-seeing eye of the camera. Her
staff back home, along with Echo and Chas, had watched every episode,
encouraging her every step of the way, and assuring her that she hadn’t looked
at all ridiculous on national television. She wondered briefly if that would
still be the case after today. Pulling herself together, she began formulating
an idea in her mind for a cupcake that would clearly send a sensual and sexy
message. Drawing heavily upon her experience of flavors while on vacation with
Chas in the Caribbean, her inspiration exploded and she couldn’t wait to get to
the ingredient store.

Dashing
out of the SUV with her eco-friendly cloth shopping bag in hand, Missy headed
straight for the spice aisle, as did her competitors. Fortunately they all
selected different ingredients, and hurried quickly to other sections of the
store to procure the remaining items needed. Missy made her way back to the SUV
first, making certain to keep her bag tightly closed so that her competitors
wouldn’t see her items and change their plans of attack. The basic ingredients,
sugar, flour, etc…were stocked in the commercial kitchen, but specialty flours,
sugars, salts and more were available at the ingredient store and Missy had
taken full advantage of the selections throughout the competition.

Back
in the kitchen, the bakers unloaded their ingredients and went to work, each
trying to hide their efforts from the others. The room was filled with the
sound of whirring, grinding and mixing and the intermingled scents were
heavenly.

Missy
began by adding freshly ground vanilla bean and finely chopped hot red pepper
to her basic white cake batter. Her idea for the cupcake was to create
something that was a perfect blend of hot and sweet, with a compelling texture
and stunning appearance, making it a sensory delight. For the frosting, she was
blending freshly ground Costa Rican coffee beans into a silky vanilla buttercream
frosting, and planned to sprinkle the lightest touch of red pepper on top,
capping the creation off with a sugar glass free-form sculpture tinted with red
food coloring. She had tied her often unruly blonde curls back into a ponytail,
putting a hair net over it, just in case, and was thankful that the net kept
stray tendrils from sneaking down onto her forehead. Feeling a bead of sweat
roll down her spine under the hot lights, Missy hoped that it didn’t show
through the cotton fabric of the black chef’s tunics that they were required to
wear.

“Ten
minutes,” Martin Cambridge, the young hipster judge warned, just as Missy was
sprinkling coffee grounds and red pepper flakes around her cupcakes on their
square black presentation plate and adding the sugar glass to the fluffy but
firm frosting. She had tasted another cupcake from the batch and found it to be
perfectly balanced, so she smiled with satisfaction, knowing that she had
achieved exactly what she’d set out to do. Her presentation, taste and originality
were spot on, and she was excited for the judges to try her latest treat.

“Time!”
Martin shouted, holding up a stopwatch and causing the contestants to stop
moving.

Simon’s
name was selected to present first, and he carefully placed his cupcakes in
front of each judge. His presentation was beautiful – a dark chocolate cupcake
laced with fresh ginger and topped with a port wine reduction that had been
whipped into a chocolate mousse frosting, garnished with a cocoa candy mantilla
fan which glittered with burgundy sugar crystals. The judges each tasted their
cupcake, chewing thoughtfully and making notes on the pads in front of them.
Simon explained his thought process, as well as the steps he’d taken to create
his “A Night of Wine and Chocolate” cupcakes, and returned to his spot under
the lights.

Missy
was next, and she smiled with confidence as she placed her creations in front
of the judges. Most of them smiled in return, with the exception of Martin, who
seemed rather bored with the process, and Kelvin, who appeared incapable of
cracking a smile. When asked to speak, she stepped forward.

“I’d
like to present “Cupcakes Caliente,” inspired by a lovely vacation in the
Caribbean,” she said proudly, indicating the decadent-looking cupcakes in front
of the judges. She explained the use of exotic ingredients, her intended
balance between taste, texture and appearance, and why they blend of flavors
were selected. After her presentation the judges bit into the pieces of art
that she had created, and she was delighted to see looks of pleased surprise.
From her place in the contestant lineup, she celebrated silently…until she
heard an awful sound.

Kelvin
Michaels had a violent coughing fit, his entire face turning red. Kelia reached
over, concerned, and patted him on the back. Martin refilled the unfortunate
man’s water glass as he gasped and choked, trying to breathe naturally. Missy
looked on, panicking and hoping that the judge would be okay. Francesca
signaled the camera man to go to a commercial break, and in the meantime,
Kelvin took several deep breaths and was finally able to recover, shooting
Missy hateful looks as he wrote his notes. Simon and Penny regarded her with
pity, thanking their lucky stars that he had choked on her cupcake rather than
theirs.

Filming
resumed, and Penny presented her “Cinfully Cinsational Cinnamon” cupcakes,
which, although pretty, seemed to Missy to be somewhat ordinary, with no exotic
ingredients or spice blends. When Penny returned to her spot, the contestants
were instructed to wait in a backstage room (per protocol), while the judges
discussed and deliberated. When they came back, each judge would give their
feedback to each contestant, and one of them would be eliminated. It was a
nerve-wracking time of speculation and worry for the contestants while they
waited backstage for the whims of the judges to decide their fate.

Simon
was first, and his comments were mostly positive, although Kelia mentioned a
preponderance of ginger, and had the other judges nodding in agreement. Missy
was next, receiving rave reviews from Tim Gilbert and Kelia, and an
enthusiastic thumbs-up from Martin. Kelvin Michaels had elected to give his
feedback last, and Missy braced herself, consciously making certain to hold her
chin high, and firmly resolved not to cry, no matter what. She was a proud,
strong, Southern woman and she would handle whatever came her way with dignity
and grace.

“I
have never in my life met a dessert that I swore was attempting murder,” the
dour judge remarked, raising an eyebrow at Missy. “Which wouldn’t necessarily
be such an awful thing if it at least had been an item worth tasting,” his eyes
narrowed as he pierced her with his gaze. “What on earth were you thinking?” he
demanded without waiting for an answer. “You gave a fantastic presentation that
was all about balance and a perfect mix of flavors, and I’m sorry to say, in
that regard you failed miserably. I find it impossible to enjoy the flavor of a
dish that is doing its best to burn the tongue right out of my mouth,” he
ranted. “I love spicy food, and this cupcake nearly killed me,” he shook his
head. “Truthfully, after having seen your performance during the rest of the
competition, I had really expected more from you. I couldn’t be more
disappointed,” he finally dismissed her with a rude wave of his hand.

Missy
felt as though a part of her had died. Not only had she been humiliated on
national television, but she’d never received such scathing criticism on her
baking in her entire life. What she loved most about her profession was the
fact that her creations brought people joy. Clearly, her effort had produced
the opposite result for Kelvin Michaels. She watched him empty his water glass
after giving snarling contemptuous feedback to poor, trembling Penny, and the
sweet, compassionate soul offered him a breath mint from a tin in her pocket.
Snatching the entire tin from her, the irascible judge popped two mints into
his mouth, crunched them between his teeth and took two more, pocketing the
rest for later use.

The
other judges were far more kind to the shy woman from Minnesota, but had
critical comments regarding originality and creativity, leaving her to return
to her spot in the lineup with chin quivering. Missy reached over and squeezed
her competitor’s hand, hoping to bring some measure of comfort as the judges
surveyed them carefully. Tim Gilbert pushed back his chair and stood, regarding
each of them in turn as he summarized the positives and negatives of each
person’s presentation. By the time he finished his recap, they were each
beginning to wonder if they were standing on the stage for the last time.

“Simon,”
Tim addressed the cool-as-a-cucumber Brit. “You have made it to the final
Cutthroat competition – congratulations,” he said with a brief smile. Simon
nearly collapsed with relief, and exited the stage, leaving Missy and Penny
standing side by side, looking at each other and the judge awkwardly. Missy had
already made up her mind to be strong if she was the one eliminated, but her
stomach knotted with stress anyway. Tim looked back and forth at her and Penny,
drawing out the selection, making minutes seem like years as they trembled with
anticipation.

“Penny,”
Tim turned to the plump, jovial woman. Missy’s heart sunk to her feet as she
prepared to graciously congratulate her Midwestern competitor. “Your
performance until now has been just good enough to keep you in the running. You
have potential, but in this challenge, you failed to fulfill our expectations
in every area. Your cupcake was missing the essential elements of originality,
creativity and a unique presentation, so it is the decision of the judges that
you have not met the standard to make it to the final round.” As Penny
dissolved into tears, he turned to a stunned Missy. “Melissa Gladstone, you have
made it to the final Cutthroat competition – congratulations.”

Missy
felt a moment of searing pity for Penny as the utterly defeated woman waddled
rapidly from the stage, a hand over her eyes, hiding from the camera, but as
the audience stood to their feet, applauding madly, she realized the enormity
of what had just happened and started shaking with surprise and relief.