After a few more Sweet Carolines and other mangled lyrics, the song drifted into confusion. The crowd laughed and began to disperse. He did another hand check on his parents. They still had their fingers laced together as they walked away.
A low rumble passed through his belly. His good mood evaporated. Was he happy for them? How could his dad forgive his mom for cheating on him?
He punched the dough a few more times. It felt overkneaded but hopefully would soften as it rested. He put it in a bowl to rest until the filling ingredients were finished.
The five-minute distraction Ava had started with that sing-along could derail their whole day.
His phone chimed with a text. What was Chef Louie doing texting him?
Louie
I heard you were looking for a new job from Chef Paul. If you’re so unhappy about being here, you don’t have to come back. You’re done.
His heart fell to somewhere just above the grass trodden flat under his feet. Sure, he didn’t like his job, but at least it was work. Now what?
“Zach, something is wrong with this.” Ava’s voice cut through his thoughts. “The roux isn’t coming together like it did in class. It’s all gloppy.”
“Does someone have paprika?” the contestant from two tables over called. “I can’t find any paprika.”
Ava turned from the stove and snatched their container of paprika from their small pantry area. “Got it!” She hustled past him, leaving a waft of her floral shampoo in the air. He felt a tug in his gut. If he had known that kissing her would leave him this distracted, he would never have done it. Or maybe he would have at least had the good sense to wait until after this extremely important day was over. Even more important now that he’d lost the one stable thing in his life.Focus in, Zach.
He looked into the pan on the stove.
“Ava! What is this?” But she was already gone. He stirred the glue-like roux in the pan before glancing at his watch. Drat. Not enough time to make a new one. Here’s hoping it would be fixed as he added the beef broth. Pouring in the broth and stirring as though creating a storm on the lake, he couldn’t quite get all the lumps out. Maybe he could strain them.
Ava came bursting back into their area. “Saved the day!”
Her cavalier attitude stuck a hot poker through him. They weren’t putting out their best work and she didn’t even care. Never mind landing a job with Anne Green. There were people who needed the prize money. Kids like RJ Edwards would never be able to afford schooling if the Silver Platter went under.
He huffed out a breath. “What happened to this roux?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I had it going and it seemed fine, but then I had to jot down an idea about what I wanted to write for my newspaper column. I turned away for only a second, I swear. And then it got all lumpy. I’m so sorry.”
“You should have been concentrating on this. You know how important it is. But. Whatever,” he said. “I’ll fix it or at least I’ll give it my best try. Find something we can strain it into. There should be a mesh strainer somewhere in the pan section.”
Behind him, Ava rattled the pans. “Got it.” She held out a colander.
“That’s not a mesh strainer.” But what was he going to do? Run to the store and buy one? He had to make do with what they had in front of them. Hopefully, it would be good enough.
Because this day was turning into a disaster.
Cooking with Zach during a competition was nothing like cooking with Zach for fun.
He had been on edge all day. Truly, she had too. That kiss last night had set every nerve on fire.
She didn’t know what to say or do around him anymore. It felt like she was sixteen with her first real crush all over again.
They’d finally felt in sync with the singing, but that ended abruptly, and she didn’t know why.
Yeah, she probably should have waited to write those things down for her article, but she really didn’t want to forget them. Once things settled down after this round of the contest, she could explain to Zach. He would understand, she was sure of it.
She handed Zach the colander she’d found sandwiched between a skillet and a stock pot.
“Seriously? This is all they had for us?” Zach looked at the dish like it was a rotten tomato. “That’s a colander, not a mesh strainer.”
“Yep. This is the only thing like it.”
“These holes are so big. I don’t think I can strain all the lumps out.” He sighed and took the tool. “If you can mix the veggies together, I’ll try to get the gravy into something edible.”
