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Again, I glanced in the direction of the stairs. There was only one contestant standing there now. Had Brooke backed out, I wondered.
“Polly Campbell from Campbell’s Bakery in Denver. Polly originally hales from Paris where she studied in one of the bakery world’s finest schools. She opened Campbell’s Bakery in 2014 and has won local awards each year. This is her first time enteringFestive Treasures’ contest. She has brought with her Pecan Shortbread Cookies. Polly…”
As Polly climbed the stairs, I noticed no one else stood in line. I couldn’t help but smirk. I didn’t think she’d have the guts to appear, and I chuckled to myself.
Vicki cleared her throat. “Last we have Willow Valley’s own Brooke Kinley, owner of The Crispy Biscuit.”
The crowd cheered and clapped, and I looked over to the stairs, but still she hadn’t appeared.
“Brooke took over The Crispy Biscuit in 2018 after her parents retired. Originally a small breakfast diner, after she’d completed her culinary and pastry diploma, she added a bakery portion to the small diner. Not only is she a success withFestive Treasures, winning the third place in 2020’s and second place winner in 2021’sFestive Treasureevent, but she is also the only contestant that has a Baking Crate account. She has decided to enter her Grinch-A-Mas Cookies for today.”
I placed my hands behind my head, a smirk on my face, certain that Brooke was not going to show up as the crowd cheered and clapped. I’d just closed my eyes and stuck both feet out to cross them as I reclined in the chair when I felt someone hit my feet, followed by a loud scream. Horrified, I opened my eyes to see cookies all over the floor of the stage, and a woman in a pile on the floor.
Vicki looked horrified, and Frank looked shocked. All I could do was sit there staring at the scene before me. Before I knew what was happening, people from everywhere came running over to Brooke, while I sat on the chair I’d been told to sit in.
* * *
“Tristan, I don’t want to hear it,” Vicki said as she wrapped her coat tighter around her as we watched the ambulance pull away.
I’d been trying to explain to Vicki how it had been an accident, but she didn’t want to hear it. She’d whispered something to Frank, who took her arm and began leading her back inside, when I stopped her.
“Seriously, it wasn’t like I stuck my foot out on purpose.”
“Tristan, we have it on tape. You better hope the hell you didn’t do it on purpose. However, I can assure you that I will be reviewing it to see what the hell happened. It may be our only chance to get out of a lawsuit.”
“Oh come on, Vicki. No one is going to sue anyone,” I said with annoyance.
“Really? The woman was knocked unconscious, not to mention any other injuries she may have gotten. What do you think is going to happen,” Vicki demanded.
“The woman tripped…and you’re blaming me, worried that you’re going to get sued!” I shouted.
“She tripped over your feet! I warned you, Tristan, one more fuck-up and you were done. I swear you’d better hope I don’t find any evidence of you tripping that woman on the video or you are finished. Also, you’d best hope there isn’t a lawsuit. Now I have work to go and do. You just get out of my sight for a while.”
Once Vicki left, I stood in the middle of the parking lot alone, aside from a few residents of Willow Valley, who stood in small circles, no doubt talking about what had happened. I debated going back inside, but Vicki’s words stuck at the forefront of my mind. She didn’t want to see me, and since she was worried about being sued, I decided that perhaps I should head to the hospital and make sure that Brooke was, in fact, okay. That way I could try and figure out what her injuries were and if she was indeed thinking of suing. Maybe I could even talk her out of going after the magazine or me. I made my way over to two women who stood whispering to one another as they looked my way.
“Excuse me, ladies. You wouldn’t happen to know the number for a cab company would you?”
“There are no local cab companies in Willow Valley,” one of them answered.
“Oh, my boss wanted me to head over to the hospital and make sure Brooke is okay. You know, after the fall,” I lied.
They looked to one another. “We can take you,” one said.
The other said, “I’m Peggy Hollis, and this is Trinity Foster.”
I nodded to both women and followed them to their vehicle.
Brooke
My head was throbbing, and I could hear murmured conversations in the room. I slowly opened my eyes, the bright lights hurting. As the voices continued, I wished that whoever was speaking would stop. As the room came into view, nothing about it seemed familiar and I frowned, first looking down to the bottom of the bed where I saw my right foot in an air cast.
“Oh my goodness, she’s awake!” I heard a familiar voice exclaim.
I looked to the left and saw Melinda coming over to my side.
“We were so worried about you,” she said, taking hold of my hand.
“What happened?” I questioned, looking back down to my foot.
