‘This looks very cosy,’ said Molly, hovering by the doorway. ‘Should I make us all a cup of tea?’
‘You read my mind.’ Dixie smiled. ‘That would be perfect.’
Five minutes later, having brought in a pot of tea, three mugs and a plate for the chocolate slab, Molly positioned herself on the sofa next to Cam and gave him a little nudge.
‘I sense something is going on between you two. What am I missing?’ Dixie didn’t miss a trick.
At first, Cam’s wide grin wasn’t giving anything away. ‘We’ve got something to show you and we want your professional opinion.’
Dixie sat up straight. ‘I’m intrigued.’ She watched Cam as he reached for the white paper bag.
‘What we want to know is, in your professional opinion, would this be in with a chance of winning the Baker of the Year competition?’
Immediately, Dixie let out a tiny gasp and brought her hands up to her chest, her eyes teeming with happy tears. ‘Are you serious? Is this actually happening? You’re going to compete for the title?’
‘I am, and I’ve had a little help from my friends with this creation. But as I’ve never competed before and you have inside information on the competition, we would like your professional opinion. Are you ready?’ asked Cam.
‘Ready,’ replied Dixie.
Sliding the scrumptious-looking chocolate slab onto the plate, Cam presented it to Dixie.
‘Ta-da! Let me introduce you to The Old Bakehouse’s new chocolate bar, which we have called “Layers Treats”.’
Dixie was silent as she took the plate from Cam and stared at the slab of chocolate, making no attempt to taste it. Her eyes widened and a strangled noise came from her throat before her jaw dropped wide open.
‘Dixie, are you okay?’ asked Molly.
‘Grandmother, what’s wrong?’ asked Cam, his expression worried.
Dixie pointed to the plate. ‘Where did you get this recipe from? Because I know it’s not in your Great-Uncle Ted’s recipe book.’
Confused, Cam and Molly looked at each other then back towards Dixie.
‘How have you heard of Layers Treats?’ asked Cam, stringing the words out slowly. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘And I don’t understand how you have baked a similar recipe to the one which caused all the controversy back then.’
‘Controversy? Grandmother, I’m completely lost here. Back when?’
Without saying a word, Dixie stood up, walked to the decanter on the dresser and poured a large glass of sherry. She swigged it back, took a deep breath and sat down again.
‘It was the scandal of all scandals in the baking world. It was splashed all over the tabloids and the TV news and the story spread like wildfire.’
‘Go on,’ encouraged Cam, before taking a sip of his tea.
‘It must have been at least fifteen to sixteen years ago when she disappeared.’
Molly’s eyes widened. ‘When who disappeared?’
‘Ted’s faithful assistant,’ replied Dixie. ‘He trained her up for ten years. The business was going from strength to strength, and then boom … she disappeared overnight. And when I say disappeared, that’s exactly what I mean. She left with no word and no forwarding address – absolutely nothing, it was bizarre – and we never heard from her again. And after all Ted did for her. Why, he never even charged her rent in all those years.’
‘Rent?’ asked Cam.
‘She lived in the spare room at The Old Bakehouse as it was easier for the early morning starts. I would even go as far as saying she became one of the family. Ted was devastated. He’d trained this girl and they’d built up a good friendship and working relationship. He taught her everything he knew.’
‘And then she vanished?’ said Cam.
Dixie nodded. ‘Ted was overcome. He’d taken her off the streets, given her a chance, and to leave with no word … we couldn’t make head nor tail of it.’
