Suddenly, Owen wasthere. He picked up the pot of water and dumped it all over me.
“Are you all right?” he said, holding me, searching my eyes for pain.
“I'm fine,” I said, refusing to act as shaken as I felt. “I'm a baker. I get burned, no big deal. Though I don't usually have people trying to kill me in the kitchen!” I said, raising my voice at Amber.
“No I didn't!” her eyes glittered with crocodile tears. “We're stepsisters! I would never hurt you.”
54
Owen
Ifelt sick looking down at Holly’s dress. She was acting unconcerned, but I could tell she was freaked out. I was furious. But almost losing her to the bake-off, of all things, did cement that I definitely wasn't going to survive the rest of my life without her.
“That was close,” Anastasia said.
“Thankfully Owen was here to save the day!” Holly hugged me. She was soaking wet and shivering. I wrapped her in my arms.
“Maybe you should just call it quits.”
“The bake-off must go on. But hey, at least the food’s not ruined!” she quipped, wringing out the dress.
I had been planning to go up to my office and work, but after Holly's narrow escape, I stayed in the studio, my eyes on her the entire time.
Morticia brought her a new dress, and Holly finished the rest of her dessert. I was a little concerned that the stress had affected her when I saw her boiling her apple dumplings. But when they had cooled, she dunked them in a tempura batter and deep-fried them.
“I’m interested to see the finished dessert,” Anu said.
“She doesn't seem all that frazzled for almost burning alive,” I remarked, still concerned that I'd almost lost her.
“Please,” Nick snorted. “The amount of time's I've almost set myself and my kitchen on fire? It's insane.”
“It's all part of being a chef,” Anu told me.
Though she hadn't been part of the fire incident, Jamila seemed the most frazzled.
“She's trying to make an ice,” Anu said. “She doesn't have enough time left for that. It's flavored water that you have to churn.”
Her ice still wasn't quite frozen when it was set before us. Poor Jamila was in tears, and Anu sighed as she looked at the dish.
“It's beautiful,” she said, “but you have to be conscious of the clock. Normally you all are given an entire day, but today I understand that it was only a couple of hours.”
“Add a little alcohol to this and call it a cocktail,” Nick said, slurping a spoonful.
“That is the other thing,” Anu told her. “When things go awry, you have to accept it then readjust. Just be honest with yourself when you miscalculate.”
Holly was next.
“This is exquisite,” Anu said, admiring the dessert. The large deep-fried apple dumpling had been split open like a geode. Nestled inside was a greenish ice cream, cubes of gooseberry gelatin, and a little sphere of a milky custard. It was garnished with a drizzle of a tart red sauce.
“This is so refined yet composed, and the flavors are magnificent.” Anu congratulated her.
“This is how you do ice cream,” Nick said.
I took a bite; it was good, not too sweet. “Refined” was a good word for it.
Holly beamed.
“It does sort of feel like reading a Jane Austen novel, if that makes any sense,” Anu added. “It's a dessert you can just enjoy exploring.”
