Table Of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Honey Almond Cake with Berries and Mascarpone Crème Fraiche
Sneak Peek of Country Hearts
About the Author
The Secret Ingredient
Copyright @ 2018 Nancy Naigle
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereinafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Print ISBN: 978-1-947892-37-8
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-947892-46-0
www.hallmarkpublishing.com
Chapter One
Kelly McIntyre didn’t care if the town of Bailey’s Fork, North Carolina was too small in some folks’ eyes. It was big enough to have kept the Main Street Cafe open through four generations of McIntyres. It also had bragging rights for the winningest high school football team in the region for ten years running and held the honor of the largest loblolly pine in both Carolinas, and that suited her fine.
The fact that she and Andrew York had professed their love by carving their initials in the bark of that tree had made Kelly McIntyre almost famous…for a little while.
Kelly straightened her short black-and-white apron and retied its red sash over her blue jeans. She lifted the tall glass dome from the cake people came from miles around to get and sliced a wedge, letting it fall over right into the center of the shiny red plate. Today’s flavor—Southern Seven-layer Caramel. Her specialty. For that, she could still feel a little famous.
“Here you go.” Kelly placed the plate in front of Fuzzy Johnston. “Mrs. Johnston out of town again?”
His eyes twinkled. “She’d never let me have this.” He sank his fork into the frosting, then lifted it to his mouth. “Only live once, don’t you know?”
“Your secret is safe with me,” she teased. “You are going to eat some real food too though, aren’t you?”
He nodded while swallowing the rich cake, then chased it with a sip of coffee. “I’ll have the chicken-fried steak, please.”
She jotted the order on her pad. “Do I need to even ask if you want mashed potatoes and gravy?”
“Nope.” He grinned, looking quite pleased with himself. Fuzzy owned the biggest chicken farm around, and rumor had it his wife cooked chicken six ways to Sunday, which was why when she was out of town, Fuzzy always ended up here in the cafe for something a little different. “And fried okra.”
“I’ll put this right in.” She tucked her pad into her apron pocket and headed to the kitchen. “Fuzzy’s usual.” Kelly pushed the ticket onto the clip and spun it.
Andrew snapped the order up and then stage whispered from the pass-through, “For someone who complains that his wife won’t fix him anything but chicken, you’d think he might switch it up when he got the chance.”
She loved that twinkle in Andrew’s green eyes. His light brown hair was damp, which made that one piece of hair fall forward, giving him a tough-guy look. But she knew the ooey-gooey sweet side of him. “He did switch it up. He had cake as an appetizer.” She spun away with only a quick glance back, knowing Andrew would pick up on the playful jab.
Andrew leaned forward at the pass-through. “He loves my chicken-fried steak and gravy.”
“He ate a big slice of my cake, first,” she challenged.
“Saving the best for last,” he said with a playful smirk.
She turned and propped a hand on her hip. “I seem to remember helping you get that chicken-fried steak recipe just right.” Kelly had helped him with as many recipes as he’d helped her. It seemed like there was nothing they couldn’t perfect together.
Andrew straightened, his white apron splattered with grease and barbecue sauce. “Did I tell you that you look real pretty today?”
She swept a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. “Now you have.” She never tired of hearing him say that. With a smile on her face, she turned, and then looked over her shoulder. “Thank you.” He still made her heart race. She swept her thumb against the band of the diamond engagement ring on her left hand.
“Hey,” he called after her. “Mom texted me. She and Dad are coming in for dinner tonight.”
Kelly walked back over to him. “Great.” They’d hardly ever come in since Andrew had started work at the cafe. “What’s up?”
“They want to celebrate. Mom said it’s a surprise. Something about my great aunt.”
“That’s the one who lives in France, right?”
“We haven’t seen her in a couple of years. Not since the last time Dawn and I went for the summer. Maybe she’s coming for a visit,” he said. “Mom would love that. Will you save some cake for them? They love your chocolate cake.”
“Of course. I’ll put two slices aside right now. I can’t let my future in-laws down. How would that look?”
“Very bad.”
“My thoughts exactly.” She placed two slices in the cooler to hold for the Yorks.
“Thanks, beautiful.” He blew her a kiss, then got to work on the order.
I’m the luckiest girl in the world. She and Andrew had known each other since grade school, but it wasn’t until high school when he’d landed a job bussing tables here at the cafe that the two of them had started dating. He loved to cook, and she loved to bake, so they spent nearly all of their extra time in the kitchen of the Main Street Cafe making up recipes and testing out ideas. They never tired of it, or each other.
The dinner crowd started to roll in, and
