The stadium seating on this sound stage was filled with people, and there was a thrum of nervous excitement building.
Martin paced the set in front of the judges. “It’s the first time in all of our Bake-Off history that we’ve encountered this during a competition.” He turned toward the judges.
Andrew could see both cakes, but from here he couldn’t make out much detail.
“Our judges are stumped,” Martin continued.
The crowd cheered. Andrew’s insides churned. He’d been so sure his entry would blow any competition away. It had turned out perfectly.
“Both of these Marry Me entries are unique in their own way, but equally as lovely in presentation,” Martin announced. “The uncanny thing is that both cakes taste nearly the same. For the first time, we have a tie.”
A tie?
“But we can’t have a tie, can we?” Martin was dramatically building excitement with the audience.
“Noooo,” the crowd yelled.
“We measured both cakes.” Martin moved around the stage with great animation as he led the contestants and the audience on. Still not revealing the competition, he said, “Madam, your cake came in one inch shorter than the maximum height.”
The audience applauded.
“Sir, your cake is obviously shorter.” He moved to that side of the stage in front of Andrew’s cake. There was an audible groan from the audience. “The macaron layers are thin, but the cake layer is significant. Thank goodness you have that tall declaration of love on top, because if you’d left off the ‘Will You Marry Me?’ cake-topper, you’d have been below the minimum height. You’re both within the limits.”
The audience applauded wildly.
“I’m the tie-breaking vote,” Martin said. “So let’s bring out both of our pastry chefs.”
The theme music filled the room, and applause rose.
Lori prodded Andrew to the stage door. “Go!”
He headed straight for his cake, located the tape outline on the floor behind it, and stood facing the judges and Martin.
The music continued to play.
Movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention. He saw the other cake and couldn’t take his eyes off it. Someone had definitely brought their A game.
He blinked against the bright lights, then turned to face his competitor and almost choked.
Her mouth hung wide.
“Before we talk to our two finalists, I want to bring out the other two contestants in this Four Square Valentine’s Day Bake-Off.”
Music played, and Frank walked out on stage.
“Welcome back the first chef to be eliminated, Frank Wells. Frank is the Executive Pastry Chef at the Elk Traxx Ski Resort in Colorado.” They shook hands. “His wife, Danica, nominated him. She’s in the audience tonight.”
Danica stood and waved.
Frank said, “I promise it’s the only time I’ve lied to you, honey.”
“I’m so proud of you,” she said, blowing him a kiss.
Martin walked a few steps to the right. “Our second contestant to be eliminated was Kacey Nugent. Come on out, Kacey.”
She walked on to the stage, waving.
“It was a close competition. Kacey is known for her New York cheesecakes around here. She owns Kacey Cakes here in the city, and was nominated by a customer.”
Kacey smiled and clapped. “Who?”
“We’d like to share with you and our studio audience who nominated you for this show.” The camera scanned the audience, then settled on a New York City police officer in uniform. “Do you recognize him?”
Kacey’s hands flew to her face. “Oh. My. Gosh! I do. He’s one of my best customers. You nominated me?”
“I did, and I’d like to take you out to celebrate if you’ll let me.”
She pulled her lips in, showing a dimple in her left cheek.
“I think you’ve just been asked out on a date on national television,” Martin said. “Are you going to answer his question, or do we need to take this off-stage?”
“Yes. Yes, of course I’ll go out with you. How can I say no to that?”
Martin shrugged dramatically. “Apparently, you can’t. In our Valentine’s Day Bake-Off we’re not just baking, we’re making happy-ever-afters.”
The audience cheered.
“Come on over here.” Martin motioned to the two couples. “We loved having you on our show. We’d like to send you out on a very special Valentine’s Day dinner on us. There’s a limo waiting outside. Everyone give them a big round of applause.”
Martin marched over to Andrew and Kelly as the others left the stage.
“This might be the best match-up we’ve ever had on our show.” Martin walked to Kelly. “Do you have any idea who may have nominated you to be on the show?”
“No, sir. I’ve thought about it a lot. At first I thought maybe it was my friend Sara, but she seemed as surprised as I did when you walked into The Cake Factory that day.”
“You’re right. It wasn’t Sara.”
“Have you kept being here a complete secret?”
“I have,” she said. “Completely.”
“I bet you were surprised to see a familiar face on the stage then.”
She glanced in Andrew’s direction. “Yes. Very surprised. I saw him for the first time in seven years last week. He said he going to New York to help a friend open a restaurant. I didn’t suspect a thing.”
“Good one,” Martin said, giving Andrew a nod as he moved over with the mic to talk to him.
“Andrew York. Executive Chef, or Chef de Cuisine shall we say, for the infamous Francois Dumont. You flew in all the way from France for this competition.”
“Yes, sir. I did.”
“And you’ve kept this under wraps as well?”
“Yes, but it hasn’t been easy.” He glanced over at Kelly. “I don’t like lying to the people I care about.”
“Well, I’m sure everyone will understand when they see where you’ve been the last few days. So, tell me, Andrew, any idea who may have nominated you?”
“I’m pretty sure it was my Aunt Claire. She was the one who got me into pastry school in France. She’s been instrumental in paving the way for me to garner experience with the most celebrated chefs of all types.”
“No. It wasn’t
