Professor West’s final was in thirty-five minutes.
Josh looked at the box of shiny, red apples sitting on the counter. Even after baking all night, he still didn’t have a satisfactory pie to submit to the County Fair Bake-Off, but he’d reached one conclusion.
He wanted to win.
~~~~
The minute Josh and Penny stepped onto the fairgrounds, the smells of fried funnel cake, cotton candy, and hot asphalt hit his nose. The Ferris wheel rotated against the evening sky, the colored lights of the game booths and rides blurring in swirls. Shrieks of joy filled the air, and music thumped from a distant stage.
Penny looked at her watch and told Josh they had an hour before the pie judging. He’d dropped his entry off earlier, so they spent the time wandering around looking at the exhibits and braving a few rides.
Josh avoiding going near The Pied Piper food truck, where his father and Tom were selling slices of pie. He hadn’t told his dad about the bake-off. Hadn’t told him he’d even be at the fair. Hadn’t told him much of anything at all, in fact.
Ignoring a stab of guilt, Josh guided Penny toward the game booths. Leo was strolling down the midway with a long-legged blonde girl. He gave Penny and Josh a thumbs-up and a tip of his fedora. They waved in return before stopping at a ring-toss game.
“He’s recovered well from his broken heart,” Penny remarked.
“You were right.” Josh tried and failed to throw three rings over the bottles. “Everything worked out okay for the washed-up private eye.”
“It will for you too,” Penny said as they walked toward the exhibition center where the bake-off judging was taking place. “Are you nervous?”
Josh shook his head, as if nerves were beneath him, but his steps faltered a little as they approached the room where an easel advertised County Fair Pie Bake-Off.
The place was half-full of people sitting in folding chairs before a narrow stage. The three judges sat behind a pink-draped table on the stage, each sampling a large piece of what looked like cherry pie. They took a bite, wrote in a notebook, took another bite, looked at the ceiling, frowned, wrote again, crumbled the crust between their fingers.
Penny and Josh sat in the back row. He crossed his arms and tried to muster an air of nonchalance. Penny scooted to the edge of her chair as the judges were served a triple-berry pie in an almond crust, and then a macadamia-nut strawberry pie with a ginger crust, then a mango-coconut-pineapple pie in a praline lattice crust.
By the time they got to the blueberry-lemon-pecan pie with a double-bottom crust, Penny’s shoulders had slumped.
“No chance in hell,” Josh muttered.
“That is not true.” Penny sat up straighter. “It’s like a beauty contest where all the contestants have been spray-tanned and air-brushed. Then after they all parade around the stage in six-inch heels, a really pretty girl from… I don’t know, Kansas comes out and wows all the judges with her natural self-confidence and charm.”
“My pie doesn’t have self-confidence and charm.”
“But you do.” She flushed a little.
Josh grinned. He doubted he had either quality, but he liked that Penny thought he did.
“They’re not voting for me,” he reminded her. “They’re voting for my pie.”
“Josh, have a little faith. Your father built The Pied Piper on that apple pie.”
“It’s not my father’s apple pie.”
“You didn’t make your father’s pie?”
“Nope.”
“What pie did you make, then? Cherry?”
“No. Just a pie I made up.”
Penny swiveled toward him. “You decided to forgo The Pied Piper’s famous, classic apple pie and enter a pie you just made up?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“In the County Fair Bake-Off?”
“Yeah.” He was vaguely irritated by her shocked response. Didn’t she think he could do it?
Then Penny smiled—a wide smile that made dimples pop into her cheeks and her blue eyes crinkle.
“That’s awesome,” she said. “Now there’s really no way you can lose.”
Their gazes met for a brief, oddly intense second. The perpetual knot loosened inside Josh’s chest as they both turned their attention back to the stage.
The judging went on and on. Pies were eliminated based on various criteria—too sour, too sweet, poor filling-to-crust ratio. Then the coordinator stepped to the podium and consulted her notes.
“Our next entry is from Mr. Josh Piper of The Pied Piper pie shop in Mirror Lake. Josh’s entry is one dozen—” she paused and peered at her notes again, as if she’d misread them “—yes, one dozen Sweet Penny Pies.”
Penny swung around to stare at Josh again, only this time with a different kind of astonishment. His face grew warm.
The servers brought out two trays of his apple pies—each one made with the crust and filling served in hollowed-out apples to create little, individual pies. Both the audience and the judges reacted with gratifying “ohhs” at the sight of the apples.
Penny was still looking at him. He felt it.
His heart pounded as he watched the judges study the apples, discuss the unique presentation, scoop up some crust, then lift their forks to examine the filling.
“Sweet Penny Pies?” Penny finally whispered.
He tried to give a nonchalant shrug. “You were the one who suggested this. Seemed logical to acknowledge you.”
“Josh…”
He held up his hand to indicate that they should be quiet during the judging process. When the judges rose from their seats, the crowd began to stir.
“We will announce the results after the judges have reached their verdict,” the coordinator said into the microphone. “All entries will receive a participation merit ribbon, but there will be only one grand prize winner. Second and third place winners will be given a coupon for a two-for-one dinner at Gotta Getta Grub in Forest Grove.”
A few people stood up to stretch as the wait dragged on. Servers roamed around with samples of the pie entries.
When the judges marched back onto the stage, a hush fell over the room. Penny curled her fingers around Josh’s arm. His breath stuck in his throat at the feeling of her palm against his bare forearm.
“Ladies and gentlemen.” The coordinator stepped to the podium. “Third prize goes to Myra Micalizio for her Triple-Threat Berry-Blast Almond-Crust pie!”
Applause and cheers filled the hall as Myra hurried to the stage to claim her ribbon and coupon and to shake the judges’ hands.
“Our second prize winner is Gill Selling for her Cherry-Gooseberry Nutmeg-Laced Walnut-Stuffed-Crust pie!”
Gill went to the stage with a wave of thanks to the crowd as she accepted her prize and congratulations.
“And the grand prize winner of the County Fair Bake-Off…” The coordinator paused dramatically as she consulted her cards.
Penny scooted to the edge of her seat. She was clutching Josh’s arm so tightly it hurt. Not that he minded at all.
“Josh Piper for his apple pie,” Penny whispered under her breath. “Josh Piper for his apple pie…”
“The grand prize winner,” the coordinator repeated, “is Louise Taylor for her Chocolate-Mocha Salted-Caramel Toffee-Crunch-Cream Chocolate-Chip-Crust pie!”
The crowd roared with applause and cheers. Penny gasped in disbelief and let go of Josh’s arm, sinking back against the seat. Josh deflected a wave of disappointment and stood.
“Come on, Pen.” He kept his voice light as he took her hand and tugged her to her feet. “Show’s over.”
They walked out of the exhibition room, Penny shaking her head.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like that,” she said. “Your pie should have won. You’ve spent all this time working at your dad’s shop, going to college just because you didn’t want to disappoint him, all the while struggling and stifling your own dreams. You were supposed to win the grand prize and go off to do what you’ve a
lways wanted.”
Weirdly enough, her frustration made Josh feel better. And he wondered if he was disappointed that he didn’t win the grand prize or because he hadn’t given Penny a happy ending.
He draped his arm around her shoulders as they walked toward the doors leading back outside. He liked how she felt, all tucked against his side. Then his heart sank.
Professor West was leaning against a wall, his hands shoved in his pockets and a big, stuffed rabbit tucked under his arm. Josh grabbed Penny’s hand to steer her away, but Professor West saw him and then there was no escape.
Josh stopped. Professor West approached. Even though nerves tightened his stomach, Josh had to admire a guy who didn’t seem to care that he was carrying a stuffed pink rabbit.
“Hi, Professor West.”
“Josh.”
“Oh, hi.” Penny extended a hand. “I’m Penny Dove. I helped… er, I mean, I read Josh’s paper for your class.”
Professor West shifted the rabbit to his other arm and shook Penny’s hand.
“You win that?” Josh asked, hoping to keep the conversation to fair-related stuff.
Professor West looked at the rabbit as if he’d forgotten he was holding it. “Yeah. Balloon darts. My wife picked it out.”
“Your wife’s here?”
“She went to get an ice cream.”
“Great day for the fair, huh?” Josh asked.
“Indeed.”
Josh cowered a little under the professor’s sharp look. Even at the fair holding a stuffed animal, Professor West had an intimidating authority. One that made Josh’s heart sink a few more inches.
“Word alone, Josh?” Professor West tilted his head to the other side of the hall.
Feeling like a kid going to detention, Josh followed the professor out of Penny’s earshot.
“So,” Professor West said. “You want to tell me why you didn’t take the final yesterday?”
Josh stared at his sneakers.
“Not really,” he mumbled.
“You said in your email that you were sick, but you look fine now.”
Josh scratched his head. “Sorry. I… well, I didn’t really study enough.”
“Why didn’t you even show up?”
“I was… uh, I was baking a pie.”
“You missed the final because you were baking a pie.”
“Yeah.” Josh finally worked up the courage to meet the professor’s steady gaze. “I was… well, Penny wanted me to enter a pie in this bake-off, and for a while there I thought I could win, so I was testing all these recipes even though I don’t really like baking, and I came up with this great idea for an apple pie…”
He took a breath and pushed forward. “Anyway, I didn’t win, but it’s kind of okay because it’s cool how Penny… she’s disappointed but not in me, you know? She’s like disappointed because she really believed I’d win. And I guess… I guess it was more important not to disappoint her than it was to take your final. Sorry. I did think Beowulf was pretty cool.”
Professor West looked at him for such a long time that Josh shifted from one foot to the other. He braced himself for a diatribe about how education was so important, how he’d just thrown away his future, how he should pay more attention, prioritize…
The professor didn’t give him a lecture. He just looked at Josh, as if waiting for him to say something else.
“Look, I… I don’t get it, okay?” Josh finally confessed. “Classes like yours. I mean, I get that some people are good at school and stuff… Penny is… but I don’t see the point. I want to be a chef, own a restaurant, maybe have a farm where I can grow my own food. I don’t want to sit around reading moldy old books. No offense.”
“None taken.”
“I’m just going to King’s because my dad wants me to,” Josh went on, unable to stop now that he was getting it all out. “He worked all these years because he didn’t want me to struggle like he did, because he wanted me to get a degree. But it’s not really what I want. So, you know, it’s… it’s kind of a mess.”
“You ever tell your dad that?” Professor West asked.
“Not really.”
For a guy who spent so much time lecturing in classrooms, the professor sure could be silent when he wanted to be. He studied Josh as if he were some specimen under a microscope before speaking again.
“My wife loves all the pies at The Pied Piper.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“Liv always talks about how good they are,” Professor West continued. “She tries a different pie every time she stops in. A few weeks ago we had a friend over for dinner, and Liv wanted a pie for dessert. Couldn’t decide which one would go with the dinner she made. Blueberry, chocolate, whatever. Finally she decided she wanted one cherry and one lemon meringue, so she ran to The Pied Piper to pick them up, but she was too late. The store was closed. She had to get a cake instead. She wasn’t very happy either.”
“Um… sorry about that?”
“My point is that you have a lot of choices,” Professor West said. “And it doesn’t have to be one or the other. But if you wait too long to decide, it could be too late.”
“Oh.” Josh didn’t really get it. It was true, though, that The Pied Piper had a lot of choices. For the first time, he wondered what made people choose the pie they did.
“Come to my office hours on Monday,” the professor said. “I’ll talk to the administration office, and we’ll figure out a time when you can retake the final. One of my grad students will help you study for it.”
Josh knew he didn’t deserve special treatment, but he nodded.
“Sorry,” he said. “I mean, for blowing off the final for apple pie.”
“Well.” Professor West glanced at Penny. “She does seem like that kind of girl.”
“What kind of girl?”
“The kind who’s worth the risk.” Professor West stepped back. “And the girl you take a risk for is the one you want to keep.”
He tossed Josh the stuffed rabbit. Josh caught it. Professor West gave him a small salute and turned to walk away.
“Won’t your wife want this back?” Josh called.
“No,” the professor replied. “She’d want you to give it to the girl who believes in your apple pie.”
Josh returned to Penny. She was studying a few tables filled with 4-H cake-decorating entries. He handed her the rabbit.
“Why did he give this to you?” she asked.
“For good luck, I think.”
Penny took the rabbit, her expression still downcast.
“Hey, it’s really okay,” Josh said. “I’m not upset about losing.”
“But it wasn’t supposed to happen like that,” she insisted. “The underdog always wins in the end.”
“Then if the underdog doesn’t win, it’s not the end.”
That made her smile. Josh’s heart thumped hard.
He took Penny’s hand, feeling her fingers close around his before he remembered that she was in love with someone else. He tugged his hand away.
“Come on. Fireworks should start soon.”
They went out to the grassy field where people were spreading out blankets and lawn chairs to watch the fair’s firework spectacle. Josh and Penny settled into the grass, the stuffed rabbit at Penny’s other side.
The fireworks started with sprays of gold, purple, and blue, the boom echoing over the surrounding hills. The sky lit up with brilliant flashes of color that made Josh want to believe in infinity.
It always works out in the end… Josh, you need to do what you want… I know what I need to do… you have a lot of choices… the girl you take a risk for is the one you want to keep…
Josh wanted to take a risk for Penny. He also wanted to take a risk for himself.
He pushed to his feet. His father was right over at The Pied Piper food truck. Josh realized that he’d always known where to find his dad when he needed him. Like both pi and pie, Simon Piper was a constant.
“Penny, I
’ll be right back, okay?”
Josh hurried back to the fair and headed straight for the truck. He heard his dad’s voice as he neared—booming and full of cheer as he served slices of pie.
“Fresh apple right here… best pie crust in the state… peaches this year are sweet as sugar…”
Josh waited for the small crowd in front of the truck to disperse. He steeled his spine.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Josh. Didn’t know you’d be here.” Simon bent to look at him through the truck’s window.
“I’m here with Penny. She’s watching the fireworks.” Josh took a breath. “Look, Dad, I want to talk to you about some stuff soon. Okay?”
Simon frowned. “What stuff?”
“You know how I told you I want to be a chef? I kept thinking there was no way I could train to be a chef and go to King’s at the same time, but maybe there is. If you’ll agree.”
“Agree with what? You’re not dropping out.”
“No. But maybe I could take business and administration classes. For a year or so. If I do okay, then I want to enroll part-time in culinary school.”
Josh could see the protest about to break from his father. He spoke fast to prevent it. “I have some ideas, Dad. I’ll make it work. And if I learn more about the business stuff, I can help out more with the shop. All these ideas you have for delivery and expansion… if I know more, I can do more.”
The creases on Simon’s forehead eased a little, though he was still frowning. “We’ll talk at home.”
“Okay.” At least it was a start. Josh turned away.
“Josh.”
He turned back. Simon passed a small box and a plastic fork through the window.
“Apple pie for Penny,” his father said. “I know it’s her favorite.”
Josh took the box and hurried back to where Penny was sitting on the grass, her hands propped behind her. She smiled at the sight of the pie and ate it as the fireworks continued bursting over the sky.
“I think I can do it,” Josh told her.
“Do what?”
“Keep my dad happy, but also train to be a chef. I just need to figure out how and talk to him about it.”
Stories for Amanda Page 21
