Do you really think there is a possibility that Gerald Montgomery would come all the way to Bald Eagle Falls?” Vic asked. Her tone was doubtful, but her eyes were bright. She was, Erin thought, trying to tamp down her excitement over the idea, not wanting to get her hopes up for something she considered to be unlikely.
“I didn’t think it was possible,” Erin admitted. She and Vic sat at the table in Erin’s kitchen with their heads together, going over their plans for the next week. “It seems like a stretch that anyone would want to come way out to rural Tennessee to a little bakery like Auntie Clem’s. But my sources say we are on Montgomery’s Muffin Mania tour route.” She shrugged, holding her hands palms up. “If he’s going to be in the area, then he’s coming to Auntie Clem’s. It’s the only bakery around that makes gluten-free muffins. Even in the city, only one place makes its own gluten-free cupcakes and muffins. Everyone else either orders from them or gets commercial stuff shipped from Nashville.”
And that meant that they weren’t fresh. Gerald Montgomery wasn’t interested in something pulled from the freezer or sitting on the shelf for a couple of days. He had criticized restaurants or bakeries in the past for trying to pass something off as fresh when it was a day or two old. It wasn’t worth his attention if it hadn’t just come off the stove or been baked in the last few hours.
“Your sources?” Vic swept her long blond hair back, tucking it behind one ear. “How reliable are these sources?”
Erin Price couldn’t blame her young assistant for being skeptical. Rumors that came over the grapevine in Bald Eagle Falls were plentiful but not necessarily accurate. The women of the town—and many of the men, too, Erin suspected—enjoyed gossiping about their neighbors. If there wasn’t anything legitimate to discuss, they didn’t seem to have any scruples against speculating or flat-out making something up. Some of the rumors that got back to Erin about herself or Vic or another friend or employee of Auntie Clem’s Bakery were so far from the truth that Erin wondered whether the person who had started them was testing to see just how bizarre a rumor had to be before people would begin to question what they were hearing.
“Well, you know Cherise, the woman who runs the restaurant supply store in the city?”
Vic nodded, leaning forward with interest.
“Well, her nephew works in Gerald Montgomery’s office. He saw Montgomery’s travel itinerary for this tour and Bald Eagle Falls was on it. He figured she probably knew the bakery he would visit, so he called to share the news.”
“And Cherise called you.”
Erin nodded. “She knows I run the only bakery operating in Bald Eagle Falls and that everything here is gluten-free, so it was a no-brainer that if Montgomery is coming to Bald Eagle Falls, he is coming to Auntie Clem’s Bakery.”
“How did her nephew know he was coming through Bald Eagle Falls rather than just staying in the city? His itinerary is that detailed?”
“He’s staying at the B&B.”
“Which one? Mrs. McClung?”
Erin nodded. She had already confirmed the booking with Mrs. McClung. There wouldn’t be any reason for Montgomery to stay at the B&B in Bald Eagle Falls unless he was planning to go to Auntie Clem’s Bakery. If he wanted to go to the bakery in the city that made gluten-free muffins, he would have stayed in the city. The accommodations would be more convenient than staying in Bald Eagle Falls.
“Well…” Vic drew the word out long in a drawl. “Don’t that beat all. He’s coming to Auntie Clem’s Bakery!”
“Who’s coming to Auntie Clem’s Bakery?” a male voice asked.
Erin didn’t need to look up to know it was Officer Terry Price, her… significant other. She really hated the word boyfriend. Partner sounded too much like business. Spouse wasn’t right since they were not married, much to the dismay of the church ladies who patronized Auntie Clem’s Bakery.
Erin sat back in her chair and stretched her back and shoulder muscles. Terry entered the kitchen to fetch a bottle of beer to drink while he watched the game on TV. Erin wasn’t sure what game he was watching or even what sport. He had told her, she was sure, but she had been too distracted by the news of Gerald Montgomery’s tour to retain any details.
“Just Gerald Montgomery,” Vic said, her voice high and dramatic. “Just one of the most famous food critics in the country, coming to taste muffins at Auntie Clem’s Bakery.”
Terry looked at Erin. “Really? That sounds pretty prestigious.”
“If he likes it, yes. If he doesn’t like what he tastes… a review from a guy like Montgomery is enough to make or break a bakery. And he’s very tough.”
“Sounds like the plot of a Hallmark movie,” Terry said. “If you can just find the right recipe to impress him, he’ll give you your five gold stars and you can save the bakery from certain ruin and pay off the mortgage and fix all of the appliances in need of repair…”
“Well, there’s no mortgage to pay off or appliances needing repair, but we do need to figure out what to serve him when he gets here. We can’t just serve him an everyday rice bran or blueberry muffin and expect him to be impressed.”
“Why not?” Terry challenged, “Your baking is the best. You shouldn’t need to do anything special to impress him.”
He removed the cap from the beer and had a swig.
“He’ll be expecting something special,” Erin said. “The everyday fare at Auntie Clem’s is just fine—”
“Outstanding, even,” Vic inserted.
“—But this guy is testing gluten-free muffins all across the country. You think he will be impressed with just any old muffin?”
“I don’t think you sell ‘any old muffin.’ ” Terry said generously. “You can’t even tell them apart from a muffin made with regular wheat flour. And when you dress them all up with icing and other little bits…”
“Decorate them,” Erin advised.
“When you do that, it takes them to a whole new level.”
“Those prepackaged gluten-free blueberry muffins you can get at the store,” Vic said slowly, “they don’t even have real blueberries in them. They have simulated blueberry nuggets…”
Erin shuddered. “Well, anyone can make a muffin better than that. But we have to make a muffin that’s better than them all.”
Terry and Vic both looked at her. “That’s a pretty tall order,” Terry said. “You’re not baking these muffins in the fires of Mount Doom.”
It was Erin’s turn to stare. “What?”
“Lord of the Rings,” Terry advised. “The one ring to rule them all…”
“Oh.” Erin gave a nod. “Yes, you’re right. I won’t be baking them in the fires of Mount Doom.” she paused for dramatic effect, “but it will be the one muffin to rule them all.”
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