While Love Stirs Read Online Free PDF Page A

the way to the left. A familiar whoosh from inside the oven let her know the gas flame had caught.
    Charlotte gathered a pan and added the brown sugar, light cream, and butter she needed for the opera caramel frosting. Onceshe set the flame beneath the pan, she stirred the mixture. Beating it until it reached a spreadable consistency made her arm ache. She noticed Kathleen wasted no time mixing the batter for her cake and pouring it into the pans she’d prepared. With so little time given to blending the ingredients, Charlotte feared Kathleen’s cake would be heavy.
    Kathleen cleared her throat. “I need to get these in.”
    Charlotte’s frosting began to form a ball. “You might try asking me nicely to step out of the way.”
    “This is a contest.” Kathleen elbowed Charlotte’s side. “There’s no room for niceties.”
    “But you haven’t even checked the oven’s temp—”
    “Mind your own frosting.” Kathleen let the door slam hard, and Charlotte’s pot rattled. “Not that it will do you any good.”
    Charlotte steadied the pot with a towel and began whipping the contents in her bowl. It would serve Kathleen right if her cake did burn. Foolish girl. She didn’t even take the time to put a teaspoon of flour in the oven to test the oven’s temperature. Without determining how hot it was, how would Kathleen know when to remove the cake?
    Charlotte pushed the thought aside. That was Kathleen’s problem. When her frosting was spreadable, she nudged Kathleen’s supplies back into her half of the work area and set out her own ingredients so she could get started on the cake. She picked up the metal measuring cup Miss Farmer had given her and balanced it in her hand. Like a plane in the hand of a woodworker, this measuring cup felt at home. She spooned it half full of butter.
    “What is that cup for?” Kathleen asked. “A good cook doesn’t have to measure. They know if they’ve put in enough by looking.”
    “I disagree.” Charlotte emptied the cup into her bowl. “Measuring takes the guesswork out and ensures your food turns out well every time.” She measured the first of the two cups of sugar, but when she went to pour it in the bowl, Kathleen bumped her arm and sugar went flying.
    “Oh no. How will you ensure your cake turns out now?”
    Charlotte shot Kathleen a glare. What kind of a person sabotaged someone’s cake? Did she honestly think Charlotte couldn’t handle a little spilled sugar?
    Resisting the urge to give Kathleen a good tongue-lashing, she finished adding the ingredients for her cake and wiped up the spilled sugar. As soon as she’d finished filling the layer cake pans, she glanced at the oven.
    “Uh, Kathleen, have you checked on your cake lately?”
    Kathleen threw open the door and smoke wafted out. She grabbed a towel and yanked the pan from the rack. “You did this on purpose! You set the oven too high! Mr. Johnson! Mr. Johnson!” When the gas company’s vice president arrived, Kathleen thrust a finger toward Charlotte. “She sabotaged my cake. She set the oven too high.”
    His brow furled. “Did you do that, Miss Gregory?”
    “No, sir.” Charlotte shook her head. “I started to tell her to check the temperature and she said to mind my own frosting.”
    “That’s exactly what I heard as well.” He twisted the ends of his mustache. “But ladies, do consider yourselves warned. If there are any more problems, I’ll have no choice but to disqualify one of you.”
    Behind his back, Kathleen flashed a smug grin. Charlotte’s blood came to a full boil, but she forced a lid on it. “Yes, sir. I’ll do my best to help her in the future.”
    He glanced at the cake on the work surface. “Your cake doesn’t appear ruined, Miss O’Grady. A little brown around the edges, maybe, but I think you can frost it and make it a fine entry.” He nodded to Charlotte. “Good luck to both of you.”
    Charlotte set a pie tin with a teaspoon of flour on the middle rack and