Read Online Miss Spelled (The Kitchen Witch 1) by Morgana Best - Free Book Online Page A

anyone ever learn such a thing?”
    “Trial and error,” Thyme said matter of factly. “Lots of trial and error. And love. Love is the secret ingredient.”
    “Love?” I raised my eyebrows. We had gone from a serious lesson to some sickening sweet cliché from those cooking shows that Brad had made me watch.
    Thyme smiled. “Your aunt always said it was her secret weapon. When you make something with love, you have a completely different energy. You’re more alert. You see small details. Time passes differently. It’s totally different from making something out of obligation.”
    I thought that over. Had I tried to cook for Brad because I loved him at the time? Or because I felt like it was expected of me? At the time I had thought it was one and the same. I didn’t even really know if this whole ‘love’ thing made sense to me now.
    “But how do you love cooking for a complete stranger?” I asked, looking back over at the cake shop. Even if I bought into the whole ‘love makes the recipe perfect’ thing, how did that fit with dealing with customers?
    I thought back on my work at the Complaints Department, where I was cursed at and lectured by customers over the company’s flaws as if I were the one directly responsible. Customers yelled at me if their demands were not met immediately. I thought of the apartment where the landlord kicked me out as soon as I set the place on fire, and how Brad abandoned me because I gave him food poisoning.
    “To tell the truth, I’m not sure. That was your aunt’s talent.” Thyme gave me an apologetic half-shrug. “She baked with her emotions, and it showed in her cakes. That’s really all I know. As to how she channeled that love into her work—well, you’ll have to find your own way there.”
    I threw up my hands. “Great!”
    “You’ll be fine. You’ll just need to—oh, finally. It’s a good thing this wasn’t a serious fire. You’d be less a shop.” Thyme nodded to the fire truck as it finally swung into the street.
    I smiled and stood up beside her. While I did not relish letting the fire department see my burned cake, I was glad for a distraction from the conversation.
    “You guys take the scenic route?” Thyme asked pleasantly.
    One of the men hopped out of the truck and made his way over, while the others went straight for the kitchen. “Sorry, ladies. We had to take the long way due to the high school parade taking up the main street.”
    “Oh, yeah.” Thyme bonked herself on the forehead. “I saw it in the news feed. I completely forgot about it. Guess this wasn’t the best day for a cooking lesson. Sorry, guys.”
    I smiled and shook my head.
    “I haven’t ever been called out here before,” the man commented as he removed his hat to get a better look at the window. “Is everyone all right?”
    I felt my heart leap in my chest as his deep brown eyes met mine. This was the hot guy I had met at the funeral.
    “Umm, yes. Yes. I just set a cake on fire, but it’s all under control now,” I said. Oh no, I had just admitted that I burned a cake. How incompetent did that sound? Why did I open my mouth?
    Craig smiled in amusement. “Well, it can’t be any worse than when Angelica started this store decades ago. My grandfather told me that when she heard you use a torch to do meringue she borrowed one from a welding shop.”
    I didn’t know what the difference in torches was, but based on his grin and Thyme’s wide-eyed alarmed giggle, I assumed it ran along the lines of ‘overkill’.
    “My aunt burned cakes?” I asked.
    “And half the wall,” he said. “A table too, if my grandfather was correct. In the end, she made the best cakes. It’s good to see her legacy is going to live on.”
    “See? Trial and error. Lots of error.” Thyme laughed and elbowed me.
    I laughed, too. I was glad to see that Craig was okay with me setting a cake on fire.
    “Oh, welcome to Bayberry Creek. I can’t remember if I said that when we first met.”