Read Online One Taste of Scandal by Heather Hiestand - Free Book Online Page A

inventory. Everything with black ink is a specific order, mostly for decorating. I think this morning, we’ll make second best wedding cakes. They don’t soak in brandy so we can’t store them as long.” She showed Magdalene the blue ink sheet.
    “Who makes up all the sheets?”
    “My father is the bakery manager and he gives them to us. There is an order book upstairs. Sometimes orders come in through other means, but in the end the payment has to be made at the bakery and then the order makes it to us.”
    Magdalene stared at the complicated order sheet, her stomach churning. “What should I do first?”
    “Let’s assemble what we need on a tray, then we’ll take it to the mixing room. We don’t have one of our own. This room is mostly for decorating.” She took two trays labeled “Fancy” and handed them to Magdalene.
    “We do keep our spice mix in here. Ladle a sixth of a cup out of that jar, would you?” She pointed to a large brown glass jar that had a paper “Wedding Cake Two” label glued to it.
    Magdalene took a scoop and eyeballed the correct amount. Betsy nodded, then led her out of the room and down a long corridor.
    “This is where we store ingredients. Eggs and butter are delivered fresh every day.” She pulled a key from her apron pocket, unlocked the door, and pushed it open.
    Inside was a neat variety of casks, racks, bottles, and other containers.
    “On your tray, now. One block of butter, and an egg.”
    Magdalene complied while Betsy measured out sugar and flour. “Now for the fruit. For this we need currants, golden raisins, lemon and orange peel.”
    Magdalene continued to assemble from Betsy’s list.
    “Last, we’ll need rum, but that is kept under lock and key for obvious reasons. I’ll get you started, then ask Mr. Melville for the fourth of a cup we need.”
    She followed Betsy out of the room, each holding a tray. Betsy deftly relocked the door while balancing. They went down a couple of corridors, then they entered a nightmare.
    Or so it seemed. So many men, so much machinery. The noise of gears made a dark musical beat straight from Hell, and steam heated the room to an unpleasant level that made her feel instantly damp.
    “Now, you’ve seen hand-cranked egg beaters, correct?” Betsy did not seem perturbed by the cacophony.
    “In a store, I think.”
    “Well, Lewis Noble did us better than that. He made us a motorized version. It saves so much time.” She waved at a man with a long apron like they wore and he pointed them to a cabinet. On top of it was a large beater, screwed into some kind of mechanical device.
    “It looks dangerous.”
    “You can make quite a mess,” Betsy said cheerfully.
    Magdalene bit her lip. “How do you use it?”
    Betsy set her tray on one of the scrubbed wooden tables nearby, then took a sturdy bowl and knife from a stack inside the mixer cabinet. “Let’s cream the butter and sugar.”
    Magdalene poured in her measure of sugar and added the block of butter.
    “Cut the butter into chunks. It lessens the risk of disaster.”
    While she did that, Betsy pulled a lever on the side of the machine from “off” to “warm.” A motor began to whirr behind the beaters. Then, she opened the cabinet and pulled out a flat wooden spoon.
    A man, about her age, with a round, cheerful countenance and flour in his hair walked by, then stopped with a big grin that exposed his buckteeth when he saw Betsy bending into the cabinet. He lifted a finger to his mouth when he saw Magdalene.
    She wasn’t sure if she should obey, but Betsy seemed the type to like a bit of fun. While she went back to cutting, the man leaned over the mixer and shouted, “Ti Hi Tiddelly Hi!”
    Betsy’s body jerked and she heard the girl’s head hit the top of the cabinet. She came out rubbing it with one hand, and a pair of egg beaters in the other. She brandished them at the man.
    “Tom Mumford, you had better not walk down any dark halls when I’m about. I’ll get