"Have you decided on a dinner menu?" Lani asked Alva, hoping to advance the conversation past the show talk.

Before Alva could respond, however, the doorbell chimed. Again. Lani glanced at the clock. It was after eleven.

Alva clasped her hands together. "Gee, I wonder who that might be?" It was clear who she was hoping it would be.

"I can get it," Charlotte offered, but Lani was already on her feet.

"That's okay. Alva, why don't you tell Charlotte your dinner menu for Baxter. She's a pretty good regular chef, too. I'm sure she'd love to give you some guidance."

Charlotte shot her a leveling look, but Lani merely smiled. Her smile faded as she turned toward the door leading out of the kitchen. She really wasn't ready for more Baxter, even with the addition of the guest panel currently parked in her kitchen. "Hello?" she said, leaving the door shut. It was, after all, late at night. Though the door wasn't locked, she wanted him to at least acknowledge the hour.

"Chef? It's Dre."

"Dre?" Lani repeated, then tugged open the door to find her young employee standing on her cottage porch. Apron in hand. Concerned, she said, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I mean, yes, Chef. Fine. I'm sorry to be coming so late, but I went by the shop first and it was locked up tight and dark."

"Well, it is a little on the late side."

"I know, but it said recipe testing on the show schedule and Bernard had said how the first few days they'd almost be there around the clock, so I figured that's where I was supposed to go."

"Go for what?"

Dre's expression shifted, and she look worried. "For recipe testing. When I faxed my class schedule to you, you said to show up whenever possible. I got done with my lab about an hour ago. I knew it was late, but from the schedule, I figured testing would be going on till the wee hours, so I thought I'd come help out. When the shop was closed down, I thought I'd at least swing by here. I-I wasn't sure where else to go. There are cars here and the lights are on so ... I thought maybe I misunderstood and we are testing stuff here."

Charlotte's rental and Alva's car, along with her own, were parked in the drive in front of the house. With the house ablaze with light, Lani supposed it did look like something was going on. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, but since you're here, why don't you come on in?"

A burst of chatter came from the kitchen just then, and an embarrassed Dre shifted her weight, but didn't step inside. "No, that's okay. I shouldn't have stopped by so late. Sorry I interrupted, I must have read the chart wrong."

Lani frowned. "What chart?"

Dre frowned right back at her. "Bernard sent out charts detailing the production schedule for the rest of the week. I assumed you gave him my e-mail, but-Listen, no problem. I have an early class tomorrow anyway. I can be back over the bridge by seven tomorrow night. I'll-I'll see you then."

She backed up a step, but Lani said, "Wait. When did you get this chart?"

"About four this afternoon. Don't-didn't you get one?"

Lani supposed she should have been embarrassed, looking like an idiot in front of her only employee, but the annoyance she was feeling at that moment outweighed everything else. "Obviously there was a glitch somewhere, but no, I didn't. You don't happen to have a copy, do you?"

"No, it's on my computer. Wait-my mail comes through on my phone. I can probably access it from there and forward it to you."

"That would be great. Come on in. Charlotte and Alva are in the kitchen. We're sampling harvest bread."

"It smells amazing."

Lani smiled. "Tastes even better."

Dre hedged for another second, then went ahead and stepped inside. "Thanks."

"Absolutely. The more the merrier."

"I really am sorry for barging in, Chef."

"It's after eleven and you're not on the clock. You can call me Lani."

Dre looked at her. "That's probably not going to happen."

"Why?"

"Because you're the chef, Chef." As if that explained it. With Dre, it probably did.

Lani shook her head and smiled. "Suit yourself."

They stepped into the kitchen to find Charlotte and Alva behind the counter, mixers whirring and things being measured.

"I leave for five minutes-"

Charlotte lifted an unapologetic shoulder. She was getting very good at that, Lani noted.

Alva twinkled. "She's showing me how to make individual serving cheesecakes in a muffin pan, like little cheesecake cupcakes! If they come out right, it'll be just the thing for my dessert menu Friday. We can top some with blueberries, some with raspberries, and some with strawberries. Isn't that just delightful ?"

"Delightful," Lani echoed.

Alva looked past Lani. "Well hello, Dre dear. Care to give us a hand? We need someone to crush the graham crackers, then cut the butter into them and I'm afraid my wrists aren't what they used to be."

Dre shook out her apron and had it tied on in a flash. "Excellent."

"Small crumb." Alva handed Dre the package of graham crackers and a pastry blender. "Well, my word. What-or who-is that?" She was staring at Dre's apron.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," Dre said, as if unable to comprehend that anyone wouldn't recognize the image. When Alva merely kept staring, she added, "Johnny Depp?"

Alva finally tore her gaze away and went back to blending. "I like pirates." It was all she said, but there was an added gleam to the twinkle.

"Me, too." Dre took the butter from Charlotte. "Okay if I use the table, Chef?"

"Sure." Charlotte and Lani answered at the same time.

Dre smiled her dry half smile, said, "Thanks," and got down to business.

"Something happened to my life when I wasn't looking," Lani said to Charlotte.

"Yes. You got one," she said, not looking up from the handwritten recipe she was staring at.

"You're one to talk," Lani muttered, but went to the refrigerator and got out the cream cheese. If she couldn't shame them, she might as well join them.

When she looked up again, Charlotte caught her eye and sent a nod Dre's way with a lift of an eyebrow.

"She said tonight was recipe test. According to Bernard's chart."

"What chart?"

"Exactly," Lani said.

"Why wouldn't they send you the chart?"

"I have no idea. Bernard might be a little imperious about his job description, but the man misses nothing, so I can't imagine it was an oversight. He's like a human spreadsheet."

"So ... are we-or were you-supposed to be testing the recipes for the first show or something?"

"I have no idea. If I was, obviously I didn't make the meeting. And no one apparently missed me." Lani stripped the wrappers from the cream cheese, then Charlotte chopped the soft blocks into smaller pieces. "We didn't wrap up tonight until after six, and no one said a word, so maybe Dre just has her dates or times mixed up."

"Still, Dre has a chart," Charlotte said.

"Right," Lani said.

"So?"

Lani looked at her. "So, what?"

"Aren't you going to call? Find out what's going on?"

"Call Bernard? At midnight? Um, gosh. No."

"Not Bernard."

Lani's eyebrows lifted. "Baxter? You must be kidding. It's torture enough having to be around him all day and that's with a dozen other people crammed into the room, all talking at the same time. I don't have any desire for there to be only two of us in any room at any time, or me doing any of the talking, unless it's directed at a camera."

"You should call him. It's a good excuse."

"I don't need an excuse to talk to him."

"Good," Charlotte smiled. "So, what are you waiting for?"

"Pigs sprouting wings? I thought you'd come to the dark side with me on this and agreed. I must resist temptation."

"You said he has sweet parts. Sounds pretty tempting to me."

"I can be strong."

"Let him be strong. Manly with sweet parts. Honestly, Lan, you're an idiot to hold out. Life is unpredictable. You could suffer a tragic mixer accident, and then where would you be?"

"The hell with tea. I think we need more wine."

"Who has sweet parts?" Alva wanted to know.

Charlotte just looked at Lani with a raised brow.

"Is Chef Dunne coming to our party?" Alva asked, with a hopeful smile.

Lani glanced over and noticed that Dre was paying special attention, too. "No. We're not having a party, we're just having an impromptu, um-"

"Bitch and bake," Charlotte finished.

"A bitching what?" Alva asked.

"Leilani and I used to get together after hours when we both lived in New York and let off steam by baking. And bitching. About whatever was bugging us."

"You know," Alva said, "I was telling our Miss Lani May the other night how therapeutic it was to help her with her sponge roll."

"Passion fruit roulade," Lani said to Charlotte.

"Right," Alva said, "the fruit roll. Anyway, I so enjoyed it. Then we had another chance to work on those cupcakes last Sunday morning. I can't recall when I've enjoyed myself more. Until this evening." With glee, she cranked the mixer on high and went back to doing ... whatever it was she was doing.

Dre merely nodded and went back to grinding cracker crumbs.

Lani looked at Charlotte. "Don't even think about shrugging that shoulder. I'm not calling him. So, deal with it. If there's a chart, I can get one from Bernard in the morning."

"So," Alva announced, as she flipped the mixer back off again. "If we're having a bitching bake, then it's probably okay to tell you the poker tournament was almost a complete bust. Laura Jo's sangria was a lot more potent than any of us recalled it being the last time she made it. Add in those devilishly decadent volcano cupcakes and, well, things got a little out of hand. When Dee Dee flat out told Laura Jo that she thought Felipe was too good for her, and that it didn't matter if she died her hair orange and stripped naked, well, Laura Jo didn't take too well to that. I'm not sure exactly when the sheriff's department arrived. That handsome Deputy Maxwell was the first one on the scene and let me tell you, no one minded being frisked by that one. We were lining up."

"Twelve forty-five," Dre said offhandedly. Everyone looked at her. "It was twelve forty-five. I won twenty-five bucks."

"Good for you, dear." Alva nodded with approval. "Dee Dee should have taken that bet. It would have helped with her bail money."

Charlotte might have snickered under her breath.

Lani elbowed her in the side, but was having a hard time keeping her grin to herself. When did this happen? Lani wondered, standing in her tiny, crowded kitchen in the middle of the night. But, the truth was ... she didn't mind really. In fact, she thought, with a smile to herself, it's kind of nice.

"Welcome to Cupcake Club," she murmured under her breath.

Chapter 12.

"Leilani, move your hand, you're blocking-"

"Right. Sorry." Lani shifted her hand so the overhead camera could clearly capture the contents of the mixing bowl, then belatedly realized she'd yet again spoken out loud in response to the instruction that had come through her earpiece and the director was once again calling to cut. "I'm sorry." She smiled despite her frustration with herself. It was one o'clock in the afternoon and they weren't even halfway through taping the first episode. And they'd started at six that morning. "I don't know why I can't get this."

"It's okay," Baxter said genially. "It's not a natural way to work, so it takes time. Don't ask Rosemary how many times it took me during the first month of shoots we did, because she'll tell you, in great detail."

He'd been like that all day. Endlessly patient, good-spirited, consistently supportive.

Lani smiled briefly, grateful for the backup, but perversely wishing he'd get at least a little put out with her. Was it too much to ask for him to be human? Or at least not so damn perfectly ... perfect? Surely it would be easier if she could be irritated at him and therefore make herself believe that her screwups were all his fault.

It was impossible enough to remember everything she had to remember-where to look, where not to put her hands, how to handle things so the camera could see them, don't forget to explain the steps and the smells, tastes, textures, and, oh right, by the way, be naturally charming and ad lib all of her dialogue banter with Baxter. Hadn't they heard of cue cards?