The Christmas Cookie Wars

Chapter Six

Six

Oreos? Where did the Oreos come from?

Melody plucked the package of double-stuffed cookies out of the cart and set it on a nearby shelf. This was what happened whenever she brought Finn and Tate with her to the grocery store. If she left the cart unattended even for fifteen seconds while she evaluated the price differential between the generic flour and the unrefined, unbleached, organic variety, all of a sudden she had a cart full of Oreos.

Melody set a ten-pound bag of flour in the cart. There’d sure as heck better be some magic dust mixed into it for that price. Hopefully ten pounds would be enough to cover all the test batches they’d have to make of what she’d come to refer to as the Great Miracle Cookie.

“Hey, Mom!” Her boys galloped into the aisle, both with armloads of stuff she had no intention of buying. “Look at this!” Finn slam-dunked a box of some sugary Star Wars –themed cereal with marshmallows into the cart.

Melody fished it out and handed it back to him. “We’re only here for the cookie ingredients. Remember?”

“Yeah but this is limited edition cereal.” He held up the box and presented it like he was a model on The Price Is Right , pointing out each feature. “It’s made with whole grains. There are no artificial flavors. And it might not be here next time we go shopping,” he warned.

“I’m willing to take our chances.” She ruffled his hair. “We can talk about getting a box during our next grocery run if you want to pay for it.”

“What about these?” Tate slipped past her and added a box of protein shakes to the cart. “These help you get ripped.”

She folded her lips so a laugh wouldn’t sneak out. “I’m afraid they’re not on the list for today, but, like I told your brother, you’re more than welcome to bring your allowance money next time we go grocery shopping.” Using their own money tended to make them think twice about whether a purchase was truly necessary. They had a much easier time spending her money.

“Okay, but, Mom…” Finn set the cereal box on the wrong shelf and showed her the bag of candies he had tucked under his arm. “We need these to help us think while we make the cookies.” He held the caramels out to her. “I mean, look— sea salt caramel. I bet they’ll be very inspirational.”

Well, she’d give the kid points for using one of his vocabulary words for the week. She should make him spell inspirational while they were at it. “Sorry, bub.” She kept her smile as sweet as the candy. “I think we have all the inspiration we’ll need.” She gestured to the full cart. Between a million of the best—and most expensive—organic, top-of-the-line ingredients and the twenty-eight online videos she’d watched all about making eggnog and crème br?lée cookies, she couldn’t handle any more inspiration. “Now go put all of that back. We still need to get the eggs—”

“Melody Monroe?”

The voice behind her triggered a fight-or-flight response, but there was no way she’d make it down the aisle fast enough to get away from Charlene. So she steeled herself, turned, and invoked the sorry I’m in a hurry smile she reserved for…well…mainly Charlene. “Hey there, stranger.” Melody started to ease the cart past her. She didn’t have much to say to the woman after the cookie swap. “I’d love to chat, but—”

“How did the cookie swap end up?” She angled her cart to block the aisle. As usual, she had on a sensible navy pantsuit with a cream blouse, and her black hair was smoothed back into a bun.

In contrast, Melody wore tie-dyed leggings and an off-the-shoulder bright pink sweatshirt. “It was good.” She shifted her cart to the left but couldn’t quite squeeze past. Now was not a good time for her to get trapped in a confrontation. Especially with the boys still standing there. “Sorry, but we have to run—”

“I guess it was a good thing I had a rehearsal in the gym, or you all would’ve totally missed your fundraising goal.” Charlene wore the smile she seemed to reserve for Melody too—complete with a condescending wrinkle in her nose. “It sounds like attendance was way down this year.”

“All that matters is saving the STEM club, since that’s the first extracurricular that would get cut.” She kept her voice chipper for the boys’ sake. They didn’t like Blake or his mother, but she had to set the example here. “I just want to pitch in and do whatever’s best for the school.” You’d think they’d be on the same side, since Blake also participated in STEM.

“Right. Sure.” Charlene eyed her cart like she was cataloging every ingredient there. “It looks like you’re getting ready to do some baking. For the contest?” The nose wrinkle deepened into a crevasse. “Good luck. I’m sure you remember that I’ve won second place against Jonathan every year.”

“Mr. Braxton’s not gonna win the contest this year,” Finn said with all the conviction his ten-year-old body could hold. “Nobody’s gonna believe the cookie we’re making.”

“There’s no way we won’t win,” Tate added.

“How about you two go put back that cereal and stuff?” Melody shooed her boys in the opposite direction before they could tell Charlene about the bet they’d made. She didn’t need yet another opinion on the matter.

“Honestly, I’m surprised the contest is even happening.” Charlene exaggerated concern. “From what I hear, you don’t exactly have the numbers on the committee to pull off some of those large events. I hope you don’t end up having to cancel.”

“Oh, we won’t have to cancel. We’re doing a live competition this year. The contestants will be baking right up in front of everyone.” For the first time, Melody saw the brilliance of Mr. Braxton’s plan. People would be too curious to miss it. “The committee is looking to update everything. You know, to make the same old boring events a little more exciting? And there’s already a lot of excitement about the new format.” At least on their social media event. They had sixty-seven people interested.

“So you’re going to bake up in front of a crowd?” Charlene chuckled. “That’ll be something to see. I may have to clear my schedule.”

She refused to let Charlene make her feel small. “You really should come by. The committee has so much momentum right now. It’s a whole new era. We’re letting a lot of different kinds of people participate,” Melody said breezily. “Not just the bakers.” Or the Type A personalities. “I honestly think this will be the best fundraising season the school has ever had.”

“We’ll see,” Charlene said. “Good luck at the contest. I hope that goes better for you than the cookie swap did.” Her gaze swept over Melody’s cart again. “It would be a shame to waste all those quality ingredients.”

Before Melody could think of a comeback, Charlene sashayed away.

“Merry Christmas,” she muttered, gripping the cart so she didn’t give her the bird.

Finn and Tate met her at the end of the aisle.

“Hey, Mom.” Her younger twin stepped onto the back of the cart. “I can’t wait to see the look on Charlene’s face when we win the contest.”

“I’ll take a video, and we’ll show everyone.” Tate took over pushing for her.

She let herself picture that shining moment. She and the boys standing on the stage in the school gymnasium holding up the trophy while everyone cheered. Even Mr. Braxton would cheer. And then he’d have to admit that he’d completely underestimated her. But they had a long way to go before they’d get there. “We can’t focus on Charlene.” Melody directed them to the dairy section. “We need to focus on making the absolute best cookie we can make and then we’ll be happy, no matter what happens.” Even if they lost. They couldn’t really win the Cookie Contest, could they? “If we try our hardest, we can be proud of ourselves no matter what.”

While the boys reassured her yet again that they weren’t going to lose, she selected two dozen cage-free eggs.

Tate steered the cart while Finn rode on the back all the way up to the checkout lines.

People packed every station. It was going to take a half hour to get out of here. Melody’s heart sank. “Is there a snowstorm tomorrow?”

“Maybe everyone’s getting their ingredients for the Cookie Contest,” Finn suggested, rifling through a nearby candy display.

“I doubt that.”

They inched forward little by little and Melody caught sight of a Better Homes & Gardens on the rack. “Five Quick and Easy Christmas Desserts” read a headline. Lies! All lies. Instead, she picked up a People and started to flip through.

“Hey, there’s Mr. Braxton.” Before Melody could stop him, Tate stood up on his tiptoes and waved his arms. “Mr. Braxton! Hi!”

She went to shush him, but it was too late. The principal strode to their line, toting his shopping basket that contained only eggs, bread, and milk.

Melody slammed the magazine back onto the rack. She really needed to start shopping at the market in Evergreen so she didn’t keep running into people.

“Is it supposed to snow tomorrow or what?” Jonathan asked as he got in line behind them.

“That’s what Mom said.” Finn cocked an eyebrow. “Are you spying on us?”

“I bet you are,” Tate said before Jonathan could get a word in. “I bet you’re here to see what ingredients we’re getting for our cookie.”

“Actually, I ran out of bread and milk, but now that I’m here…” He leaned over to peer into their cart. “Hmm…eggnog. Interesting…”

Finn and Tate moved to block his view. “Our cookie is a secret,” her younger twin told him.

“Top secret,” Tate echoed.

Yes, the Great Miracle Cookie was a mystery, even to her.

“I respect that.” Smiling, Jonathan took a step back. “You’re smart to get an early start. I baked my test batch yesterday.”

“I’ll bet they were gross.” Finn had assumed his argumentative stance—hands on hips, shoulders tensed.

“Finn!” Ugh. She never should’ve made that bet. “You apologize—”

Jonathan waved off the comment. “It’s okay. I can assure you…my cookies are not gross.” Amusement lit his eyes.

Huh. She’d never noticed that twinkle there before.

“Maybe you’d like to try one of mine?” Jonathan offered. “I could bring some by later tonight so you can get a taste of the competition?”

Finn and Tate looked at each other, completely baffled by the offer. But Melody wasn’t confused. She knew exactly what Jonathan was up to. He was so confident he had the winning cookie that he wanted to psych them all out before the competition. Once she tasted his cookie, she’d want to give up altogether.

“No thanks—” she said at the same time Tate said, “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

“Please, Mom,” Finn begged. “Then we’ll know what we’re up against.”

She didn’t want to know what they were up against. And she definitely didn’t want Jonathan anywhere near her first attempt at the Great Miracle Cookie.

“It’s no trouble.” Jonathan could not be as innocent as his expression claimed. He had a strategy here—some endgame. “I have two dozen of those cookies, and I’m not going to eat them all myself. So you’d be doing me a favor. Good cookies shouldn’t go to waste.”

“That’s true.” Finn had his father’s same imploring gaze— the one that had gotten her to say yes to heliskiing and paragliding and trying mayonnaise.

“Sure. Fine.” She battled the sudden tension in her neck with a shrug. “If you want to drop off your leftovers, I won’t stop you.” She also wouldn’t eat one. She wouldn’t let Jonathan Braxton get into her head right now.

“Yes!” Tate high-fived his brother while she turned and started to load her items onto the conveyor belt.

“Hey, Ms. Monroe.” Jeff, the teen cashier who lived down the street from them, greeted her with a big toothy grin. He’d always reminded her of a golden retriever.

“Hi, Jeff. How are you?” She pushed her cart to the end of the station and made it a point not to peek at the principal once. “All ready for Christmas?”

“My mom’s getting all the decorations up, but I haven’t been around much to help her.” He scanned the sugar and flour.

She already knew how that went. Finn and Tate’s social calendars had gotten far busier than hers already. She couldn’t imagine what life would be like when they were sixteen.

“Oh, hey, Mr. Braxton.” Jeff must’ve just noticed him standing behind them. “My mom brought home a bunch of your cookies from the swap. They were the best .”

“Good to hear.”

Melody didn’t look at him in case he was gloating. His tone sure sounded gloating. She didn’t have to peek at him over her shoulder to see his self-satisfied smirk.

“My whole family is already talking about the contest.” Jeff finished bagging her groceries, thank goodness.

“Should be fun.” She didn’t want to talk about the contest at all. Melody quickly paid, but not before Finn said, “We’re going to win this year.”

Jeff frowned at her son. “You’re entering the contest?”

“We are,” Tate confirmed. “And we’re going to have the most epic cookie you’ve ever tasted.”

“Wow.” The kid’s grin more closely resembled a grimace. “Good luck.”

If she heard that one more time…

“Thanks, Jeff.” Melody stashed the bags in her cart. “Come on, boys. We’d better get going.” They had a Great Miracle Cookie to make.

“Don’t forget to leave the butter and eggs out until they’re room temperature,” Mr. Braxton called behind her.

“She knows that.” Tate patted her shoulder. “Don’t you, Mom?”

“I do know that.” But only because he’d already told her.