He took my hand. “I’m sorry, Zoe.”
Ollie chuckled. “Yeah. You were lucky Zoe didn’t have a gun.”
“You didn’t believe him, did you?” Miguel ignored Ollie.
“No. Of course not.” I stared at Ollie, daring him to disagree. “That’s why I came looking for you. I knew something was wrong.”
I hoped Ollie would drop the subject. We talked with Miguel for a few more minutes before the nurse asked us to leave, saying that he needed to rest.
I waited until everyone else was gone, and then I hugged Miguel and carefully kissed him.
“I’m sorry I’ll miss the last part of the race. I’m sure you’ll win. Be careful. We still don’t know what Marsh is up to.”
“I will. You stay here and get well. As soon as you get out, we’ll have a big celebration dinner.”
He smiled. “That’s great. Let’s start planning to have a real date, just the two of us. As much as I love your friends, I’d enjoy spending some time alone with you.”
I kissed him again for thinking exactly what I had been thinking. The nurse threatened to have me removed. I told Miguel good night, and the nurse watched until I had reached the elevator.
“How is Tina Gerard doing?” I asked as an afterthought, feeling a little guilty.
“She’ll live.” The nurse’s tone was exasperated. “Go home.”
Ollie and Uncle Saul were waiting with Cole at the taxi when I reached the street.
“I guess it’s too late now to do much of anything.” I sighed, happy to know that Miguel was all right.
Uncle Saul looked at his watch. “It’s four thirty. I think we can get breakfast and pick up the Biscuit Bowl before we head over to the meeting place. It’s good that we didn’t have to buy supplies. The contest would’ve been over before it even got started.”
I agreed with him.
We stopped at a fast-food place for breakfast. Not the best, but all we had time for. I bought breakfast for Cole, who’d been such a big help in finding Miguel.
Uncle Saul gave him money for gas, overruling me when I complained that I should be the one to pay for it.
“Tomorrow, after you’ve won all that cash, you can take us out somewhere special,” he promised. “Today, you just hold on to your money.”
I hugged him, and we went to get the food truck.
Cole watched us load up, waiting by his taxi in the parking lot of the old shopping center. “I hope you win today, Zoe. I’ll be there to cheer you on. See you later, Saul. You, too, Ollie.”
“What are we doing about Delia?” Ollie asked. “Should we go and get her?”
“Sorry. I got a text from her earlier.” I’d forgotten to tell him. “She’s meeting us there. One of the security men is bringing her.”
Ollie wasn’t thrilled about that. “I can see dating a woman like Delia is gonna be rough.”
Uncle Saul laughed and clapped him on the shoulder before getting into the Biscuit Bowl. “You have no idea. Best get out now while you still can.”
“No way. You know how long it’s been since I dated anyone?”
“Ollie, you’re not that old,” Uncle Saul said. “If you won’t walk away, be ready for heartbreak.”
He got in beside Ollie, and I put Crème Brûlée in his lap.
“Why are you bringing the cat now?” Ollie asked.
“For good luck. He got us this far.” I smiled and kissed Crème Brûlée’s head.
“I don’t think it was the cat!”
I got in the food truck and started the engine, humming to myself as we approached the downtown area where I might have been anyway on a normal Friday morning. It was good to be home.
Everyone was still getting set up when we arrived. The producer’s assistant pointed to the area where we should park. The cool-down tent and stage weren’t even up yet. Shut Up and Eat was parked in front of us.
I was surprised to see a few of the other food trucks that had been left behind in the race.
“I guess we’ll help you get set up until they tell us to switch,” Uncle Saul said, observing the situation on the street.
“Sounds like a good idea,” Ollie agreed.
Antonio Stephanopoulos stopped by after I opened the back door. “Just wanted to say good luck today.”
“You brought your Pizza Papa food truck all the way down here?” I couldn’t believe he did that to cheer us on.
He shrugged. “They offered us another spot on the program, and a thousand dollars, to come down here for the last day. I thought, why not?”
“Thanks for stopping by. I’ll see you later.”
“Why would they pay the losers to come back?” Ollie asked when he was gone.
“To fill out the crowd and make the pictures better.” Chef Art surprised us as he walked into the food truck. “You all play fair today, and win the race. Make sure you wear your hats, especially you, Zoe, when they present you with the prize money.”
We all promised to wear the poufy chef hats he’d given us. I was glad it was the last day I’d have to wear it. Wearing hats made my curls cranky after a while. The hat looked like a big billowy cloud on my head that morning. Not a good look for photos, but it would have to do.
Only a few minutes later, one of the producer’s assistants told us to come to the stage. Everything was set up and ready to go in the kitchen. I knew that was going to be helpful once I’d lost Uncle Saul to the other food truck.
I hoped I’d chosen the right assistant.
“Okay. I guess we’re ready. Let’s head over.” I hugged Uncle Saul. “I’m going to miss you today.”
“Cheer up,” he said. “At least it’s almost over.”
Delia was waiting outside the food truck. She was wearing baggy jeans and an old orange sweatshirt that did absolutely nothing for her.
“You dressed down for me, didn’t you?” I grinned.
“They can tell us what we have to do, but no one said anything about how we should dress. You’ll have the cute daughter to sell product. Bobbie will either have me or Saul.”
I hugged her. “Good thinking.”
“My pleasure.” She went to Ollie’s side and held his hand as we crossed the street.
It was still a little misty outside. Not raining, at least not yet. Hopefully that wouldn’t happen.
Delia’s trick made me wonder if Bobbie and her daughter hadn’t come up with something similar to make it harder for us that day. Just making the rule that team members couldn’t openly hurt the other team’s chances wasn’t enough to stop some creative treachery.
The sound stage was up. Patrick Ferris was there with his microphone. Two of the assistants were struggling with the lighted board while the pretty young women, in shorts and tank tops today, waited on stage, playing with their hair.
It seemed pointless to have the board since there were only two teams. Maybe it was more for the TV viewers than for us.
I saw three other food trucks parked on the street. Grinch’s Ganache was there along with Chooey’s Sooey and Stick It Here. Their team members were out in front of the stage with us, which made for a bigger crowd there, too.
There was also a large crowd of people from Mobile standing outside the roped-off area, probably hoping to get on television. The cameramen were up and moving around, changing their focus as the challenge was about to start.
“Good morning, foodies!” Patrick started with his usual morning greeting.
The applause was much stronger with the other food truck teams there. The people behind the rope yelled and applauded as one of the producers prompted them.
I looked at Bobbie, who was standing next to me. I put out my hand to her. “Good luck, today. I’ll take good care of your daughter.”
Bobbie shook my hand. “And I’ll take good care of your crew. Good luck, Zoe. May the best food truck win.”
One of the cameramen who caught the last of our conversation swooped in a moment too late to record anything. “Could you do that last bit again?”