Miracle Pie Read Online Free

back and saying You go, girl . She knew half of Rosa’s
determination to do her show was because of Mike. She wanted to be
a huge success to make him sorry he’d cheated, though Katie
suspected he was already sorry.
    But the other half...that was for Rosa.
    “It’s Rosa’s dream,” Katie said. That’s the
real reason she’d said yes to Rosa. She admired people with
dreams.
    “Not yours?” he asked.
    She stepped back and bumped into one of the
wooden chairs around the wooden table, an old set that had belonged
to her dad’s grandmother and then to Katie’s grandmother. Plain
with no curlicues or notches. Plain just like Katie felt
inside.
    “I don’t need to dream.” She peered around,
and contentment warmed her insides, like a muffin just out of the
oven. “I’m doing exactly what I want. I was eleven when I made my
first pie for money. A family friend had lung cancer.” She looked
at Rosa. “Remember Paul Trilling?”
    “A wonderful man.”
    “He was one of my dad’s hunting buddies, and
he loved my apple pie.” She heard her voice soften. “He said it
reminded him of his grandmother’s pie.”
    “Now I remember.” Rosa’s throaty voice
thickened. “Suzie ordered from us, too. The seafood cannelloni.”
She gestured with her hand, as if Paul and his wife were in the
kitchen, watching them. “That’s my specialty, but Mike
claimed the credit. He didn’t want me to outshine him. Before
Paul’s chemo started, Suzie wanted to give him a meal he could
remember. We didn’t charge her, but she insisted on paying us. She
wanted it to be her gift to Paul.”
    Tears shimmered in her eyes and Katie
sniffed her own tears back.
    “That’s perfect.” Gabe’s eyes glowed with
approval. “I want you to tell this story on your show.” He leaned
toward both of them. “It’s not the cooking that makes people watch
a show. It’s not even the attractive cooks.” He paused, and Katie
leaned toward him to hear him better, somehow knowing this
important. “It’s the story.”
    “Is that your idea?” Rosa asked. “For us to
tell stories?”
    “That’s an extra.” He smiled, the kind of
smile Katie imagined the Pied Piper gave the kids before he led
them out of Hamelin, playing his pipe and dancing. “We can film an
episode and then you can send it out to the different stations. A
long, tedious, frustrating process. But there’s another way to get
noticed.”
    Katie’s stomach tightened and she fought an
urge to put her hands over her ears. She didn’t know what he was
going to say, but she was sure she didn’t want to hear it.
    It had better not involve wearing a swimsuit
while doing her pie segment.
    Or worse, no swimsuit. Their show would be The Nude Cooks . Rosa would have to watch out for grease
splatter, while Katie would just get flour splotches.
    “Tell us.” Rosa crossed her arms, her voice
heavy with suspicion.
    Katie crossed her arms, too. There was too
much change already, happening too fast, and she was pretty sure
she wasn’t a fast woman.

Chapter Five
     
    Looking at the two women with their crossed
arms, Gabe thought, Tough crowd.
    But he would win this.
    His gaze lingered on the younger woman. She
was...not ordinary, though she dressed ordinary, as if she tried to
fit in. Not slouching but not standing tall, either.
    The camera would show the truth of her. It
would love the high cheekbones, the triangular chin, and the angles
in her face. The sweetness, goodness and even a bit of
edginess.
    When she saw the film, he guessed she would
be surprised and pleased—and a little shocked—to see herself as
others saw her.
    His gaze switched to Rosa. A classic Italian
beauty with the kind of striking looks that didn’t fade with age.
As if she were a goddess who’d come down to earth for the span of a
human life. He grinned. You could take the goddess out of Mount
Olympus, but you couldn’t take the goddess out of the woman.
    He didn’t allow himself to look below their
necks.