Chapter 8

“So how’s the seitan version?”

Jane turned to look at her. She smiled and answered, “Okay, I guess. It has corn in it, which I’m not crazy about…”

“Me either! It just seems wrong.”

Kayla laughed and moved a step closer to Jane.

“Well, the girls were right about the seitan—it does have a texture like meat,” Jane offered.

“And the taste?”

“Oh, a bit like cardboard? Sorry—if you’re vegan, I mean.”

“No! In fact, our chili has quite a bit of ground turkey.”

“You’re a competitor?” Jane asked.

Now Kayla felt silly. What had she been thinking? Reese was across the room, and would probably be wondering where she was…

“Um, yeah. My partner Reese and I have an entry. It’s her recipe. Come try it if you like.”

Jane looked around to find Reese. Kayla looked over to their station and found that Reese looked calm and collected, talking to Raina and serving up chili. She smiled at Jane and hurried back to her spot without checking out the final competitor.