Page 29 of Recipe for Rivals
“Battle of the Badges is coming up. Stephanie has been working with the police officers to plan an event that will bring in a good crowd.”
“Boxing always?—”
“We’re not boxing this year.” He scrubbed a hand over hisface. “Some people were saying that the violence of it isn’t a great way to show camaraderie.”
My mouth fell open. “It’s a tradition as old as this town.”
Captain Bowman shrugged. “I’m not opposed. I look forward to it every year. It’s been nixed this time in favor of flag football.”
“Flag?” I asked, shocked. “We can’t even tackle each other?”
His lips pressed into a thin line. “There was some concern about injury, particularly among the older set.”
I clenched my jaw to keep from responding. Captain Bowman didn’t seem to agree with the directive either, and it would do no good to complain together. “What do you need from me, Cap?”
He rubbed his jaw again, looking at me like he was trying to figure out how to word it.
I swore internally. If he wanted me to coach the firefighters, that was going to be worse than wrangling cats.
“It’s a multi-layered event,” he finally said. “We’re going up against the cops in every way to find the ultimate winner—who has the most ticket sales, who wins the game, who makes the better strawberry shortcake.”
“Strawberry shortcake?” There was no way I’d heard him right.
He looked frustrated, like he didn’t support the decisions. Grooves lined his forehead between his eyebrows. “We’ll provide lunch after the game—burgers, chips, dessert. The people will vote for a winner after sampling both meals. The way they’ve designed the points, we have the ability to win if we pull in a landslide on the meal, even if we lose the game and the ticket sales.”
Which mattered, because there were more solid football players on the police force by a wide margin. There was no guessing necessary to figure out who chose football as the game.
“Can you lead the kitchen for us, Hayes?” Captain Bowmanasked, holding my gaze like he’d asked me to head the charge into battle.
I supposed he had, in a less literal sense. Obviously I had no choice but to accept. “What does that entail?”
“Plan the menu, bring in a team to help you cook if necessary, and execute on the day of. I’ll have numbers for you, but they recommend we size our burgers like sliders so everyone has a chance to eat from both teams. Since the community is voting, the more people who sample your food, the better.”
“And dessert needs to be strawberry shortcake?”
“Yes, or some variation. The meal has to be generally the same for both teams so it’s easier to judge.” He looked at me long and hard. “Will you do it?”
“You know I will,” I said, leaning back and linking my fingers across my stomach. My head was already spinning with ideas. “The cops won’t stand a chance.”
I’d been sittingon one of the recliners in front of the TV while Randy watched a game, doodling possible menu plans in my notebook, when a call came in through our overhead speakers for a possible fire in the elementary school. Randy had kids at the school, and I’d never seen him jump up so quickly. To be fair, he was always appropriately urgent, but these were his kids.
We drove to the school and parked in front, meeting the principal before the doors. “Smoke in the teachers’ lounge,” he said.
It took a few minutes to discover that the microwave was on fire, and only a few seconds to put the fire out with the extinguisher. Randy opened the microwave and pulled a blackened bag of popcorn out, raising his eyebrows at me.
“At least it wasn’t a real crisis,” I said.
“It’s gonna stink in here for weeks.”
I chuckled, moving past him to open the windows. Given how much paper was on the bulletin board behind the microwave, it was a miracle the entire building hadn’t ended up in flames.
“They need newer appliances here,” Randy said, looking around the teachers’ lounge.
“Mention it to the principal,” I told him.
Within an hour, we were able to deem the building safe for re-entry. Fans were blowing air out the windows and the area was closed to the teachers for the time being. Aside from a little smoke clinging to the walls, everything was fine.
Randy spoke with the principal and took down statements for our report, then we stepped back so the teachers could return to the building with the kids. I stood near the door, resting my thumb in my belt loop and high fiving the kids as they walked back inside. I lifted my hand a few times to make some of them jump, and the grins were worth it. Ms. Corbin, the secretary, gave me a tight smile when she walked by, so I didn’t offer a high five. She didn’t have to like me, but it was a little ridiculous when my biggest crime was trying to make it fun when we attended school festivals.