Worth the Risk

restaurants. They had to leave for another contest, but they have chosen two runners-up and a winner of the first annual Light-and-Healthy Bake-Off at Stovall Middle School. Here to announce the winners is Brad Westcott, owner and executive chef at Black Jack’s. Mr. Westcott is also the sponsor of this contest.”
    Brad emerged from the side of the stage, a smile on his face. “Thank you, Mr. Rodgers,” he said, and the older man stepped to the side while Brad stood in front of the microphone. “The judges told me their decision was really difficult. Everything was so delicious that they had to taste each entry twice before reaching a decision.”
    Lexi imagined a silent drumroll as he paused and removed a three-by-five-inch card from the pocket of his sports jacket. Amber clutched Lexi’s arm with fingers like steel bands. “Don’t worry,” Lexi whispered.
    “Before I announce the winner and runners up, let me introduce my pastry chef, Charmayne Collins.”
    Charmayne walked up beside Brad. She beamed and waved at the crowd.
    “I know this is just round one,” Charmayne said, “but I can hardly wait to find out who will win the cash prize and be my intern this summer. All I do is create desserts, so you know it’ll be a lot of fun.”
    The audience laughed politely, but Lexi could tell they were as anxious as she was to hear who’d won. Amber’s hand was still on her arm, and she was facing forward, her eyes fixed on the podium. Lexi could feel the tension in her sister and realized how much this meant to her. It hadn’t been that long ago when Lexi had sat in an auditorium and waited for the winners of a scholarship contest to be announced. She’d felt as if her very life hung in the balance.
    Then her name was called.
    Lexi said a silent prayer for her baby sister and hoped she, too, would experience the joy of winning despite the problems it would cause.
    “Learning about food—where it comes from, how it grows and when to harvest it—can lead to careers in the food industry,” Brad continued. “This contest highlights just one possible career—becoming a pastry chef.”
    “I think many of our parents and guests grow crops in the community garden, Urban Plots,” added Mr. Rodgers.
    Lexi recognized people in the audience from the community garden, including Joey Tran’s entire family. They were known for their high yield of lemongrass.
    That’s where she’d first met Joey and his parents. Lexi had been looking for locals to help plant exotic vegetables to sell to restaurants through City Seeds. The Transes couldn’t help because they needed their six plots to fill their lemongrass orders from chefs, but she’d gotten to know them and they’d taught her about Asian vegetables.
    Charmayne held up a plaque. “The second place winner goes to the Lemon-Rosemary Cake created by Shelby Tibbets,” Brad announced.
    Above the round of applause, Amber said, “I knew she would at least place. She’s a really good cook.”
    Shelby walked up to the podium, all smiles, to receive the plaque.
    “The judges really liked the delicious flavor of your cake,” Brad told Shelby and the audience.
    Shelby bowed slightly, beaming at her parents, who were seated in the second row. “Thanks,” she said as the audience clapped.
    Brad waited a minute for Shelby to leave the stage before saying, “First runner up goes to Peter Nguyen’s Lemon Grass Panna Cotta.”
    Amber dug her fingers into Lexi’s arm. “He’s Joey Tran’s cousin. Guess where he got the lemon grass?”
    Lexi had never heard of lemongrass until she visited the community garden. Peter had used it to give traditional Italian panna cotta a creative spin.
    The Transes and Nguyens stood, clapping and stamping their feet as a short boy with glossy black hair gelled up like a rooster’s tail shuffled up to the podium. His lackluster smile revealed his disappointment.
    “Peter’s good and he expected to win,” Amber told her. “He bragged about his ‘invention’ for weeks.” Amber made it sound like a crime.
    As Peter was congratulated, Lexi was alarmed by the fierce look on her sister’s face. She knew Amber was stubborn and difficult to deal with at times, but she’d never been this determined before. Lexi wasn’t sure how she should respond if Amber lost. How did you encourage someone when they were confronted with failure?
    Lexi realized she knew very little about mothering. How could she give Amber advice the way a mother