Winner Bakes All by Sheryl Berk Page A

backstage to tell you.”
    Sadie smiled. “So you’re not getting divorced?”
    â€œDivorced? Where did you ever get such an idea?” Mr. Harris replied. “Sometimes parents fight when they’re stressed, honey. It doesn’t mean we’re getting divorced.”
    â€œWe’re sorry if we upset you. We’re going to try our very best to work things out…together.” Mrs. Harris squeezed her husband’s hand and smiled. “But for now, you girls have a cupcake battle to win!”
    â€œDad, can you be our master builder? And Mom, can you be our extra assistant?” Sadie asked. She handed her mother a purple PLC apron.
    â€œWe would love to!” her parents said, hugging her.
    Sadie stretched out on a big sheet of plywood and lay down on it so Lexi could trace her outline. “You are way too tall!” Lexi laughed. “My hand is getting tired drawing you!”
    â€œThe plan is to cut two of these out and then Lexi will paint one to look like a man, the other to look like a woman,” Kylie explained to Sadie’s father. “Then we’ll need to build some shelves so it looks like they’re holding the cupcakes in their hands.”
    â€œGot it,” said Mr. Harris. “And I can put them both on a rolling track so they come together with a light push.”
    â€œWe still have 500 cupcakes to bake!” Sadie remembered. “And the clock is ticking down!”
    â€œI got the chocolate…” said Jenna.
    â€œI’m on the peanut butter,” said Kylie.
    â€œAnd we’ll need a third group that’s chocolate with peanut butter filling—I can do that!” said Delaney.
    â€œWait…Sadie, how many of each type of cupcake do we need?” Kylie asked. “What’s the equation?”
    Sadie bristled: “How should I know?” Really? Did Kylie have to throw math at her now, when they were all under so much pressure?
    â€œThink, Sadie. You can do it. And we need to know how many of each flavor to bake.”
    Sadie pictured the 500 cupcakes divided into three groups. “Make 166 chocolate and 166 peanut butter. That’s almost 14 dozen of each. Then let’s do 168 chocolate and peanut butter swirl cupcakes. So 166 + 166 + 168 = 500.”
    Kylie grinned. “Awesome, Sadie. We’re on it!”
    By the time the first coat of paint had dried on their display, the cupcakes were coming out of the ovens.
    â€œHow are we doing on time?” asked Sadie. She had already piped five dozen chocolate cupcakes with chocolate fudge.
    â€œLess than an hour left,” Lexi sighed. “I’m getting nervous. We’re so outnumbered!”
    â€œJust keep painting and piping,” said Mr. Harris. “I’ll get this track working.” But as much he pushed and pulled, the two figures refused to roll together.
    â€œI think the weight of the large shelves is slowing them down,” he explained. “We need bigger wheels.”
    Just then, Sadie had a brilliant idea. “Dad, what about my skateboard?”
    â€œThat might work,” he said, unscrewing the wheels from the board and attaching them to the display. He gave a push and the two figures glided gracefully together in the center.
    â€œAwesome!” Sadie cheered. “Now let’s get those cupcakes on!”
    The girls formed an assembly line, passing the cupcakes from Jenna and Lexi down to Delaney, Kylie, and finally Mrs. Harris and Sadie to put on the shelves. “Keep ’em coming. Keep ’em coming!” Sadie coached. “Faster! Faster!”
    Jerry was pacing back and forth in front of the giant kitchen clock.
    â€œThree minutes…two minutes…one minute left!” the host called. “Hurry!”
    As a buzzer sounded, Sadie placed the last of the 500 cupcakes on the display.
    â€œIt’s really amazing,” Mr. Harris said. “A masterpiece if I ever saw