The Secret Ingredient (4 page)

O
ne day at the bank, Katie Lynn whispered, “I’ve been keeping track, Tina. We have enough money for the trip now. Our hard work has paid off.”

“Finally!” Tina said. “It’s almost time for school to start and I don’t even have a tan!”

When they got to her house, Katie Lynn remembered something important. “We
have to tell our customers that we’re going on vacation for a week.”

They called Mr. Chesterfield first. He got very upset. “What do you mean?” he shouted. “My customers won’t eat any of my other desserts! And Doris Goodworthy needs you to cater her next party!”

Doris Goodworthy?
Katie Lynn thought.
The Mayor of Bakersville!

“Of course, you could just let me have your recipe,” Mr. Chesterfield went on, “and we could bake them right here at the restaurant. That way, you don’t have to go on baking day and night when you get back.”

Katie Lynn blinked in surprise. “We could never just give you the recipe, Mr. Chesterfield.”

“No way!” Tina shouted into the phone.
“It’s a Katie Lynn Cookie Company secret!”

“Oh, I wasn’t suggesting that you
give
it to me. I’d be more than happy to pay for it.”

Tina looked as if she was about to faint.

Katie Lynn took a deep breath. “We will be open for business when we get back.”

After she hung up the phone, Katie Lynn felt horrible. “We’re letting down all of our clients.”

“It’s our own fault,” Tina said. “We bit off more than we could chew.”

“We only started selling them to pay for our trip,” Katie Lynn said. “I’m sorry Mr. Chesterfield is mad at us, but I want to see Grandma!”

“Then that’s what we’re going to do,” Tina declared.

“Let’s tell my parents first,” Katie Lynn suggested.

They found Mrs. Cooke in the living room.

“Mom, Tina and I made enough money selling cookies for us to go to Florida,” Katie Lynn said.

Her mother looked up. “Us? Just you and me? Oh, Katie Lynn! That’s wonderful.” She stood up. “Grandma will be so happy to see us! I can’t believe we get to go to Florida after all!”

Katie Lynn gulped. She leaned over and whispered to Tina, “I think we have to talk.”

“When I said
us
, I meant you and me,” Katie Lynn said when they reached her room. “Mom thought I was talking about me and
her.
What am I going to do? You
saw her yourself. She was so excited. There’s no way I could go without her now.”

Tina sniffed. “You and your mom should be the ones to go to Florida. It was fun baking together. We can always go during Christmas vacation if we work hard this fall.”

Katie Lynn felt her eyes fill with tears. “You’d do that for me?” she said.

Tina smiled. “Of course I would. You’re my best friend. You always will be, no matter what.”

After Tina left, Katie Lynn filled the tub for a bubble bath. Something was bothering her. She didn’t feel good about her talk with Tina.

Tina had spent the whole summer baking cookies. She’d worked hard—and
now she deserved a vacation.

Katie Lynn sighed. Why was life so complicated?

She climbed in the tub and sank into the bubbles. “If Mom and I go see Grandma, then Tina is stuck here. If Tina and I go to Florida, Mom will have to stay home. How can I see Grandma and still make everybody happy?”

It came to her while she was putting on her pajamas. The perfect solution. And she wouldn’t have to use Tina’s money, either!

Grandma’s Big Surprise

“W
hy are you baking cookies so early in the morning, Katie Lynn?” her mother asked as she turned on the coffeemaker. “You should still be in bed.”

“I don’t have time to sleep, Mom,” Katie Lynn said. “Tina’s baby-sitting Gerald this morning, so it’ll take me twice as long to get the orders done without her.”

Mrs. Cooke gave Katie Lynn a big hug.
“I can hardly wait to go to Florida.” Then she poured two cups of coffee and left the kitchen.

The doorbell rang just as the oven timer dinged. Katie Lynn heard her mother opening the front door. She grabbed an oven mitt and took the cookies out of the oven.

Suddenly, her mother screamed, “Mother!”

Katie Lynn ran into the living room and shouted, “Surprise, Mom! I used the money to fly Grandma here to see us!”

“Oh, Katie Lynn!” her mother said, clapping her hands. “You’re so thoughtful!”

Mr. Cooke had come downstairs to see
what all the commotion was about.

“Breakfast is served!” announced Katie Lynn. She placed a pitcher of milk and a platter of freshly baked cookies on the table.

When her parents went upstairs to get dressed, Katie Lynn joined her grandmother in the kitchen.

“We did it, didn’t we, Grandma?” Katie Lynn said.

“We certainly did.” Her grandmother picked up a cookie and started nibbling on it. “Katie Lynn, these are much better than mine. What’s your secret ingredient?”

Katie Lynn hesitated. “Mayonnaise,” she said finally. “What’s yours?”

“Cream cheese,” her grandmother replied. “But I think I like mayonnaise better.” She gave Katie Lynn a pat on the
shoulder. “No wonder your company is doing so well.”

“That’s the problem,” Katie Lynn said.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what to do, Grandma. I don’t think Tina and I can do all of this baking once we start school. Our customers really count on us.”

“Hmm. That
is
a problem. Speaking of problems, I have one, too.”

“What is it, Grandma? Is everything okay?”

“The truth is, I’m really not very happy in Florida. I miss you and your parents so much. What would you think if I moved in here and helped you with your cookie company?”

“Oh, Grandma! That would be so incredible!”

“I know we’d have great fun, but I worry about how your parents would feel.”

Mrs. Cooke stuck her head in the door. “Your dad and I will be right back.”

“Just a second,” said Katie Lynn. “Mom and Dad, someone you know very well wants to come live with us. She’s very unhappy where she is right now.”

“Tina wants to move in with us?” her mother exclaimed.

“No, Mom! I’m not talking about Tina,” Katie Lynn said. “I’m talking about Grandma.”

“Grandma!” her parents cried.

“If I lived here, I could bake cookies while Katie Lynn and Tina are in school,” her grandmother said. “It’d bring in some extra money, and we’d all get to be together.”

Mr. Cooke looked pale.

“Mom, I think we should …” Mrs. Cooke began.

Just then, Tina rushed into the kitchen. “Please tell me that we have to bake cookies today!” she said. “If we do, I can stay instead of having to baby-sit.”

“We do have to bake cookies,” Katie Lynn said.

“Phew,” Tina sighed.

“We also need to have a company meeting,” Katie Lynn added.

Tina hopped up on the counter. “What’s up?”

“I’d like to introduce you to my grandmother. She’s going to move in and help us bake cookies,” Katie Lynn said.

“All right!” Tina cried.

Mr. Cooke headed out of the room. “I
think I’ll mow the lawn,” he said with a grin. “No need for me to attend company meetings.”

Mrs. Cooke sat down at the table. “Since we’re in charge of Quality Control, I’d better stay.”

Katie Lynn saw her grandmother raise an eyebrow. “It’s a long story, Grandma,” she whispered, stifling a giggle. “We’ll tell you
all
about it at our next sleepover!”

G. E. S
TANLEY
has written over fifty books for young people, several of them award winners. He and his wife, Gwen, live in Lawton, Oklahoma. They have two sons, James and Charles, and a Labrador retriever named Daisy.

“When I’m not writing books for young people, I’m in our kitchen baking cookies for my family,” says G. E. Stanley. “Some of my favorite secret ingredients are carrot juice and mashed potatoes.” Thinking about this gave him the idea for
The Secret Ingredient.
“I’ve never sold any of my cookies the way Katie Lynn and Tina do. But I’ve certainly given away lots of them for holiday gifts.”

L
INDA
D
OCKEY
G
RAVES
grew up in New England, drawing and painting both plants and people. She moved to California, where she received a degree in illustration from San Jose State University. Now Mrs. Graves lives in southeastern Virginia with her husband, two sons, and a menagerie of pets. She has illustrated over twenty books for children, including
The Enchanted Gardening Book.