“What are we doing about Delia?” Ollie asked. “Should we go and get her?”

“Sorry. I got a text from her earlier.” I’d forgotten to tell him. “She’s meeting us there. One of the security men is bringing her.”

Ollie wasn’t thrilled about that. “I can see dating a woman like Delia is gonna be rough.”

Uncle Saul laughed and clapped him on the shoulder before getting into the Biscuit Bowl. “You have no idea. Best get out now while you still can.”

“No way. You know how long it’s been since I dated anyone?”

“Ollie, you’re not that old,” Uncle Saul said. “If you won’t walk away, be ready for heartbreak.”

He got in beside Ollie, and I put Crème Brûlée in his lap.

“Why are you bringing the cat now?” Ollie asked.

“For good luck. He got us this far.” I smiled and kissed Crème Brûlée’s head.

“I don’t think it was the cat!”

I got in the food truck and started the engine, humming to myself as we approached the downtown area where I might have been anyway on a normal Friday morning. It was good to be home.

Everyone was still getting set up when we arrived. The producer’s assistant pointed to the area where we should park. The cool-down tent and stage weren’t even up yet. Shut Up and Eat was parked in front of us.

I was surprised to see a few of the other food trucks that had been left behind in the race.

“I guess we’ll help you get set up until they tell us to switch,” Uncle Saul said, observing the situation on the street.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Ollie agreed.

Antonio Stephanopoulos stopped by after I opened the back door. “Just wanted to say good luck today.”

“You brought your Pizza Papa food truck all the way down here?” I couldn’t believe he did that to cheer us on.

He shrugged. “They offered us another spot on the program, and a thousand dollars, to come down here for the last day. I thought, why not?”

“Thanks for stopping by. I’ll see you later.”

“Why would they pay the losers to come back?” Ollie asked when he was gone.

“To fill out the crowd and make the pictures better.” Chef Art surprised us as he walked into the food truck. “You all play fair today, and win the race. Make sure you wear your hats, especially you, Zoe, when they present you with the prize money.”

We all promised to wear the poufy chef hats he’d given us. I was glad it was the last day I’d have to wear it. Wearing hats made my curls cranky after a while. The hat looked like a big billowy cloud on my head that morning. Not a good look for photos, but it would have to do.

Only a few minutes later, one of the producer’s assistants told us to come to the stage. Everything was set up and ready to go in the kitchen. I knew that was going to be helpful once I’d lost Uncle Saul to the other food truck.

I hoped I’d chosen the right assistant.

“Okay. I guess we’re ready. Let’s head over.” I hugged Uncle Saul. “I’m going to miss you today.”

“Cheer up,” he said. “At least it’s almost over.”

Delia was waiting outside the food truck. She was wearing baggy jeans and an old orange sweatshirt that did absolutely nothing for her.

“You dressed down for me, didn’t you?” I grinned.

“They can tell us what we have to do, but no one said anything about how we should dress. You’ll have the cute daughter to sell product. Bobbie will either have me or Saul.”

I hugged her. “Good thinking.”

“My pleasure.” She went to Ollie’s side and held his hand as we crossed the street.

It was still a little misty outside. Not raining, at least not yet. Hopefully that wouldn’t happen.

Delia’s trick made me wonder if Bobbie and her daughter hadn’t come up with something similar to make it harder for us that day. Just making the rule that team members couldn’t openly hurt the other team’s chances wasn’t enough to stop some creative treachery.

The sound stage was up. Patrick Ferris was there with his microphone. Two of the assistants were struggling with the lighted board while the pretty young women, in shorts and tank tops today, waited on stage, playing with their hair.

It seemed pointless to have the board since there were only two teams. Maybe it was more for the TV viewers than for us.

I saw three other food trucks parked on the street. Grinch’s Ganache was there along with Chooey’s Sooey and Stick It Here. Their team members were out in front of the stage with us, which made for a bigger crowd there, too.

There was also a large crowd of people from Mobile standing outside the roped-off area, probably hoping to get on television. The cameramen were up and moving around, changing their focus as the challenge was about to start.

“Good morning, foodies!” Patrick started with his usual morning greeting.

The applause was much stronger with the other food truck teams there. The people behind the rope yelled and applauded as one of the producers prompted them.

I looked at Bobbie, who was standing next to me. I put out my hand to her. “Good luck, today. I’ll take good care of your daughter.”

Bobbie shook my hand. “And I’ll take good care of your crew. Good luck, Zoe. May the best food truck win.”

One of the cameramen who caught the last of our conversation swooped in a moment too late to record anything. “Could you do that last bit again?”

I glanced at Bobbie.

She frowned and shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“These small moments are important, too.” He tried to persuade us.

“I think we’re about to get started,” Bobbie said. “Catch us later.”

He shrugged and moved away.

“So we’re down to the last two food trucks in the Sweet Magnolia Food Truck Race. It looks like it’s going to be a good morning in Mobile, Alabama, for one lucky food truck owner. We’re all excited to see who that will be.”

There was more applause and some wolf whistles. The crowd was excited and ready to go.

“As we discussed last night, the Biscuit Bowl will be giving up two team members to Shut Up and Eat. Since Shut Up and Eat only has two team members, they will give one team member to the Biscuit Bowl. Team members—switch to your new team.”

Allison came to stand between me and Ollie. Delia and Uncle Saul went with Bobbie.

“That’s right,” Patrick said. “It’s the big switcheroo. It’s not going to be easy to win the race with newbies on your team.”

Everyone else applauded, but I noticed that Bobbie didn’t. Neither did I. And Allison, Bobbie’s daughter, was dressed down like Delia in a baggy T-shirt and jeans.

“Now for the second part of the Mobile challenge. Food is being delivered to your kitchens as we speak. You’ll see your menus when you get back. These are in keeping with the food you’ve served throughout the race. Your primary food menu will stay the same.”

“How much money do we have to make?” Bobbie asked.

“I’m glad you brought that up,” Patrick answered. “Each team will have to sell one hundred and fifty of their basic menu items. That’s pieces, not dollars, so there will be no tie breaking because you’ve equaled each other. Whoever sells that one hundred and fifty items first is the winner. Are we ready to go?”

Again there was applause and people screaming out Patrick’s name as well as the names of the two food trucks.

“I can hear our name! It’s louder than Shut Up and Eat,” Ollie said. “We’re home!”

The two girls on stage turned on the electronic board. It went completely blank (as usual) and refused to come up again.

Patrick shook his head. “Never mind. You guys get started.”

THIRTY-FOUR