The Secret Ingredient (3 page)

“Then let’s leave them out,” Katie Lynn said. “All that really matters is the chocolate.”

Suddenly, Mrs. Cooke appeared in the doorway. “I remember the secret ingredient!” She threw open the refrigerator door.
“It’s pickle juice! I’m sure of it!”

Katie Lynn grabbed Tina’s hand and squeezed hard.

Mrs. Cooke took a jar of pickles out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter. “It’s a good thing I still have these from last summer.” She poured two more cups of coffee and left the kitchen.

Katie Lynn put the jar of pickles back in the refrigerator. “Mom gets a little funny after too much coffee,” she explained. “The secret ingredient is definitely
not
pickle juice.”

Tina took a look for herself. “There’s nothing else in here except a jar of mayonnaise. Do you think that’s the secret ingredient?” Tina asked.

Katie Lynn shrugged. “Well, I know it’s not ketchup or pickle juice.” She glanced
up at the kitchen clock. “If we want cookies for breakfast, we’ll just have to take a chance.”

Katie Lynn put a tablespoon of mayonnaise in the cookie dough. While she mixed it in, Tina greased the cookie sheet with a little vegetable shortening.

Then Katie Lynn scooped up six tablespoons of the dough and dropped them onto the cookie sheet. She put on an oven mitt and placed the cookie sheet on a rack in the oven.

Tina set the timer for fourteen minutes.

When it went off, Katie Lynn took the cookies out of the oven. She used a spatula to lift them off the sheet and put them on a platter.

“We have enough dough for about three more batches,” said Tina.

Katie Lynn clapped her hands. “Let’s go to it!”

After all of the cookies were baked, Katie
Lynn called out, “Mom! Dad! It’s time for breakfast.” She poured four glasses of milk and set a platter of cookies in the center of the table.

“These cookies are amazing!” her father said, taking a bite. “They taste just like your grandmother’s.”

Mrs. Cooke took a bite of cookie and closed her eyes. “I agree one hundred percent, dear.”

Katie Lynn hoped her parents weren’t just being nice.

“Our turn!” said Tina.

Katie Lynn didn’t care if her mouth was full. “These
are
as good as Grandma’s, Dad! It’s a good thing we had the right secret ingredient!”

Outside, a car honked.

“Oh, no! That’s my parents! I better get dressed!” Tina cried. “I almost forgot. We’re going to Chesterfield’s for lunch.”

“Take some of the cookies with you,” Katie Lynn said. “They’re probably better
than any dessert at Chesterfield’s.”

As Tina ran out the front door, Katie Lynn handed her a bag of cookies.

“I’ll call you later!” Tina shouted over her shoulder.

Katie Lynn watched Tina and her family drive away. She wished that she and her parents were going to Chesterfield’s for lunch, too. They had the best hamburgers in town.

When Katie Lynn returned to the kitchen, she found her parents still sitting at the kitchen table. But now the cookie platter was empty.

“What happened?” Katie Lynn cried.

Her parents looked embarrassed.

“We ate them,” her mother admitted.

“They were just so delicious, we couldn’t help ourselves,” her father added.

Katie Lynn beamed. She’d never felt so proud of herself.

She went back up to her room and lay down on the bed. She reached over to turn on the radio and snuggled with her stuffed animals.

She was drifting off to sleep when the telephone rang.

“I’ll get it!” Katie Lynn shouted, hoping it was her grandmother. She ran down the hall and grabbed the receiver. “Hello?”

“Is this the Katie Lynn Cookie Company?” a strange voice asked.

What?
Was this some kind of joke? “Is that you, Tina?”

“No. This is Jason Chesterfield. I’m the owner of Chesterfield’s Restaurant. I’d like to put in an order for cookies. Is there someone there who can help me?”

Katie Lynn had to sit down before she could answer. “Uh, well, yes, I guess that’s me.”

Real Money

T
ina burst into Katie Lynn’s room. “Did Mr. Chesterfield call?”

“I can’t believe you! He wants six dozen cookies by tomorrow morning!”

Tina gasped. “Really? Did he tell you he’s going to pay us?”

“You bet!” said Katie Lynn. “Now we can pay for our trip to Florida!”

“All right!” Tina cried.

Katie Lynn gave her friend a big smile. “It’ll take a long time to bake all those cookies. You’ll just have to sleep over again.”

They ran to the living room to tell Katie Lynn’s parents.

“It was all my idea,” Tina claimed. “I told Mr. Chesterfield that we had a cookie company. The Katie Lynn Cookie Company,” Tina added.

Katie Lynn felt her face turning red.

“Well, that’s very exciting, but it’s a lot of work, too,” Mr. Cooke added. “And another thing … you’ll need money to run a company.”

“That’s true. You’ll have to buy more ingredients,” Mrs. Cooke said. “I doubt we have enough ingredients left to make many more cookies.”

“Oh,” Katie Lynn said sadly.

“But I’ll be glad to lend you two the money,” her father said. “Of course, you’ll have to pay me back out of the money you earn. That’s the way it’s done in business.”

“We can do that, can’t we, Tina?”

Tina nodded enthusiastically.

Katie Lynn got the recipe back out of
the box. It wasn’t so dusty anymore. She made a list of the ingredients they needed. Then Mr. Cooke drove them to the grocery store.

One by one, the girls found all of the ingredients. By the time they were done, the shopping cart was piled high.

Mr. Cooke paid for everything. But
when they got back home, he handed Katie Lynn the receipt. “This is what you owe me,” he told her.

Katie Lynn put the receipt in her pocket. “Okay. I’ll pay you when Mr. Chesterfield pays us.” She grabbed Tina’s hand. “Come on! We have six dozen cookies to bake!”

“That’s a lot of work for two people,” Mrs. Cooke said. “Why don’t you let me help you?”

Katie Lynn had to come up with an excuse—and fast!

Suddenly, she remembered how her parents had eaten the first batch of cookies.

“I know!” she cried. “You and Dad can be in charge of Quality Control!”

“Quality Control?”
her father asked.

Katie Lynn nodded. “I heard about it on TV. We’ll give you a cookie to eat from each batch we make. You get to decide if they’re good enough to eat.”

Mrs. Cooke smiled. “Oh, we can do that!”

Katie Lynn and Tina hurried out of the living room.

“Way to go!” Tina whispered.

Katie Lynn grinned and bowed. “Thank you! Thank you!”

The girls got busy baking cookies. By midnight, they were finally finished.

Mr. Chesterfield’s cookies went into plastic sandwich bags. The girls made sure the bags were sealed super-tight.

“It’s quitting time,” said Tina. “I’m falling asleep on my feet.”

“Sweet dreams about Florida,” Katie
Lynn said as they tumbled into bed.

Tina yawned. “Are we going to fly coach or first class?”

“I think we should fly first class,” Katie Lynn said. “People who own companies always fly first class.”

The next morning, Katie Lynn’s father woke them up.

“What time is it?” Tina groaned.

“It’s time to take your cookies to Mr. Chesterfield. He just called. He needs them right away.”

When they arrived at the restaurant, they found Mr. Chesterfield waiting impatiently. The girls rushed over to him with the bags of cookies, and Mr. Chesterfield gave Katie Lynn a check.

Mr. Chesterfield inhaled the aroma from the cookies. “Wonderful!” he
exclaimed. “In two days, I’ll need twelve dozen more.”

Tina grinned at Katie Lynn and said, “The Katie Lynn Cookie Company is up for the job!” Katie Lynn felt her face getting red again.

Their next stop was the bank. Mr. Cooke cashed their check and then gave them the money.

Katie Lynn paid her father for the ingredients. She split the rest of the money with Tina.

“You’ll need to buy twice as many ingredients this time,” Mr. Cooke said. “You’ll need to spend part of what you’ve earned.”

Tina frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Katie Lynn whispered.

“We’ll never save enough money for the
trip if we have to spend it all on ingredients.”

“Yes, we will,” Katie Lynn replied. “Even if it takes us all summer to save up!”

Time Out!