Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
Welcome to the thirty-fifth annual Shady Palms Corn Festival!"
Mayor Gunderson raised the corn cob scepter in his right hand as he looked over the crowd at the opening ceremony of the town's beloved Corn Festival. His wife stood to the side and slightly behind him, dressed in a complementary costume as the town's reigning Corn Queen: a long yellow dress with a lavish green cape about her shoulders and a crown whose points resembled ears of corn atop her head.
I enjoyed a good spectacle as much as the next person, but considering how much the mayor loved the sound of his own voice, I tuned out the rest of his speech as I finished preparing the Brew-ha Cafe booth. My best friend and business partner, Adeena Awan, was still setting up the drinks station where she'd be serving her usual house blend coffee, as well as the atole, ginataang mais latte, and oksusu cha that she'd added to the special festival menu. Elena Torres, our other business partner and Adeena's girlfriend, was filling the compostable tea bags with the roasted corn we used for the oksusu cha and arranging the corn husk crafts that she and her mother had prepared.
My boyfriend, Dr. Jae Park, was joining the Brew-ha crew that weekend as our resident grill master. Elena came up with the idea of a fusion elote, taking her beloved Mexican street corn and adding Pakistani and Filipino twists to match with Adeena's and my respective backgrounds. Not only did Jae give us his mother's recipe for the oksusu cha, or Korean corn tea, but he'd also volunteered to handle all elote duties: slathering the corn with thick, creamy coconut milk before rolling it in a fragrant spice mix that included amchur powder and red chili powder, grilling it, then squeezing calamansi over the corn before sprinkling it with your choice of kesong puti or cotija cheese. It was a simple yet laborious task, but he seemed to enjoy himself (I wasn't one for gender stereotypes, but what was with guys and grills?) and I'd caught him sneaking more than one smoky, salty treat as he worked. The benefit of being the cook.
Meanwhile, I arranged the sweet offerings I'd prepared: mais ube sandwich cookies, mais kon keso bars, and two types of ice candy-mais kon yelo and ginataang mais. Corn as a dessert ingredient may seem strange to some people, but Filipinos absolutely love and embrace corn in all its salty-sweet possibilities. My first offering sandwiched ube buttercream between corn cookies, the purple yam's subtle vanilla-like sweetness pairing well with the salty-sweet corn. Cheese and corn are a popular savory pairing, but guess what? It makes one of my absolute favorite Filipino ice cream flavors as well, and I channeled that classic combo into a cheesecake bar with a corn cookie crust.
Mais kon yelo, literally corn with ice, is a Filipino dessert consisting of shaved ice with corn, sugar, and milk, while ginataang mais, a simple porridge made with coconut milk, glutinous rice, and sweet corn, is usually served warm for breakfast or meryenda. My take on these simple, refreshing snacks utilized those same flavors in a portable, easy-to-eat ice pop bag. However, if you wanted to try the traditional versions, you could just pop down a few booths over to Tita Rosie's Kitchen, the restaurant run by my paternal aunt and grandmother. While my aunt, Tita Rosie, handled the savory side of the menu, offering small cups of corn soup and paper cones full of cornick, or corn nuts flavored with salt and garlic, my grandmother, Lola Flor, reigned over the sweets. The aforementioned mais kon yelo and ginataang mais were the desserts on offer, in addition to maja blanca, a simple corn and coconut pudding. Truly a gluten-free sweet tooth's paradise.
They also had an extra helper at their booth, Jae's older brother, Jonathan (or Detective Park as I still called him, despite him no longer being with the Shady Palms Police Department), who happened to be my aunt's boyfriend. He was handling all the customer-facing tasks since Tita Rosie's love of cooking and feeding people did not extend to the more business side of the industry, a fact that nearly cost her the restaurant last year. Luckily, my quarter-life crisis happened to coincide with this family emergency, and I had stepped in and set up a simple system for her and my grandmother to follow. It took some time and a couple of tweaks, but now business was booming.
I put the finishing touches on the Brew-ha Cafe booth just as Mayor Gunderson's speech drew to a close with "And please join me in a warm Shady Palms welcome as Shelbyville's Mayor Reyes says a few words to kick off the celebration!"
There was a bit of rustling in the crowd as Mayor Judy Reyes stepped up to the mic. This year, in an absolutely brilliant move by Beth Thompson and her former sister-in-law, Valerie Thompson (both heads of the town's most successful company and illustrious family, and now the chamber of commerce), the Corn Festival was put on in partnership with the neighboring town of Shelbyville. Not only would this expand the reach of our festival, but our town wouldn't have to bear the brunt of the expenses. There was a catch, though.
Shelbyville was bigger, had way more money, and was home to the only community college in the area (you had to travel about forty miles before you got anywhere near a university, so higher-learning opportunities were few and far between). As such, there was a fierce rivalry between the towns since the people of Shelbyville tended to look down on us and most Shady Palms citizens felt we had something to prove. Our town's chamber of commerce had been hard at work trying to increase tourism and commerce in the area, so they decided to take advantage of Shady Palms's natural resources and charm as well as Shelbyville's larger size and greater access to hotels and B&Bs.
Mayor Reyes had readily agreed, but left all the details to her assistant, who used the opportunity to go on a bit of a power trip. According to Beth, who loved dropping hot goss in our WOC entrepreneur group chat, the assistant provided a ridiculous list of demands that rivaled any celebrity greenroom horror story, including a stipulation that Mayor Reyes officially opened and closed the festival during the ceremonies on the first and last weekends of the month. That last bit was almost the dealbreaker for the self-important Mayor Gunderson, and it took weeks of negotiating and soothing to get him to agree.
Mayor Gunderson stood onstage, glaring daggers at Mayor Reyes, who blithely continued with her warm, funny, and, most importantly, concise welcome speech. "I hope you all take advantage of the many wonderful things that Shady Palms and Shelbyville have to offer. Now if you'll excuse me, I saw a booth selling corn cookies that I'm dying to try. Remember to have fun, be kind, and support local businesses!"
With that, Mayor Reyes exited the stage with her wife and headed straight for the Brew-ha Cafe booth, followed closely by her assistant. As they drew closer, Elena, our secret weapon when it came to sales (and just about everything else), greeted them cheerfully.
"Well, hello there, Mayor Reyes! Welcome to the Brew-ha Cafe. I'm guessing it was our corn cookies that you just referenced onstage? Thanks for that, by the way."
Mayor Reyes smiled. "Yes, I noticed your booth when you were setting up earlier. Your menu sounded so delicious and different from what most of the booths here are doing, so I knew you had to be my first stop."
The mayor's wife sniffed. "You are far too gracious, Judy. Though I suppose you're right that this booth is the only interesting one I've seen so far."
The mayor's smile grew strained, and her assistant, likely noticing this, stepped in. "Yvonne, didn't you say you were dying for a cup of coffee? I've heard it on good authority that this cafe has the best coffee in the entire county."
Yvonne gave me and my fellow Brew-has the once-over and smirked. "I hope your coffee is as bold as that statement."
Elena met her eyes in a challenge. "I guarantee that my girlfriend's drinks are the best in the county. And when you agree, I hope the good mayor uses us to cater some of her events."
Mayor Reyes laughed. "Considering you're brave enough to take on my wife, I'd be delighted to. She'll take the biggest coffee you've got and I'd love some of your atole. It's been forever since I've had any!"
Adeena got to work preparing the drinks while the mayor's assistant studied our menu. "So oksusu cha is Korean corn tea? What does that taste like?"
"It's a bit of an acquired taste," I said. "It has a toasted nutty flavor, similar to barley tea or genmaicha green tea. A little bit savory, a little bit sweet. I'd be happy to give you a sample if you'd like."
He accepted the sample cup and took a few sips. He tried to hide his grimace, but failed, and Jae and I both burst out laughing.
"Don't force yourself if you don't like it," Jae said, holding his hand out for the cup to throw in the trash. "Like Lila said, it's an acquired taste. I used to hate it as a kid, but eventually became addicted to the iced version my mom makes. It's really refreshing in the summer."
The mayor's assistant handed it over. "Sorry! I try not to be picky, but you're right. I usually like savory drinks, but something about it is throwing me off. It's like my brain and tongue don't know how to react."
Mayor Reyes handed a steaming cup of atole to her assistant. "Here you go, Zack. Atole is a corn drink you'll love, I'm sure of it. This is even better than my mom's, though don't let me catch you saying that to her."
"The coffee's really good, too," her wife muttered. "I think it might be even better than that new cafe that opened up near the boutique."
"Didn't I tell you that Shady Palms had the best coffee in the county?" Mayor Gunderson said, strolling up to join us. He was still wearing his Corn King costume and used his ridiculous scepter to point at Adeena. "Adeena! Coffee for both me and the missus. You know how I like it."
I hadn't even noticed his wife joining us, but there she was, looking over our offerings while checking out Jae from the corner of her eye. She flushed when she saw that I noticed and tried to cover it up by ordering one of everything.
"Oh, and Dr. Jae, would it be possible to have the corn in a cup so I can eat it with a spoon? It's just so messy on the cob."
Jae smiled at her. "The mess is part of the fun! But sure, Mrs. Gunderson. Happy to accommodate you."
"Thanks for the recommendation, Mayor Gunderson," Mayor Reyes said, smiling over her cup of atole. "I'll have to stop by Shady Palms more often. You're so lucky to have such a wonderful business nearby. Maybe you can open a branch in Shelbyville."
She winked at us, clearly joking, but Mayor Gunderson's response was a little too strained to match the playful tone he was going for.
"Now now, Judy, are you trying to poach businesses from my town? That's not really in the spirit of our collaboration, is it?"
Yvonne rolled her eyes. "She was just joking, you humorless-"
"Yvonne," Mayor Reyes said sharply.
"You don't have to kowtow to him, you know. You're supposed to be equals in this collaboration. But whatever. Just continue grinning and bearing it, as always." Yvonne finished her coffee and tossed the empty cup in the trash. "I'm going to look around. Catch up with me when you're ready."
Mrs. Gunderson reached out to Yvonne as she passed, perhaps to play nice and convince her to stay, but a cutting glance from Yvonne was enough for her to snatch her hand back as if she'd been burned.
Mayor Reyes's assistant, Zack, rushed forward. "Mrs. Gunderson, you've lived in Shady Palms your whole life, right? Would you mind keeping me company as I wander around the festival? I'd love to learn more about the town from someone who's such a valued member of the community."
Mrs. Gunderson was a bit of a wallflower, always keeping to the background and letting her husband take the lead. But under Zack's attention and kind words, a smile unfurled across her face, and she seemed to blossom.
"I'd love to! I'm on the historical committee, you know, so if you have any questions about our town's history, feel free to ask."
She fell in step beside Zack and started chattering away, and Mayor Reyes joined them, saying she'd love a guided tour of the festival from Mrs. Gunderson.
Mayor Gunderson glared at the trio as they moved away from him, but instead of following, he turned on his heel and headed in the opposite direction.
Once they were all finally gone, I turned around and noticed Adeena and Elena looking like the "Jessica Fletcher eating popcorn" gif as they shared a bucket of popcorn while enjoying the drama.
"OK, I get that we're at a corn festival, but how did you get the popcorn so fast? Do you travel with props for moments like this?"
Adeena winked. "You know how dedicated I am when it comes to a bit. But no, your sweet boyfriend left when things started getting heated and returned with snacks for us."
Jae turned red as he held out a cone full of cornick from my aunt, a disk of corn tempura from our friend Yuki's booth, and other yummy corn-related snacks. "It was getting uncomfortable, and I figured I might as well make myself useful. I know what happens when you all get hungry, so I figured I'd grab food for you before it gets too crowded."
"He's a keeper all right," Elena said, grinning at him as she dipped the corn tempura disk into the accompanying sauce.
I helped myself to some tempura as well, and as I enjoyed my deliciously crisp, salty-sweet treat, I prayed that the argument we'd just witnessed would be the worst thing to happen at the festival and that it'd be smooth sailing from here on out.
I raised my ginataang mais latte in a toast. "Here's to a successful, drama-free festival!"
Adeena, Elena, Jae, and I all clinked cups, though I was sure they were thinking the same thing I was:
When has Shady Palms ever been drama free?
Chapter Two
