Better Than Chocolate (20 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Expect the unexpected. This way you’ll always be ready for
company and prepared for problems.

—Muriel Sterling,
Knowing Who You Are:
One Woman’s Journey

S
amantha had gotten in touch with her inner
Cecily and kept quiet about her traitorous romantic exploits after the Mr.
Dreamy kickoff, and Cecily left her on Saturday assuming she was hungover and
worried about the business. No lie there. She was. That pathetic makeout session
with Blake was merely the cherry on top of a big cupcake made of poop.

Friday had been torture and Saturday had been exhausting. After
meeting with Cecily on Saturday, she’d made the rounds of all the restaurants,
wheeling and dealing and talking up the festival, encouraging them to come up
with special recipes featuring Sweet Dreams chocolates. She’d visited shops,
glad-handing and flattering fence sitters and offering free chocolate right and
left. With all her bribes and promises, she’d spent a fortune.
Way to ignore your bottom line,
she scolded
herself.

What bottom line? How could you have a bottom line when you
were a flatliner?

By Sunday she needed stress relief. She decided to hide out in
her condo.

“That’s the last thing I want to do,” she said when Cass called
and suggested an afternoon hike on Lost Bride Trail. Well, there were other
things she’d like to have done, like rob a bank (and she knew just the one), but
she was better off hiding at home.

“Come on,” Cass urged. “The sun is out and the sky is blue. How
often do we get that in winter? You don’t want to sit inside and grow fat on
your hips.”

Actually, yes, she did.

“And you might see the lost bride,” Cass teased.

Locals always looked for the ghost of the lost bride. According
to legend, back in the 1860s a farmer named Joshua Cane got himself a mail-order
bride. He quickly became the envy of every man within a fifty-mile radius
because his bride, Rebecca, was beautiful. In fact, she was so beautiful that
Joshua had a hard time keeping her to himself. She fell in love with his younger
brother, Gideon, a gold prospector. Townspeople witnessed fights in the saloon
and threats were exchanged. Then one day Rebecca went missing. So did Gideon.
Speculation abounded. The two had run off. Joshua had murdered them both and
buried the remains somewhere in the mountains. Joshua murdered his brother and
left Rebecca on the mountain to starve. Sometimes people would swear they saw
her over by Icicle Falls. After the town spinster saw her right before the new
Methodist minister proposed, it became a lucky thing to catch sight of the lost
bride’s ghost flitting behind the waters of the falls. If a woman saw the ghost
of Rebecca Cane, it meant she would soon be married. Naturally, the falls became
a favorite destination for couples on the verge of engagement.

Samantha wasn’t on the verge of anything except maybe a nervous
breakdown. “No chance of that,” she said.

“You never know,” Cass said.

“You could see her, too,” Samantha teased back.

“That’d be the day. But I think Dani’s got hopes. So come keep
us company. You need to think about something besides the festival.”

Samantha reluctantly agreed and went to find her hiking boots.
What the heck. If she sat around all day she’d probably drive herself insane
worrying about the festival, not to mention the fate of Sweet Dreams.

An hour later they were making their way up the trail that ran
alongside Icicle Creek. The air was fresh as only mountain air can be and they
could hear the thunder of the falls in the distance. In spite of the blue sky
and sun they could see their breath as they walked, and the trail was muddy from
the recent showers of sleet and wet snow that refused to stick. It sucked at
their shoes as they walked.

“Gosh, it’s wet,” Samantha said, dodging an icy puddle.

“I hope we don’t have a rockslide,” Danielle muttered.

“Bite your tongue,” her mother said. “That’s all we don’t need.
Anyway, the sun will help dry things out.”

That was fine with Samantha. If they couldn’t have a foot of
snow, they could at least have a little taste of sunshine.

They made it to the falls without mishap, in spite of the
slippery trail, and the view of white water lunging over the jagged mountain
precipice was well worth the walk. “Look,” Danielle cried. “A rainbow in the
water!”

If only there was a pot of gold at the end of it…

“Is that all you see?” Cass asked her.

Danielle blushed. “That’s all.”

“It doesn’t get much better than a rainbow,” Samantha said,
gazing at the rushing water. Then she caught a fleeting glimpse of something
else. A person? She took a few steps closer and strained to see.
Was
that a person? Good heavens, it was! “There’s
someone in back of the falls,” she said, pointing. “On that ledge. See her?”

Cass looked where she was pointing. “See what?”

“That’s dangerous. She could slip.” And bounce off the jagged
rocks on her way down into the creek. “Hello!” Samantha called.

“Who are you calling? There’s no one there,” Cass said.

“Yes, there is.” Samantha frowned at her. “Don’t you see her?
She’s right…” But now there was no one. “Well, that’s odd. I could’ve sworn I
saw someone.”

“The lost bride,” Danielle gasped. “You saw the lost
bride!”

“That’s just a legend,” Samantha said.

“But you saw her,” Danielle insisted.

“And you know what that means, don’t you?” Cass asked.

Samantha gave a snort. “It had better mean the festival will be
a huge success.”

According to the ad they’d taken out in the
Mountain Sun,
it was going to be stellar. Samantha
stopped at the Safeway on the way home and purchased a paper. She stepped out of
the flow of traffic and opened the paper to the full-page ad, which featured
their calendar of events. Celebrate Icicle Falls’ First Annual Chocolate
Festival proclaimed the banner at the top. Oh, how she hoped it would be the
first of many.

Lila Ward walked by and grudgingly wished her a good-morning,
then added, “That’s going to be a zoo.”

“I sure hope so,” Samantha responded.

With a disgusted huff, Lila walked on.

Samantha went home and celebrated by trying a glass of white
wine from the Sleeping Lady Winery that Ed had given her a while back. After a
couple of sips she opted for cocoa instead. She raised her mug to Nibs, who was
regarding her from one of the kitchen chairs. “Here’s to success.” Maybe seeing
the lost bride would bring her luck.

That night she slept like a stone, dead to the world, and awoke
the next morning refreshed. She had to meet with Lizzy, the bookkeeper, today
and that would not be fun. She’d already pared her spending down to the bone but
they were going to have to get out the knife and pare some more.

Still, she felt hopeful. The festival would be a success.
They’d make a chunk of money and with that she’d find a way to bargain for time.
Or she’d do…something. Something good was going to come of this, she’d make sure
of it.

She was still smiling when she entered the office.

Elena didn’t smile back at her. “You haven’t seen today’s
paper?”

Cold fingers of dread squeezed her heart. “What’s in the
paper?” What could possibly have happened between yesterday and this
morning?

Elena said nothing, simply handed it over.

That was what had happened. “A rockslide,” Samantha said
weakly.

“Right on Highway 2.”

The highway that tourists traveled and the main road into town.
It was now January 30. The festival was less than two weeks away.

Still, that was plenty of time. “D.O.T will get it cleaned up
in a few days,” Samantha assured herself.

Elena looked doubtful but said nothing.

Other people had plenty to say, though. Samantha’s mailbox
overflowed with panicked emails and the phone rang off the hook all morning.
Finally, Ed called an emergency committee meeting at his wine shop where they
could drown their sorrows in cabernet sauvignon and try to think of a way to
salvage the mess. Of course, as the instigator of this, they’d all be looking to
Samantha for a solution. As if she had one.

She needed…no chocolate, she told herself firmly. Except she
was out of fingernails. She left her office and stopped by the shop to get a
salted caramel.

Heidi didn’t say anything as she raided the display behind the
glass, just looked at her sadly. Samantha took another caramel for the road.

She was just going out the door when she met Darla Stone, Del’s
middle-aged sister, and Hildy Johnson.

Both women were notorious sugar addicts. By all rights, they
should’ve been regular customers but Samantha knew for a fact that they both
preferred a cheap high to the good stuff and always stocked up whenever candy
bars were on sale at the grocery store. So what were they doing here?

“Good morning, ladies,” she said, trying to sound happy to see
them. She
should
be happy. Even though they weren’t
her favorite people they were still customers.

Darla offered her a sympathetic smile and then turned to Hildy.
“Look at the brave face she’s putting on.”

Samantha stared at them in confusion. “Excuse me?”

Darla patted her arm. “Oh, we know, honey. I think it’s
wonderful how supportive you girls are of your mother, but sometimes you just
have to throw in the towel, especially now with this rockslide closing the
highway.”

“I assume you’re already marking down your candy?” Hildy
added.

“Marking down my candy?” Samantha repeated. “I don’t
understand—”

“There’s no need to pretend with us. Del talked to your poor
mother.”

Samantha’s heart stopped. “What did my mother say?”

“Well, only that you’re about to go out of business,” Darla
said. “She was hoping Del could help, but his money is all tied up. I told him
the best thing we can do is buy up your chocolate, which I’m sure you’re marking
down. I mean, that
is
what you do when you’re going
out of business, isn’t it?”

This, after all her hard work trying to keep her employees from
panicking—her blood turned to molten lava in less than a second. “I don’t know
what exactly my mother said to Del, but whatever it was, she’s mistaken. We are
not closing our doors. And we’re certainly not having a fire sale.”

Darla’s pudgy face grew pink. “Oh, well,” she stammered. “I
just thought…” The words trailed off and the pink turned red.

“I know what you thought,” Samantha said.
Okay, don’t go any further. Get in touch with your inner Cecily.
“Yes, we’ve had a few challenges after losing my stepfather but let me
repeat—Sweet Dreams is not ready to close its doors. We’re an important part of
this town’s economy. Surely you ladies wouldn’t want to see us go under.”

“Oh, no, of course not,” Darla said.

Samantha smiled at her. “I didn’t think so, and I appreciate
that you’ve come to show your support and shop with us.” She opened the front
door so they had no choice but to go in. “We all support one another in this
town, don’t we?” she added, now turning her attention to Hildy. “My family’s
been filling their prescriptions at your drugstore ever since you first
opened.”

Hildy got the hint. She pressed her lips firmly together and
followed Darla into the gift shop.

Savoring the small moment of one-upsmanship, Samantha poked her
head in the door and called to Heidi, “Give these ladies ten percent off. As our
thanks for being such loyal customers,” she told the women. The irony would no
doubt escape them but if not, she hoped it made them distinctly uncomfortable
and spurred them to spend appropriately.

Fuming, she hurried over to Ed’s via the Riverfront Park,
opting to avoid the more public streets. It was a beautiful path, playing
peekaboo with the river between fir and pine trees and all manner of shrubs and
bushes. Some of it was muddy and an icy drizzle did its part to make sure those
spots remained that way, but she kept walking.

The weather matched her mood perfectly. First the highway
closure and now her mother. What in the name of Godiva had Mom been thinking,
talking to Del Stone of all people? Del, whose sister was one of the biggest
gossips in all of Icicle Falls? Had her mother been thinking at all? Probably
not.

“Crap,” she muttered with every step. “Crap, crap, crap, crap,
crap!” Her family was going to be the death of her—if Mother Nature didn’t do
her in first. She marched on, sourly taking in the sodden landscape that had
shed most of its sparse snowfall. What a crappy year it had been. And what a
crappy new year it was starting out to be! Why couldn’t something,
anything,
go right?

She could feel tears stinging her eyes and fiercely blinked
them back. No way was she letting this damned rockslide take her down. No way,
no way, no way.

She remembered Trevor Brown, waiting in the wings to absorb
Sweet Dreams into his company, and Blake Preston and his gang of bank thugs
doing all they could to truss her up like a Thanksgiving turkey and deliver her
on a platter. She wanted to run away.

With Blake.

Where had that come from? She wouldn’t run away with him if it
was the end of the world and he was driving the last working car out of town.
And if he and his cronies thought she was just going to lie down and die because
of a minor inconvenience like a few rocks on the road, they could think again.
She set her jaw and quickened her pace.

She was almost at the footbridge when she caught sight of other
people, teenage people, people who should be in school. Instead, they were
hanging out here in the park, smoking cigarettes. Samantha frowned in disgust.
She’d never tried smoking, never had any desire to. It was an expensive habit
that made your clothes smell and shortened your life, so she couldn’t understand
why anyone would want to suck on the nasty things. But people did all the time.
And that was their business, she told herself.