Sugar Rush (8 page)

Dulcie was sure if she told her customers she had a homeless person making their candy, they might have some of the same reservations as she did a few months ago, but she had no problem letting Jess in her kitchen, and proving her right, Jess immediately put on an apron and hairnet and washed her hands.

“Well, you’re easy to train,” Dulcie said.

Jess shrugged. “I’ve worked in a kitchen before. Not one as nice as this, mind you, or with as good of a product, but I’ve worn a hairnet or two in my day.”

“Perfect,” Dulcie said, hauling out ingredients for some of the new flavors.

“Thank God you’re here,” Constance said, bursting into the kitchen. “When is Ava supposed to get in? The customers are restless. Not that it will help until you make some more candy… I might have to start slowing down soon so we don’t run out before you’re finished.”

“Whoa, calm down,” Dulcie said, unable to hide her excitement, even though Constance’s face was filled with panic.

Dulcie had to admit, she was glad to hide out in the kitchen while Constance was the one to deal with the onslaught out front. She calmly flipped on the jazz station and ripped into a bag of sugar. “The truffles only take fifteen minutes if we use the flash freezer to help them set. We’ll make a big batch and get to work on the rest at the same time. Should have a good supply in an hour. Ava’s not here until after lunch, but Jess will help. Once we get caught up back here, she can come behind the counter if need be.”

The weight of the world released from Constance’s shoulders. “You’re a good businesswoman, kid,” she said, shooting Dulcie a half smile. It was all she could muster under the circumstances.

As Dulcie showed Jess some of her tricks of the trade, her mind wandered. Even though the buzz would probably die down sooner rather than later, she daydreamed about how perfect her life would be if things continued this way.

She could postpone school for a while. No doubt Grams would keep the college money safe and sound until things got a little more under control at the store. Except…that would mean throwing away a whole semester’s worth of tuition, and how could she do that to her mother?

Of course, a girl could dream, couldn’t she? And take full advantage of a situation, right?

And that’s just what she did…until her mind wandered to a certain jazz playing guy, and then her mood darkened.

It didn’t last long, though. Jess and Dulcie had a fabulous time breathing in all the smells of their creations, grooving to a little jazz, and talking about everything under the sun. No matter how exhausted Dulcie was by the end of the day, she found the energy to appreciate how perfect it had been.

Of course then she had to go and sit down, finding a few short minutes to eat and think of how she’d screwed everything up with Nick.

“Take him over some of the new candy,” Lila said, keeping Dulcie company in the kitchen the next day after her classes. “That’s what he said he came here for.”

After all that had happened yesterday and the day before, Dulcie hadn’t even bothered going to class—which was a good thing, since the new Candy Land craze had certainly not dried up yet.

Having stayed at the shop through the morning, though, and with Jess helping both in the kitchen and out front, things had gone much smoother.

Especially for Constance.

“I can’t just waltz into How Sweet It Is.”

“Why not? He waltzed into Candy Land.”

Dulcie sighed. “Don’t you think I should make a grander gesture than bringing him some candy? Besides, won’t everyone gawk at me like I’m some sort of traitorous wench if I walk in with one of our treat boxes?”

“Traitorous wench. Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking.” Lila gifted Dulcie with her usual eye roll. “Look, if he can come over to your shop, you can go to his.”

She sighed. “The last thing I ever thought I’d do is step foot through the shop door of my mortal enemy.”

“Nick is not your mortal enemy.”

Dulcie shrugged. “His family is my family’s mortal enemy.”

“Don’t you think it might be time to hang up the outdated hatred? I mean, I’m sure your mother didn’t go around calling Nick’s family her mortal enemy.”

Dulcie thought about it for a second. “You know, you’re right; it was probably Grams. She does have a flair for the dramatic…”

“Exactly,” Lila said. “I bet there isn’t even a reason for any of it other than some friendly competition getting a little out of hand.”

“I wouldn’t call mass producing and lowball pricing a little out of hand.”

She tilted her head and nodded. “You guys aren’t even running the same business model anymore, though. Maybe they aren’t even really competition. You cater to the more refined crowd.”

Dulcie knew Lila was only humoring her and trying to make it less weird to go over there. Sure, things were busy at the shop at the moment, but once the customers had enough of the new flavors, they’d all go flocking back over to How Sweet It Is.

It would take a lot of mental fortitude to slink through those doors.

But Dulcie kept thinking Nick might just be worth it.

His love of jazz, how he understood about family business and candy…and of course the more obvious, the way his jeans fit so well and the way his smirk was just so maddeningly adorable. It wasn’t as if someone like that came along every day…and Dulcie would know if he did, because Lila would have pointed him out.

Of course, Nick might never speak to her again.

They’d finally seemed to be able to get a solid supply of the new flavors on the shelf, so Dulcie snuck out for a break, candy in hand, and her guts pretty much trying to pry their way through her throat.

Ten minutes later she pulled up in front of How Sweet It Is.

Ten minutes after that, she pried herself from the protection and anonymity of her car.

She pushed through the front door and the smell hit her hard. A familiar sugary scent, sure, but something artificial tried to fight its way past her nose, boring directly into her brain, a cross between mouthwash and black licorice, but very, very strong.

A couple other customers were in there, but they seemed to be picking things out and getting them to the counter to pay as quickly as possible.

Chalk one up for Candy Land
, she thought.

“May I help you?” someone asked from behind the counter.

She’d been so busy gawking at all the candy she hadn’t even realized the girl noticed her.

She blinked back into reality, her brain swirling from all the colors, smells, and textures. The candy was piled up on the shelves all the way to the high ceiling—a far cry from her quaint little shop. She couldn’t figure out if the mass amount of inventory was a good thing or a bad thing for her. Good if the candy got stale sitting so long…bad if they actually sold this much candy every day.

She tried to focus on the first thought, choosing to believe quality would always win out over quantity. Of course, she also tried to ignore the large amount of staff, their very professional uniforms, the gleaming shelving units…all way out of the realm of possibility for her store.

“Um, yeah, I was er…looking for Nick?” she said, her smile as friendly as she was able to muster given the circumstances.

“Oh, sure,” the girl said, though her face fell when Dulcie plopped her Candy Land Confections box up on the glass counter, along with her elbows. The girl pointedly drew Dulcie’s attention to the
Please do not touch glass
sign approximately two feet from her face, then eyeballed her like she’d stolen her puppy or something.

Dulcie removed the box and hung it shamefully by her side. She didn’t know if the girl was more upset by the elbows or the candy box.

Luckily, she had no way of knowing Dulcie wasn’t some customer sampling goodies from both stores. Oh yeah, except for the little matter of her logo-clad jacket.

“Um, is he here?” Dulcie asked after the girl started walking away.

She sighed and snapped her gum. “I already paged him,” she said, in a tone that relayed Dulcie was the dumbest human she’d come in contact with all day. Or maybe all year.

“Oh, um, thanks.”

Fancy, a secret paging system. And to think, at Candy Land they actually had to go to the door and talk to the person to let them know they had a visitor. How very dark ages.

Chapter Eight

“Dulcie?” Nick said, bursting through the double doors that led to the back. “What are you doing here?”

He was freaking out inside, but he tried to make his tone somewhat less than thrilled. Finally, she was on his turf.

Dulcie cleared her throat, apparently nervous. She looked rather sheepish, really, which thrilled Nick to no end. “Well, I wanted to, you know…,” Dulcie said, glancing behind the counter at his employee Loretta, who had stopped serving the customers in order to watch them even though two people clearly needed assistance.

Nick shot her a look that said she’d better get back to work. Thankfully, for once, she actually did.

“I just wanted to…um, come over here to apologize,” Dulcie continued, shoving a candy box in his direction. “I brought the new flavors.”

He could not be more surprised. Or relieved, for that matter.

“Thanks,” he said, already opening up the top of the box.

Loretta watched with renewed interest, and then scowled as Nick took a bite. When he made a noise of delight, her eyes widened rather hilariously.

“Thank you,” he said, ignoring the extra attention they got from the counter as he chewed, unable to concentrate on anything but how damned amazing cookie dough wrapped in milk chocolate fudge could be. The customers had taken a cue from Nick’s co-worker and started watching, too. Nick supposed it didn’t look too good, what with him fawning all over the competition’s chocolates right in his own store.

He quickly lifted a small partition in the countertop. “Come on back,” he said, motioning toward the door he’d emerged through. “I got to see yours, now it’s your turn to see mine.” He winked and grinned, knowing the line was far too cheesy to even think about saying in any sort of serious manner.

“Oh, I hadn’t planned on staying; I only wanted to let you know the truce thing would be okay if you’re still up for it.”

“Well, obviously,” he said, grinning. “I
am
asking you back to witness how we make our magic,” he said. “Come on, it’ll only take a minute.”

Dulcie walked toward him, and a moment later they were in the production area, a gigantic room filled with machines.

Everything moved. Conveyor belts brought things toward people whose hands worked fast, and colorful package after colorful package spewed out at the end.

“Wow,” Dulcie said. “I feel like I’ve been sucked into Willy Wonka world.”

Nick chuckled but kept munching away on the Candy Land treats.

The workers moved the same objects time after time after time.

“Welcome to the production floor,” he said, his nose still in the candy box, but it was more an excuse not to look at her reaction to the monstrosity that was his father’s dream.

“Um, it’s amazing,” Dulcie said.

Nick shrugged. “It’s nothing compared to what you have, though.”

She crinkled her brow.

“Full reign over what you’re going to make each day. Something special in every batch.” He looked around the warehouse. “Here we have everything planned meticulously. Production is already scheduled for the next two months.”

Dulcie raised her eyebrows, obviously not knowing what to say. “It’s all so…industrial,” she said.

Nick cringed. “It is, isn’t it?”

“No… I mean, yeah, but not in a bad way.”

“I often think it’s not a good thing, but what do I know? I just work here.” He chuckled.

“So this wasn’t your idea, then?” she asked.

“God, no. This is all my dad. He’s the one with the entrepreneurial drive. I prefer to make things,” he said, shrugging. “Like you.”

Her face softened faster than the chocolate chunks tumbling into the giant, steaming vat ten feet away.

They stood like goofball teenagers, all twitchy and unsure, until Nick reached over and grabbed a chocolate right from the middle of a conveyor belt and presented it to her.

“To thank you,” he said. “It really means a lot that you came down here.”

He could still feel the warmth where she’d touched his hand after she took the chocolate.

“No, thank
you
,” she said. “This is amazing.”

Nick popped another of Dulcie’s candies into his mouth and they chewed together, sneaking looks at each other, then glancing away. He didn’t know why she made him so nervous.

A door opened up somewhere near the back of the warehouse. “Nick!” a gruff voice shouted. “What the hell happened to you? We were in the middle of a meeting!”

Oh. Dear. God.

Nick’s father came storming in their direction. And worse, Jack Miller just
had
to be following him like a lost puppy dog.

“You were in the middle of a meeting?” Dulcie whispered.

Nick shrugged. “It was just my dad and me…at least that’s what I thought,” he said, glancing at Jack. “Nothing important or anything.”

“Jesus, Nick, what the hell are you doing? It’s the most important meeting of the year!”

Dulcie’s eyes widened. “I could have waited,” she said through a gritted smile she flashed at his dad.

“Don’t worry about it,” Nick said under his breath. “Hey, Dad, Jack. This is Dulcie.”

His father turned, annoyed. “Nice to meet you, young lady.”
Thank God
, Nick thought. His father didn’t seem to remember her name from their conversation before.

He turned back to Nick. “Can we please get this finished up? The contest isn’t going to wait.”

Nick watched it happening, almost in slow motion. How could he have forgotten? He tried to quicky cover the logo, but it was too late. His father’s eyes flashed to the object Nick held in his hands.

The box from Candy Land.

“What the hell is that?” his father shouted, as if it were an armed nuclear bomb.

Nick remained calm, at least on the outside. He glanced at Dulcie, who sort of sank into herself. He was going to kill his father.

“Dulcie was kind enough to bring me over some of her candies. She runs Candy Land Confections.”

Nick’s dad’s eyes got even wider. “You brought the enemy into my store? My warehouse?” He paced. “How could you do such a thing to me? After all I’ve done for you?”

Nick was alarmed now, too, though far more embarrassed over his father’s behavior than anything he’d done. The workers on the machines glanced up, their eyes darting between the scene, their various workstations, and each other…with rather amused faces, though Jack seemed to enjoy it most of all.

“Dad, Dulcie is not the enemy. Come on, don’t you think it’s about time the ridiculous feud ended?”

Dulcie backed toward the door. “I’m going to take off,” she said, pointing toward the storefront.

“No, you don’t have to leave. My father is being ridiculous.”

“Really, it’s okay. He has every right to say who may or may not come into his production area.”

Nick’s father moved toward Dulcie, making sure she was leaving, as if she might try to find some shadowy place to hide or something.

“Uh, ’bye, Nick,” she spit out before she pretty much sprinted.

“Dulcie, wait!” he yelled.

But Dulcie did not wait. Unfortunately the countertop was still open and she had a straight shot out of the store, which she took at a good pace. Several customers turned to check out all the commotion, but she kept going, head down, barely looking up to cross the street.

Luckily, traffic was light.

Nick’s shoulders slumped as she left, though the rage inside him began to build. His father had no right to treat Dulcie like that—or him, for that matter. God, she hadn’t even done anything. He was the one who’d invited her in. He should have known it was a bad idea.

Dulcie turned back long enough for Nick to catch a glimpse of her shock and something else…sadness?

…

So, it was confirmed. Dulcie could never start something up romantically with Nick.

They had just been starting to build a connection, and Dulcie was sure it could lead to something more. But then the families had to come along and ruin everything.

No wonder Romeo and Juliet were doomed from the start.

She worked the rest of the afternoon with her mom’s recipe for the Salted Caramel Apple Enchantment. And each batch was, well…enchanting.

“Do you think we need to work on the ratio of chocolate to caramel?” she asked as everyone sat around the table after the customer lineup had finally died down.

She tried to ignore Lila’s eye roll.

At least Ava and Constance took it seriously.

“I think batch three is the one,” Ava said.

They’d played with the type and consistency of the salt for batch two and three, as well as how thick the chocolate layer should be.

Constance nodded. “Yes, I don’t think we’ll ever get the recipe more perfect than this one.” She bit into another sample from the third batch, chewing thoughtfully, rolling it in her mouth like a fine wine. “I can’t believe what a difference the extra few flakes of sea salt make.”

Dulcie bit into one of the batch three samples, concentrating. “You’re right, this is the winner.”

Her mom’s recipe had called for coarse sea salt sprinkled on the tops of the chocolates, but she hadn’t had the time to test out different versions from her hospital bed. Even though Dulcie had thought of adding salt inside, if her mother had been given the chance, she would have discovered the same secret they had.

Dulcie busied herself with packing the samples into several boxes for Grams, Lila—who insisted she needed to do more testing—and whoever else wanted to grab them on their way home, and tried not to think of Nick. She stuck them on the store counter to get them out of the way so she could clean the kitchen.

Constance had to get back to her kids, and Dulcie sent Ava home early. That girl had more than earned her paycheck over the past crazy days. Jess was hanging around in the back, keeping busy, and probably avoiding going out to the alley, while Lila kept Dulcie company, though it turned into a venting session about Lila’s horrible idea to even think about sending her down to How Sweet It Is.

Lila rolled her eyes and smirked as much as humanly possible. “So, Nick had no problem with you being there?”

“No, but you would not believe—”

“Then I stick to my opinion,” she interrupted. “It was not a bad idea to go.”

“How can you even say that?” Dulcie asked, her voice rising. “It was the most embarrassing thing. All those workers watching, and the customers, my God, you should have seen their faces.”

Lila scrunched up her face. “Yeah, but it’s embarrassing for the crazy old man, not you.”

“He was crazy because of me!”

Lila giggled again.

“Oh my God, you don’t get it,” Dulcie said, dropping her hands.

“You’re right about that,” she said, popping a dark chocolate covered peppermint patty into her mouth. “I do not get it.”

Dulcie was about to go turn the open sign to closed when the bells jingled above the front door.

“I must speak with your grandmother. She has broken the code!” a voice said, his body darkened from the silhouette of the streetlight outside.

As he stepped up to the counter, Dulcie’s stomach rolled.

“Um, Mr. Sugarman?” Dulcie asked.

“Where is she? I need to speak with her.”

“Wait,” Lila said, seeming to enjoy her front-row seat. “Mr. Sugarman? Do not even tell me you’re the candy store guy…and your name is Sugarman?” She laughed heartily even though no one joined her.

Or answered her, for that matter.

“Do I need to go to the back and find her myself?” he asked, little beads of sweat shining on his bald head.

“Um, she’s not here. She’s never here.”

“What do you mean? This is her store; she must be here.”

Dulcie shrugged. “Um, no. She hasn’t been here for months.”

He looked confused then, as if he were trying to work out whether Dulcie was playing a trick on him.

Finally, he looked up. “I do not believe you. That woman practically lived in this shop.”

“Yeah, well, not anymore,” she said, her hand finding its way to her hip in a defiant stance.

“But I must speak to her. She has broken the code!”

“I guess you could go see her at home or something, but she’s usually pretty busy.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Busy sending spies over to my shop.”

Dulcie took a deep breath. “Sir, my grandmother has no idea I was even at your shop.”

“That is ridiculous. Of course she sent you.”

“What is this code anyway?” Lila asked, her eyes bright with amusement.

“The code! The one we agreed upon,” he said, sitting down on a stool at the end of the counter, taking out a handkerchief and wiping his shiny head.

“Who agreed upon?” Dulcie asked.

“My family and your family. It was more than clear that in order for both of us to stay in this town and run our businesses, we would stay out of each other’s way. Our family would stay far away from your store, and your family would stay far away from ours.”