Sugar Rush (7 page)

Dulcie shook her head, putting up her hands. “No, don’t worry. Jess can come in here anytime she wants.”

Ava’s face relaxed.

“I wish I could do more for her. She’s becoming like a part of our little family here, but things are tight enough financially as it is…”

Ava nodded. “Although if more days end up like this, things would certainly be looking up.”

“Yeah, today was awesome. The perfect day. But only because of the new flavors. Once the novelty wears off, we’ll be right back where we started.”

Ava shrugged. “You never know. Jess’s marketing tricks might keep things hopping.”

“Or maybe we’ll win the contest,” Dulcie said, raising her eyebrows.

“With the new recipe, I don’t see how we can lose.”

A little jolt buzzed through Dulcie, and if she were honest, the thought of standing at the Taste of the Year Gala receiving the grand prize did zip through her mind.

“Could you watch the counter for a minute longer? I want to check in with Jess and thank her for everything she did for us today.”

“Yeah, of course. Take your time. I’ve got a little homework I can work on.”

“Thanks,” Dulcie said, climbing off the stool, her legs not wanting to cooperate after being off them for the first time all day.

She grabbed the small box of the new flavors she’d set aside for Jess. Even with the customers asking repeatedly if any might be left in the back, Dulcie’s stash remained a secret.

The sun made its last descent as she stepped out to the alley.

“Hey,” Jess said, pulling her coat tighter around her neck.

“Hey,” Dulcie said, smiling and handing her the box. “I hear you had something to do with the craziness of today?”

“It did sound pretty busy,” Jess said, excited.

Dulcie sat beside her on her cardboard. “Didn’t let up all day. Not until we ran out of all the new stuff, anyway.”

Jess’s expression faltered ever so slightly. Her glance toward the candy box told Dulcie why.

“Don’t worry.” She beamed. “It’s the new stuff. I set it aside for you.”

Jess’s grin widened. “Thank God. I’ve been smelling it all day.” She opened the lid as if a great treasure lay inside.

“So Ava said you got the word out about the new flavors or something?” Dulcie asked.

Jess nodded, her mouth already full. She moaned over the Coconut Brittle before answering. “Yeah, I still have quite a few contacts from my old job. None of them really know what I’m doing now, so I still have a little business cred.”

She grinned, but Dulcie felt frustrated that the world hadn’t given Jess a fair shake. She was obviously smart, but marketing was one of the first departments a company downsized in. It might be a long time before anyone started hiring again.

“Plus, I think some tweets kinda went viral. A couple people must have shown up, tasted how good your stuff is”—she popped the last of the brittle in her mouth—“and tweeted to their friends. Things snowball with the right product. And there is certainly nothing wrong with your product.”

Dulcie huffed. “Yeah, except this will be the last ever unveiling of anything new.”

Jess glanced at her, seriousness crossing her face.

“What about
you
making new stuff? I know you’ve got the talent.”

Dulcie shook her head. “I’ve tried before and gotten burned. I can’t risk muddying my mother’s legacy any more than I already have.”

Jess turned back to her chocolates. “Yeah, well, what about
your
legacy?” she said, kind of under her breath.

Dulcie glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. It was a rhetorical question, but one she had never thought about.

And thinking about it now made her uncomfortable. She stood up. “Thanks again for everything today,” she said, giving Jess a wave.

Dulcie hoped she would be okay for the night. Thinking about her out in the cold, with who knew what kind of danger, was starting to make her lose sleep.

“No, thank
you
,” Jess said, lifting the candy box. “Anything for your candy, Dulcie.”

Dulcie tried not to think about the way Jess emphasized the word
your
as she walked back into the shop.

Chapter Seven

Nick stood outside the glass door, staring at the neon sign. For neon, it had an enormous amount of charm. There was not a bit of neon anywhere near How Sweet It Is, and somehow this felt homier.

Scents of homemade goodness wafted around him, and all the way down the block.

He took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his hands.

He pushed open the door.

She was walking into the shop from the kitchen, a sadness reaching her eyes.

“Hi,” Nick said, trying a smile, holding out the single pink rose he’d brought for her. He thought he detected a hint of her expression softening as she looked at it.

“What are you doing here?” Dulcie asked.

“Hello to you, too,” Nick said, his expression never faltering. If there was one thing he’d learned, his smile seemed to give him the best chance with the ladies.

One of the girls from the other night cleared her throat behind the counter.

Dulcie looked up, startled. “Oh, uh, thanks, Ava. You may as well take off. I’ll close up.” She turned to Nick. Her hint she was ready to leave was less than subtle.

“Have a nice night,” Ava said, giving Nick a sideways glance.

“So, uh, I guess congratulations are in order?” he said, handing her the rose.

She took it, breathing it in and looking at it for a long time, before crinkling her brow. “For what?”

“For all your new flavors. Did you hire a cook or something?” He hated that he’d been wondering all day, but his nerves, or more accurately, his father’s sour attitude, had kept him away.

She squinted. “No, we did not,” she said.

He raised his eyebrows, surprised. “Oh, that’s great. I’m glad you guys are able to come up with some new stuff. I’m always telling Dad we should try new things, but he keeps saying we’re too busy, our customers come for our specialties.”

“Uh huh,” she replied, setting the rose on the counter.

His eyes followed her movements. “Guess I’ll have to try to convince him again, though, what with all the success you had today with your new flavors.”

She put one hand on her hip. “How do you know what today was like for us?” she asked, tilting her head.

“You’re all over the food blogs. People can’t stop talking about you. Honestly, I’m a little worried. Urban Fork went on and on about some kind of cookie dough thing. If you guys keep coming out with new stuff all the time, your shop is going to start outselling ours.” He finished with a little nervous chuckle.

“Maybe we will,” she said, but she still didn’t smile.

“So, uh, any of the new stuff left? After all I read, I’ve got to try your specialties.”

Her face got red. “No. There’s nothing left, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ve had a long day. I’d like to clean up and go home. I need to be back in early.”

He ran his hands through his hair. Her eyes followed the motion and a sense of hope bubbled up inside him. “Right, yeah. Well, I just wanted to say congratulations, and wish you luck with the Taste of the Year. I assume you’ve found something different for the competition?”

She raised one eyebrow. “What makes you say that? You were here when we taste tested.”

“Yeah, but I figured now with the new recipes and everything, you must have something up your sleeve.” He chuckled. “Once I started reading the blogs today, I almost got paranoid you were trying to mess with me. Make me think you had nothing, while all that time hiding the real thing.”

Her mouth dropped. “Are you kidding? What kind of person do you think I am?”

He opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

“I do not have time to play mind games. I was stupid enough to think you were sincere when you came over here with those to-die-for cupcakes, but I can see now you just wanted to snoop around, hoping to get an edge up for the competition. I just can’t believe I fell for it. Then on top of everything else, I let you get to me with your ‘I’ve tasted all these before, years and years ago’ crap. I felt pretty bad for a while. You’ve got a knack for making people feel like they don’t measure up, but you know what? You’re going to be the one who’s sorry in the end, because we
have
found a new recipe, and it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before. The judges are going to be blown away!” She panted, her frantic speech looking like it took quite the physical toll on her.

His mouth gaped and he had trouble finding a way to close it. He didn’t know whether it was because she actually thought he would do that, or because she thought the cupcakes were “to die for.”

After a long pause, he slowly shut his mouth and cleared his throat. “I’m glad you found a good recipe,” he said. “I’m sorry I bothered you.” He gave her a half-hearted smile, having no idea what his next move was.

But when he turned and walked out of the store, daring one last look back just before he lost sight of her, she was still staring.

…

Dulcie filled Lila in on everything the next morning as she sipped on her first cup of coffee. Dulcie was on her fourth.

Of course, she’d already been up for five hours.

“It seems to me you’re not giving this guy a fair shake.”

This was not the kind of support Dulcie expected to hear from her best friend. She blinked at her, waiting for her to take it back.

Lila rolled her eyes in her usual dramatic fashion. “Look, I was there when he supposedly ‘ripped your samples to shreds,’” she said, using the most sarcastic air quotes Dulcie had ever seen. “But what I heard was a bit different from what you
thought
you heard. That boy drooled all over your candies. He wouldn’t stop yapping about how he loved them and how they made a difference in his life when he was a kid or whatever.”

“He did not! He went on and on about how he’d seen this one before and that one was so old—”

“Oh my God, listen to yourself. Seriously, Dulce, sit and think about the words he used
exactly
.”

So she did. She remembered them very well, in fact.

“Now take into account that you asked for his opinion.”

She nodded. “Yeah, so?”

“And he is also totally into you and wants to help. I mean, what was he supposed to say? Even you knew the stuff we made wasn’t right for the competition, but he couldn’t come out and say that. He doesn’t want to upset you. Geez Dulce, do you not even see the way the fool looks at you?”

Dulcie’s head shot back. The entire night of taste testing flooded into her mind again. The way Nick looked while he was eating her candies, a little like Grams first thing in the morning with her daily box of sweets. And he’d brought over those to-die-for cupcakes to try to apologize…

Then last night he’d come to congratulate her, but she’d been in such a bad mood thinking about the shop and Jess and everything.

Oh crap, what had she done?

Lila was right; he had talked about how much he loved the candies. Cripes, he’d snuck to their store in the middle of the day to taste their treats, even when candy galore must have awaited him when he got home.

Wait…did he think theirs were better than his?

He
had
wandered around the kitchen a little bit in awe of everything.

She shook her head. Now she was really being crazy.

“Ah, methinks she’s starting to get it,” Lila said, studying Dulcie, her eyes sparkling.

Dulcie’s mind sped back over the times she’d been with Nick, trying to go through it like Lila would—as an observer.

“Shit,” Dulcie said under her breath, embarrassed she hadn’t seen what was right in front of her face. “I completely yelled at him. Even when he came all the way over to my store to make amends. Twice!”

“Yup, you sure did.”

Her head snapped to Lila. “Oh, gee, thanks for being so helpful.”

But of course Lila just giggled and shrugged, sipping her coffee smugly.

Dulcie flopped her head on her arms and groaned. “God, and last night he came over to congratulate me.”

“Yes, it would appear so,” Lila said.

Dulcie glanced up at her, not enjoying the self-satisfied expression one bit.

Her phone vibrated. She glanced at the text from Constance.

It’s happening again! 9-1-1!

Dulcie sighed. Of course, it was a dream come true to have the shop so busy, but at this rate she would flunk out of grad school faster than butter melted in the microwave.

“Wowza, that’s awesome!” Lila said, peering over her shoulder. “You better get going.”

“But…,” Dulcie said, looking around in a panic. “What am I supposed to do about Nick? And what about class?”

Lila shrugged in her usual nonchalant manner, like she didn’t have a care in the world. “You’ve got all day cooking to think about what to say to Nick, and class can always wait. Lord knows I’m in no rush to get to mine.”

Dulcie’s mouth dropped open. “This is my mother’s money I’m wasting if I flunk out of college.”

She raised one eyebrow. “And your mother’s legacy you’re carrying on with the candy shop.”

Dulcie scoffed. Though she really didn’t have anything to say to that. She dialed. Five rings later, the other end picked up.

“Grams, the shop is going insane. I’m supposed to be in class in five minutes but there is no way they can handle things without another pair of hands.”

Grams sighed. “You know I can’t, Dulcie.”

“Seriously? Even in a life or death situation?”

Dulcie wished she understood her grandmother’s point of view, but they were in very much the same boat. She’d lost her daughter, but let’s not forget, Dulcie had lost her mother.

“I would hardly call this life or death,” Grams said. “Besides, I’ve got a yoga class.”

“So your yoga class is more important than my getting an education.”

“At my age, you’ve got to keep in shape or your health goes south in a heartbeat.”

Dulcie sighed. “Grams, you have buns of steel; I don’t think missing one yoga class is going to be the death of you.”

“Well, that’s how laziness starts.”

“So really, you still won’t come down?” She tried to sound as pathetic as possible.

“I’m sorry,” Grams said, her voice going kind of whispery and shaky.

“Whatever,” Dulcie said. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Of course,” Grams said, her usual chipper self already coming back. Dulcie wondered how much of her chipperness was an act as she hung up.

“No dice?” Lila asked.

“I gotta go,” Dulcie said, dragging her bag off the table.

“See ya,” Lila said, looking mildly sorry for her.

The entire time Dulcie ran, her life choices kept rolling over and over in her mind. After yesterday, she had a bit of a hard time swallowing the point of the business classes. She already ran a business. And the one class she thought would help, the marketing class, seemed to be lost in the dark ages. If Jess hadn’t proven that yesterday, Dulcie didn’t know what would.

Still…she’d promised her mother, and Grams would never give up the rest of the college money for anything besides tuition. She’d given Dulcie’s mom her word, too. Of course, who knew how long the busy spell at the shop would even last. Dulcie could be back in class tomorrow, and given what she’d learned so far, she probably wouldn’t have missed much.

When she turned the last corner, every thought in her brain came to an immediate halt. A lineup snaked halfway down the street! At first she thought some new cell phone must have been released at the electronics store a few doors from the shop, but upon further inspection, her jaw pretty much hit the sidewalk. The line began at the door of Candy Land Confections
.

She almost pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

And then the panic set in.

The shop was busier than yesterday’s big reveal, even in the middle of a weekday!

She picked up the pace, running past the line to the back entrance.

“Hey,” Jess yelled as Dulcie fled toward the door.

“Hey, Jess,” she replied, out of breath.

Dulcie was about to sneak into the kitchen when an idea stopped her. She turned back to Jess. “Can you cook?”

She furrowed her brow. “A little, why?”

“You want a job for the day?” Dulcie asked, raising her eyebrows.

Jess’s expression was one of shock, but she quickly recovered and shrugged. “Sure,” she said, but seemed more than a little ecstatic for something to do.

“Come on, then,” Dulcie said, waiting for her to gather her stuff and shove it into the store so no one would come along and steal it. Not that she had much to steal, mind you, but Dulcie knew that when you hardly own anything, losing even the smallest item would be devastating.

Dulcie hated to admit it, but before she’d gotten to know Jess, she had a very specific idea of what a homeless person was. Sure, they were all down on their luck for whatever reason—many tragic, valid reasons—but she was ashamed to say she had this preconceived notion they would be dirty and never find anywhere to wash up or anything, or for that matter, even care about their appearance. But Jess was one of the cleanest people Dulcie knew. Jess had told her one day the Laundromat was one of her favorite hangouts. It made a lot of sense, especially since she had a part time job, which afforded her a few necessities like doing what little laundry she had, plus it was a nice warm place to hang out for a lengthy amount of time. Dulcie never questioned her about where she showered or anything, but Jess always looked as good as anyone.