Chapter 5 #2
Not that she was against family loyalty. It was a big reason she was here too, the reason she’d left Jonathon Island in the first place…eager to go away so she could learn all there was to learn about making fudge, so she could one day return and make Hart Family Fudge the best on the island.
And she had learned. She’d learned so many little techniques to improve her candy making, tricks that expanded her knowledge, gave her a wider perspective on best practices.
There was just the pesky part about running an actual business that had managed to escape her. But she was older now. Wiser. Knew that she couldn’t totally ignore the business side of things.
Especially if Declan—Mr. CEO himself—was her competitor.
Huffing, Lily rounded her shoulders and stalked to the supply shelf in the corner of the lobby, lined with boxes, ribbons, sea salt, caramel, sugar, and several other ingredients for easy grabbing by employees who would cook in the copper kettles and use the marble tables to demonstrate fudge making for passersby.
The kitchen was also lined with pots and extra tables for those times when they wanted privacy for their creations.
She ran her fingers along the rim of one of the copper kettles, one her mom had used countless times. So many memories.
And if she had to play nice in order to hold on to them, then so be it.
“Fine,” she ground out between her teeth.
“What’s that?”
She turned, found him watching her. “I said fine. We can order supplies together. Or whatever.”
Declan nodded, no indication of what he was thinking as he pulled a notebook and pen from his briefcase. “Have you already placed your order for baking supplies?”
She didn’t want to answer him. It felt like sharing insider knowledge. How would she keep her recipes secret if he knew what she was ordering?
He tapped his pen. “You have to order supplies.”
“Seriously? Give me a whole second to make a list.” Which probably started with a plan of what she might be making, right? “My mom has some supplies left from her catering. I was going to start with those and then see what I needed.”
“I’m guessing it’ll go quickly, yeah? What with the way you like to experiment.” He froze, frowned, cleared his throat. “I mean, the way you used to.”
Oh, look who was flustered. But before she could come up with a reply, he shook his head and added, “Anyway, with the drop in tourism right now, I think we should target about one-third of full weekly production, so I’ll adjust the order accordingly.
” He punched something into his phone and turned it to face her.
“Here’s my estimate of what you’ll save if you’re buying the same basic ingredients I am for about eight to ten batches of fudge per day. ”
She had to walk closer to read the screen. His calculator app was open and revealed a number higher than she’d expected. “Fine.”
“Fine, you’ll give me your order?”
Dropping into a squat, Lily fished in her backpack and pulled out several loose pieces of paper. To-do list. Grocery list. A sort of fudge shop supply list.
“Here.” She stood and thrust the list in his direction.
“Wait—” She pulled it back and tore off the bottom section.
The part that had her next-level, top-secret, epicurean delight ingredients.
She shoved the torn end into the small pocket on her leather leggings and handed the rest of the list back to him.
He took it, a quirk to his brow. Oh, yes. He wanted to ask. She could tell.
“It’s need-to-know.” She crossed her arms. “And you don’t need to know.” She’d get that stuff on her own, thank you very much.
“Whatever you say.”
Declan went back to his computer and typed something in. Lily rounded the counter and stood behind him.
“Do you need something?” he asked.
“Just making sure you aren’t resorting to sabotage.”
“I don’t need to resort to sabotage to beat you.”
“Mm-hmm. I’ll just watch what you order.” She leaned against the counter while he pulled up several websites, entering their supply order and making notes on the page beside his computer.
Shoot. He smelled good. A little too good.
She’d have to bring a nose plug to work tomorrow.
Finally, he turned the screen toward her. “See? Whatever you think, I’m not out to destroy you. At least by cheating.” He whispered that last part. “Does everything look okay?”
She reviewed the list. Of course, it was all perfect. Precise. So very Declan. “Yes. Thank—” But nope. She wouldn’t thank him.
“What was that?” He cupped a hand to his ear. “I believe the words you are looking for are thank you .”
Was he teasing her? Or just being a downright jerk?
It didn’t matter. She refused to let him get to her.
Lily smiled. Kept her voice sweet. “I will say thank you when you hand over the keys to my fudge shop.”
“I don’t have a key?—”
“Which you will. Because I can fudge circles around you, Slick, and you know it.” She added a wink, picked up her backpack, and walked into the back kitchen.
And refused to acknowledge that maybe, just a little, she was shaking.
* * *
Declan refused to let Isaac be right.
Lily was not going to get her claws back into him. She wasn’t.
He wouldn’t allow it.
Setting his head back against the exterior wall of the fudge shop, Declan groaned as he waited for the ferry freight delivery that was supposed to arrive any moment.
He’d spent the last half a week drafting his business plan, strategizing a marketing plan, and pulling all the original Kelley’s Classic Fudge recipes together.
Now it was late Saturday afternoon, and this was the first time he’d been still in days.
And of course, where did his thoughts automatically land?
On Lily Hart. And the fact that she’d barely said a word to him, which had only made him, stupidly, uber-aware of whenever she walked into the room.
Felt a little like a game, who would look up first.
Clearly not her. Oh, the woman was cold. But he knew that, didn’t he?
Shoot. Probably he couldn’t blame her because he’d been the one to tell her to grow up. Which she should, thanks, but…yeah, that hadn’t come out quite like he’d meant it.
And then he’d actually teased her. Like, what? They might be friends? Sheesh, even he wanted to bang his head against the wall because it was like a red flag to a bull.
Lily Hart would use everything in her arsenal to destroy him.
Thankfully, they’d mostly avoided each other since then—him staying holed up in the small fudge shop office beside the storeroom, her experimenting in the kitchen.
He assumed so, anyway. The few times he’d trudged through to grab a cup of coffee or his lunch from the fridge, it had looked like a vat of chocolate had exploded all over the counters and kettles.
And then there was the time they’d passed in the tiny hallway, outside the restroom, and he’d had to hold his hands at his sides instead of reaching up to swipe away the chocolate smeared on her cheek.
Muscle memory. That’s all it was.
Don’t get crazy.
The rumble of an ATV emerged from the east, where Ferry Street joined Main, and Declan pushed himself off the wall as Luke Harris—one of the ferry company’s delivery men—puttered toward Declan, toting this weekend’s supply load.
His was one of the few permitted vehicles on the island during the season, though Declan had heard that the horse-drawn drays of the past would be back once the horses returned to the island next year.
Declan waved and stepped off the sidewalk onto the cobblestones. “Hey, Luke.”
The guy had been several years ahead of Declan in school, and now lived in Port Joseph working for the ferry company along with his brother Martin.
“Welcome back, Declan. Looks like someone’s opening shop.
” Luke, a former basketball player with his tall, lanky frame, hopped from the ATV and walked to the back of the utility trailer.
“We sure are.” We. He cringed.
Luke lowered the gate of the trailer. “Mind if I run over to your mom’s place real quick and grab a chicken salad sandwich?” He patted his stomach. “It’s been a while since breakfast, and Martha’s got the best sandwiches in Michigan.”
“Sure. I’ll unload.”
“Thanks, buddy. The packages at the very back are yours. The rest are going to the hotel.”
“No problem. Enjoy the grub.”
Luke hurried across the street, and Declan loosened the cargo straps, glancing at his watch.
Hopefully Lily would get here soon so the supplies wouldn’t melt in the heat of the day.
He was definitely over this not-having-his-own-key situation.
The sooner Seb got back, the better. How long did a cruise last, anyway?
Hopefully it wasn’t one of those around the world in a year ventures.
Now that the supplies were here, he could open the shop this week. Once he got his first batches of fudge made, of course.
Of course. He’d taken a look at the family recipe so many times he had it memorized. But the entire idea twisted his gut. He didn’t know the first thing about fudge.
Lily, however, made it look easy.
The few times he’d snuck into Hart Family Fudge when they’d been together for those two short months—after hours, so no one from either of their families would see them—he’d been positively captivated watching her heat and swirl ingredients together in a large copper kettle.
Then, when it had reached the right temperature, he’d lean against the counter and follow her every movement as she lined up the framing on a marble slab, poured the liquid gold inside, and paddled it all into something edible.
No, more than edible. Something delectable.
Aaaaand there he went again. Thinking about Lily. About them, together. Once upon a disastrous time. No happy ending there—and probably he needed to focus on that, thank you so much, if he wanted to win this thing.