A Winter of Sweet Secrets

Chapter One

T here wasn’t a chocolate caramel truffle for sale in all of Kansas City that tasted as delicious as her Grammie’s.

But that hadn’t stopped Jovi Wright from sampling the options.

The best remedy for heartache had always been her grandmother’s sweet treats.

Since she was thousands of miles from Evergreen, Alaska, a local candy shop would have to do.

She’d stopped at three so far, and none crafted anything close to the amazing concoctions her grandparents offered at Evergreen Candy Company.

How hard was it to make a chunk of milk chocolate that contained the perfect amount of smooth, buttery caramel?

Grammie and Grandpa had always made it look easy.

Jovi tucked her chin into her collar to shield herself against the frigid air swirling around her and waited for the light at the intersection to change so she could cross.

Thick snowflakes fell from a gray sky, and impatient drivers jockeyed for position in the rush hour traffic.

She should have been on her honeymoon in Fiji right now, not trudging through a blustery January storm.

Alone. She might as well continue her quest.

After one more sample and a sugar rush, Jovi tugged her key chain from the pocket of her puffy black winter coat and climbed the stairs to the over-the-garage apartment she’d rented in August.

August. Back when she’d been hopelessly in love with her then-fiancé, Michael, and thrilled to be living less than an hour from the military base where he was stationed.

The paper bag of bakery treats from the cute place on East Third bumped against her leg.

Shivering as snowflakes landed on the bare skin at the base of her neck, Jovi quickly unlocked her door and stepped inside.

Thankfully, the short-term rental had come fully furnished.

This place had been the ideal nest for her. Until she’d been dumped.

Now getting out of Kansas City couldn’t come soon enough. She’d only planned to stay six months anyway, long enough to fulfill her contract as a traveling nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital and walk down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams.

More like a nightmare. Michael had called the whole thing off in October, only twelve days before they were supposed to say I do .

Her throat tightened, but she quickly closed the door, hoping the extra forceful slam might banish the painful emotions before they spilled over.

Because she couldn’t bear feeling this way anymore.

She’d wallowed long enough. She’d cried for three days straight when he’d ended their relationship.

Then came the coping with plenty of carbs and sweets, and she even let her coworkers from the hospital take her to the domestic thriller movie everyone raved about.

Now that the holidays were over and the new year had begun, she just wanted to be over it. Over him .

The hollow ache in her chest proved forgetting was easier said than done.

Sighing, she set the bag down on the distressed cream-colored console table in the entryway, then pulled off her wet boots.

Her contract had expired. The message in her inbox required a decision.

Sign a contract for thirteen weeks in a new location?

Or find something permanent here? She made more money as a traveling nurse, but moving now seemed exhausting and stressful.

She caught a glimpse of the dark circles under her eyes in the oval mirror, cringed, then turned away to hang up her keys and her jacket on the hooks by the door.

Pulling off the knit beanie, damp with melting snowflakes, she felt her chest pinch at yet another reminder of her ex.

She’d bought the hat because he’d insisted everybody rooted for Kansas City’s football team.

Tomato-red had never been her color, and to be honest, she couldn’t care less about football.

She preferred downhill skiing or snowboarding or snowshoeing—the activities she’d learned as a child that got her outside enjoying nature.

Sitting around watching football hadn’t been her thing.

It had been Michael’s thing, so she’d adapted to fit his preferences.

“A lot of good that did me,” she grumbled, then grabbed her bag and strode into the kitchen.

The white quartz countertop, stainless steel appliances and modern oil-rubbed bronze fixtures made up for the size of the place.

There wasn’t room for a table, but that didn’t matter because she ate her meals at the bar dividing the kitchen from the living area.

The brown leather padded stools were comfy enough.

She hadn’t bothered to cook much anyway.

Takeout was easy to purchase on her way home from the hospital, and when Michael came to visit, he’d preferred a local restaurant that had oversize televisions hanging on every square inch of available wall space.

She’d been looking forward to finding a new place together.

Yeah, it was probably going to be military housing, and following him to yet another new location had provoked more than one concerned comment from her family.

But it wasn’t like she was tied to any particular city as a traveling nurse.

So she’d chased their doubts away with daydreams of how they’d be together finally, husband and wife.

She could make any house a home with her new husband by her side.

Now here she sat, trying to soothe her heartache with more sugar.

As a nurse working in health care, she knew this was the worst possible coping strategy.

Her scrubs still fit, though, and the guilt hadn’t motivated her to change her ways.

Maybe she’d balance out the sweets with leftover beef and broccoli takeout.

While she waited for her food to reheat in the microwave, she filled a glass with water and carried it into the living area.

Her landlord had upgraded the furniture before Jovi moved in.

The beige microfiber love seat and matching chair with a beige and yellow geometric pattern weren’t her favorite, but both were quite comfortable.

The wooden coffee table, TV stand, and side table all sported the same creamy purposely distressed finish.

Jovi had purchased new spring-themed decor yesterday, including cute throw pillows with fringed edges, and a scented candle that smelled nothing like the sea air or a beach cottage as the label implied, but she sort of liked the images on the box.

Maybe her next assignment needed to be in a place where she could dip her toes in the ocean on the regular.

Sighing, she reached for the remote and scrolled until she found a streaming service featuring a one-hour special with an entertaining stand-up comedian.

Hopefully, she’d be able to avoid all the commercials featuring couples in love during the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day.

Because now that Christmas and New Year’s Day had passed, reminders of love and happy couples were everywhere.

Her heart wasn’t ready. Being unexpectedly single was a very long slog.

Growing up in a town called Evergreen, where her grandparents ran a candy company that sold out of their signature chocolate boxes every year, had fueled Jovi’s affection for holidays.

Until this year. Until Michael’s cruel decision snatched the future she’d longed for from her grasp.

The muted sound of her phone ringing stopped her from retrieving her dinner. She pushed to her feet and crossed to the door, patting her jacket pockets until she found her phone. Her sister Isabel’s name filled the caller ID. Oh, no. She’d promised to call her back this afternoon.

“Hey, Isabel. I’m sooo sorry. I completely forgot.”

“What happened?”

“I was on my way to pick up my wedding dress from the lady who did the alterations but got distracted by a sale for home decor, then I wanted to get some chocolate from a new bakery and…” She trailed off.

Embarrassed yet again that she’d been such an airhead.

Isabel was in charge of operations at the family’s candy company, served as the youngest mayor ever elected in Evergreen, and had a thriving, healthy marriage.

She probably never forgot the next task on her perfectly planned to-do list.

“Did you get the dress back?”

Isabel’s hopeful tone made Jovi squeeze her eyes shut. She didn’t want to admit the truth.

“No, I couldn’t bring myself to go inside. I’ll call her later and ask her to donate it to charity.”

Isabel gasped. “But that’s your dress. Don’t you want to—”

“Keep it in case he changes his mind? Doubt that will happen.”

Not that she hadn’t entertained the idea of Michael showing up outside her door, declaring he’d been a fool.

“I just thought you might want to resell the dress,” the always practical Isabel suggested. “Maybe recoup some of your money.”

In the kitchen, Jovi opened the microwave, but her leftovers had lost their appeal. This conversation always had the same result. Isabel restated her disgust over Michael’s choices, and Jovi felt ashamed for somehow defending him.

Jovi pushed the steaming food around on her plate with a fork. “Is my canceled wedding the reason why you called?”

“No.” Isabel blew out a long breath. “I need your help.”

“Uh-oh.” Jovi left the fork on her plate and leaned against the counter. “What’s going on?”

“Long story short, the company’s been struggling financially for months,” Isabel said. “And we’d hoped the demand for our products would increase during the holidays, but sadly, sales aren’t where we need them to be.”

“I don’t understand.” Jovi’s stomach tightened. “The candy and chocolate have been bestsellers for years. What happened?”