by Rachel Astor
Heat crawled up the back of Nick’s neck. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Oh, no,” Dulcie said, seeming to enjoy filling him in. “He was quite adamant he speak with my Grams. Thought she’d sent me over as a spy to charm you out of your secrets.”
“Oh. My. God,” he said, though the way his face probably glowed red said so much more.
A few moments passed while he processed. Dulcie seemed to enjoy every one of those minutes.
“I am so sorry,” he finally said. “I don’t know what has gotten into him this year. I swear, normally he’s not like this.”
She shrugged.
“No, really. Out of nowhere, he’s become obsessed with the damned contest. He keeps giving me all this time for brainstorming sessions. I mean, I know he just wants me to succeed, but God, it’s torture.”
“You don’t like creating new candies?” Dulcie asked.
He paused, hating to admit he wasn’t as into designing candy as she was. “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It’s just not something I think about. To be honest, I really don’t feel like candy is my calling.”
“Really? You seemed so enthusiastic when you were tasting our samples.”
He nodded. “Oh, eating candies I can always get on board with; it’s the candy making I can’t seem to stomach anymore.”
“Wow,” Dulcie said. “What does your dad say?”
He looked up at her. “You’ve met him. You really think I’d be able to find a way to talk to him about it? I mean, I’ve tried bringing it up, told him what I really want to do with my life, but if he’s not looking at me like I’m crazy, he acts like I’ve committed treason or something.”
“Well, if he knew you were in here, he’d certainly think so.”
“Apparently. Not that it would stop me,” he said, grinning.
Dulcie looked down at her hands, though she seemed pleased.
Nick decided that something about it all, the competition, the so-called feud, the fact they were supposed to be enemies, made it all so much more…forbidden, like the last chocolate you know you shouldn’t eat. “Look, this is getting ridiculous. Can we please put an end to this stupid feud?” he said, getting serious.
“I would love to,” Dulcie said, “and I’m sure my Grams couldn’t care less about it anymore, since she’s only part of the business as a technicality. But your father…”
He sighed. “I know; he’s being insane. But I also know he lives for drama. He has his whole life. I really can’t see him giving it up now.”
Dulcie sighed, too.
“But,” he said, looking straight at her, “I’m a grown man. He doesn’t get a say in who my friends are or who I can spend time with.”
Dulcie tilted her head, raising her eyebrows. “Intriguing. You’re willing to go against the rules of the family for little old me?”
He took a step closer, shortening the distance between them to the width of the counter. “Yup,” he said.
She took a deep breath. “A little secrecy never hurt anyone, I suppose.”
He nodded. “Absolutely.” He leaned in even more. “What my father doesn’t know won’t kill him.”
“Right,” she said, swallowing hard.
Nick leaned a little farther forward, staring at her lips, and she licked them, making his heart nearly stop.
Nick breathed deeper and stood still…extra still so as not to break the perfection of the moment, but then he couldn’t help it. He leaned even more. He shouldn’t do it. This was all too complicated.
But he did it anyway. He reached over that counter and kissed her.
Her lips were as soft and sweet as any of the candies surrounding them. She leaned in over the counter, just a little at first, then farther, and Nick let his mind go completely. Let himself get lost in the swirl of delicious smells, the blood rushing through his body, and most of all, in Dulcie.
It was all the vanilla and chocolate and sugary goodness he thought it would be.
…
Dulcie could not wipe the dorky grin off her face. Lord knew she tried as she walked home from the shop, but if it stayed that way by the time she got home, Grams would be on her like a starving dog on kibble.
But the grin kept creeping back.
She prayed Grams would be gone on one of her Reiki outings or something.
Unfortunately, her sky blue Mini Cooper sat in the driveway.
Dulcie stood outside for a long time, attempting to compose herself, trying to think of bad things in her life to wipe the smile off her face. But the thing was, most things were pretty good. Of course school was not at an optimal level, but if she were truthful, the past few days of being away had been pure bliss. She shook the feeling out of her head and tried to think about money worries. Of course the shop was doing so much better, it was hard even to stress too much about that at the moment. The contest. She thought about the humiliation of the contest—yes that was it, except…thinking about the contest gave her nothing but excited goose bumps. She could not wait to show off her mom’s Salted Caramel Apple Enchantment.
She grimaced. It wasn’t real, of course, but she plastered one on anyway. Maybe she’d just sneak in quietly and Grams would think she never arrived.
Dulcie sucked in a deep breath and reached for the door handle, her fingers barely grazing the cool metal before it disappeared from her reach, the door swinging open.
“Well, are you ever coming in or what?” Grams asked. “I’ve been watching you with that goofy expression on your face for ten minutes.”
Shit. Why hadn’t she hidden in the bushes or something?
“Oh yeah, I was, uh…trying to release some of the stress of the day before I came in. I didn’t want you to worry or anything.”
“Uh huh, you sure looked stressed out,” Grams said, closing the door behind them.
Dulcie winced. “Well, um, good night,” she said, racing off.
She was so not ready to talk about what may or may not be something real before she even had one night to think about it.
“Hang on a minute,” Grams said, taking her hand.
Grams was nothing if not convincing. It also helped that she held Dulcie’s hand in a death grip.
“Uh, sure,” Dulcie said, trying to think of as many things to get her off the topic of romance as humanly possible.
“So, who’s the guy?” were the first words out of Grams’s mouth.
Dear God, how does she even do that?
“Oh, please,” Grams said. “I know a lovestruck face when I see one. And thank goodness, too, I was beginning to wonder if we had another old maid on our hands. ‘Bout time someone in this family broke the curse.”
“Curse?”
“Yeah, all of us getting knocked up and raising daughters by ourselves?”
Dulcie’s jaw dropped to the floor. She had certainly never heard this little tidbit of info before.
“Uh…I thought Grandpa died.”
“Well, yeah, he did,” she said, waving her hand. “But we never got married and it’s not like he was much good for anything anyway. Well, other than taking care of certain needs.…”
“Oh God, stop!” Dulcie yelled, a very unwanted visual clawing its way into her brain.
“And then your father, well…he was a cutie for sure, but not much in the responsibility department. I think he meant well, but it was for the best when he left. I mean, honestly, he was as much trouble for your mom to take care of as the baby on the way. I don’t think she could have done both at the same time.”
Dulcie smiled, thinking about her mom. Sure, it would be nice to meet her father, and she’d thought about him a lot growing up, but she couldn’t say she was traumatized by not having him in her life, since she didn’t know the difference and never had that strong a yearning for a dad. She’d always had two parents around anyway: Mom and Grams. Which seemed plenty enough…especially in her teenage years.
“But, stop changing the subject. Tell me everything.” Grams leaned
in, no doubt desperate for some juicy details.
Dulcie wasn’t quite sure how she was the one who changed the subject, since Grams was the one talking about curses and everything, but she knew better than to argue.
“Oh, uh, here,” Dulcie said, waving a small white box in front of her face.
Dulcie had one last ditch effort to distract her, and if anything would do it, candy might. “This is the entry for the Chocolatier’s contest.”
Grams’s eyes widened. “Finally,” she said, snatching the box from her hands.
Dulcie couldn’t help but giggle at her enthusiasm, and at the fact her distraction plan had worked.
Grams bit into the chocolate, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. “Your mom was a genius,” she said. “Sometimes I can’t believe someone so talented came out of me.”
“Uh, Grams, you speak four languages and could kick Chuck Norris’s ass in martial arts.”
She shrugged. “But I never had a true talent. Sure, I work at a lot of hobbies, but never anything I was completely passionate about.”
Dulcie shook her head, thinking about all the gorgeous flowers on the balcony Grams had grown from seed, the dancing competitions she continuously placed in, the chili cook-off last summer where she’d brought home the blue ribbon. Not a soul on Earth would think she was anything but an overachiever.
And yet, as with so many overachievers, she never quite seemed to live up to her own standards.
“Well I, for one, wish I was more like you. If I had your energy and interest in everything, I’d have a lot less trouble with school, I’m sure,” Dulcie said.
“Don’t ever say that,” her grams replied, her voice changing to a scolding tone. “I’ve worked a lifetime to find one passion, my true dream, and you’ve already found yours.” She shook her head. “I was always in awe of your mother and how she knew what made her happy.” She paused. “You’ve got it, too, you know. It’s a real shame you don’t even realize it.”
Dulcie crinkled her brow. “Of course I love making candy, Grams, who wouldn’t? I mean, it’s candy.”
Grams shrugged. “I didn’t. I mean, I like to sample a little every now and then…”
Dulcie giggled. “That’s putting it mildly.”
She shot her a mock stern look. “But I was never into creating like you or your mother.”
“Grams,” Dulcie said, annoyed. “You know as well as I do I only make Mom’s recipes. I don’t create.”
“Oh, please,” she replied. “You create candy every day. You’re so lost in dreaming up new things most of the time, I’m afraid you’re going to walk into something. It’s a miracle you haven’t broken a bone yet the way you wander in a cotton candy cloud all day long.”
Dulcie’s face burned. “I do not think about candy that much.”
Grams snorted. A real manly snort, too. Dulcie was surprised chocolate didn’t come out of her nose. “Sure.”
“I mean, I guess I think stuff up every now and again, but I am not obsessed like you say I am.”
“Oh, please. I just thank my lucky stars you finally have an interest in something other than the eight million ‘not-recipes’ in your head,” she said.
Dulcie pouted. Obviously she was a bit old to pout, but Grams was not in a mood to be argued with and she had no other defense. Grams made it clear she would never believe anything else, even though the truth was Dulcie didn’t think about candy recipes that much. Pretty much only when she was bored in class, which, let’s face it, was most of the time. Or when she walked to work. And maybe sometimes when she made candy, because who could help but be inspired by that?
But it was definitely not an obsession like Grams liked to think.
Really.
“So now that we’ve established you’re capable of thinking of something other than candy,” Grams said, leaning way in, “tell me everything!”
Dulcie’s face burned again. Well, it still burned from a minute ago but now it was on fire. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“You are the worst liar in the history of the world. How do you even get through life? What do you do when someone asks if you like her new muumuu?”
“Uh, I really don’t have many friends walking around in muumuus, Grams.”
“Oh, for goodness sake, you know what I mean. Now stop changing the subject and get to the man already.”
Again, Dulcie was pretty sure she hadn’t been changing the subject, but if she changed the subject to how Grams had been the one changing the subject, Grams’s head might explode.
“Honestly, there isn’t much to tell.” She chewed her lip.
Grams pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m going to have to coax this out of you one miniscule detail at a time, aren’t I?” She shook her head. “Okay, start at the start. Where did you meet him?”
“Um, at the jazz club.”
“Okay, good. And what’s his name?”
“Nick.”
“Good. Nick what?”
“Um…”
She sighed. “You don’t know his last name?”
Dulcie kept her mouth decidedly shut.
Grams squinted at her, seemingly realizing Dulcie knew more than she said. Dulcie kept her breathing as still and steady as possible and took great care to not move a muscle on her face.
Grams blinked.
Dulcie exhaled.
“Fine then, what does he do?”
Crap.
“Um…he works for his father.”
She rolled her eyes. “Dulce, seriously? What is going on with you?”
She shrugged. “Nothing. Besides, I don’t get what all this grilling is about. Things aren’t even serious with Nick or anything. We barely even know each other.”
She squinted again. “You’re changing the subject again. I love you hon, but by God you can be a right pain in my butt sometimes.”
“Um, sorry?”
“So what does his father do, then?”
Dulcie sighed. It was time. “He runs a candy store.”
She kind of wished she had a video camera, or had the guts to whip out her phone to record, because Grams’s face went through quite the multitude of expressions in a matter of seconds. First, she tilted her head, curious. Then it straightened back up as the wheels of her mind began cranking faster, her eyebrows sloping lower and lower until finally they shot to the sky, her eyes going wide. “Dear God!” She stood, almost knocking over the vase of flowers on the table.
“What?” Dulcie asked. If she hadn’t been so terrified, she would have laughed out loud.
Grams’s usually composed face morphed into a state of panic. Dulcie swore she wasn’t even thinking about how her wrinkles must look at all.
“No…,” Grams said, her eyes searching for any other explanation. “Not the devil spawn!”
Dulcie’s mouth opened wide. “Come on, don’t you think that’s a little dramatic?”
Grams breathed through her nose like a bull and finally sat back down. She took a couple deep breaths and blew them out slowly, her mouth puckered into a tiny O. “But…the feud,” she said, losing her steam a little.
“Well, if this feud was so damned important, why have I never heard about it until I had a run in with Mr. Sugarman?”
“You talked to that…that…animal?”
Dulcie snorted. “Animal, Grams, really?”
“By God, yes, he’s an animal. A wretched excuse for a human being.” She shivered. “Oh, Dulcie, you can’t…you can’t see that boy anymore.”
Dulcie rolled her eyes. “Oh, God. No one in the world will even tell us what the feud is about, so I hardly think it warrants us staying away from each other,” she said.
“They are awful, awful people. You can’t trust anything they say or do.”
Dulcie closed her eyes and shook her head. “You’ve never even met Nick.”
She waved her hand. “That’s irrelevant. If he was raised by that…beast, then he didn’t have a chance in hell at becoming a dec
ent human being.”
“He’s nice…”
“Trickery! It’s all trickery to find a way to take you down.”
Dulcie had guessed the conversation wouldn’t go well, but this was more dramatic than she’d expected. “He’s not even that into the business.”
“You’ve got to get that boy out of your head. Who knows what kind of damage he’s already done.” She stood again, pacing. Her eyes got wide. “You said you ran into that animal?”
Dulcie nodded, figuring it was easier than trying to argue he wasn’t an animal. She wasn’t Mr. Sugarman’s biggest fan anyway.
“Where? Where could you possibly have seen him?”
“At their store. I went over to see Nick.”
“You went to How Sweet It Is?” Her voice had become an almost unintelligible squeak.
Dulcie took a deep breath. “Okay, I get it. I understand you and Mr. Sugarman had some sort of falling out years ago or whatever, but that was a long time ago. It doesn’t have anything to do with Nick and me.”
Grams shook her head like she still couldn’t believe Dulcie wasn’t getting it. “They practically ruined this family and all you can say is it has nothing to do with you? I swear to God, the stress of it all was what made your mother sick.”
“Grams, Mom had cancer. Some stupid feud didn’t give it to her.”
She looked at Dulcie then, right in the eyes for the first time since she’d dropped the bomb. “I can tell you without a doubt it didn’t help her any.”
Dulcie’s shoulders slumped and she looked away. If Grams really believed that, nothing would get through to her. “Look, I’m sorry. I like this guy. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I liked someone?”
“Goddamn it,” Grams said under her breath. “That’s what makes this even worse. Just listen for a minute, okay? You want to hear about the feud? I’ll tell you about the feud.”
Dulcie nodded. She didn’t know if it was from talking about her mom, or the frustration of trying to make Grams understand, but she found herself fighting tears all of a sudden.
“When your mother and I first opened up Candy Land, things were magical. Everything in the world seemed to be going our way. Your mother had been having such a hard go of it with a daughter to raise on her own and everything… Anyway, things were looking up and she had a gift, I mean a real gift for candy design.”