It hadn’t always been easy, but it had always been worth it. Seeing the look in her grandma’s eyes when she saw the finished product would always hold a special place in her heart. Her grandpa had died seventeen years ago, and she wanted to make them both proud.
The family’s heritage was extremely important to them and they’d passed that on to her. She could trace her line back to Jamestown around 1663, and San Juan even further back.
Having the recognition of the town was nice, and it would be a lie if she denied enjoying the awards, but what she really loved was the expression on her customers faces when they walked around the store.
Everyone enjoyed candy or chocolate, or at least they should. Her family made sure she and Callie could speak fluent Spanish and it was one of the best decisions they could have made. She loved seeing the looks on her customers’ faces when she spoke to them in their language. In college, she learned enough French and German to get by. One never knew when they would need it in a business setting. She was currently studying Mandarin, but it was harder than expected, but she would plow ahead. She might be a lot of things, but a quitter wasn’t one of them.
The one thing she hadn’t expected, and didn’t enjoy, was the frenemies made along the way. No one had a problem with her opening a business, no; everyone had been supportive until her business flourished, then they turned jealous. She and the mayor still didn’t get along after he tried to get her into bed and failed. She grew a thick skin after that and tried to avoid him at all costs. It didn’t seem to matter to his wife that he was a lying, cheating bastard. She had a feeling he wouldn’t be reelected. She sure as hell hadn’t voted for him. For protection against anything he might try to pull, she kept the video surveillance from her store of the night he came in just as she was closing and made advances toward her.
A knock on the door grabbed her attention. “Yes.”
Carrie poked her head around, a nervous look on her face that reflected in her voice. “Lauren, do you have a minute?”
“Of course.” Carrie had turned nineteen last month and had worked for Lauren for close to two years. Her evaluation was coming up and, along with that, a raise. Lauren directed her to the chair in front of the desk. “What’s on your mind?”
Carrie sucked in a deep breath. “Okay.” She clutched the armrests of the chair, her knuckles turning white. “I love this job. I don’t want to lose it.”
The girl looked on the verge of tears. “Carrie, you’ve done nothing to warrant getting fired; in fact, you’ve exceeded my expectations. The customers love you, especially the children.”
She shook her head. “You won’t want me on the front line anymore.”
“What is it?”
Carrie took a deep breath, then blurted out, “I’m pregnant.”
Lauren started. That’s not what she’d expected. She schooled her expression to neutral. “How does that make you feel?”
“Scared.” Her eyes teared up. “It was stupid. I was stupid.”
“If you’re throwing out stupids you should also give one to your boyfriend.”
Carrie chuckled. “We both were.”
“Does he know?”
Carrie nodded. “I told him last night. He was surprised, but he wasn’t angry. He vowed to take care of us both, but we’re so young. I don’t know if I can do this. I love this job, and you just helped me sign up for courses at the community college. I don’t want to throw all our hard work away. Then there’s my mom.” She dabbed at her watery eyes. Lauren knew Carrie’s mom was a strict Christian. “She’s not going to like this. Larry’s looking for an apartment for us now. He’s working at the lumber mill, but they’re getting ready to lay off and he was the newest hire. I don’t know what we’re going to do.” She stood abruptly. “And here I am throwing all this on you. My boss. Oh, God.” She headed toward the door.
Lauren caught up with her at the door, then guided her back to the couch and sat beside her. “Take a deep breath. Another. Good.” She rubbed Carrie’s back until she calmed down. “I’m going to ask you a few questions and all I need are yes or no answers. Can you do that?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to go to college?”
“Yes.”
“Continue working here?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to move in with Larry?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to keep the baby?”
“Yes.” She buried her head in her hands. “Oh, God.”
Lauren wrapped an arm around Carrie’s shoulders. Lauren was fond of the girl. From what she’d seen of Larry and from what Carrie had said, he was a good boyfriend and he loved her. “You don’t have to worry about your job. I’m not going to fire you because you’re pregnant, and if you want to keep working the front register, you can, but if you want to move to another position, we’ll figure something out. As for an apartment. Let me talk to Ollie and see if she knows any budget apartments that are available. Also, your health insurance package covers your pregnancy. You’re not alone, even if it feels that way.”
“Why,” Carrie hiccuped, “are you doing this for me?”
“Because I like you. And everyone, at some point in their lives, could use a hand. If Larry ends up being laid off, I can ask around and see if anyone I know is hiring. From what you’ve said, he’s a hard worker.”
“He is.” She raised her head up and sniffled, accepting the tissues Lauren handed her. “He wants to be a pastry chef but doesn’t have the time or the money. He was turned down for the two culinary grants he applied for.”
That gave her a few ideas for Larry, but she wouldn’t mention it to Carrie in case they didn’t pan out. “First things first. Are you going to tell your mom right now?”
“No. She would flip out to know Larry and I are having sex.”
“So, let me call Ollie and see what she says, then I’ll ask around and see if anyone is hiring. Now,” Lauren stood and pulled Carrie up, bringing her into a hug, then pushed her away to arm’s length, “go get yourself cleaned up and think about whether there is another position that you’d be interested in.”
“I like working with the customers, but I thought it would always be neat to work in the packing department.”
“Are you sure?” It was a more demanding job than working the front register.
“Let me think on it. I know it’s harder work than what I’m doing now.”
“Take a few days and we’ll see if we can’t get everything rolling.”
“You’re the best, Lauren. You really are.” Carrie gave her a smile before she walked out.
Poor kid. Lauren sat and picked up her phone. Ten minutes later, she hung up with Ollie and opened her laptop to get back to work. The quicker she finished, the quicker she could explore Noe’s new creations.
Two hours later, she entered the kitchen. Noe stood next to their latest hire, watching as he demonstrated a technique using chocolate. When he finished, he joined Lauren.
“His work is coming along,” Noe said.
“Good. Show me what you’ve been working on.” Noe moved them to a long counter set in the center of the room and indicated several chocolates. “When will they be ready for the store?” She bit into a chocolate and coconut concoction she’d asked him to prefect. “Delicious.”
“Another week or so. I’ve almost got the menu for the food festival finalized. I know you wanted plenty of coconut options and I’ve added a guava filled chocolate and polvo de amor.”
She smiled at his pronunciation of the words. From time to time, his French accent made it difficult for his words to translate through. As it did this time. “That’s a good idea. Might give the lovers in the crowd a bit of a boost.” Polvo de amor, or love powder, was made from grated coconut meat, mixed with sugar, then placed in a kettle to cook rapidly. It was served crisp and golden.
“I plan on serving it alone or as a topping on the chocolate custard I’m making.”
She only pla
nned to sell candies and chocolates at the event, but Noe made it clear that they needed to get a read on how well desserts they offered would sell.
“I have complete faith in you.” She plucked up a couple more chocolates from the counter on the way out of the kitchen and popped one in her mouth. As she walked into the store, she stopped, spotting a familiar face.
Briley, one of her most frequent customers, and her daughter, Griffin, were browsing the jellied candy section. Griffin never failed to lift Lauren’s spirits, even if they didn’t need lifting. She handed Carrie the other chocolate, then headed in Briley’s direction.
“See anything you like?”
“Lauri.” Griffin squealed, then held up her arms for Lauren to pick her up. Lauren usually only allowed her sister to call her that but made an exception for Griffin. Children would always be her weakness.
Lauren picked the eager child up. “Hello, Reinita.” Griffin giggled at the nickname, meaning little queen. “Briley, what brings you two by today?” They last came in the store a couple of days ago.
Briley groaned. “Evan and his friends ate all of my chocolate and Griffin wanted to tag along. And I promised Leah I would bring her back some spicy chocolates.”
“Follow me.” She carried Griffin securely in her arms until they entered the chocolate section, where she handed her to Briley. Lauren walked behind the counter and picked up a pair of tongs. She normally didn’t wait on the customers, but Briley was one of her best. “How many and what kinds did Leah want?” Leah usually didn’t come in with Briley, but the one time she did meet the other woman, she knew exactly what drew Briley to her. The significant age between the two women gave her pause, but their love was evident and the last thing she would ever do was judge such a successful relationship.
“Give me a dozen of the dark chocolate and a dozen of the other mixed spicy chocolates.” Lauren picked and filled a medium sized box, then put it aside. “Give me a dozen of your fruit filled ones, and two pounds of your mixed nut chocolates.” Briley turned her attention to her daughter. “Griff, do you want something?” Griffin made grabby motions at the milk, dark, and white chocolate shaped animal ones. “Give us half a pound of those.”
Lauren had been unsure about the plain shaped zoo animals, but they were a huge hit with the children. “Anything else?” she asked, handing a grinning Griffin a giraffe shaped piece.
“I need to put in a custom order for my normal amount of assorted chocolate dipped fruit for our house opening next Thursday. It’s been a good year so far. We’re on track to flip a half dozen more houses before December.”
“That’s wonderful.” Lauren grabbed the pen and pad and waved George off. Every time Briley had a house opening, she would order from them.
“Dark, milk, and white chocolate. Strawberries, oranges, bananas, pineapple, and cherries. You choose what combination of chocolate and fruit works best.”
“No blueberries this time?”
Briley looked sheepish. “No, the last time I ate them all.”
Lauren chuckled as she calculated Briley’s total with her business discount. Briley tried to object when Lauren included the business discount to her regular order, but Lauren insisted. “You’re one of my best customers.”
“All right,” Briley conceded, then set Griffin down. She watched as Griffin ran to the corner of the room housing the chocolate lollipops and stared up at the display. Briley leaned closer to the counter and said softly, “Leah and Evan will be in next week to order things for Griff’s birthday. I’m not sure what they’re after but be forewarned, I believe they’re going all out.”
“I can’t wait.” Lauren handed over Briley’s bag and kept her eyes glued to them until they were out of sight.
“She’s a pistol, that one,” George said. Apparently, he’d watched the transaction.
“Griffin is a sweetie.”
“I’m talking about Briley.”
Lauren chuckled. “Yes, her too.” She made her way to her office, then slumped into her desk chair. Seeing Briley with her daughter made her remember when she’d come out to her parents. They hadn’t taken the news as well as she’d hoped, but they’d quickly educated themselves and were, along with her sister, her number one supporters. However, her mother had made it clear that being a lesbian didn’t mean she couldn’t give her grandkids. When younger, Lauren had argued that her focus needed to be on business, and in the last few years that she was too old, but her mom had insisted she wasn’t.
Days like today, or when she spent time with Ollie’s children, or her nephew, made her want children, but when she was at home, curled up on the couch with a glass of wine and watching true crime documentaries, she wasn’t sure about wanting her own. For now, she would continue to shower her nieces and nephews with all her attention and not worry about children of her own yet.
On Friday morning, Ainslon ventured across town to check out the building for sale. She kept her eyes averted from the colorful sign that hung above Lauren’s store. For the moment, she needed to stay on track. Stay focused. She took a few up-close photos of the building, stepped back to take in the full effect, and snapped a few more. Easily four times the size of their store, Ainslon couldn’t help but be impressed. The mix of wood and red brick lining the outside made the exterior pop.
The front of the building consisted of six large windows, in contrast to the top floor that only had three. The building sat on a corner lot and had a side entrance with a staircase leading to the second floor. That would be perfect for game nights. They could close the first floor and concentrate on the gamers. It would be an amazing purchase, but even with their current profits, she didn’t know if it would be possible. First, they needed to call the owner and inquire about their stipulations since it seemed they were being difficult to deal with.
Instead of fighting the draw of the store next door, she turned toward it and glanced up at the large C and C sign. The larger purple swirling Cs on a gray with black background instantly drew her eyes. She walked a few feet to her left and took in the colorfully decorated windows. If she had to describe them, she would settle on whimsical. It was a bad idea to stay here and gawk. While her exhaustive internet search of Lauren gave some information, it couldn’t tell her all she wanted to know. Good grief, she only met her once. How could a simple infatuation get out of hand so quickly? Maybe she should go back to the bookstore. She had the information she came for.
She adjusted her backpack straps, glanced through the window one last time, and turned away from the store, only to run straight into Lauren. Ainslon clung to Lauren’s forearms to keep them both from falling. When she realized where her hands were, she jerked them back.
“Are you all right?” Lauren asked, holding her hands out, ready to catch Ainslon if she slipped.
Lauren looked even better than the first few times Ainslon had seen her. She wore those damned tailored pants again, today in black, and a light gray long-sleeve t-shirt. The material felt as soft as it looked. Today, Lauren wore her hair pinned up in a clip.
Ainslon pushed her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Lauren studied her with, what she deemed, concern and caution. “I’m fine.” She waved a hand in the air. “I should be asking you if you’re all right. I ran into you.” She flashed what she hoped was a sincere smile.
“I’m all right.” Lauren took a step back. “Are you coming in or going to look through the window?” She arched her brow.
Ainslon wanted to kick herself. She should have never come here. Seeing Lauren in front of her, in the flesh, only solidified her crush even more. Not to mention, she’d been on her mind since their first meeting. “Sure. I mean. I was going in.”
Lauren smiled and opened the door to allow her in. Ainslon walked through and stepped to the right before she stopped in awe at her first look around. Why hadn’t she been to the store before? The place was amazing and the smell, divine.
The hardwood floor was stained in numerous shades of purple, yellow, and gr
een. Dozens of large-scale replicas of famous candies hung from the ceiling and hundreds of different types of candy adorned the walls. A dozen rainbow colored candy dispensers were built into the opposite wall. Hanging above the wall, behind the counter, were two different characters; a lollipop and a chocolate bar, wearing matching plaid coveralls. From all her research, the two characters had been associated with the store since it opened. Even the kids running around didn’t deter from the overall atmosphere. The smell alone would invade her dreams. She was utterly charmed. “Wow!”
Lauren came to stand in front of her. “Have you ever been here before?”
“No, but now I wish I had. This place is amazing! No wonder Justin loves it so much.”
“Would you like a tour?”
“I would love one.” The words slipped out before she had time to think about them.
Lauren grinned, walked to the corner of the room, and motioned with her hand around them. “The building is divided into several different areas. This one deals mostly in candy, the other one in chocolate, and we have a kitchen in the back. My office, storage, and packing are located on the second floor. If the candy or chocolate has our logo on it, we make it in house. We pride ourselves on everything we offer. If we don’t have it, we will find a way to make it, or order it. My mother helped me decorate this room. She’s a colorful character and I let her have free rein.”
Ainslon touched the nearest package of cherry hard candies. “Who designed the characters?”
Lauren slipped the package off the hook. “I did. Choco and Lollie. My nephew helped me name them. This entire endeavor has taken me by surprise. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that people would take to it like they have. I am floored by all the awards we have received from the city.”
First Edition Romance Page 4