Double Chocolate and Death
Page 8
Epilogue
The next day, Lydia was looking forward to working at her taffy shop without any complications. Leo reported that Nicole had been captured. Between the match of the starfish décor on her boat to Chase’s wounds and her kidnapping of Lydia, there was a lot of evidence. She would be spending a long time in jail.
Lydia began working on her new flavor of taffy as soon as she came in, enjoying the process and watching the taffy stretch on the puller.
The door to the shop opened, and she greeted the early customer. She was surprised to see that Annette had returned, but was now holding several crocheted nautical creations.
“Hello,” Annette said. “And please let me finish before you say anything or I might lose my nerve again. I already backed out twice. The truth is that when I came looking for Ruth, I was really looking to see if she would sell these toys that I made. I used to make some for her shop many years ago. My daughter and her family had been living with me in Ocean Point while her house was being built, and she’s just moved away. Honestly, I need something to keep me busy and making these toys would help.”
“I would love to sell them,” Lydia said, earnestly. “Your starfish really helped me out recently, so it’s the least I could do. But I also think people will love these toys and it will make the trinket section of the shop stand out. We’ve upgraded the taffy, so we should upgrade that too.”
“Oh, thank you,” Annette said. “And it will be so good to get out of the house and see them on the shelf. My house has felt so lonely lately.”
Lydia considered it. “If you’re really looking for something to do outside of the house – how do you feel about making taffy?”
Annette giggled. “I’ve never done it before in my life. But I’d love to learn. You want me to work here? Well, I think that would be splendid.”
“I have a good feeling about this,” Lydia said.
“Me, too!”
The two women smiled at one another. They discussed the prices for the crocheted toys and where to display them. Then, Lydia told Annette to come in the next day to for training.
“You look happy,” Jeff said when he came in an hour later. “Does coming in early put you in a good mood?”
“Sometimes,” said Lydia. “But I’m also happy because I hired someone to join our staff. The lady who made the starfish.”
“She seems really nice. I’m glad I didn’t scare her off,” Jeff said. “And I have some news too.”
“What?”
“I found out who’s going to represent Ocean Point in that surfing competition. It’s Sadie from the Surf Shop.”
“Good for her,” said Lydia. “And Trina’s work with her hair will be on full display in Hawaii. Maybe it will even be televised.”
She was pleased with all the news that she had learned that day. She showed Jeff how to make the new taffy flavor that she was designing and was humming to herself when they put them on display.
It only increased her good mood when she saw Daniel enter the shop.
“Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.
“Sure.” She walked around the counter to join him.
He looked down. “I just realized that you had been trying to ask me something the past few days and we kept getting interrupted. About whether I was single.”
“Right. That did seem…”
“Lydia,” Jeff called. “Should I make another batch of that taffy?”
“Go ahead,” Lydia agreed. She laughed at yet another interruption. However, this time she felt she might get her answer soon.
“I don’t mean to be secretive about it,” said Daniel. He took the chain that he always seemed to wear out from under his shirt. Lydia saw the wedding band on it and felt her heart sink.
“You’re married,” she said quietly.
“It’s difficult for me to talk about,” Daniel said, looking at the ring. “I’m a widower now. I lost my wife to cancer. I’m still getting used to life without her. Since life is already so different, I came here to start anew. I know that I’ve been a difficult person to get to know. This is a big part of life, and it still hurts to talk about.”
Lydia was touched that he had finally opened up.
“I have something for you,” she said.
“For me?”
“Well, for everyone, but especially for you.” She picked up a red and white piece of taffy. “Lifeguard taffy. A summer special.”
“Does this salt water taffy taste like salt water?”
“No. It’s a classic vanilla flavor,” Lydia said. “But there is something cool about this candy. You’ll notice this isn’t my usual shape for taffy.”
He nodded. “It’s a whistle?”
“Like what lifeguards use,” said Lydia. “But this one doesn’t actually work. I thought if too many children had them, the noise would drive us crazy. But they still taste pretty good.”
Daniel laughed. “It’s perfect. But you might start to regret that you offered me free taffy for life.”
“I don’t know,” Lydia said. “I like when you visit the shop. As long as you’re not telling me about another dead body.”
Also by Allyssa Mirry
The Sticky Sweet Series
Book 1: Pineapple and Poison
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