All's Fair in Love and Chocolate (Marietta Chocolate Wars #1) - Amy Andrews Page 0,37
Delish customer.”
Viv didn’t think now was the time to mention she and Reuben were just a temporary thing so she inclined her head and said, “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Clem nodded. “Good. Now…” She turned back to Robbie and grabbed the steaming beverage, inhaling the aniseed fragrance. “Oh wow, that smells amazing.” Then she handed over her money and took a ballot paper Viv had mocked up.
“Put it in the box over there near the candles,” Robbie said, tipping her head to the side to indicate the direction. “There are pens over there, too.”
“Thanks.”
As if frozen in some kind of bizarre ballet, nobody in the entire shop moved or resumed their business as they watched Clem vote and deposit it through the slot. She raised her cup in salute, said, “See you tomorrow,” then headed to the door and left the shop.
It took another few seconds for activity to resume. A few seconds when a pin dropping on the floor of Delish would have clanged as loud as a pipe dropping on concrete.
Viv could almost have kissed her as she, too, kicked into action, smiling at the woman Clem had called Mrs. Lucas. “Now, as we were saying…”
*
Things improved quite drastically after that. People stopped Viv in the street for a chat. They dropped off pies and casseroles at Delish and at the cottage. She was invited to local events and parties. She was asked by several people if she was going home for Thanksgiving and when she told them she wasn’t, they offered her a seat at their tables, which was sweet and lovely and, Viv had to say, genuine.
Clem accusing everyone of bad manners toward a newcomer had caused both collective guilt and affront and everyone, it seemed, was going out of their way to make amends—to be nice. To prove that Marietta actually really was the friendliest little town in the whole of damn Montana.
Carol Bingley even brought around her homemade pumpkin pie.
Most importantly, people were also buying chocolate! Not just Reuben. Or tourists. It seemed people were realizing, as she and Sage had from the beginning, that Marietta was big enough for two chocolate shops catering for two different markets. Which meant they were able to put another staff member on. Mackenzie started the day before Thanksgiving, which was just as well because the store was crazy busy with people wanting to buy gifts of both the edible and non-edible variety.
It was a baptism of fire for the poor newbie. The store was crowded all day—the snow falling outside had helped with that—and Viv could barely keep up with the hot chocolate stirrers. The Pop Rocks ones were so popular, Viv was worried they were going to run out before the end of the day especially with people ordering extra stirrers to take home for later.
By the time they shut up shop on Thanksgiving eve, Viv was very happy at how much the business had grown in what was just shy of a month, especially given that dismal first week. Things had turned around quickly—thanks to Clementine—and Viv breathed easy for the first time as she counted the takings for the day. Sure, today wasn’t a usual day, she knew that, but the trend was good and for the first time since they opened she knew they’d be able to pay both Robbie’s and Mackenzie’s wages from the profits!
The Marietta Delish store was going to make it. She’d had her doubts but, today, she knew it in her bones. And she couldn’t wait to get home and tell Reuben all about it.
Home…Viv shook her head—not home, the cottage. She’d never thought of any of the places Delish had rented for her as home but somehow, she did think about this one that way. Maybe it was the fact it was a cottage, not an apartment like she’d been accustomed to in her city gigs. Maybe it was the Bramble Lane address that just sounded so damn homey.
Or maybe it was the fact a hunky dude waited there for her with a glass of wine and a foot massage that was absolutely, positively going to become something else entirely. For someone who had shunned connections, she sure was sinking into this one pretty quick.
But then that was the beauty of being with someone who was only in Marietta temporarily, too—no expectations on either side.
Viv sighed as she locked up and stepped out into the freezing air of early evening, hunching