Page 87 of Moonstruck Kiss

We get to town and I leave him in the shared courtyard to do some reading while I walk into our shop’s kitchen. My parents and Josie are sitting at the meeting table, looking sombre.

“Hi,” I say.

“Hello.” Dad gives me a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

“How are you guys feeling?” I ask as I take my seat.

“I knew something was off with Chelsea when we gave her Sweet n’ Moonstruck,” Josie says. “She must have caught some nasty bug—that’s why she spewed all those nasty things about us.”

Mum places a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry she said terrible things about your design. You’d think she’d be grateful that you did a special edition for her instead of being insulting.”

I sniff. “I don’t know what we ever did to her to treat us like that. Even if she didn’t like Sweet n’ Moonstruck, it couldn’t have been that bad that she felt the need to disparage our whole business.”

“Well, the effect is swift,” Dad says with a heavy sigh. “Chelsea’s post was noticed by some reporters over in the States because it mentioned Theo. Ford saw a news segment on it, and now he’s not sure about investing with us anymore.”

“Oh, no,” I murmur.

“Not only that, Choc at Old is having cold feet. After Chelsea indicated that she found their chocolates better than ours?—”

“She must have lost all her tastebuds!” Josie spat out. “Sweet n’ Moonstruck isn’tsubparto any of Choc at Old’s products!”

“We know,” Dad says. “In any case, Choc at Old’s owners don’t want to be embroiled in this issue. They feel sorry for us, but they don’t want to be smeared with the negativity surrounding us at the moment.”

I cover my face with my hands. “This is a disaster.”

“It gets worse,” Dad says.

I slouch in my seat. “Ugh, I don’t want to hear it, but go on.”

“The various hotels and lodges that get chocolates from us—apart from those run by Mooners—are expressing their concern. I won’t be surprised if some of them stop partnering with us, especially those who work closely with influencers like Chelsea.”

“Our whole business could crumble just from that one post by Chelsea,” Mum says morosely.“I’m just glad that Theo and Gia are in Norway for a Glowing Devils video recording. Hopefully, this news won’t be big there. They’d feel so bad for us that they’d want to say something publicly, and I don’t think that’ll be a good idea for Theo. People will think he’s just defending us and himself.”

We all get lost in our thoughts until an idea occurs to me. “We can get other influencers to review our chocolates,” I say. “We only need another one with a big profile to love Sweet n’ Moonstruck to show that Chelsea’s opinion is just that—her opinion. But the more influencers we can find, the better. I’m sure at least a few will be interested. They can easily override the publicity Chelsea’s post has already created.”

The three of them look at me.

“Brilliant idea! Why didn’t we think of that before?” Mum asks Dad and Josie.

“Well, Joey’s always been our main marketing brain,” Josie quips as she gives me a tight hug.

“It’s not going to be that easy, but I’ll find them,” I say with conviction.

Dad nods enthusiastically. “If you can make it happen soon, then we won’t even have to entertain the offer made to us this morning.”

“What offer,” I ask.

“I received a call this morning—from the same company who made an offer to buy us back when Chelsea gleefully announced that we’ll be producing Theo’s chocolates.”

Mum snickers. “The vultures are already circling, I see.”

“Yup. Their new offer ismuchlower than their first one. They’re happy to negotiate, but they think they’re being fair considering the strong negativity about us around the world due to Chelsea’s harsh review. Regardless, I’m still not interested in selling, especially since Joey has a fantastic idea.”

“Me, neither,” Mum says. “But it might be prudent to not say no straight away. We can tell them we’re considering their offer while we watch what transpires in the next few days or weeks. Selling is our last resort, but I’m spooked by what’s happening right now and…I just want to keep our options open.”

Josie and I nod our agreement.

“Who’s the interested buyer,” I ask.

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