Page 30 of Meet Me at the Fudge Shop

Lily Hart would use everything in her arsenal to destroy him.

Thankfully, they’d mostly avoided each other since then—him staying holed up in the small fudge shop office beside the storeroom, her experimenting in the kitchen. He assumed so, anyway. The few times he’d trudged through to grab a cup of coffee or his lunch from the fridge, it had looked like a vat of chocolate had exploded all over the counters and kettles.

And then there was the time they’d passed in the tiny hallway, outside the restroom, and he’d had to hold his hands at his sides instead of reaching up to swipe away the chocolate smeared on her cheek.

Muscle memory. That’s all it was.

Don’t get crazy.

The rumble of an ATV emerged from the east, where Ferry Street joined Main, and Declan pushed himself off the wall as Luke Harris—one of the ferry company’s delivery men—puttered toward Declan, toting this weekend’s supply load. His was one of the few permitted vehicles on the island during the season, though Declan had heard that the horse-drawn drays of the past would be back once the horses returned to the island next year.

Declan waved and stepped off the sidewalk onto the cobblestones. “Hey, Luke.”

The guy had been several years ahead of Declan in school, and now lived in Port Joseph working for the ferry company along with his brother Martin. “Welcome back, Declan. Looks like someone’s opening shop.” Luke, a former basketball player with his tall, lanky frame, hopped from the ATV and walked to the back of the utility trailer.

“We sure are.”We.He cringed.

Luke lowered the gate of the trailer. “Mind if I run over to your mom’s place real quick and grab a chicken salad sandwich?” He patted his stomach. “It’s been a while since breakfast, and Martha’s got the best sandwiches in Michigan.”

“Sure. I’ll unload.”

“Thanks, buddy. The packages at the very back are yours. The rest are going to the hotel.”

“No problem. Enjoy the grub.”

Luke hurried across the street, and Declan loosened the cargo straps, glancing at his watch. Hopefully Lily would get here soon so the supplies wouldn’t melt in the heat of the day. He was definitely over this not-having-his-own-key situation. The sooner Seb got back, the better. How long did a cruise last, anyway? Hopefully it wasn’t one of those around the world in a year ventures.

Now that the supplies were here, he could open the shop this week. Once he got his first batches of fudge made, of course.

Of course. He’d taken a look at the family recipe so many times he had it memorized. But the entire idea twisted his gut. He didn’t know the first thing aboutfudge.

Lily, however, made it look easy.

The few times he’d snuck into Hart Family Fudge when they’d been together for those two short months—after hours, so no one from either of their families would see them—he’d been positively captivated watching her heat and swirl ingredients together in a large copper kettle. Then, when it had reached the right temperature, he’d lean against the counter and follow her every movement as she lined up the framing on a marble slab, poured the liquid gold inside, and paddled it all into something edible.

No, more than edible. Something delectable.

Aaaaand there he went again. Thinking about Lily. About them, together. Once upon a disastrous time. No happy ending there—and probably he needed to focus on that, thank you so much, if he wanted to win this thing.

Declan hoisted a large box of butter, turned and spotted Lily walking down the sidewalk from the direction of the hotel and lifting her sunglasses onto the top of her head. Her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, today she wore cut-off jean shorts and a T-shirt that accentuated her curvy, feminine figure.

How annoying that he noticed.

“You’re late, and the butter is melting.”

“Calm down, Slick. I saw Luke and I hustled over.” She unlocked the door and propped it open. “Happy?”

His reply was a grunt as he headed inside and on through the door that led to the kitchen, stacking the boxes on the counter. He’d move them into the refrigerator once he’d brought everything else inside.

When he returned to the road, Lily was reading the box labels. She shot him a narrow-eyed look. “You addressed them to Kelley’s Classic Fudge? Really, Declan?”

“I had to create an account with the supply company, so of course I used the name of our LLC.” He sighed. “Do you have to make everything a battle?”

“You’re the one who suggested the battle—I mean competition—in the first place. Not me.” She walked toward the door, and in her wake he caught a strong whiff of disdain woven with the annoying notes of an alluring floral.

Focus.

“It was the only fair thing I could think of at the time. But believe me, I am deeply regretting not just waiting for Seb to return so he could give me the shop outright.”

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