Page 70 of Meet Me at the Fudge Shop

“Your mother was asking how business was going.” A bit of sauce dripped down Dad’s chin, and Mom reached over to swipe it off with a napkin.

“Yeah, Decky.” Isaac leaned back in his chair, lifting the front two legs off the ground. “Howisbusiness going since that Hart girl somehow managed to spin the article in her favor?”

“Is that true?” Mom’s gray eyebrows disappeared under her wispy bangs. “How’d she do that? And has it affected your numbers?”

“My numbers have held steady.” It was the truth, if not all of it. Because yes, Lily had found a way to spin Mr. Mercer’s advertising, embracing his criticism and invoking a scarcity mindset around her most unique flavors.Get this flavor before it’s gonehad become her favorite saying.

Not that she’d said it to Declan himself. She hadn’t been rude, but ever since the article came out, their easy camaraderie had slipped back into a cordial professionalism. Mostly, she just left the room if they found themselves alone together.

And he hadn’t a clue how to get it back. Or if he should.

But Brandon’s words…they still wouldn’t let go of him.

Or maybeDeclandidn’t want to let go ofthem.

Mom set her fork down and leaned forward as if inspecting him. “You should be furious, or at least working furiously to beat her. The festival is in less than a week and a half! Do you know who is beating who?”

He dabbed his mouth with a cloth napkin. “No, I haven’t seen the latest numbers.” But his sense told him Lily was ahead.

“It’s clear he’s losing, Mom.” Isaac tossed his napkin right into the mess of leftover sauce on his mostly empty plate. His brother’s lips twisted into a smirk.

“Shut up, Isaac.”

“And this is why you shouldn’t have trusted him with saving Grandma’s house.”

What was the matter with this kid? “Oh, like she should have trustedyou—theguy who busses dishes down at Mom’s diner? Hello, how old are you? Twenty-two? I’d graduatedsumma cum laudeby then?—”

“Declan!” Mom said.

And maybe he should have held back, but someone had to say it. And nobody else would. “No, come on, Mom. Look at him. He’s done nothing with his life. A twelve-year-old in a twenty-two-year-old’s body, playing video games every off hour.”

“You’re just jealous,” Isaac said, lifting a shoulder.

“Of what, exactly? That you get to freeload off Mom and Dad? Thatyouaren’t the disappointment in the family even though you’ve worked for years to do everything right after the one thing you did wrong?” Declan pushed back from his chair, the legs scraping against the wood floor. “Sure, Isaac. I’m jealous. Or maybe it’syouthat’s jealous ofmebecause nobody even thought to ask you for a solution to saving Grandma’s house. They had to call me in all the way from Chicago.”

His chest heaved with the exertion of finally speaking his mind.

“Now, Declan,” Mom tsked. “That’s not fair. Your brother lived part of high school through the pandemic. It’s just taking him a little longer to get up to speed. And we called you because you’re the one with the expertise we needed.”

His brother slow clapped. “Nice speech, bro. But you forgot what I said about expectations. And also what I said about Lily Hart?—”

“What about Lily Hart?” Mom’s fully loaded fork lowered to her plate as she looked between them.

“Nothing.” Declan gathered up his plate and moved to wash it in the sink.

“Decky still has a thing for her.”

“Is that true?” Mom repeated.

The plate clattered from Declan’s hands into the sink. Thankfully it didn’t shatter. He picked it up again and scrubbed it with the brush, the bristles scraping against the ceramic surface.

“Declan,doyou have a thing again for Lily Hart?”

Athing. Like that could adequately describe what he felt for the most vivacious, amazing woman he’d ever met. He turned back to face his family. “So what if I do?”

“So what if you…Declan!” Mom glanced at Dad, then back at Declan. “That girl nearly ruined this family.”

“Yeah,” Isaac said. “And she’s not even that hot.”

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