Page 85 of Meet Me at the Fudge Shop

And she let it hang there.

Declan smiled, his thumbs stroking her cheekbones. “Yeah, Lily. Lo?—”

“What’s going on here?” a man’s deep voice rumbled.

Squeaking, Lily twirled to find a red-faced Frank and Martha Kelley standing in the kitchen doorway. A key dangled from Martha’s hand.

“What are you guys doing here?” Declan asked.

“We thought we’d check and see if you needed anything since we couldn’t help last night and we won’t be setting up my booth for a few hours. Isaac gave us the key.” Martha’s glare stayed trained on Lily for a few long moments before her gaze swerved, taking in the damaged kitchen. “Oh my. What happened in here?”

“A pipe burst in the ceiling.” Declan stepped between Lily and his parents, almost as if sheltering her from his parents’ wrath.

But no. They were in this together, right? Lily moved to stand beside Declan once again. She hooked their pinkies together.

Martha’s eyebrows shot up at the action, but she didn’t say a word. Declan’s dad either didn’t notice or ignored it as he carefully stepped sideways so as not to slip on the wet floor. “Is that your fudge, Declan?”

“It’s Lily’s. Mine’s in the storeroom.”

Martha’s shoulders visibly dropped with relief, and Lily looked away from the smug gleam in Frank’s eyes.

“This placedoesneed a total renovation,” Martha added. “We’ll definitely be speaking with Seb about that when he gets home this week.”

Lily winced.

The jab landed a direct hit. Martha was so sure Declan would win.

And now, with so much fudge ruined, he probably would.

“Don’t count Lily out just yet. She’s going to make more fudge before the festival.” Declan grabbed his inventory checklist off the magnetic fridge. “I’ve still got half a gallon of vanilla extract, plenty of butter, and there’s more than two hundred pounds of sugar in the dry storage. I know it isn’t that fancy recipe you made, but?—”

“Wait a minute, son.” Frank hitched up his pants as he strode forward, tapping the clipboard with his index finger. “You just said those are Kelley fudge supplies.” He shook his head. “You’re not going to hand those items, paid for with our money, over to her.”

“She has to make more fudge, and I’m sure she’ll pay us back.” Declan looked over at Lily.

She nodded, smiling. Because he was really doing this. Standing with her, no matter what. Her heart soared?—

Then she caught the looks on his parents’ faces.

Utter disdain. Contempt. Withering glares.

Oh. Her throat thickened. “I?—”

But Frank wasn’t done. “Declan, I feel like all that money spent on your MBA was a complete waste if that’s the kind of business sense they taught you. This is acompetition.”

“Oh, come on, Dad, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m completely serious. Youdounderstand your grandma’s place is on the line here, right? Do you want to watch her heart be broken because you were too weak to do what needed to be done? Because you sold out your family?”

Now, wait just a minute. “Declan’s just being a decent human being. And as for his grandma’s house?—”

“Frank.” Martha looked from Lily to Declan. “I think this is something we should talk about in private.”

Private.

Because this was a family matter.

And Lily would never be family—at least as far as Martha was concerned. To her, she was only a Hart. The enemy.

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