Page 13 of A Chance for Candace

She had lived with her cousin Becky since her parents died when she was fourteen. Right away she found a job working at a small cafe until the opportunity to work with Theodore came about. The moment she turned eighteen she rented her own apartment and kept her nose in the candy making business, not knowing what else to do.

She never had time to go walking with a boy or getting a kiss from one, for that matter. Not even the ones from church who kept asking her and she always refused. Chocolate was her passion and she spent most of her time in Theodore’s shop even though she was off the clock. She smiled at the fond memory. Theodore hated going home, too. There was nothing there. He always told Candace if he stayed at the shop his wife couldn’t drag him off to one of her functions. So, they both experimented with new creations even if Theodore wouldn’t sell them in his shop.

That’s where she got the idea of giving samples away. Many evenings after spending several nights working late, they’d have so much chocolate experiments that they’d go to the local poor house and hand them out. Sometimes, Theodore walked up and down the street handing out candy. She went right along with him and they had a wondrous time of it.

So, it was her plan to give away samples even if her business partner didn’t approve. She had tucked extra money back to help finance her first six months here, and now with Jessie helping to share the expenses, Candace had every single nickel figured out.

She gazed at him and wondered if this might be a permanent thing? What if the customers loved having a bake shop and candy shop in the same space? That was all that mattered, what the customers wanted. She noticed Jessie was kneading what looked like bread.

She stopped what she was doing to watch him. He rolled out a big ball of dough until it was almost like a cylinder, then pulled a piece off and rolled it out so thin it looked like a snake made out of dough. She giggled.

He looked up and smiled. “I’m trying something new,” he told her. “I had suggested to my father that we should try to bake soft pretzels and he laughed at the idea of a soft pretzel.”

“I’m sorry. If it makes you feel any better, Theodore experimented with his receipts but it was always the same ones he sold to the public. I tried to talk him into selling other candy, but he was adamant about making what sells. The regulars want what is known to them, he’d tell me.”

“Same with my father. He always said I was dreaming too big, wanting to make more than the standard cakes and pies.”

While Candace waited for her chocolate to cool a bit before she dipped her creations, she watched as Jessie cut off a slice of the dough, then twisted and twirled it until he made a pretzel shape out of the dough. He put about eight on the tray, then slid it in the oven. He looked at Candace with a smile. “I have some already made. Would you like try one?”

She wasn’t going to refuse. “I would love to only if you try one of my chocolate bon bons.”

“If you insist,” he told her, grinning. There was a tray of already baked pretzels on the end of the counter he had been working on covered with a cloth. He removed a corner and pulled out of pretzel, the dough golden and it smelled like grandma had been baking in the kitchen. He pulled on the soft dough and split it in half before handing her a piece. “I can’t help myself. This may be my supper for the next week.”

She took the half of pretzel. It was warm to the touch and when she took a bite, the pretzel practically melted in her mouth. “This is quite good,” she told him, her mouth full as she took another bite. Then Candace realized she owed him a chocolate candy. “Let me get yours now.”

As she held onto the pretzel with one hand, she scooped a cup of chocolate from the big pot and set it in a smaller bowl, then picked up a piece of candy with a pair of tongues and dipped it in the chocolate, pulling it out quickly and setting the candy on the parchment cloth she had laid out earlier. “It will only be a moment and you can try one,” she told him.

As she turned, Candace didn’t realize he was right beside her and she jumped, dropping the soft pretzel that was in her hand. It landed in the bowl of melted chocolate. As they both stared, the pretzel sank into the chocolate like an anchor sinking into the water.

“I’m so sorry,” he told her. Then, he perked up. “Wait a minute. May I use those tongues?” She handed them to him, sorry she wasn’t able to hang onto the pretzel. It had been so tasty, now she ruined it.

As Candace watched, Jessie pulled the pretzel covered in chocolate from the bowl. He set it on the parchment paper cloth and looked at her. “We may have just created something delicious.”

“We should try it,” she told him, picking up a sharp knife from her table. She sliced the pretzel in half and handed a piece to him. Both of them moaned at the same time.

“We are brilliant!” Jessie said, raising a fist in the air and laughing. “This is the most delicious pretzel I’ve ever eaten!”

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