Better Than Chocolate Part 32

"I'll take one, too," said his evil companion.

I hope you choke on it, Samantha thought as Bailey gave a caramel to him, too. "We make the best chocolate in the state," she insisted. "One taste should be enough to show you what a good investment we are. For the bank," she added. Not you, Trevor Brown.

"Pretty good," said Bank Snake #2.

Pretty good? That was all he had to say? Pathetic.

"You make a good candy," Trevor told her.

Better than yours. Samantha stretched her lips as far as they would go, which was about half a smile.

Now Trevor was studying the rest of their candy. "Lavender fudge, huh? Interesting."

Okay, enough was enough. "I'm sure you want to go visit the other booths," Samantha said before he could continue his candy espionage. "Enjoy the festival." She turned her back on them. "Bailey, can you unload those cases?"

Bailey sent her a funny look but said, "Okay."

"Give her a hand, Cec," Samantha asked Cecily. There. Get the message, you vultures? Get lost!

They moved away, like wolves just waiting for the campers' fire to die down. Samantha suddenly felt sick.

"Who were those guys?" Bailey asked in a low voice as they unpacked the cases.

"The older one is Trevor Brown."

Bailey's brows knit. "Trevor..."

"From Madame C's Chocolates."

Bailey gasped. "We just gave candy to Madame C? Yikes! Who was the other guy?"

"A big bank mucky-muck."

"Bigger than Blake Preston?"

"Blake is his lapdog."

Bailey hung her head. "And here I was, talking away to them like they were nice. Gosh, I'm a dope."

Cecily patted her arm. "You didn't know."

"But now you do," Samantha said. "If they come back, tell them we're sold out."

"Or that we don't serve their kind here." Bailey produced a wicked grin. "We're prejudiced against creeps."

And creeps they were. Their very presence in town gave Samantha the w.i.l.l.i.e.s, so instead of wandering around and visiting with various pals from the Chamber of Commerce, she went to the office to hide out.

She had plenty to do there, but no amount of work could take her mind off her troubles. They stayed right there at her desk with her and that night they went to bed with her, crowding her mind as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to sleep. Finally, after two mugs of warm milk (yuck!) she drifted off.

She slept soundly for a while, but then she entered the gates of dreamland and found herself running down Center Street. It was deserted except for her and two men-Trevor Brown and his thug from the bank, and they had guns aimed at her.

"You may as well stop running, Samantha," Trevor shouted. "We're going to get your business one way or another."

"No," she cried, and kept on racing down the cobbled street. She turned the corner onto Mountain Vale, where her condo was, and dashed up the steps to her door. The men were on her heels but somewhere along the way they'd morphed into big, s...o...b..ring wolves and they were growling. She slammed the door in their faces. "You'll never get me!"

She stumbled into her kitchen, which was unusually well stocked, and started pulling out ingredients. She got down her double boiler from the cupboard and stood staring at it. "What am I doing?" she asked herself.

"You're saving your company," a soft female voice said. "And I'm going to help you."

Lo and behold, there was a ghost dancing at her elbow. The woman was young, with chestnut brown hair and vintage clothes, and Samantha recognized her from one of the pictures that hung on the Sweet Dreams office wall. Great-grandma Rose.

"I hope that's good quality," Great-grandma said, pointing to the block of white chocolate Samantha had set on her counter.

"Of course it is," Samantha said. "You know we only use the best ingredients."

Great-grandma nodded in approval. "Now, get out the rose water and let's get to work."

And so they did.

And when Samantha awoke she blinked in amazement. It was a first, a wonderful miraculous first! She had just dreamed up new recipes for Sweet Dreams. And she remembered them. A miracle!

She threw off the covers and ran to her computer to get everything down before the details drifted away from her. Then she checked the time. It was only eight, but lucky for her Safeway opened at eight.

She didn't bother to dress, just threw on a coat over her pajamas, slipped her feet into boots and dashed out the door to get cream and b.u.t.ter. No wolves waiting outside for her on this bright, beautiful morning. Only opportunity.

Chapter Twenty-Four.

Family is the one blessing we sometimes forget to count.

-Muriel Sterling, When Family Matters By midmorning Samantha had three new confections to add to the Sweet Dreams catalog. She was buzzing and not just from sugar. She'd done it. She'd actually done it, dreamed up a new candy exactly like Great-grandma Rose.

Her cell phone rang. It was Cecily. "I just made a fat deposit."

Fat was right. The number Cecily gave her was impressively high. Not high enough to pay off the bank, but surely high enough to impress Blake and his band of vultures. Oh, what a great morning!

"And I just made three new candies," Samantha crowed.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. I'll get a shower, then meet you at Mom's and we can all try them."

"I'll tell Bailey. She was about to go to Olivia's for tea."

A chance to drool over Brandon. Samantha had called in the nick of time.

She carefully packed up samples of her new creations, then remembered to call the office and tell Elena she'd come in after lunch.

"You'd better," Elena said. "So many people have called this morning to talk about the festival. My ear hurts and I am getting no work done."

"You're a gem. Have I told you that recently?"

"No, but this I already know," Elena said, and Samantha could hear the smile in her voice.

"Go help yourself to some caramels and take a break," Samantha offered. "Oh, wait. Save your taste buds. I'll bring you something new when I come in."

"New?" Elena was intrigued now.

"We have new recipes," Samantha announced proudly. And maybe even one that would put them on the map.

"Why are you wasting time talking on the phone? Hurry up and get here."

Samantha smiled as she ended the call. Oh, yes, she could build some buzz with this.

At the house, her sisters and mother were waiting eagerly. "Oh, my gosh, this is so exciting," Bailey said as Samantha opened the little box.

"They're lovely," Mom said reverently.

Yes, they were. White-and-dark-chocolate truffles topped with a delicate pink rosebud. "First I give you the chocolate rose," said Samantha.

They all took one and she watched as her family bit into them. Cecily's eyes widened in surprise. "This is incredible."

"Oh," Bailey moaned. "I'm having a chocolate o.r.g.a.s.m."

Mom frowned at her, then turned to Samantha. "It's lovely, a wonderful tribute to your great-grandmother."

"It was the least I could do," Samantha said, and told them about her dream.

"Wow," breathed Bailey. "That is so awesome. What's this one?" she asked, pointing to another candy.

"Cleanse your palettes," Samantha reminded them, producing a baguette.

The next goody paired milk chocolate and lavender. "This is lovely, too," Mom approved.

The final treat in the trio was yet another floral, and all three of the Sterling women gave it a resounding thumbs-up. "We've got a winner," Cecily said. "Three winners. We could put these in a pretty floral box and call it the chocolate garden."

"Oh, I love that!" Bailey cried. She snapped her fingers. "I need to give these to Caroline. The minute she tastes one, she'll want Mimi's producer to try them."

"Mimi LeGrande?" Mom asked.

"Bailey met someone who knows her producer," Cecily explained.

"Oh, my goodness," Mom said faintly.

It was their last chance to pull out of the red. And the clock was ticking. Samantha had no intention of waiting around for the alarm to go off. "We need to get you on a flight right away," she said, and went up to Mom's upstairs office to make arrangements.

"I'll go pack," Bailey said.

They got Bailey out on a late-afternoon flight and while Cecily ran her to the airport, Samantha went to the bank to hand-deliver a check to Blake. It wasn't for the full amount they owed, of course, but it made a sizable dent.

"Very impressive," he said when he looked at it.

"Does it impress you enough to convince you to bend the rules? We're on the verge of getting a spot on a big show on the Food Network."

Lying wasn't a good business principle, but Samantha decided she wasn't so much lying as making a prediction. If they got themselves featured on All Things Chocolate, they were golden. And why shouldn't they? Bailey had an in with the producer's cousin. The chocolates were incredible. Mimi LeGrande would be all over this.

Blake let out a sigh and looked at her steadily. "I told you, I'm on your side, and believe me, I've argued your case. But there are some things I can't control, and this is one of them."

"It's a poor way to do business," she informed him.

His jaw tightened. "It's the way I have to do business. I'm locked in, Samantha. I don't own this bank. I only work for it."

As its henchman. "How do you sleep nights?" she asked in disgust.

"These days? Not so well."

"That's a comfort."

He frowned and shook his head. "Look, there's got to be some way we can get the bank out of this. Isn't there some family member who can help you?"

"You're kidding, right?" she said bitterly. What family member would that be? Her mother, who was upside down on her house and had no life insurance money? Her sisters, who were nearly as broke as she was? Maybe Uncle Ralph, Dad's older brother who was off in the Florida Keys, living on retirement and working part-time on a fis.h.i.+ng boat. How dumb do you think I am? "If I knew someone with that kind of money I wouldn't have come to the bank in the first place." She could feel her eyes filling with tears and blinked furiously to drive them away.

Blake took a deep breath. "I can barely imagine what you're going through right now, but I want you to consider something."

She was already considering something-how wrong this all was.

"Let's say when you got back to your office one of your employees came to you and told you she's about to lose her house. She owes three months' rent and she asks you to pay it. What do you do?"

"I give her the money to pay it, of course," Samantha snapped, in no mood for a business parable.

"Do you?" Blake countered. "But you have no money. It's not in your power to help her."

"Then I..." Samantha stumbled to a stop. What would she do?

"Would you take money from your struggling company, jeopardize your other employees?" Blake pressed.

He didn't have to say any more. She got the point. She dropped her gaze, trying to hide the tears that were escaping in spite of her effort to hold them back.

"Samantha," he said softly, and reached across his desk to lay a hand on her arm.

Here she was in enemy territory, and yet that big hand felt comforting. Pathetic.