Part 10 (2/2)
Thursday morning, Lucy met the girls at Jake's for breakfast. She couldn't resist telling them about Dora's naughty chocolates.
”There's a shop in Boston that has those s.e.xy chocolates,” Sue had told her, while Norine filled their mugs with Jake's high-test brew. ”Some of them are pretty raunchy.”
”I'm no prude,” Pam had declared with a prim expression, ”but I don't think it's appropriate to expect young girls to handle that kind of special order.”
”Adolescents are very vulnerable,” added Rachel, offering the insight she'd gained as a psychology major in college. ”Their s.e.xuality is just developing and is very fragile.”
”Yeah,” cracked Pam, ”you don't want them thinking men taste like chocolate.”
That sent them all into gales of laughter, including Lucy. But even as she laughed along with the others, she couldn't help feeling she didn't want her daughter exposed to such risque products. She remembered how shocked she'd been as an impressionable girl when a catalog picturing trashy underwear had tumbled out of a pile of newspapers she was carrying out to the trash bins. She'd puzzled over the crotchless red underpants for years and, to tell the truth, the images still bothered her. As she matured and became more sophisticated, she came to believe that donning such garments turned you into a s.e.x object, something she had no intention of becoming and which she certainly didn't want her daughters to become.
But when she stepped inside Fern's Famous, with its antiseptic white tile walls and the delicious scent of chocolate, her resolution wavered. She took in the smiling cow on the sign behind the counter and the scuffed wood floor, the ornate swirls on the antique bronze cash register and the collection of old milk cans that served as decoration, and wondered if the girls had been teasing her. All this old-timey wholesomeness seemed at odds with the production of s.e.xy chocolates.
”Hi, Lucy,” said Dora, pus.h.i.+ng aside the red-and-white-striped curtain that separated the work area from the shop. ”You should be real proud of Sara, she's a wonderful girl and a real good worker.”
”Oh, thanks,” said Lucy, feeling Dora already had her at a disadvantage. ”That's what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Dora blushed. ”She told you about the naughty chocolates.”
”Yeah.” Lucy nodded. ”I'm just not comfortable with that sort of thing.”
”Come on back,” said Dora. ”I'll let you have a look.”
Lucy followed her and was surprised to encounter Fern herself, mixing up a big batch of penuche in a huge copper kettle with a gas flame underneath it. The tiny old woman was standing on a stool, wielding a huge wooden paddle.
”Goodness, that looks like quite a job,” said Lucy, greeting her.
Fern brushed back a stray lock of gray hair that had escaped from the little bun on the top of her head and paused for a second. ”I'm the only one does it right,” she declared, resuming her stirring. ”These young'uns are too impatient.”
Dora smiled. ”We let her think that, it keeps her out of trouble,” said Dora, leading Lucy into the packing room and grabbing several boxes from the neat stacks arranged on industrial-style metal shelves. The boxes she chose were all s.h.i.+ny red, unlike the usual striped ones a.s.sociated with Fern's Famous.
”This is kind of a sideline of mine,” said Dora, opening one of the boxes and revealing half a dozen chocolates molded in the shape of lips. ”I call these Hot Lips because the chocolate is quite spicy. Max got the recipe in Mexico. Want to try one?”
Lucy thought briefly of her diet, then nodded. Taking a bite of the creamy chocolate, she was amazed at the combination of flavors: the fiery hot pepper released flavor notes from the chocolate that she had never tasted before. ”Wow,” she said. ”That is amazing.”
Dora smiled and bit into one herself. ”Of all the candy we make, this is the only one I don't get tired of,” she said. ”Every time, it's a new experience. An explosion of flavor, that's how I describe it on the website.” She lowered her voice. ”Fern doesn't approve, so I market them separately on the Web. I call them 's.e.xsational Chocolates.' ”
”Cute,” said Lucy, determined to stick to her guns. ”I a.s.sume some of the chocolates are racier than these?”
”Oh, yeah,” said Dora. ”I've got Bodacious Bods and Big b.o.o.bs.” She opened two more boxes, revealing solid blocks of chocolate. One was shaped like a muscular man's torso, complete with six-pack abs, and the other was shaped like a breast with a dried cherry for a nipple.
In spite of herself, Lucy found she was laughing.
”I know,” said Dora, with a shrug. ”It's not the cleverest name but, believe me, I sell a lot of Big b.o.o.bs.” She paused. ”The truth of the matter is, if it wasn't for my naughty chocolates, we would have gone out of business years ago. Fern thinks everybody comes for that penuche of hers, but I actually throw most of it out. And she won't raise prices on the fudge, even though the price of sugar has gone through the roof. She won't admit it, but these s.h.i.+ny red boxes are the real moneymakers.” Dora gave her a look. ”And now that Chanticleer's in town, and getting so much attention, well, I'd be lying if I said they weren't cutting into our profits.”
Lucy felt a stab of guilt. ”Ted made me write that article about them.”
”Sara said her sister's working over there.” Dora tilted her head in the direction of Chanticleer Chocolate. ”I'm surprised you let her. That Tamzin's a real floozy.”
”I'm not happy about it.” Lucy thought she'd better change the subject. ”Somehow I was expecting something a lot racier,” she said, finis.h.i.+ng off her Hot Lips.
”That's Flora,” said Dora, with a sigh. ”She absolutely refuses to let me make anything, um, below the waist.” She scowled. ”I could make a lot of money with Size Matters lollipops but she won't let me go there.”
”That's probably just as well,” said Lucy, thinking back to the days when you only had to worry about warning kids not to run with lollipops in their mouths.
”So it's okay if Sara keeps working here?” asked Dora. ”I really need the help. This is our busiest time of year.”
”Oh, sure.” Lucy's thoughts turned to Lily. ”I suppose you'll be shorthanded when Lily goes back to school.”
”Who told you that?” asked Dora, replacing the red boxes on the shelves.
”I just a.s.sumed... .”
Dora turned and shook her head. ”I loved Max, I did, and I'll miss him. But I learned early on not to count on him. He'd promise the world, but there was never enough money to pay the rent. That's what I told Lily when he said he had money coming and she'd be able to go back to school. 'Don't worry,' he said. 'It's under control.' Now he's gone and there isn't any money, there isn't even any life insurance. All he left behind is an old truck and a snowmobile that doesn't run. It's gonna cost more to fix it than it's worth-and that's the story of Max's life.” She sighed. ”And now that she's been seeing a lot of Eddie Culpepper, she's not so eager to go back to school. He's just back from Afghanistan, you know, and he's pretty eager to settle down. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they got married.”
”But Lily's so young,” said Lucy.
”I know,” said Dora. ”I'd like her to wait but, well, I remember what it's like when you're young.” She smiled and for a moment the years dropped away and she looked like the girl who'd fallen in love with Max.
”Have you heard anything more about Max's death from the police?” Lucy asked.
Dora shook her head. ”Case closed. Accidental drowning.”
”Do you believe that?”
”I didn't at first, but now I guess it must be true. Who would kill Max? Sure he had his faults, but everybody loved him, he'd give you the s.h.i.+rt off his back if he thought you needed it. You saw the turnout at the memorial service. He was a real popular guy.”
”Yeah,” agreed Lucy. ”He helped me that night-the night he died-when I got stuck in the snow.”
Dora smiled. ”That was Max all over. I really miss him.”
”You're not alone,” said Lucy.
But as she left the shop and made her way to the Pennysaver office, Lucy's thoughts turned to Eddie and Lily. She knew Barney was worried about Eddie, saying he was having trouble adjusting to civilian life. Barney hadn't elaborated, so she didn't know if he was suffering from a full-blown case of post-traumatic stress syndrome, or just the normal sense of dislocation that accompanies major life changes like moves and new jobs. Either way it was worrying, especially in light of Frankie's suspicions. Lily had been through a lot, including her parents' divorce and her father's tragic death, and Lucy hoped this relations.h.i.+p with Eddie wouldn't bring her more grief.
Chapter Ten.
Phyllis had raised the old-fas.h.i.+oned wooden venetian blinds and was taping big red paper hearts on the plate gla.s.s windows when Lucy got to the Pennysaver office. She paused, tape in hand, and c.o.c.ked her head.
”What do you think?”
”It's very festive,” said Lucy, studying the scattered arrangement. ”Maybe a few more up in the left there? And what about the door?”
”One big one? A cl.u.s.ter of small ones?”
<script>