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She looked up from the milk chocolate she was tempering. “Hmm?” She’d thought a lot more about him “liking her” the way Will said he did, and she just didn’t see it. He was professional, prompt, and proper. Nothing about his actions or attitude toward her suggested he didn’t want her dating Will.
This Will Cooper better be good to youran through her mind. He had said that to her, over a month ago, just before she and Will had gone to The Culinary Cabin.
“We’re out of cream,” he said, triggering something in her mind. “And Cason’s just called and said they can’t fulfill our order.”
She looked down at the chocolate, working through the problem with the sweet stuff on her mind. Chocolate really could fix everything, and she saw the solution appear right before her eyes, in the shiny folds of the chocolate.
“I’ll take care of it,” she said.
“Do you want me to run to the grocery store and get what I can?”
“Is there some sort of cream shortage?” she asked. “We just need what? Fifteen gallons to get through the weekend?”
“That should do it,” Jon said.
“Go get that at the grocery store,” Gretchen said. “I’ll call Cason and find out if they can deliver next week.” She’d been ordering her cream and butter from the same supplier Aunt Patty had, a local pasteurization plant on the west side of town. Cason’s EMC—Eggs, Milk, and Cheese—had been delivering eggs, cream, and butter weekly since Gretchen had arrived in town.
She didn’t need cheese, though it was one of her favorite foods. But she did use quite a bit of butter in her creations, as well as cream in a lot of the fudge the shop offered. They’d gotten a big order of Fort Worth Fudge this week, and Jon was supposed to make that today.
“I’ll go get it,” he said. “We’ll need it next week for Valentine’s Day.” He carried warning in his tone, which Gretchen did not appreciate.
“I’m on it,” she said as sweetly as she could. “Let me finish with this round of truffles, because this chocolate is almost tempered, and I’ll make sure we have all the cream we need for next week.”
Jon nodded and started to return to the other half of the candy kitchen. “Wait,” Gretchen called, reaching to flip off the flame beneath her double-boiler. “Is he sending butter still?”
“Yeah, he said the butter wasn’t a problem. I guess he got some grocery store to pick up a huge order, and he says he can’t keep our smaller unit and that he’s real sorry.” Jon shrugged, because this wasn’t his problem.
It was Gretchen’s, because she couldn’t afford to pay retail prices for cream. She needed a restaurant supply price in order to make money on the candy. Her thoughts continued to bubble and boil as she finished her batch of truffles, and then she washed up and plucked her phone from her apron pocket.
A quick Internet search yielded her a number, and after she’d dialed it, a voice said, “This is Lee Cooper at Cooper and Co. What can I do for you today?”
Gretchen smiled up at the ceiling, the pleasantness in Lee’s voice going against everything Will had ever said about his brother’s sour demeanor.
