Chapter 65

sixty-five

BEN

I handed Paul a piece of maple fudge. "Does this taste all right to you?"

He nibbled one edge. "It's fine. What are you worried about?"

"I thought it was a little sugary."

"If you're worried, check with Jonathon. But for me, it's perfect."

"Thanks. Just to be safe, I will ask." For the last week, everyone had been pitching in to help Jonathon make the limited-edition boxes of fudge for Wilson Enterprises. I hadn't been able to help as much as I wanted, but with my jewelry store closed on Sundays, I could finally lend a hand.

Throughout the week, Jonathon had divided his time between the commercial kitchen at the church and his own kitchen in his candy store. So far, even with five times the number of people helping, the quality had met all his expectations. And with more than eight hundred boxes already in Manhattan, they were heading toward the halfway mark.

As soon as I opened the doors into the retail part of the store, I knew no one was there. The lights were off and the only glow came from the streetlights outside. I walked back through the kitchen and into the storage area, but Jonathon wasn't there, either. Hopefully, he hadn't gone back to Pastor Adam's church. It was after eight o'clock at night and the church's commercial kitchen should have closed two hours ago.

"Has anyone seen Jonathon?"

Kathleen looked up from the stainless steel counter. "Someone called him about fifteen minutes ago. He had to collect something, but he should be back soon."

I made my way across to the tray of maple fudge. Instead of cutting it and hoping for the best, I'd leave it on the counter for Jonathon to inspect. In the meantime, I'd make another batch and hope it tasted better than the last.

Paul pushed a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter into some spicy orange fudge. "What did you decide to do?"

"I'll leave it on the counter until Jonathon gets back."

"It might pay to place a note beside it. Everyone's working so hard that it'd be easy to pick it up by mistake."

"Good idea." I patted my pockets and found a pen.

"There's a pile of paper beside the telephone," Paul said helpfully.

"Thanks. I'll be back in a minute."

I quickly scribbled a message on the paper and tucked it under the edge of the tray. Before I made it back to the counter, my cell phone rang.

I looked at the caller display and smiled. "Hi, Daniel. How are you?"

"Tired, but glad to be in Sunrise Bay."

I stopped walking. "You're here?"

"I thought I'd surprise you."

"It's a wonderful surprise, but is everything okay? You weren't supposed to be here for another week."

"Everything's fine. I missed you, that's all."

I smiled. "I've missed you, too. I'll be home in about fifteen minutes."

"Don't rush. I know you're busy making fudge."

"No one will notice if I leave a few minutes early. Is there anything you need?"

"Just you."

My smile widened. "That's easy. I'll see you soon."