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A Catered Valentine's Day. Isis Crawford
Читать онлайн.Название A Catered Valentine's Day
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9780758242921
Автор произведения Isis Crawford
Жанр Ужасы и Мистика
Издательство Ingram
“It still is a luxury item,” Libby said. “This bar we’re eating cost almost six dollars. And it’s not very large.”
“Yes, but back in the day it probably would have cost the equivalent of twenty-five dollars, and you wouldn’t have been able to afford it at all. In fact, you wouldn’t have wanted it because you wouldn’t know what it tasted like. People like you and me and Dad didn’t eat chocolate. The closest we got was fudge, because that can be made with cocoa powder, which is way cheaper.
“The guy who founded the Mars company made chocolate affordable. He was the one who figured out that if you diluted it with milk solids you could cut down on the cost. Good dark chocolate contains at least seventy percent chocolate, bittersweet usually has fifty-five percent, but milk chocolate only thirty-five percent chocolate…”
“And since chocolate is so expensive, he saved a ton of money,” Libby chimed in.
Bernie nodded her approval. “Exactly,” she said. “For a while, all Americans ate was milk chocolate. It was extremely common and cheap. But look what’s happened in the last ten years. Dark chocolate has become extremely popular again. Now we’ve been told it’s good for us. Supposedly it has more antioxidants than red wine.”
“See?” Libby said. “I knew there was a reason I liked it.”
Bernie pulled into the parking lot. “Can we say the word moderation?”
“Like you’re one to talk?”
“Moi?” Bernie replied as she scanned the lot. It was almost full.
“Yes, you,” Libby retorted.
Bernie spied a space in the middle of the last row of cars and made for it.
Libby sighed.
“What’s up?” Bernie asked as she carefully maneuvered the car in. Since she was driving Rob’s car while their van was in the shop she wanted to be extra careful in the scratch department. Not that he would care, but she sure would.
“I’m just not looking forward to this, is all,” Libby commented.
“Like I am?”
“Things don’t affect you the way they affect me.”
Bernie snorted. “What a load of crap.”
“But they don’t,” Libby insisted. “You and Dad don’t get upset the same way I do.”
“Of course we do,” Bernie said. “We just don’t show it, that’s all.”
Libby tore at one of her cuticles with her front teeth. “I still wish we didn’t have to go in.”
“Me too. But we do. And the faster we do this the faster we can leave.”
Bernie put the car in park. For a moment neither she nor her sister got out of the car. Bernie sat there studying the facade of the shop. The Gormans had chosen to go in the opposite direction from A Little Taste of Heaven. Their facade was all clean lines and metal, while A Little Taste of Heaven had a cozy feel to it. The window display was minimalist with boxes of chocolate suspended in midair with wires. Just Chocolates’ specialty, the Love Knot, a combination of bittersweet, white chocolate and crushed praline, was featured in the center.
Bernie pointed to the large, brown seedlike things on the floor. “I think those are cacao beans.”
“They’re bigger than I expected,” Libby said.
Bernie nodded. They were.
“And uglier,” she added.
“Agreed,” Libby said.
“I’m not a big fan of the display,” Bernie mused. “Too cold.”
It was odd, Bernie thought as she got out of the car. She should like this aesthetic better, it was more her style, but she preferred A Little Taste of Heaven. Somehow, she decided as she walked toward the shop, Just Chocolate projected cool, but whenever Bernie thought about food, she thought warm. Food was about family and friends, not about clean lines and space. She was still thinking about that when she pushed open the door and walked into the shop.
The smell of chocolate, sweet and spicy at the same time, greeted her. The shop was full. Marnie had two counter girls, plus herself, on duty waiting on people. She looked up.
“Thank God you’re here,” she said when she saw them. And she ran around the counter and headed straight toward them.
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