“Oh yes, that sounds divine, thank you.” Clem smiled at Robbie before returning her attention to Viv. “I’d also like very much to apologize on behalf of all of Marietta for the way you’ve been treated in my absence.”
Reuben has said that his ex was a librarian and Viv could well imagine it now as she raised her voice with no apparent effort but sounded very much like a teacher scolding her class. The chastising was clearly meant for everyone in the shop despite Clementine not addressing anyone directly.
“It’s been appalling.” Clem embellished the word with utter disgust. “I can assure you Marietta is normally a very friendly little town and I can only say sorry again for their misguided sense of outrage that led to such behavior. I wish you and Reuben well for the future and I look forward to becoming a regular Delish customer.”
Viv didn’t think now was the time to mention she and Reuben were just a temporary thing so she inclined her head and said, “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Clem nodded. “Good. Now…” She turned back to Robbie and grabbed the steaming beverage, inhaling the aniseed fragrance. “Oh wow, that smells amazing.” Then she handed over her money and took a ballot paper Viv had mocked up.
“Put it in the box over there near the candles,” Robbie said, tipping her head to the side to indicate the direction. “There are pens over there, too.”
“Thanks.”
As if frozen in some kind of bizarre ballet, nobody in the entire shop moved or resumed their business as they watched Clem vote and deposit it through the slot. She raised her cup in salute, said, “See you tomorrow,” then headed to the door and left the shop.
It took another few seconds for activity to resume. A few seconds when a pin dropping on the floor of Delish would have clanged as loud as a pipe dropping on concrete.
Recovering first, Robbie said, “Okay now, who’s next?”
Viv could almost have kissed her as she, too, kicked into action, smiling at the woman Clem had called Mrs. Lucas. “Now, as we were saying…”
*
Things improved quite drastically after that. People stopped Viv in the street for a chat. They dropped off pies and casseroles at Delish and at the cottage. She was invited to local events and parties. She was asked by several people if she was going home for Thanksgiving and when she told them she wasn’t, they offered her a seat at their tables, which was sweet and lovely and, Viv had to say, genuine.
Clem accusing everyone of bad manners toward a newcomer had caused both collective guilt and affront and everyone, it seemed, was going out of their way to make amends—to be nice. To prove that Marietta actually really was the friendliest little town in the whole of damn Montana.
Carol Bingley even brought around her homemade pumpkin pie.
Most importantly, people were also buying chocolate! Not just Reuben. Or tourists. It seemed people were realizing, as she and Sage had from the beginning, that Marietta was big enough for two chocolate shops catering for two different markets. Which meant they were able to put another staff member on. Mackenzie started the day before Thanksgiving, which was just as well because the store was crazy busy with people wanting to buy gifts of both the edible and non-edible variety.
It was a baptism of fire for the poor newbie. The store was crowded all day—the snow falling outside had helped with that—and Viv could barely keep up with the hot chocolate stirrers. The Pop Rocks ones were so popular, Viv was worried they were going to run out before the end of the day especially with people ordering extra stirrers to take home for later.
By the time they shut up shop on Thanksgiving eve, Viv was very happy at how much the business had grown in what was just shy of a month, especially given that dismal first week. Things had turned around quickly—thanks to Clementine—and Viv breathed easy for the first time as she counted the takings for the day. Sure, today wasn’t a usual day, she knew that, but the trend was good and for the first time since they opened she knew they’d be able to pay both Robbie’s and Mackenzie’s wages from the profits!
The Marietta Delish store was going to make it. She’d had her doubts but, today, she knew it in her bones. And she couldn’t wait to get home and tell Reuben all about it.
Home…Viv shook her head—not home, the cottage. She’d never thought of any of the places Delish had rented for her as home but somehow, she did think about this one that way. Maybe it was the fact it was a cottage, not an apartment like she’d been accustomed to in her city gigs. Maybe it was the Bramble Lane address that just sounded so damn homey.
Or maybe it was the fact a hunky dude waited there for her with a glass of wine and a foot massage that was absolutely, positively going to become something else entirely. For someone who had shunned connections, she sure was sinking into this one pretty quick.
But then that was the beauty of being with someone who was only in Marietta temporarily, too—no expectations on either side.
Viv sighed as she locked up and stepped out into the freezing air of early evening, hunching into the thick wool of her scarf. The wind coming straight off Copper Mountain made the air feel as if it was made from tiny shards of ice and, although it was supposed to be fine tomorrow, it had snowed the last few days. But, even with the breath freezing in her lungs, the welcome of twinkle lights strung across the street cheered her and the glow from decorated store fronts up and down Main Street set up a similar glow deep inside Viv’s chest.
All dressed up for the impending Christmas, Marietta was utterly charming—despite the cold. There was something otherworldly about the town at the moment as if the recent snow and the spirit of the season had transported it back in time. Viv swore if she shut her eyes she could see and hear and smell the rush and bustle of bygone times. Kids having snowball fights in the streets, the slushing sounds as carriage wheels cut through melting ice, the aroma of wood smoke and roasting chestnuts and the spicy accents of mulled wine.
Dashing men in top hats throwing coats over icy puddles for women in long dresses.
Viv laughed to herself at her fanciful thoughts. She’d never found it hard to move on when it was time to go to the next store but she had a feeling Marietta was going to be different. Maybe it was the trials the store had faced, maybe it was turning failure around into success, maybe it was the people who were finally showing their kind hearts.
Maybe it was going home—going to the cottage—to Reuben.
Whatever it was, she didn’t think she’d be walking away so easy this time. She supposed that should scare the bejesus out of her but, perversely, it didn’t. Of course she was bound to get swept away in the charm of this picturesque small town in the wilds of Montana. She was used to cities that were big and impersonal, where there was noise twenty-four seven and buildings wherever a person looked and traffic.
So. Much. Traffic.
Marietta was quiet and sleepy, nestled in the foothills of a mountain that currently looked like a three-tier wedding cake all magnificent and bridal in her powdery veil of snow, a train of white flowing all the way down to Miracle Lake.
How could Viv not get caught up in the grandeur of the scenery and the allure of a simpler time?
Sure, she was going to miss it. But she knew from experience that she’d be way too busy setting up the next store to dwell on any sense of loss. And, in the meantime, she was going to enjoy her time in Marietta.