Sweet Dreams on Center Street (32 page)

“Come on, babe. On a day like this, that stuff can wait.”

When he put it that way… “I'll get my camera,” she said.

Two hours later they were on Lost Bride Trail, the sun warm on
their shoulders, the thunder of the falls promising a stunning view right around
the bend. Normally it wasn't a two-hour hike to the falls—unless you stopped
frequently to take pictures. Or kiss.

“I remember hiking up here when I was a Boy Scout,” Blake said.
“I guess I've come full circle.”

“Only without the boys,” Samantha said.

“I like girls better.” And to prove it he drew her to him.

As always, contact with that big, football-player body of his
set off a thousand sparklers inside her.

He smiled down at her. “Have I told you recently how amazing
you are?”

“Oh, you're only saying that 'cause it's true,” she
quipped.

“Yeah? How do you know I'm not just saying it to protect my
investment?”

The answer to that was easy. The hungry glint in his eyes
betrayed him.

He touched his lips to hers and threaded his fingers through
her hair and that ended the joking. They got serious.

After a long delay they finally made it to the falls. “Look at
that,” she said. “Gorgeous.”

“I'll say,” he agreed.

She turned to see he wasn't admiring the falls at all, and that
glint was back in his eyes, promising another lengthy delay before they started
back down the trail. “Here,” he said, “give me the camera. I'll take your
picture.”

She handed it over.

“Pretend you're searching for the lost bride,” he said.

“Oh, that's B.S.” She'd seen the lost bride and…well, here she
was with Blake. Still.

“Come on, be a sport,” he coaxed.

“Oh, all right.” She turned and shaded her eyes as if she were,
indeed, searching.

And that was when she saw the figure of a woman flitting behind
the waters. The hairs on her neck stood on end and she gasped.

“That's perfect,” Blake said. “Got it.”

She turned back to him, wide-eyed. “Did you get her?”

“Get who?” he asked, puzzled “Oh, yeah. Ha, ha.”

“No. Really. She's right there.” Samantha followed the
direction of her pointing finger and saw…nothing. “She was there. I saw her.”
She took the camera and flipped back to the shot. There was only one woman in
it, one crazy woman.

Now Blake was staring at her earnestly. “Did you see her?”

Well, that was the power of suggestion for you. She shook her
head and blew off the legend of the lost bride with a flick of her hand. “Nah.
It must have been a shadow.”

Or a promise of things to come.

Epilogue: Dreams Coming True

T
he much-anticipated episode of
All Things Chocolate
aired on the Food Network the
following week. The Sterlings had a viewing party, squeezing as many friends as
possible into Muriel's new digs—Pat's charming little cottage overlooking Ed
York's vineyard.

“I must say—and I don't say this very often—these chocolates
are to die for,” said Mimi LeGrande, holding up one of Samantha's new creations.
“But I think I can guarantee you'll die with a smile on your face.”

Everyone applauded as she put in a plug for visiting the Sweet
Dreams shop and Icicle Falls.

“You did it, Sammy,” Bailey said. “You saved us.”

“No,” Samantha corrected her. “We all did it.”

“Thank God,” Ed murmured. “And this.” He waved a hand in the
direction of the TV. “This should bring in a ton of orders.”

“And visitors,” Olivia added. “I bet we'll have twice as many
people at the chocolate festival next year,” she predicted gleefully.

“Let's not rush our festivals,” Ed told her. “We still have an
Oktoberfest to put together.”

With Mom and Cecily involved, Samantha suspected it would be
spectacular.

Her sister had jumped into community life with both feet when
she moved back, volunteering at the food bank and getting herself (and Mom) on a
committee to plan future festivals—a real benefit to the town. She was also a
benefit to Sweet Dreams and was doing a great job of promoting the company.

In addition to the festival planning, Mom was writing a new
book, a cookbook titled
A Chocolate Lover's Sweet
Dream,
but that didn't stop her from coming into the office a couple
of times a week to assist Cecily with marketing.

Curled up on the sofa next to Blake, looking around at all the
people who meant so much to her and thinking about how they'd all helped one
another through a difficult time, Samantha felt almost overwhelmed with
gratitude. Waldo would have loved this party, she thought with a smile.
Everything worked out, Waldo. You're off the hook.

Blake gave her a kiss that promised fireworks when they were
alone, then went to the kitchen counter where the champagne was sitting to
freshen their glasses. That done, he turned and cleared his throat. “While we're
celebrating, I have a very important question to ask Samantha.”

“Like when am I going to pay back the money?” she joked.

He returned to the couch and held out a champagne glass. “Like
how about making me a silent partner?” At the bottom of the glass something
bright and sparkly winked at her.

“Oh, my gosh, it's a ring!” Bailey cried.

“I knew you were a match all along,” Cecily crowed.

Samantha was the only one of the sisters who was speechless.
She stared at the glass and the diamond in it. Then she stared at Blake. Her
company was safe, the future was looking good for Icicle Falls once more, and
now the most wonderful man in the world was asking her to marry him.
Great-grandma Rose couldn't have dreamed up anything better than this.

“I know I can never properly appreciate your chocolate, but I
sure do appreciate you. Samantha Sterling, I'm crazy in love with you. Will you
marry me?”

“Yes!” She kissed him and everyone applauded.

While she fished out the ring and slipped it on her finger, her
mother and sisters circulated among the guests, making sure everyone's champagne
glass was filled.

Once that was accomplished Ed York raised his glass. “A toast.
Here's to a sweet future for both of you.”

“I'll toast to that,” Blake said, and kissed his
bride-to-be.

Samantha closed her eyes and savored the moment. No chocolate
could compare to Blake's kisses. Like Waldo said, did it get any better than
this?

With the man she'd chosen, she was sure it would.

* * * * *

Recipes from the Sterlings

If you're ever in Icicle Falls we hope you'll come visit
Sweet Dreams. Meanwhile, enjoy trying some of our favorite chocolate
recipes.

Samantha Sterling

THE CHOCOLATE ROSE
WHITE CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE

(Our friend Sheila Roberts tried to make this and
failed miserably, but her pal Doreen Geidel came through and saved the day.
Doreen, you're a real chocolatier!)

Yield: 48 candies

Ingredients:

2 14-oz bags of vanilla candy disks,
such as Wilton's Candy
Melts
(one for your ganache filling,
the other for the outside
coating)
1 cup heavy cream
½–¾ tsp rose water
(Start
conservatively. You can always add more.)

Directions:

For ganache, put one bag of candy disks in a large,
shallow dish. Bring cream slowly to a light boil, then pour over disks and keep
stirring until they all melt. When the ganache is warm, it is very creamy. You
can thicken it by whisking it and then putting it in the refrigerator. This may
take a couple of hours, which gives you time to go do something else (like read
a Sheila Roberts book).
After your ganache is cooled and firm, form
it into small, candy-size balls. Place them on parchment or wax paper. Melt the
second bag of disks in a double boiler, then dip each ball in the melted white
chocolate. Once they've set, store them in a cool place.

BAILEY'S CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE TRIFLE

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 regular size (10.75 oz) frozen pound cake
such as Sara
Lee
½ cup raspberry liqueur (Although you can also make this without the
liqueur and it will taste great.)
1 cup raspberry jam
1 package
instant white-chocolate pudding mix
2 cups whole milk
1 pint fresh
raspberries
½ pint heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp sugar
(Optional—use this if you like your whipped cream sweetened.)
1 cup
coarsely chopped dark chocolate truffles

Directions:

Cut pound cake into slices, then cut the slices into
thirds. Line the bottom of a trifle bowl (or any large cut-glass bowl) with half
the slices. Sprinkle with half the liqueur. Next spread on half the jam. Mix the
pudding and milk until thick and layer half of that over the jam. Add half the
raspberries and half the cut-up truffles. Repeat the process, using what's left
of the ingredients. Add vanilla and sugar to the cream and whip it until stiff,
then frost the top of the trifle.

ICICLE FALLS MOOSE MUNCH

(This one is courtesy of our friend Dee Dee
Giordano.)

Yield: anywhere from 24 to 36, depending on what size
you make them

Ingredients:

2 cups Cap'n Crunch peanut butter cereal
2 cups broken
pretzel sticks
2 cups roasted peanuts
1 bag of vanilla or chocolate
candy disks such as Wilton's Candy Melts

Directions:

Mix the first three ingredients together. Then melt the
disks in the microwave until completely melted. Pour over the mixed ingredients.
Working fast, so the chocolate doesn't set up, drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper.
If the chocolate sets before you can spoon them all out microwave for several
seconds to reheat chocolate and continue spooning.

WHITE LAVENDER
FUDGE

Yield: 9 to a dozen (You can make more or less,
depending on how big you want your pieces of fudge.)

Ingredients:

2 cups granulated cane sugar
1 cup half-and-half
1 Tbsp
light corn syrup
½ tsp salt
1 Tbsp butter
¾ tsp lavender (You can
add more but try this
small amount first. Like rose water,
lavender
is powerful stuff!)

Directions:

Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. (This
prevents grains of sugar from clinging to the sides of the pan and forming
unwanted crystals when the fudge starts to bubble.) In it combine the sugar,
half-and-half, corn syrup and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly
until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Then cook to
soft-ball stage. Immediately remove from heat and cool to lukewarm without
stirring. Then add butter and lavender and beat vigorously until mixture becomes
very thick and starts to lose its gloss. (Good exercise!) Spread in a buttered 9
x 5 x 3 (or 9 x 9) inch pan. Score into squares while warm. Cut when cool and
firm. Store in a cool place. (If you can keep it long enough to store. Good luck
with that!)

Note: If you cook this for too long and too high you
will wind up with caramels—not a bad thing, either, but we thought we should
warn you.

To extend the life of your fudge you can
store it in the refrigerator. Line an airtight container with wax paper and put
wax paper between the layers of fudge so the pieces won't stick to the container
or one another. You should be able to store it for up to three weeks this way.
Before serving allow it to remain in the container until it returns to room
temperature.

BEAR DROPPINGS

(This is courtesy of our friend Carol Hostetter.)

Yield: 24

Ingredients:

2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 Tbsp shortening
½ cup
raisins
½ cup slivered almonds
(You can substitute walnuts if you
wish.)

Directions:

In a double boiler over simmering water, melt the
chocolate chips and shortening, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat; stir in
raisins and almonds. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper. Chill until ready
to serve.

Introduction

Christmas. As the song says, it's
the most wonderful time of the year, and one the women of Icicle Falls
always look forward to. Their small town may not have a ball to drop on New
Year's Eve as New York City does, but in the town square they have a giant
tree that they light every weekend in December for the tourists. And they'll
be able to enjoy holiday concerts, winter bonfires, skating in the little
ice rink, cross-country skiing and sleigh rides. And you can bet there'll be
plenty of Sweet Dreams chocolates on hand. To top it all off, this Christmas
Cass Wilkes's daughter Danielle is getting married. It should be the perfect
holiday, right?

Wrong. Cass's ex and his family are coming
to town for the wedding and, with every B and B in town booked, it looks as
if her former husband and his trophy bride will be staying with her, making
her life miserable.

Cass isn't the only one Santa's presenting
with a white elephant gift this year. Her friend Charley, who owns Zelda's
restaurant, is about to come face-to-face with the ghost of Christmas past,
the man who left her for one of her employees and has now returned with a
disturbing proposal. Their friend Ella Swan will find it hard to keep her
mind on decking the halls when she's sharing the house with her gorgeous ex
while they wait for it to sell. Santa sure has a sick sense of
humor.

Enjoy this first chapter of
MERRY EX-MAS
and get ready to help Cass plan a wedding, save Charley from the ghost of
Christmas past and give Ella romantic advice. They're going to need all the
help they can get!

MERRY EX-MAS
is coming in
November.