Page 3 of The Cosy Seaside Chocolate Shop

‘Well, you seem to be the one doing all the Easter-egg making and delivering around here, so I thought your very own Easter Bunny might be quite fitting.’

‘Aw, how sweet. He’s really lovely.’ The toy was gorgeous, all soft beige fur, with a white fluffy bib area and a yellow-spotted bow tie. ‘Thanks.’

With that, she leaned down to find her gift for him where she’d hidden it under the bed. ‘And this … is not your average Easter egg, by the way.’

‘Oh, I can’t wait.’ Max opened the medium-sized cardboard box, unwrapping layers of tissue paper to find a set of chocolate tools: spanner, hammer, nuts and bolts, and a screwdriver with screws.

‘Hah, this is brilliant!’

‘All edible,’ Emma announced. She had seen the moulds online and knew that was just the thing for Max, who owned his own building company. It had taken a while to get the silver-metallic finish just right, but she was pleased with the end result.

‘Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s so cool. I’m gonna have to show the lads at work. Thank you.’ He beamed at her. ‘I love it.’

‘You’re welcome.’

He leant across to give her the most tender kiss – an embrace that promised so much more.

‘We have no rush this morning,’ she hinted. ‘I’m not opening the shop today.’ After three weeks of manic build-up, creating chocolate eggs of all shapes and sizes, filled chocolate bonnets, moulded Easter chicks and bunnies, she was more than ready for a day off – a rare treat. Running your own business meant long hours, and busy days.

‘Hmmn, no rush at all then. So, I’m going to make love to you very, very slowly indeed.’

Em felt her whole body tingle just at the thought of it.

‘And … I might even find a use for that chocolate spanner,’ he added jokingly, with such a wickedly naughty grin on his face, that the pair of them dissolved into laughter.

Making love in the morning left you with a warm glow for the rest of the day. There had been no rush for Emma and Max to be out early, but there were two special chocolate Easter eggs she had yet to deliver to her twin nieces who lived nearby. They arrived late morning at her brother James’s house, which was in a small hamlet in the countryside outside the market town of Alnwick, a twenty-minute drive away through pretty country lanes.

After the annual Easter egg trail in the back garden for the girls, which had now become a bit of a tradition (and who better to bring the most delicious chocolate eggs than Auntie Emma?), they were chatting in the family kitchen over tea and simnel cake, with Easter ‘nests’ the girls had made themselves with lots of chocolate, cereal and mini eggs.

‘Uncle Max, do you like my chick?’ Lucy asked.

Emma had lovingly crafted two large and very cute chocolate Easter chicks, which had been the grand finale of the trail. They even had bow ties on – one red and spotty, the other yellow-striped.

‘He’s rather fabulous, isn’t he? Do you think it is a he?’ Max asked, noting with a smile that there was a large chunk of chocolate missing already from the back of his head.

‘Oh, yes. Of course.’

‘Mine’s a girl,’ Olivia piped up. ‘I’m going to call her Flick.’

‘Flick, the chick. That’s a cool name,’ Max said, grinning.

Max was a natural with the children, so at ease chatting away with them, despite having no nieces or nephews of his own. Lucy had started calling him Uncle Max soon after Christmas, when Emma had only been seeing him for a few months, and it had stuck. He seemed very much a part of Emma’s family already.

‘So, how’s the shop going, Em?’ Chloe, her sister-in-law, asked.

‘It’s been really hectic in the run-up to Easter, but that’s good. And I’m managing to keep up with the rent payments okay for now, so that’s a bit of a relief.’ There had been issues with a huge rent hike the year before, but Emma was managing to keep the wolf of a landlord from the door at the moment. The new café area was proving popular and her Chocolate Shop by the Sea was doing well; it certainly kept her busy.

‘That’s good news, Em. Glad to hear it. Anyone for a top-up?’ Chloe got up from the table where she’d been sitting with Emma and busied herself with the kettle and teapot.

The two men were standing chatting by the French windows that led to the garden. They were talking work too.

‘The accountancy practice has been full on lately,’ James, her brother, was saying, ‘what with the end of the financial year coming up. You?’

‘Yeah, lots on for me at the moment,’ Max replied. ‘Things have really picked up in the building industry again. New houses going up, conversions, all sorts. In fact, I’ve just been offered a great project down in Leeds.’

Emma’s ears pricked up – it was the first she’d heard of this.

‘Converting a warehouse into apartments, right by the side of one of the canals. The job’s worth a lot of money and sounds really interesting. I like working with original buildings, but then that has its problems too, and it’ll mean I’ll be travelling and being away quite a bit. Gotta go where the business is, though.’