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“Me too.”
The buzzer in the back went off. I relayed what they were getting to Lacey and hurried to the back to pull the tray.
Ten minutes later, Nich and Carmen bustled in through the back door. Fruit was washed and passed out to the tables of kids and teachers. All of them had quieted while they ate. All in all, we ended up selling out of most of the morning’s baking. It was unreal, and though I wasn’t sure I could handle this level of crazy every day, I loved it.
Don’t get me wrong, we had super busy weekends every few months. The beer festival, Fourth of July, the Hood to Coast relay, and the Volleyball tournaments…not to mention the Seaside Festival itself. They all brought in a lot of extra people to the coast. That meant all of the shops around here were packed.
I turned to Lacey. “Can you cover for five minutes? I want to go back over and check on Cindy and Sam.”
“She’s going to run you off again.” She laughed.
“Probably. But I’m going anyway.” I walked around the counter and headed for the front door. Nich’s aftershave gave him away. I peeked over my shoulder as he followed after me. “Do I need a chaperone, Deputy?”
“Probably not, but I want some peanut butter balls, so I might as well join you.” He grinned. I rolled my eyes as we went into the candy shop. As with us, Cindy had been invaded by kids, adults, and the usual tourists all morning. When I came in a couple hours ago, it was nuts. It looked much calmer, almost like a normal day right now.
“She in the back?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sam smiled, nodding, as I went around the counter and into the back. Since the incident with the ex a week ago, the back doors stayed locked for us both, so it was easier to go through the front. I didn't want to scare her, ya know.
“Hey, sug, you need anything?”
“Girl, I’m so tired.” She smiled, coming out of the fridge.
“Same. If Lacey hadn’t stayed…I don’t know what I’d have done. I had to call Nich and Aunt Carmen for a fruit run. They cleaned me out. I think once the shop is empty, I’ll close. Been too busy to prep more trays.”
“Same. Here, hold this, please?”
I took the trays of chocolate-covered delights. “Cindy, these smell good. Coconut?”
“Yes, shredded coconut, covered in a drizzle of milk chocolate, caramel, and sea salt. It’s a haystack but coconut.”
“I want a box…” I laughed softly. “Seriously. You had me at coconut.”
“All right. I guess that’s okay. Is that Nich I hear out there?”
I snorted. “Yeah, he needs some peanut butter balls.”
“Aw, he really does spend a good chunk of money here every couple of weeks. I guess the guys at the station love candy.”
“They’d eat anything that is chocolate or glaze covered…” We erupted into laughter as we carried the trays out to the front and slid them into the display cases. “It was the god's honest truth. All of those men had a sweet tooth the size of Oregon, not that I blamed them one bit.
“You two are up to no good. I can hear it in that cackle.”
Nich was handing over money to Sam, two boxes before him on the counter.
“Probably a safe bet, Deputy,” I teased.
“Sam, can you ring me up 6 of the coconut haystacks, please?” I hugged Cindy before heading around the counter. “I just wanted to check on you. I need to get back before Lacey gets swamped again.”
“Are there any more classes at the Aquarium or was this last wave the end of it?” Cindy asked.
“I don’t know. I hope it's slowing down. I don’t want to run out of goods before I run out of people to serve.”
“Same.”
“That’s $5.80, Mrs. Dana.”
I slid her $10 and scooped up my box. “Thanks, sug, keep the change. You’ve more than earned it today. Cindy, if you need me, just holler. I plan to put the deputy to work cleaning, so…” I was laughing before I got it out. He stalked behind me out the door.
