Life Is Sweet

  © 2019 Lily Seabrooke

  lilyseabrooke.com

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact:

  lily@lilyseabrooke.com

  Cover design, formatting and typesetting are products of the author. For more information, contact above email address.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblances to real events or people, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.

  Published through Amazon, with love.

  Life is Sweet

  By Lily Seabrooke

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 1

  Melissa

  I got home with my head spinning. My apartment actually felt a little foreign after sleeping under my desk last night, especially since I never used the apartment for anything other than sleeping.

  And the occasional drinking. Which I figured I was going to need now.

  I hadn’t wanted to have the conversation today. I’d stayed up practically all night to avoid having to have it, but the fact of the matter was that ultimately everything was out of my control. No matter how much I worked, the bottom line was in someone else’s hands.

  When I’d been angling for higher and higher positions in the company, I hadn’t anticipated how it would feel to have the CEO looking me over with his face red, looking for words but saying it all with his eyes. I wondered sometimes what I even did all this for.

  And when I wondered that, I had to find something to distract myself. Usually that was work, but I didn’t feel like I was going to have a great time in the office anymore today, so it was my fallback.

  I mixed an Irish cream and whiskey with extra whiskey and sat by the window, watching rain streak down along the pane, and I just drank slowly. The silence was punishing—not a sound in the world, so all I could hear were my own thoughts. And I didn’t want to listen to them.

  Should I have invited over Rebecca? Or John… I didn’t really know. They would probably think it was weird. I never had any sort of heart-to-heart with either of them, and we had that kind of weird relationship where as much as we might have talked, I didn’t feel like I was in a place to say anything meaningful to them.

  I stared out the window for a while longer before I got a call, and honestly, even knowing it was probably work, I was relieved to at least have something to put in my mind.

  At least, I thought it was work. When I pulled my phone out of my pocket, I saw my sister’s name on the contact, and my heart sank. I answered, feeling like I’d forgotten something, and I managed a shaky, “Hey, Trish.”

  “How’s it going? Hope I’m not interrupting or nothing.”

  “No, no. Everything’s great.” I shifted my grip on the phone. “I’m home right now.”

  “Hanging out with your girlfriend?”

  I swallowed. “She just left, actually. I was going to sleep early tonight. Tough day at work.”

  I didn’t have a girlfriend. And everything wasn’t great. I just had to keep certain lies up around my family, because I knew they had enough to worry about.

  “Don’t let me keep you up too long or anything. Just wanted to let you know… you know, little things…” I heard her take a deep breath. “I scheduled the baby shower! So you have to be there for it. Okay?”

  I blinked fast. Baby shower. Right. I’d half-forgotten—just for a second, but still—that my sister was pregnant. I wanted to just sink under the table. Why could I handle the finances of an international corporation but not handle the goings-on of my own family? “Oh… yeah! That’s really exciting. I’m so happy for you.” I shifted in my seat. “So when is it?”

  “September third. Oh, you know, I’ll just send you the proper invite on Facebook. I just wanted to tell you personally before I went public. I’m so excited. I haven’t even seen you in months.”

  “Yeah, guess we… haven’t,” I said. September was going to be busy. But I knew full well I couldn’t miss this for the world. I had to at least sometimes be decent for my family. “I’m really looking forward to it too. Haven’t even stepped foot in Georgia all year. It’s crazy.”

  “Well, you’re going to be here in September, now, aren’t you? And you’ll bring your girlfriend.”

  I froze up. “My… wait. I don’t know if she’ll be okay with flying to Georgia.”

  “Melissa,” she sighed, and I winced. “Georgia’s not that bad. Bring her along, I’ll make sure she has a good time. Please don’t keep me on this slow drip about your life, okay? Or am I going to have to settle for seeing you for a day and wait another half a year before any chance at seeing your girlfriend?”

  I moved my mouth without finding words. I hadn’t even been on a date in two years. Not something I was proud of, but either way, odds weren’t good I was going to get a girlfriend in time for September.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” I mumbled. “I’ll try and get her to come. No guarantees, but I’ll do what I can.”

  “Please. You’ve gotta make it happen. Look, it’s not even just me. Mom’s low-key freaking out about you all the time, you know. She acts like you’re dead.”

  I took a long sip of my drink. My hands were a little shaky. “Yeah. Well… tell her I said hi and that I love her.”

  She sighed. “You can tell her yourself. You should just call her and talk to her. For my sake as much as hers, you know, so she stops yelling at me about what happened to you.”

  “Good idea. Was that all?”

  Was that all. My business communication line, my “are we done here” to wrap things up. I didn’t know how to handle non-business communications anymore. What was I supposed to do?

  “Yeah, that’s all,” she mumbled. “I won’t keep you awake. Good night, Melissa.”

  Dammit. I didn’t have a girlfriend, or a present for her baby shower.

  I could at least handle one of those, though. I didn’t know anything about her these days, though. I barely talked to her anymore, even though we used to be the best of best friends.

  I groaned and downed the last of my drink. I racked my brain, my mind going nowhere no matter how much I tried to force it.

  She liked candy. I think. She was really big on all kinds of candy when we were younger. Did she still?

  This was so depressing to think about. All I could think of for my own sister was that she liked candy.

  Chapter 2

  Kayla

  I thought people liked candy.

  I had a serious pout going on as I sat behind the counter, flipping through the sales reports on the POS. They said a business was supposed to grow, and if you put in the time, you’d eventually figure it out, but I was moving backwards. These historic records were going down. That was the opposite direction I wanted to go.

  The door squeaked open and Shay leaned out from the back, fixing the top button of her uniform. She was a scrawny girl with a huge mess of sandy-blonde hair she pinned a line of ribbons into, an adorable thing and one of two whole employees I had for my shop. “You’re pouting, Kayla. What’s the matter?”

&
nbsp; “Oh, you know. No one likes candy anymore.” I put my hands on my hips. “I don’t get it. This place is cute! And exciting! And happening! And it’s full of candy! Who wouldn’t want to come here?”

  She shrugged. “People just want to get their candy from the supermarket or online or something. You know how it is.”

  “I’m so tired of it,” I grumbled. “How am I supposed to turn this,” I said, pointing a damning finger at the downwards trend line on the six-month graph, “the other way around?”

  She gave me a weak smile. “I’m sorry, Kayla. You know I’m no good at this kind of thing.”

  “Yeah, guess so. But I still love you. Ready to take over?”

  “Yeah.” She stepped up in front of the register, punching in, just as the doorbell jingled and a woman stepped in with two little kids. “Go get some rest, Kay.”

  One of the two little kids pointed at me, lighting up. “Mommy, look at her hair!”

  The mommy in question looked mortified. I just laughed, making my way over to them.

  “I’m sorry,” the kid’s mom said, and I shook my head.

  “I work hard on my hair,” I said. “I’m glad you like it, little guy.”

  I had half my hair dyed cotton candy pink and the other half cotton candy blue, fluffy unicorn hair in wild waves around my shoulders, and it kept me going in the mornings when I pulled it up or pulled on an equally fluffy hat to pair with it.

  “You here for a special treat?” I said. “If you want something as colorful as my hair, there’s some really exciting new fruity candies we just got.”

  The mom looked grateful enough as I distracted the kids, but honestly I just needed attention. This kind of thing was exactly why I dressed up.

  I got a good way through guiding them around, getting them a big bag of gummies, making sure I caught their names and favorite colors, giving each of them a big sticker on their bags with their names scribbled on—I charged eight full dollars for a sticker sheet, but never to sell them, just to make people think I was amazingly generous when I gave away free stickers and made kids’ days. It was a transaction pretty close to perfect until it was interrupted.

  The doorbell jingled and I looked up, beaming at my new visitor, but my face fell as soon as I saw him.

  Jacob was a tall man with broad shoulders, brown hair and dark, dark eyes that fixed on me and made my stomach plummet. He had big hands that had once held the door shut in front of me, a thin pair of lips that had once parted to say he loved me, and later to say he hated me.

  I went rigid. I never thought he’d actually come… here.

  “Miss?” one of the kids said, and it pulled my attention back. Away from Jacob, who was standing at the door, staring at me.

  “Sorry,” I laughed. I couldn’t make my laugh come out naturally. “What else can we get? Anything else on your mind?”

  “I think we’ve gotten enough,” their mom said, and I beamed at her.

  “And you didn’t get yourself any? Now, where’s the fun in that?”

  She gave me a strained smile. I wondered how strained mine was right now. I felt Jacob’s eyes on me still. “Thank you. I think we’re ready to check out.”

  “Thank you, Miss Kayla,” one of the kids said. The other one was more interested in his candy. That was fine with me.

  They only barely got away from me, back towards the register, before I felt him coming up behind me.

  “Miss Kayla?” Jacob’s voice, deep and dark and dangerous, said from behind me.

  I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut. I was at work. This was a job, and I was a professional. As much as I didn’t look professional. I had to face this like a professional.

  I turned around and forced a smile at him, even as the sight of him sent ribbons of panic through my stomach. “Hi, Jacob. What can I get for you?”

  He shook his head. “What even happened to you? You’re working in this tacky place dressed like… like…”

  I forced a smile. “I own this tacky place, actually. Can I get you something?”

  “You know why I’m here.” He took a step forwards and I took two steps backwards. “Kayla, this isn’t where you belong.”

  “I feel like it’s right for me. I’m happy here. But thanks for your concern.”

  “I don’t know what happened, Kayla. We had everything.”

  I straightened my back, swallowed twice before I could speak. “Sir, I get the feeling you’re not actually here for candy.”

  “Kayla, of course I’m not here for candy.” He shook his head. “I’m here for you.”

  “Well, I’m sweet and colorful, but I’m not for sale,” I said, and I spun on my heel and got two steps away before his hand came down on my shoulder.

  “Kayla, your father wants you back.”

  I froze, every part of my body going tense, everything as brittle as hard candy. “Jacob,” I said, my voice small, “I’m not… I can’t…”

  Shay came around the corner, beaming brightly. “Hi, sir. Can I help you find something?”

  Jacob’s grip on me loosened and the flight senses kicked in, and I just about sprinted into the back. I’d barely kicked the door shut behind me before I sank into a chair.

  Even back here, in the cold and quiet back room with shelves of product on the walls, my pulse was racing, my heart going so fast I felt sick.

  I didn’t know how he even found this place. And I didn’t think I wanted to know.

  I owed Shay. I owed her a huge hug with ugly-sobs and everything. And plenty of candy.

  No, she was sick of candy. Ugh. I wish I knew of any other kind of gifts. How could anyone get sick of candy?

  It wasn’t long before the door opened and Shay poked her head in. “Hey… you okay, Kay?”

  “I’m cool,” I said, my voice wavering. “Thank you so much for getting me out of there.”

  “Who was that guy?”

  I shook my head. “It’s not important. If you see him again…”

  I didn’t know what. Could I just ban him? I couldn’t do that. That wasn’t right. He hadn’t done anything wrong yet. But I couldn’t just let him do whatever he wanted.

  “If I see him again?” Shay prompted.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Tell him I’m not here. Even if I am.”

  She looked down. “I’m sorry, Kay.”

  I shook my head so hard my hat almost came off. “I’m good! I got this. I’m Kayla Spencer, and life is sweet!”

  Because if I said it enough, I’d have to start believing it.

  The doorbell jingled again, and Shay gave me a quick hug before she headed back out onto the floor. I took a while longer to psyche myself back up and convince myself I’d be okay. That life was sweet.

  ∞∞∞

  I wasn’t doing that much better the next day. I sat at the register, staring at the same sales reports that were, surprisingly, still mocking me today. Between that and the thoughts of Jacob still spinning through my head, I was not in my best Kayla Spencer, Life is Sweet mood.

  I realized I was scowling and that was not the right mood for a cute and whimsical candy shop. There was obviously only one solution, and that was to pick myself back up with jellybeans.

  I was a woman without shame, so I just stood right on up and grabbed a bag and strode right on over to the jellybeans. I knew what I was about, so I put my bag under the spout for the butter popcorn ones, pulled the handle, and then the handle came off.

  I made a bizarre noise humans probably weren’t supposed to make as jellybeans dumped out, filling the bag right away, and only stopped when it was full enough to back up to the spout. I stood rooted to the spot—of course I couldn’t really move unless I wanted a waterfall of jellybeans onto the floor.

  I fiddled with the handle, my mind going in circles. I’d seen Alexa—my other employee, the one who actually knew how to fix things—deal with this once. But that was a month and a half ago and I hadn’t even been paying attention. I wish I’d paid attent
ion. I had no idea how this thing went on.

  Caught pilfering my own stock. I left my phone on the counter, too, so I wasn’t even able to call Alexa. This was about as embarrassing as things could get.

  And that was before I heard the doorbell jingle.

  I turned to look at where a woman was coming in through the front door, looking like it was an unfamiliar land—and it might well have been, judging by her look. She didn’t look like a regular candy shop customer, with a blazer and slacks. She scanned the building and met my eyes, and we both froze like we were each catching each other in the middle of something we weren’t supposed to be doing.

  Except in my case I actually had been.

  “Hi, welcome!” I called. “Don’t mind me, I’m just… just love jellybeans. Can I help you find something?”

  She stared. I stared too. I didn’t know why I’d said any of that, but to be honest? I didn’t know why I usually said any of the things I said.

  She was a gorgeous woman, tall with dirty blonde hair she had pulled back with two long strands framing her face, an intense look in her eyes I couldn’t tell if they were blue or green, with a sharp brow and perfectly shaped lips. She looked like a model. And she was probably judging me.

  “No,” she said finally, “just… just looking.”

  “Oh, all right,” I said. “Let me know if you need anything! Any recommendations, I’m here for you!”

  Crap. I really had to figure out how to get this thing on. I fiddled with the handle again, but I was short on ideas. I mean, to be fair, my one and only idea was “try to squeeze it back on,” and when that didn’t work, I was out.

  The woman came around the center display and ended up face-to-face with me again, and I flushed. “Oh,” I said, “hey. Hi. I really recommend the jellybeans. Very good choice. Classic, you know.”

  She looked me over once, her eyes wide. “I guess butter popcorn is the best flavor?”

  “Absolutely,” I said automatically before I realized the problem. “But that machine’s out of order.”

  She stared a while longer, poor little me shriveling up under her scrutiny, before she said, “Do you… need help?”