Hawk was at his corporate office—the chances of bumping into him were minimal. She hadn’t stepped foot in one of these in so long, not since she’d first begun working for Stina.
Whether she liked it or not, any hopes Ella had had of a future with Hawk had been demolished. She missed him. The quirk of interest in his brow, the admiration in his gaze, the cutesy comments and the way he found small ways to touch her or be close to her.
Thanks to Stina and Pris, Ella would never have that again.
She wanted just one more reminder. One more glimpse of what she’d almost had.
Something trickled inside of her. Temptation, sweet and agonizing all at the same time. She’d never struggled with addiction before, but Ella suspected this was similar to the way an addict might feel after being deprived for a time and then coming face to face with their addiction once more.
With the way things had been going for her lately, this was probably as close to Hawk as she would ever get again. Ella gripped the handle, pressing her forehead to the glass while the prospect of pain, of a full-frontal reminder of what she’d almost had, was just a door away.
Two different scenarios played out in her mind. She could walk away. Leave the store behind. Go back to her apartment and keep things the way they were, always wondering what it would have hurt to just go inside.
Or she could go in. Smell the chocolate air, bask in the nostalgia of everything she’d lost.
“One last time,” she muttered to the glass, knowing she looked like a lunatic to whoever might see her paused here outside the entrance. “Just once.”
She would do it. She wanted the reminder of him, even if it hurt.
A rush of heat seeped through as she entered. Though it was almost New Years, Christmas music still played overhead, and she found herself dazzled by shelves of candy in every assortment. A single, colorful wall held vertical columns of sweets, from colorful twists of licorice to cinnamon bears to candy blocks shaped like Legos. Bags were available, and a woman stood beside them, helping her children fill their bags with sugar-coated gummies and candy necklaces.
Ella browsed, bursting with a sense of wonder as though she’d gone back to being ten years old. A young woman in a pink apron was serving Italian sodas and ice cream cones at a bar where a pair of teenagers sat, looking at their phones and laughing as they drank from a bulb-shaped glass.
Shelves offered boxed chocolates with the Ever After Sweet Shoppe label, caramels, divinity, and toffee. There were apples dipped in caramel and tied with a bow, cake pops, and confections she couldn’t name. An entirely different section offered candy canes, licorice, and taffy, packaged in festive ways, perfect to pick for a last-minute gift. It was the shop in Harmony Children’s times a thousand.
Ella loved how charming everything was, how personal it all seemed to be. Hawk had talked about production and distribution, about keeping up the appearance while things were done on a large scale, but still, keep the homemade feel. She hoped he managed it because these amazing displays should be everywhere.
“Can I help you?” a short elderly woman asked.
“No thanks, I’m just—Grammy?” Ella blinked several times to make sure she was seeing who she thought she was. Grandma Larsen, with her wrinkly smile and short, curly gray hair, wore one of the pink aprons and gave Ella the biggest smile.
“Didn’t expect to see you here,” Grammy said.
“Nor did I you.” Ella pulled her into a hug. She hadn’t seen Grammy since her miracle Christmas Eve. So much had happened in the short days that had passed. How could Ella ever explain it all? “You work here?”
“I do,” Grandma Larsen said. “That godson of mine got me a job at his candy store.”
Ella froze. Grammy had talked plenty of times about her godson. He was the son of a pair of friends Grandma had met in Europe long ago, back in her glory days of traveling with her university choir. The couple had also been in the choir with her, and young as they were, Grammy had been friends with them. She’d even attended their wedding. When the woman had become pregnant, as their own parents were dead, they asked Grandma Larsen if she would be the boy’s godmother.
Apart from that, though, Ella had never known anything about him. Not even his name.
“Wait—you’ve never told me much about him. You’re saying he—he owns a candy store? This candy store?”
It couldn’t be. Grammy couldn’t be referring to who Ella thought she was.
Grammy offered her a gummy smile and several enthusiastic nods. “A whole string of stores. Isn’t it delightful? I’ve always loved coming in here. When I told him I needed extra funds for Christmas, he arranged for a part-time job for me through the holidays.”
The floor slanted. Ella gripped the nearby shelf for support. “Grammy. You never told me Hawk Danielson was your godson.”
She took Ella’s hand in hers. Her skin was baby-soft. “I didn’t know I needed to. But I can tell this bothers you. How come?”
Feeling as though she might lose her balance, Ella reached out a hand. Grammy guided her to the nearest empty table and Ella sat. “I-I know him. Grammy, it was his ball, Hawk’s ball. He was the one I danced with Christmas Eve. He was the reason I canceled with you on Christmas morning. I spent it with him helping him at the hospital giving out candy to the sick kids.”
Her lungs
