Chapter Seventeen
I looked up as the bell over the candy store door rang and Shayna Gates walked through the door. I smiled. “Good morning, Shayna, how are you?”
She was grinning and wearing a Rainbow Brite costume. She was wearing a blond wig with her costume, and came up to the counter. “I’m doing fantastic, Mia. Can you believe it? I’m so excited.”
I looked at her, shaking my head slowly. “Can I believe what?”
“I get to work here. At the Pumpkin Hollow Candy Store. It’s like a dream come true,” she said and laughed. “When I was a little girl, I used to think how cool it would be to work here every single day and be able to eat all the candy I wanted.”
I looked at her, my eyes going wide. “Work here?”
She nodded and her wig slipped. She pushed it back into place with one hand. “Yes, but I promise not to eat all the candy I want. There wouldn’t be anything left to sell to the customers.” She giggled.
I staring at her, taking this in. “Wait, you’re working here?”
The smile slipped from her face. “Yes. Your mother hired me. She didn’t tell you?”
I shook my head slowly and Mom stepped out from the kitchen.
“Oh, there you are, Shayna,” Mom said, walking up to us. She turned to look at me. “Mia, I hired Shayna to work part-time here at the candy store. With all the orders we’ve been getting these last few weeks, I thought we needed another part-time employee. And look at her, isn’t she adorable in her Rainbow Brite costume?”
I looked at Shayna and nodded slowly. “Yes, she certainly is adorable.”
Christy came out from the backroom and looked at the three of us. “What’s going on around here? Are you all having fun and I wasn’t invited?”
I looked at her. “Mom hired Shayna to work part-time. Isn’t that awesome?”
Christy’s brow furrowed, and she looked at Shayna. “That’s great. We can always use more help around here.” She looked at me.
I nodded. “Well, what should we get started with, Mom?”
“Why don’t you show her around the candy store? And then maybe she can help you start filling the shelves. Later we’ll have her pack up some orders for us.” She turned to Shayna. “I just know you’re going to enjoy working here, and we are delighted to have you.”
Shayna beamed. “Thank you, Ann. I’m just so excited to be here.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got fudge to make.” Mom turned and headed back to the kitchen.
I looked at Shayna and then at Christy, and then back to Shayna again. “Well, Shayna, this is the candy store,” I said and chuckled.
Shayna laughed and nodded, and her wig slipped down again over her forehead. “Oh, this thing. I should have put some bobby pins in it to hold it on straight. That’s what I get for buying a cheap wig.”
“Wigs are always a problem for me. Why don’t we take a look around the store,” I said and came out from behind the front counter. “We’ll start back in the breakroom so you know where to go when you want to take a break.”
I led her back and showed her where to stow her belongings in a small locker along one wall. Then I showed her the bathroom, and we headed back to the sales floor.
“Do you ever get tired of eating candy?” she asked as she followed me down the hallway.
I shook my head and looked over my shoulder. “Never. You would think we would get sick of it, but Mom is always making different recipes for different types of candies, and they’re always wonderful, so we’ve got to try them out.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to keep myself from eating too much candy,” she said.
When we headed back onto the sales floor, Christy was sitting on a stool behind the counter. “Don’t forget to show her the kitchen and the area where we pack the candy to ship.”
“We’re headed there now,” I said, and led the way into the kitchen. “And this is the kitchen where all the wonderful deliciousness takes place. And over in that corner is our packing and shipping department. After we pack up the candy, we put the packages on the shelves until the mailman comes and picks them up every morning.”
She looked around the kitchen and the packing area and then turned to Mom. “Do I ever get to make candy?”
Mom shrugged, looking up from the pot she was stirring on the stove. “If you want to make candy, after you’ve been here for a little while, I might be able to train you on that.”
She grinned. “I would love to know how to make the candy. It’s always so good here.”
Mom smiled and nodded. “We’ll see about it after you’ve gotten a few weeks working here under your belt. It’s going to be so busy around here we’ll have to wait until there’s a break in the business. Usually, between Pumpkin Hollow Days and the Halloween season we get a couple of weeks were things are a little slower.”
I turned to Shayna. “Well, why don’t we go back out front and we’ll start dusting shelves and making sure all the candy displays are filled.”
“I’m right behind you,” she said as we headed back out front.
Christy was still sitting behind the counter. She held up a duster when she saw Shayna. “Here’s a duster, you can start on the shelves. There’s really never any dust because we like to dust every day so everything is kept neat
