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~*~ SNEAK PEAK ~*~
A chapter excerpt from Pulled by Love, A Kindle Worlds Novella in Melissa Fosters the Remingtons Series!
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Ava
Sweet tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear, eyes intently focused on
the sticky mess in front of her. Pulling taffy was an art, one she’d carefully
honed and perfected since she was a little girl in her grandmother’s sweets
shop. Nona Jan had taught her the secret to making and pulling the perfect
taffy, creating just the right texture that would melt in your mouth and keep
you reaching for another piece. Now that
she had her own taffy shop, it was up to Ava to carry on their family tradition
and continue to create the taffy she’d grown up eating.
Ava
could almost hear Nona’s voice whispering in her ear as she buttered her hands,
reminding her to keep them greased to prevent the taffy from turning into a
sticky mess. The taffy always started off as a brown gooey mess, but Ava knew
within fifteen minutes of pulling it would turn into the sweet, creamy coloring
her funfetti taffy was known for. It was the nature of the beast, they would
always laugh, and it was times like these when Ava missed her grandmother the
most.
Her
mind drifted as she pulled the taffy, drawing her back to childhood memories. An
only child, Ava and her mother had lived with her mother’s parents in a two
bedroom apartment in New York City. She never knew her father. Apparently being
told he was about to be a father had sent him running. That suited her just
fine. Growing up, Ava was showered with so much love and encouragement by her
mother and grandparents that the absence of a father rarely crossed her mind.
It
was her grandmother who instilled the joy of taffy making in her. From a young
age, Ava could be found in the kitchen of her grandmother’s shop, buttering up
her hands and grabbing small batches of goo to pull. As she grew, so did her
interest in the business, and while other teenagers were out on dates or
hanging out, Ava studied her grandmother’s recipes, looking for ways to enhance
the flavors. When she graduated high school, going to college had never crossed
her mind. Being in the taffy business with her grandmother was all that she
knew, and all that she wanted to do. Nona’s death a year after she graduated
sent the entire family into a tail spin, and it wasn’t until the following year
when Ava was cleaning out one of Nona’s old boxes from her sweets shop that she
came across her grandmother’s recipe book.
Ava’s
movements slowed as she pulled the taffy, remembering that day clearly as
though it were just yesterday. She’d been struggling without her grandmother’s
influence, trying to stay afloat and figure out what she was going to do with
the rest of her life. Finding that book had been an answer to her prayers, and
the minute her fingers had touched the worn leather binding, she knew what she
was supposed to do. What her grandmother would have wanted her to do.
She
started out small, setting up shop in a tiny, one bedroom apartment. It took
months for her to gain traction using her grandmother’s recipes, and she spent
many long hours on her feet, hocking her taffy at every vendor event and
business in town. With a bit of luck and ingenuity, her hard work finally paid
off, and six months after creating her first taffy, Ava was moving her business
from her tiny apartment to a new storefront in Soho. It’d been a tough road, but
she knew she’d do it again in a heartbeat.
The
door to the kitchen abruptly swung open. Ava glanced up, her thoughts
scattering to the wind as Hudson James stormed through the doorway. She’d only
been in her storefront for a month and had yet to meet all her neighbors, but
she knew Hudson’s family owned Fudge Nuggets, the fudge and candy store next
door.
Sandy
blonde hair, deep set blue eyes and a strong jaw were complimented by his
muscular physique, and Ava would have been sorely tempted to stop and admire
the show had he not been staring her down. Judging by the firm clench of his
jaw, Ava had a sneaky suspicion the neighborhood Boy Scout wasn’t here for a
social visit. He looked pissed. As in seriously
pissed. And he was glaring at her.
“Just
who in the hell do you think you are?” he spat, feet planted on the floor and
hands firmly on his solid hips.
Ava
tried not to notice those hips, forcing her gaze to remain locked with his. Her
hands continued to pull the taffy on the work table in front of her, knowing
that if she were to stop it would harden and become unusable. Not exactly a
good time to be carrying on a conversation.
“Um,
excuse me?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
His
nostrils flared, and if it were possible for steam to escape his ears, Ava was
fairly certain she could see it circling his head. Hudson was known as the
neighborhood Boy Scout for the simple fact that he was always helping someone
out. Rumor had it that he had an appealing, easy going nature about him, and
Ava had heard more than her fair share of stories about the kind hearted Hudson
from customers who came into her shop. Needless to say, seeing him standing in
the middle of her kitchen, glaring her down, was in stark contrast to the image
she had of him in her head.
His
lips pressed into a thin line, annoyance stamped across his handsome features.
If looks could kill, she’d be a goner. “You know exactly what I’m talking
about. Did you think you could just steal our recipe and it would go unnoticed?”
Ava’s
mouth fell open, a soft gasp escaping her lips. “What?! Listen, I don’t know
what you think it is that I’ve done, but I suggest you back the truck up and
explain yourself.”
He
stepped closer and leaned in, bringing his face even with hers. The combination
of his nearness and the heady scent of his cologne wafting past her nostrils
made her insides quiver with anticipation. Hudson was even more handsome up
close than when she gawked at him from afar, and she tried not to notice the
bulge of hard muscles bunching his shoulders, or the hint of stubble shadowing
his strong jaw.
“My
family’s secret recipe, the one we were working on to introduce at the Big
Apple Sweets Convention. The one you
stole and used in your new taffy recipe.” His breath brushed over her face like
a caress, and had she not been pulling taffy, she would have been sorely
tempted to lean in closer to him.
~~~~~
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