Page 7 (1/2)

Chapter One

The orgas fronore any longer

“Ooohh, I just died and went to heaven,” exclaied woer next to her said, “Stop hogging therab several treats off the tray the waiter was holding

Callie s the truffles so much, but then her smile turned into a frown as she remembered her accountant’s words Your business better start picking up, and fast, or you’re going to have to shut down Callie’s Candies Callie sluing in enough h everyone who had ever tasted one of her confections seemed to love them, Callie still wasn’t able to ed for her to meet with a renowned candy coht now Callie wasn’t feeling particularly hopeful about it As soon as anyone started talking aboutabout new candy creations, no matter how hard she tried to stay focused on business plans

She looked around the indoor garden at the two hundred people ereon her truffles with looks of utter rapture on their faces and had to blink quickly to fight back a sudden onslaught of tears How could she give up on Callie’s Candies? Making people happy orth so ht as she sniffled and opened her little beaded purse to look for a tissue

The woman behind her licked bittersweet chocolate dust off of her fingers “Wait a ot a tissue here inabout them is so perfect and beautiful, isn’t it?”

Callie forced herself to nod and then accepted the tissue fro the chocolate sers, Callie blew her nose

She liked weddings Really she did Especially since the happy couple had met in her store last Valentine’s Day

Callie tucked the used tissue into her purse, trying hard to clear her ht now she didn’t want to think about Valentine’s Day She didn’t want to think about weddings And she sure as heck didn’t want to think about love

She snorted at the thought of love—didn’t one need a boyfriend or even, say, a date first?—and the woman next to her scooted a little farther away Callie felt tears well up in her eyes again Even a et away froain

The first few chords of the wedding uests leapt to their feet Callie noted that everyone was either still chewing and sing or licking chocolate off of their fingers as they waited for the bride to appear She bit back a slightly hysterical laugh

At least there is one thing about ht as the radiant bride appeared from an arbor of white lattice and pink roses

Too bad she couldn’t barter chocolate truffles for love

Tobey stood next to the priest and tried not to sway Planting his feet in a wide stance he clasped his hands behind his back and focused his eyes on the wo towards him

Ruthless ht mind would want to marry you? Candy is for children and I want a man

Everything blurred and Tobey had to close his eyes to keep his feet firround

The priest leaned towards hi, not a wake, son”

Tobey forced a grin even though he thought his face ht crack with the strain just as Jaave him a thumb’s up

God, how he hated weddings After his one pathetic attempt at holy matrimony, which had ended before “I do” was done, Tobey had vowed never to set foot within a ain

And now, here he was, the best man He kneas a sucker, but when push ca his best friend’s wedding would have been the coward’s way out Tobey was going to look his demons in the eye, support his friend on the happiest day of his life, and then get the fuck out

Were it not for several quick swigs of tequila he wouldn’t have made it this far And Tobey knew damn well that several h the reception It was the only way

Jane’s father kissed her on the cheek and handed the bride over to the groo but emptiness inside him

The ? Why can’t you be more like your brother?

Tobey tried to shake the shrill voice of his faithless bitch of an ex-fiancée out of his head to focus on the cereh, and that was the worst thing of all So what if he loved what he did and was good at it?

What did it matter if he was a connoisseur of candy? Who cared if he kne to sell it, lots of it, for any company that hired him?

His skills were the skills of a child It was tirow up

In a daze of self-loathing, Tobey watched Jas His best friend leaned in to kiss his neife, but all Tobey could see was the face of his ex-fiancée, screwed up in rage at him You’ve ruined my life! I could have married someone iain In his mind’s eye Tobey could still see the shock on the faces of their guests He could still see the hatred in Gina’s eyes But worst of all, he could see how everyone agreed with her choice

The sound of applause pulled him from his memories and he reached out his arm to the Maid of Honor He just needed towould be all right

Callie pushed the salmon around on her plate It was delicious, but she wasn’t the least bit hungry Her lack of appetiteto do with all of the needs at her table As far as she could tell there wasn’t another singleton around for s and honey to puke Abruptly, she pushed her chair back and made a beeline for the bar

A tall, broad-shouldered man stood with his back to her Callie hadn’t paidcereood looks of the best hout the cereroom, it was as if the sun had come out from the clouds to pour down over everyone