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Chapter 1

Chocolate o around

Tired, edgy, and scared that she was never going to get her life on the happy track, Grace Brooks dropped into the back booth of the diner and sagged against the red vinyl seat “I could really use a drink”

Mallory, in wrinkled scrubs, just coht shift at the ER, snorted as she crawled into the booth as well “It’s eight in the ”

“Hey, it’s happy hour somewhere” This fro a black tee, a black deniirl enseht pink EAT ME apron she was forced to hile waitressing “Pick your poison”

“Actually, I was thinking hot chocolate,” Grace said, fighting a yawn She’d slept poorly, worrying abouta roof over her head…

“Hot chocolate works too,” Aht back”

Good as her word, she soon reappeared with a tray of stea, fluffy chocolate pancakes “Chocoholics unite”

Four o, Grace had co job, until she’d discovered that putting out for the boss was part of the deal Leaving the offer on the table, she’d gotten into her car and driven as far as the tank of gas could take her, ending up in the little Washington State beach town of Lucky Harbor That sa a freak snowstorers

Mallory and Amy

With no electricity and a downed tree blocking their escape, the three of the their way through a very large chocolate cake Since then,over chocolate cake had become habit—until they’d accidentally destroyed the inside of the diner in a certain candle incident that wasn’t to be discussed Jan, the owner of Eat Me, had refused to let them meet over cake anymore, so the Chocoholics had switched to brownies Grace was thinking ofa motion for chocolate cupcakes next It was is, as dissecting their lives—specifically their lack of love lives—was hard work Except these days, Amy and Mallory actually had love lives

Grace did not

Aain and came back with butter and syrup She untied and tossed aside her apron and sat, pushing the syrup toward Grace

“I love you,” Grace said with great feeling as she took her first bite of delicious goodness

Not one to waste her break, A with syrup and dug in

Mallory was still carefully spreading butter on her pancakes “You going to tell us what’s wrong, Grace?”

Grace stilled for a beat, surprised that Mallory had been able to read her “I didn’t say anything rong”

“You’rea stack of six pancakes as if your life depends on it”

“Because they’re a

All her life she’d worked her ass off, running on the ha adopted at birth by a rocket scientist and a well-respected research biologist had set the standards, and she knew her role Achieve, and achieve high “I’ve applied at every bank, invest firm between Seattle and San Francisco There’s not much out there”

“No nibbles?” Mallory asked sy catching the light

A around—you’re going to blind us Couldn’t Ty have found one smaller than a third world country? Or less sparkly?”

Mallory beanored A to be deterred “Back to the nibbles,” she said to Grace

“Nothing to write home about Just a couple of possible interviews for next week, one in Seattle, one in Portland” Neither job was exactly what Grace wanted, but available jobs at her level in banking had become nearly extinct So here she was, two thousandbeneath the debt load of her education and CPA because her parents had always been of the “build character and pave your own road” variety She was stillthat job offer to Seattle, but she’d wanted a good, solid position in the firm—just not one that she could find in the Kama Sutra

Now late spring had turned to late su off temp jobs She was down to her last couple of hundred bucks, and her parents thought she’d taken that job in Seattle counting other people’sGrace had strived to live up to the standards of being a Brooks, but there was no doubt she fell short In her heart, she knew she belonged, but her brain—the part of her that got that she was only a Brooks on paper—knew she’d never really pulled it off

“I don’t want you to leave Lucky Harbor,” Mallory said “But one of these intervieork out for you I know it”

Grace didn’t necessarily want to leave Lucky Harbor either She’d found the s than anywhere else she’d ever been, but staying wasn’t really an option She was never going to build her big career here “I hope so” She stabbed another pancake fro toaway atin limbo sucks”

“Yeah, none of those things are your real problem,” Amy said

“No?” Grace asked “What’s my real problem?”