Calla's Candy Ch 2-4

**Cherish Lively** (0:00)
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Chapter 2 When the alarm went off, Calla rubbed her eyes and wished that the night before had only been a nightmare. Disappointingly, it hadn't been. The proof was hanging in her closet. The vibrant dress of her dreams was visible through the open door and now cast a shadow over her. She groaned as she stretched towards the nightstand and grabbed her cell to turn off the alarm. It was early, but not insanely early. It was a Sunday in mid-December, which meant that she didn't open the candy shop until noon. During the summer, she opened at 10 Thank God for the off season and the break it gave her. As much as she needed the money, she didn't think she'd survive the constant demand of working from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the entire year. Owning her own business was great, but she carried all the responsibility on her shoulders. One day, she hoped to hire someone she could trust with more of the business side of the job. But right now, she didn't have that kind of money. She stood and pulled on her fuzzy black bathrobe. She smiled as she thought of her twin nieces who said that she looked like a giant grizzly bear in it. Ava and Emma were 6-year-old twins who loved kindergarten. However, her relationship with her brother Jeremy was tough. She loved him, but he had issues that drove her out of her mind. She wasn't sure how his wife put up with him. The aroma of coffee filled her kitchen and wafted down the short hallway of her three-bedroom bungalow. The house was essentially a square divided into a few small rooms. Her mom and stepfather, who she considered her father, had owned this house when she was a kid. When they retired and moved to Florida, she bought it. This was an area of contention between Jeremy and herself. He wanted to use the property as an income stream by renting it out to tourists. But their mom and stepfather didn't want to have to deal with renters and all the headaches that went with it, especially since Calla needed a place to live.
They told Jeremy that if he wanted to outbid Calla and get the house for himself, he could, but that was as likely as hell freezing over. Calla bought it at a fair price from her parents, and Jeremy hated her ever since. Pouring her coffee into the creamer in the well of her mug, she grabbed a granola bar with her free hand. Her mom teased her that her granola bars weren't healthy. In her mother's opinion, they were nothing but candy bars masquerading as healthy snacks. Calla didn't care. The way the coating of chocolate added flavor to the nuts and granola gave her satisfaction. She had a sweet tooth that demanded to be fed. She chewed and sipped her way back to her bedroom. She popped the last bite of her granola bar in her mouth and set her coffee on the dresser. She pulled open a dresser drawer and grabbed a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. As she shuffled to her ensuite bathroom, she stepped out of her pajama bottoms and pulled off her top. The bathroom was small, just like everything else in the bungalow. She was certain that many walk-in closets were larger, but she was grateful for it. Most small bungalows like hers only had one bathroom. Thankfully, her mom and stepfather installed this bathroom when she was in grade school. She quickly showered and got dressed. Grabbing her towel from the bathroom floor, she wiped the steam from the mirror and looked at herself. She was pretty. She had always thought that, or at least she hoped that she was. But her body was a little plumper than the average girl's. Since Avenel is a beach town, she was used to seeing scantily clad women traipsing around in bikinis. But not her. She did everything possible to keep the intimate details of her body hidden from judging eyes. She struggled with her weight, and owning a candy shop didn't help. She couldn't help but sample the treats that lured tourists into her shop. Cellulite marred her ass and upper thighs, and love handles circled her waist and rolled over the top of her jeans. It was miraculous that she'd felt so beautiful in that skin-tight dress with her voluptuous figure. But she had. Right until the moment that asshole drooled all over her breasts and insulted her. She fumed as she turned off the bathroom light and grabbed her purse. She needed to ban the horrible incident from her mind. The longer it stewed in her consciousness, the longer she'd give it power over her. She didn't want that. After Josh had asked her to dance, she hadn't lacked for a dance partner for the rest of the evening. She was thankful for that. Her mind was so busy with things that she needed to do, that when she pulled into a parking space at the shopping center, she couldn't even remember making the turns to get there. Calla's Candy was a little shop nestled in a shopping center along the main road through Avonel. This road led from one end of the hidden banks, a long thin chain of islands, to the other end of the hidden banks. Not long ago, Sena Lang rented the open space next to Calla's Candy for her accounting business. They'd hit it off instantly. She now considered Sena one of her best friends, so being a main attraction at the reception didn't sit well with her. She'd be sure to give Sena and Josh a candy basket when they returned from their Caribbean honeymoon.