Yeah, well, as soon as I finally felt I could leave home, they almost immediately started fighting again.
But thats not your fault. Its theirs.
I know, I know. But that doesnt help me figure out what to do about the situation now. I mean, would you have turned your own dad away
Nick had been becoming more and more confused until he heard the word dad. Finally it clicked. Shed been talking about her father. Not a man. Not a lover who may or may not have been having an affair, who was wearing her out at night with his demands, withNick swallowed hard. Ridiculous, to realize how high and hard his blood pressure was pounding over something that was none of his business to begin with. Reiko spotted him.
Hey, Mr. Nick, hows it going?
Fine, fine. Hows the little one? he asked, referring to her little boy, but at that moment Lucy spun around and spotted him, too. She promptly turned peach-pink and dropped her porcelain mugwhich, of course, promptly shattered in a half-dozen pieces, coffee spilling everywhere.
Talk about immediate chaos. Both women immediately yelped, and then both talked ten for a dozen as they ran around for paper towels or rags. Nick just scooped up the porcelain shards and carried them to the closest wastebasket, both women fussing the whole time.
Youll cut yourself, Nick
Let me clean that. It was all my fault. Neither of you have to help
Okay. Once they recovered from that minor debacle, he managed to finally slip in a word. I know Im early, Lucy. But I just need a few minutes with you That wasnt strictly true, but he figured if they started out with a productive, short meeting, theyd have a better shot working out the hairier issues the next time.
Sure, sure, of course. But unless we need to be sitting at a desk, lets walk toward the greenhouses, okay?
He definitely liked the idea. It was always easier to walk and talk than to be stuck sitting still. Besides which, they had to go through the labs to get to the greenhouse area, and he always loved wandering through the lab. Bernards major manufacturing kitchens had similar equipmentconchers, winnowing machines and all. But everything was in smaller size here, with more done by hand. And the best part, of course, was getting to sample some cacao nibs or the latest experimental chocolates, or just poke a finger in whatever liquid concoction the staff was stirring up nextat least if someone didnt slap his hand.
Dont touch, Lucy scolded.
The last I noticed, I own the place, he reminded her.
I know, I know. But every process in here is a serious secret. And touching anything could monkey with an experiments results.
Nothings supposed to be a secret from me, he said, his eyes narrowing on a fresh batch of roasted shelled cacao beans in a tray on the far counter.
She steered him firmly toward the door to the greenhouse marked BLISS, saying patiently, I know youre the boss. But youre just a teeny bit dumb, Nick, as much as we all love you. Your gramps has the touch. The understanding. The instinct. You dont.
Hey, he said, in his most injured voice, but he wasnt offendedeven remotely. It was always like this. Lucy was a wreck around him outside, or in the offices, or up at the house. But the closer she got to her own venue, the more comfortable and bossy she gotand the more fun. It was like watching the transformation from an obedient, boring Cinderella into a fine, confident, sassy wicked witch.
She key-coded herselfand himinto the greenhouse, then motioned him in first. Now, Nick, I totally realize that youre the brilliant one from the business side of the fence. Orson has told me a zillion times how Bernards was just a small-potatoes family chocolatier until you were a teenager and started nudging him with marketing ideas. And then taking the whole thing over. So I know youre brilliant. But you need people like me to do the dirty-hands stuff
Youre just saying that so Ill stay out of the chocolate samples.
True.
Im kind of offended that you think Id mind getting my hands dirty. Its not true. As a kid, I played in mud nonstop.
Thats nice, she said as she smacked his hand one more timehed almost reached another sampling plate right before they entered the greenhouse wing. After slapping him, twice now, she just went on doing the miniature wicked witch thingalbeit in sneakers. You just dont understand how delicate the process is. You have no reason to. Its not your problem. But everything has to be right.
You think I didnt realize that?
Oh cripes. I didnt mean to hurt your feelings. Of course you know all that, but in your job, you need all that knowledge at an intellectual level. Where in minewell, I just dont know how anyone could do my job well if they werent an obsessively fussy perfectionist. She said it tactfully, as if she felt sorry for him that he couldnt have that character trait. You also have to be messy. And those two things usually dont go together. Which is why its so darn hard to create really good chocolate.
He found it fascinating that she had the arrogance to think he needed a lecture on the chocolate business. But damn. She always saw things so differently from him that his curiosity was invariably aroused. Say what? What does messiness have to do with creating good chocolate?
Well, maybe messiness isnt the right word. But you cant do everything by the book. You cant just tidily follow a recipe and hope itll turn out. Because each cacao bean is different, every batch of chocolate has the potential to turn out differently. So to make the best stuff, you have to be flexible. Sensitive to the smells, the tastes, the textures. The nitty gritty of it all.
I get it now. You have to be a hard-core sensualist. Like you.
Her jaw dropped. No, I didnt mean that. Im no sensualist.
The hell you arent, he murmured. And lightning suddenly crackled in the air. Not outside. Inside.
The Night of the Chocolate was suddenly between them, the memory in her eyes, in her arrested posture. The doors were closed behind them, locking them into the greenhouse environment. The climate wasnt hothouse here, but it was a world different from a freezing Minnesota March morning. A tangly jungle of cacao trees of all shapes and sizes looked exotic and wild. The air was warm and moist, every breath flavored with pungent, earthy smells.
But this morning, he couldnt enjoy it. He wanted to kick himself. Sometimes he got on so well with Lucyhe really liked being with herwhen she was naturally herself. And hed blown it up by bringing up that night, a memory that was obviously awkward and miserable for her.
Hell. He couldnt bat a run today to save his life. He tried pitching from a different stadium. You know why I wanted to meet with you. We dont have to pin down everything this instant but we do need to talk about plans. How to work together. A time frame.
I know. Orson filled me in that you were going to be stuck working with me.
Not stuck. Damn, the woman started disappearing from sight the minute they got in her Bliss greenhouse. She wasnt being evasive. Its just that she checked the temperature on something and the water level on something else, and suddenly she was off.
He trailed after her. The building of the greenhousesIll take care of that. Wont take that long if I get a crew on it. But I need your input on the details. You want this set up to be a model for all the new ones, or do you want variations? How many kitchen-labs do you want attached to the new project. All that kind of thing.
He trailed after her. The building of the greenhousesIll take care of that. Wont take that long if I get a crew on it. But I need your input on the details. You want this set up to be a model for all the new ones, or do you want variations? How many kitchen-labs do you want attached to the new project. All that kind of thing.
No sweat. Id love to work all that out for youin fact, I could map out a drawing of the ideal layouthave it for you by tomorrow, if you want. One thing we need to immediately discuss, though, is trees.
What about trees, specifically?
Well, for starters, cost. What exactly is my budget?
Hmm. As much as we love you, Luce, he said wryly, mimicking her own phrase from earlier, I tend to think youve got the same money sense as my grandfather. Not that youre dumb. Just that youre a ton stronger at the creative, vision end than figuring out how were going to pay for it. So how about if you just tell me what you need, put it on paper, and then let me worry about the budget side of things.
Um, are you insulting me?
Definitely, yes. You and Orson are two peas in a pod about money.
That was a really nice compliment. Comparing me to your grandfather. You know I love him.
He thinks the world of you, too. But moving on
Oh. Yeah. About the trees. The thing isI need to start ordering rootstock now. Its such a major complicated process to get stock from South America and Africa. And if theres any chance you can get the greenhouses up and ready to rock and roll over the next few monthsI really need to get those orders going pretty promptly.
Okay.
She stopped carrying around hoses and a dirt-crusted fork and peered up at him. Those soft hazel eyes looked bruised-tired. Almost golden in color. Cats eyes, he always thought. Sometimes sleepy cats eyes, sometimes sensual as a kitten in the sunlight. Usually sensuality and innocence didnt naturally go together, but that was just it, in Lucys case
Nick?
Sorry, didnt hear you.
I said, do you understand how Bliss was created?
She was getting formal and bossy and pedantic again. The way she got when she was nervous. What the helld he do wrong this time? Sure I know how Bliss was made. Did you forget Ive been part of Bernard Chocolates since I got out of diapers?
Youve been part of the family businessbut from everything youve ever said, I understand you were always part of the manufacturing and business side of the chocolate fence. All the parts involved in getting from the cacao beans to the candy. But I wasnt sure if you were familiar with the first parthow you get to the cacao beans to start with.
I know the basics. The names of the beans. Where they come from. Where we get them. What they cost.
For some unknown reason, she handed him a hosea dripping hose with a little mud on itwhile she rambled down another aisle and ducked her head under some more plants. But all those basics are really complex. In fact, I really believe the reason Bernards chocolate is so fabulous is because were meticulous about every single step in the process. Like in the roasting process, were fussy right down to the seconds on timing. And we use way more cocoa butter than lecithin. And we dont just buy the best beans, we work really hard to discover unique blends. She surfaced for air, before ducking under another plant. In fact, thats always been one of my favorite jobs. Experimenting with different blends
Um, Luce, could we stay on target?
I am. This is the whole point. That were meticulous about everything. The winnowing. The grinding, the dutching, the conching. The temperinghold this for me for a second, would you?
Out of nowhere she handed him a football-sized purple pod. Purple, as in ripe. Granted, he wasnt wearing a suit, just dress slacks and a decent shirt. His jacket was already hanging in the jet. But his intention was definitely to fly directly to a meeting in short order, which meant that holding onto a dripping hose and a prize-ripe cacao pod wasnt precisely an ideal situation.
Lucy, he started to sayin his most patient, understanding voice. But she was still ranting on.
Because thats the thing, Nick. All those parts of the process are like pieces of a puzzle. Every truly great chocolatier has its secrets that no one else has. Anybody could end up with an edible chocolate bar or a nice-tasting truffle. But Bernards has always gone the long mile to find the better secrets, the better process, to do the work
Hed lost her. Shed disappeared somewhere where the pods looked the ripest. That was the whole problem with working with a perfectionist. She had to get every detail said and when she got on the subject of chocolate, she was like a windup toy with an ever-ready battery.
From the beginning, Nick had wished hed had Lucy on the sales force. Hell, hed have hired her to be the sales forceif he could pin her down for two seconds when she was cleaned up. Almost the whole time hed known her, though, she was invariably up to her knees in smells and water. Worse yet, she was even fussy about her mud.
He mentally snoozed as she kept talking. There was no point in trying to cut her off. Lucy was always going to dot every i. But time was dipping by. In principle hed hoped to take off by ll:45and hed figured that the initial talk with Lucy wouldnt take more than twenty minutes. There were only a couple of things they absolutely had to get straight this minute. Only she was still talking. They hadnt settled anything. And hed already been here a good hour.
Worse yet, as if she couldnt pause long enough to have a discussion about a project worth millions, she kept working. Moving. Bending. Lifting. Pinching. Turning on water. Turning off water. At the corner of one aisle, she was swiftly collecting a good-sized heap of purply-red pods.
But the important issue, Nick, is that all chocolatiers concentrate on the same processes. What that really means is that the best are always competing with the best. All the great chocolate makers buy the best cacao, hire the best chemists, discover their own blend of the best beans. So theres been nothing to reallyrevolutionize the industry, you know? Until now, when
Momentarily he couldnt hear her, because her voice became muffled and indistinct when she disappeared deeper under the trees. But she emerged eventually with two more ripe pods.
What really mattered was when your gramps got into the rain-forest crisis. Experimenting with ways to raise and breed cacao trees in an environment that didnt require that rain forest climate. Which has been tried before, of course. But not successfully in a way that produced great beans. Much less unbelievably revolutionary great beans
Yawn, he said aloud, trying to tactfully send her a signal that he knew all this. And whatever he knew or didnt knew, he couldnt listen to her ranting all day.
The signal didnt work. From beneath a branch she tried to hand him another hosethen peered out with an impatient glance when he didnt take it. How was he supposed to take it? He already his hands full. Forget the hose. But hold onto that one pod, okay? I want it separated from the others. Anyway. We had two problemsfirst to find a way to grow fabulous cacao beans from a plant that would thrive in a non-rain-forest climate. A regular climate. And then