“What if I don’t like them?”
Gabe grinned even wider. “That won’t be an issue.”
“He seems sure of himself,” Sadie said, with a wink for Gabe.
“Always has been,” Ethan muttered.
Gabe walked to Pam and dropped one arm around her shoulders. He watched as Jeff laid out a white cloth napkin on the desk, then stepped back to wait. And watch.
“All right. Moment of truth.” Ethan looked at Sadie. “I want you to try them, too. I trust your opinion.”
She gave him a smile that lit up her eyes and Ethan’s breath caught in his chest. Then he turned to the candy. He took one of the rainbow-decorated, glossy white chocolates.
“That’s a lavender truffle,” Jeff provided, then looked at Sadie as she chose another piece. “And you have a dark chocolate raspberry coconut bark drizzled with white chocolate.”
“Interesting,” Ethan murmured, and carefully broke the white chocolate piece in half. Satisfied at the sharp snap of the chocolate coating, he then inhaled the scent, approving of the precise blend of spice and sweet. But the proof was in the flavor.
He bit into it and let the ganache melt on his tongue while flavor exploded in his mouth. He really hated that his brother had been right. The candy was perfect.
He shifted a look at his brother and saw the triumphant gleam in Gabe’s eyes. “It’s great, right?”
Chewing, Ethan nodded. “It is. Better than I would have thought.”
Again, Jeff heaved a sigh of relief and Ethan couldn’t really blame him. The chef had risked a hell of a lot, too. He’d worked his way up at Heart and he’d gambled his job on these samples.
“Sadie?”
She swallowed the bite she’d taken and shook her head in amazement. “This bark is terrific. The raspberry is sweet but not overpowering the chocolate, and the coconut gives it a slightly salty, savory flavor. Really amazing.”
Jeff smiled and Gabe looked proud enough to burst. Ethan couldn’t blame him. They went through the other chocolates one by one, with both Jeff and Gabe explaining the process and how they’d chosen the different flavors they’d blended into the ganache.
“This last one is a Sumatran coffee, orange liqueur blend,” Gabe said slyly.
“Clever,” Ethan murmured. “Hit me with a flavor I love.”
“I’ll pass,” Sadie said, and took one of the lemon blackberry bonbons instead.
Pam was strangely silent, but Ethan assumed it was because this wasn’t really her business. She had nothing riding on this gathering; she was simply there to support Gabe.
“You did a hell of a job, here,” Ethan ruefully admitted when the tasting was completed.
He’d been backed into a corner so neatly the only way out was Gabe’s way. Ethan hated change, but he’d been dealing with nothing but change over the last couple weeks and it hadn’t killed him. And really, the damn chocolate was good. Maybe Gabe had a point, after all, and it was time to branch out. To test new waters, before he—and his company—became so comfortable, neither of them could grow.
“That means what, exactly?” Gabe asked warily.
Ethan looked from the candy to Sadie to Gabe. “It means we should talk privately. Pam, would you and Jeff mind stepping out of the office for a few moments?”
“She doesn’t have to go,” Gabe argued.
“It’s okay,” Pam said with a weak smile. “I’ll wait outside.”
When they were gone, Ethan perched on the edge of his desk and said, “You made your point, Gabe. I don’t like how you did it, but you were right about the candy.”
Gabe clutched his heart. “Hold on a second. I might need an ambulance.”
“Keep it up,” Ethan promised with a quirk of a smile, “and you will.”
Suddenly all business, Gabe asked, “So we’ll go forward with the new line?”
“That depends,” Ethan said, drawing Sadie over to his side and taking her hand in his.
Gabe’s eyebrows lifted and a quick smile came and went. “Depends on what?”
“I don’t want to start another line with only five or six offerings,” Ethan said. “Can you and Jeff come up with a full dozen new flavors?”