The Candymakers Read online

  AJ nodded. “I know what you mean about this place. I was watching the Candymaker’s son and that kid with the backpack before you arrived this morning. They seemed so normal. I kind of envied them. And you know, with Logan’s, um, condition, you wouldn’t think he’d be someone to envy.”

  “Exactly!” Daisy said. “That’s what I mean about him. There’s something inside him that just erases everything on the outside.”

  They sat there for a minute, watching the boats bob on the water. Out of the corner of her eye Daisy saw a flash of black, yellow, and red fly past the bench and out toward the water. She didn’t know butterflies could fly so quickly. It made her want to be up and running through the fields or riding Magpie. She watched the butterfly skim over the water until Fran approached and blocked her view.

  “Hi, Daisy! And who’s this handsome young man?”

  Snapping back to attention, she joked, “Well, I don’t know about handsome, since he’s my cousin. His name is Bo.”

  Fran extended her hand, and instead of shaking it, AJ kissed the back of it.

  “Oh!” Fran giggled. “Nice to meet you, Bo. Your family must be very proud of Daisy. She’s the best taffy stretcher I’ve seen in years.”

  “Oh, we are! We’re very proud of our little Oopsa.” AJ put his arm around Daisy’s shoulder and squeezed.

  “And she lights up a room, doesn’t she?” Fran asked.

  “That she does, that she does.”

  “Well,” Daisy said, standing. She was eager to end this exchange. “I better get back. I don’t have much more time to create my contest-winning candy.”

  “I hope you’ll consider putting taffy in it,” Fran said.

  “Absolutely!” Daisy promised.

  AJ rose, too, and they started back toward the factory. “So I’m Cousin Bo now? That’s the best you could come up with?”

  “I think the name suits you,” Daisy replied, tossing her sandwich wrapper into a nearby garbage can.

  “Yeah, if I pulled motorcycles with my teeth, maybe.”

  Daisy laughed, then grew serious. “AJ, are we, you know, trapped in our jobs? I mean, this is all we’ve ever done. Do you sometimes want to just be a normal guy, go to a real school, that sort of thing?”

  He shook his head. “I love traveling all over and meeting all kinds of people. Next year I’ll go off to college, and after that, right back to Spring Haven. This is what I’m good at. And as much as it pains me to admit it, you’re very good at it, too. You just have to find a way to make it work for you, where you’re comfortable. You can’t take a job and then sabotage it.”

  Daisy nodded. “I know. It’s just that this time is different. I feel the closest to the real Daisy here.” She lowered her head. “Not that I even know who that is.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I don’t even know my last name,” she whispered.

  “It’s Dinkleman.”

  Daisy stopped short. “What?”

  “Your last name. It’s Dinkleman.”

  Her jaw fell open. “I’m Daisy Dinkleman?”

  “No, I was just kidding. I have no idea.”

  She punched him in the arm.

  “Ow!” he said, rubbing it. “You don’t know your own strength.”

  “Yes,” she assured him, “I do.”

  “Okay, to make up for kidding you about your name, I’ll tell you a real secret that you should probably know.”

  They were at the back door now and stepped to the side so others could get past.

  She narrowed her eyes. “For real?”

  “For real.” He took a deep breath. “When you were three years old, your parents were stuck in Italy on a job during your birthday, so everyone agreed not to tell you it was your birthday. You were too young to notice anyway. The following year, when you turned four, you thought you were turning three. No one had the heart to correct you and tell you about the missing birthday.”

  Daisy stared in disbelief. “I missed a birthday? That means I’m… thirteen?”

  He nodded. “Yup. A full-fledged teenager.”

  “You are KIDDING me!”

  “I kid you not.”

  She fumed. “But why didn’t they tell me after all this time?”

  He shrugged. “Spies aren’t known for being honest. Maybe they weren’t ready for Daisy Dinkleman, Teenage Girl.”

  She kicked him.

  “Hey! What’s with the violence?”

  She crossed her arms. “I’m a teenager, right? We’re famous for being moody and lashing out at those closest to us.”

  He followed her inside the factory, limping. “I’m sorry I even told you.”

  “Why did you?”

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “This place has me all mixed up.”

  “You probably shouldn’t come in,” she said, reaching out to keep the door from closing. “I want to see if the Cocoa Room is empty, and I don’t want to have to introduce everyone to Cousin Bo.”

  He nodded and slipped back outside. Before the door closed, he pulled a small white flower from the closest bush and tossed it to her. “Happy third birthday.”

  She shoved it into her pocket and turned away. Thirteen! Her parents would have a lot of explaining to do when they returned from wherever they were.

  The candymaking machines were all running at full force, and Daisy couldn’t help stopping to sniff the air outside each room she passed. The smell of chocolate from the Cocoa Room was, not surprisingly, the strongest of all. She was dismayed to find not only Steve and Lenny in the room but the bowling-pin candymaker as well. Squaring her shoulders, she ducked her head in and said, “Hey, guys! Want me to watch the place again while you go eat?”

  “No, thanks,” Lenny said, holding up a hot dog. “We’re all set.”

  “Oh, okay. I’ll see you later, then.” She stepped back out to the hall, letting the door swing shut in front of her. At least she could assume that if the visitors were indeed trying to get the secret ingredient, they hadn’t done so yet. Otherwise they wouldn’t still be hanging out in the room.

  A few minutes later, she entered the lab, only to duck back out again. She checked the sign next to the door. CANDY LABORATORY. Yup, this was the right place. But somehow, during the time she’d been out, walls had grown up around each person’s station.

  Tentatively, she pushed the door open. The whole room looked different, like an office in some busy company. She’d miss seeing everyone’s faces. Well, almost everyone’s.

  Voices drifted from Philip’s station. “But how will I keep it in the right shape?”

  “You’re going to have to form them by hand for now,” Max said. “It would take too long to make a mold.”

  She couldn’t believe it! Philip had actually asked for help! She stood there in amazement until Logan and Miles arrived. As annoying as it was to be closed off from the others, Daisy had to admit she could use the privacy.

  Her pocketbook vibrated a little while later, and she was grateful for the thick walls. She pulled out her comm device and opened it. Grammy’s face popped up from her home office.

  “Oh, hi, Grammy,” Daisy said in a tentative whisper. She wasn’t prepared for the wave of guilt that ran through her when she saw that cheery smile. Daisy quickly scanned what she could see of her grandmother’s desk to make sure she had left everything exactly as she’d found it. Looked good.

  “Hi, honey. Is this a safe time?”

  Daisy nodded, holding the book up in front of her face in case anyone peeked in. “We just have to be really quiet. When did you get back?”

  “Just a few minutes ago,” Grammy whispered. “I ran into the twins, and they said you weren’t in your room this morning. Is everything okay?”

  Daisy nodded again. “I was in the library doing research. You know, on candy stuff.” At least that wasn’t exactly a lie.

  Her grandmother laughed softly. “You sound like you’re actually planning on participating in the contest.”