The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase Read online

  But she simply looked away and busied herself scrubbing the sticky caramel off the wall with vinegar and a rag.

  He tried Max next. When their eyes met, Max gave a little hop and then scurried off to the sink to run boiling water into the caramel pot. “Sorry, Logan,” he said. “You know how it is. Once caramel hardens in the pot, it’s a bear to scrape off the bottom.”

  “Uh-huh,” Logan muttered, even though he did know that to be true. When they were all making the Harmonicandy in the early-morning hours of competition day, Daisy had to use her cut-through-anything laser pen so they could chisel the burned caramel out of the pot. A good candymaker never left a mess behind.

  Logan turned away from Max and quickly ducked under the enrobing machine. “Randall, are you going to tell me?” But Randall continued to fiddle with a knob that clearly did not need to be fiddled with. “So this is how it’s going to be,” Logan declared, turning away. Only one person was left. “Henry!” he said. “What about you? Are you going to keep me in the dark, old friend, old pal?”

  Henry shook his head. “Sorry, Logan. I don’t know any more than you do. Honest.”

  Logan assessed Henry’s answer. Eye contact, not scurrying away to do something else. He decided Henry was telling the truth. Whatever the news was, Henry didn’t know, either.

  Logan finally faced Philip, who was now using the bottom of his shirt to dry the water drops that had landed beside the sink. “Help me out here, Philip. Aren’t you curious?”

  “I’m sure Miles will be here any minute,” Philip replied, tucking his shirt back in. “Since when did you get so impatient?”

  Logan stared at his friend. “Me? You’re the most impatient person I’ve ever known!”

  “Maybe,” Philip admitted. “Guess that means you’re becoming more like me.”

  The adults in the room got quiet. Logan felt his cheeks begin to heat up. Was that true? Sure, Philip had some good qualities. He worked hard, he never gave up, he actually finished things he started. But Philip had such a hard edge to him, while Logan was so easygoing and happy. Wasn’t he? He used to lie on the great lawn and stare at a blade of grass for hours and still not tire of looking at it. Could he still do that? Would he even want to?

  Thankfully, the door opened before his self-examination went any deeper and brought down his mood. “Hey, everyone!” Miles said, bounding into the room. He waved a folded piece of paper in the air. “We did it! We came up with the top four slogans!” He turned to the Candymaker. “Once you pick the final one, Sabrina wants to announce it tomorrow at the Kickoff!”

  “Wonderful,” the Candymaker boomed. “I’ll look forward to seeing that list.”

  Everyone else remained quiet, watching Miles expectantly. Logan figured they, like himself, were waiting for Miles’s response to seeing the Harmonicandy Room for the first time.

  “What’s everyone staring at?” Miles asked, looking from person to person. He rubbed his nose and ran his tongue over his teeth. “Do I have something on my face?”

  Mrs. Sweet smiled and ruffled Miles’s hair. “No, dear. We’re just waiting for your reaction to seeing the room. It was an emotional experience for some of us.”

  Everyone’s gaze slid over to Philip, who put his hands on his hips and snapped, “Do I need to remind everyone how I found you when I arrived?”

  That got a laugh. Miles raised one eyebrow, then dutifully glanced around the room. “It looks awesome!” He said it enthusiastically, but without tears or the need to be soothed with caramel. “I heard there’s a big announcement?”

  The Candymaker smiled. “Everyone, pack your bags. We’re going on a road trip!”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  A road trip? Logan dared not breathe, afraid he’d heard wrong. What if his dad had said nose dip? Or toad lip? Or… Logan searched his brain to think of other options but had to admit they all sounded unlikely. And there was that part about packing a bag, so maybe he’d heard his father correctly after all! But other than the annual Confectionary Association’s convention, Logan’s parents had not taken him farther than the other side of town in years.

  Philip and Miles came to stand beside him as they awaited more information. Logan was grateful for their company.

  With the usual twinkle in his eyes turned up a few notches, the Candymaker announced, “I’ve already gotten Miles’s mother’s blessing and left messages for Philip’s father and Daisy’s grandmother. Mrs. Sweet and I would like to take the four of you on a week-long publicity tour to introduce the Harmonicandy before it launches! We are expected at three of the country’s biggest and most famous candy stores to give them samples. It will give me and Mrs. Sweet a good chance to visit with the store owners to discuss product placement, shelf life, and other grown-up business while you guys have fun showing off the candy bar to what will no doubt be a lot of interested folks. Max and Randall and Henry will hold down the fort here. What do you think so far?”

  Logan and Miles hesitated for about a second before jumping up and down. They grabbed each other by the wrists, then jumped up and down some more.

  “I’ll take your enthusiastic response as a yes,” Logan’s father said.

  “Yes!” Logan shouted. “Definitely yes! How will we get there?”

  “We’ll take one of the factory’s vans,” his dad replied. “I wouldn’t call it roomy, but everyone will be comfortable. A few members of the publicity department and the sales team will be going as well, in their own vehicle.”

  “Will we eat at truck stops with real truckers?” asked Miles. “Will we stay in hotels? Can we go geocaching on the way?”

  The Candymaker ticked the answers off on his fingers. “Probably, yes, and I don’t know what that is.” Then he turned to Philip, who had been very quiet. “How about you, Philip? You in? You’re the main attraction.”

  “Isn’t the candy bar the main attraction?” Philip snapped, his old personality coming back. “That’s what people want to see, not me.”

  “Yes, of course,” the Candymaker said patiently. “But people want to meet the boy behind it.”

  Logan’s mother chimed in. “And the boys and girl behind him.”

  “That’s us and Daisy!” Miles said. He and Logan high-fived.

  In the time since the candymaking contest, Logan’s parents, Max, and Randall had pieced together much of what had happened leading up to Philip’s win. They didn’t know Daisy and AJ’s role, or Philip’s father’s plans to take over the factory, or that Henry knew more of what really happened than the other grown-ups did. But they did know that the four contestants had worked as a team. Inviting them all on this trip proved it.

  “Don’t you want to go, Philip?” Logan asked. “Five minutes ago you were running around here making sure everything was perfect for the Harmonicandy’s big entrance into the candy world. This would be your chance to make sure all the store owners display it exactly right.”

  “Of course I want to go,” Philip snapped. “And proper placement on store shelves is very important.” He looked down at his feet. “But there’s no way my father would allow it.”

  Logan hadn’t expected that response and couldn’t think of what to say.

  Miles had no trouble jumping right in, though. “Why not? Isn’t he the one who always wants to win all the time? Why wouldn’t he want your candy to be successful?”

  Philip glanced around the room. He pressed his lips together and shook his head. Miles grabbed him by the arm and dragged him toward the door. Philip, being much larger, could have stopped him, but he let Miles lead him away. When Miles sensed an injustice, his size didn’t hold him back. Logan quickly hurried after them.

  “Boys, wait,” the Candymaker called after them. “Let’s see how it plays out when we hear back from Mr. Ransford.”

  Henry put his hand on Logan’s dad’s arm. “Let them go,” he said calmly.

  “We’ll be right back, Dad,” Logan promised, closing the door behind him. Whatever was going on, Philip clear