For her.
As for me, I might be toast.
And you know what?
Totesworth it.
Chapter 17
Dylan
After the extra stop to clear Zoe’s pipe and then the presence of three ride-alongs for the rest of my calls, my day doesn’t end until almost eight. But instead of going home, I hit the Pick-n-Shop and wish we had an ice cream place here in Tickled Pink again. When I’m done, I head toward the school with two pints in a bag.
But I reverse direction before I’ve gone half a block.
I don’t think I’ll find what I’m looking for at the old high school.
When I reach the old Methodist church and see light coming through the door crack at the bottom of the stairwell out back, the zing in my veins tells me my instincts were right.
Tavi Lightly is up to something here.
I step softly down to the basement, then creak open the door.
Voices drift out from the cool basement. Voices and soft music.
“I’m having trouble finding mint I like around here, but if you ship it to me, it won’t be fresh anymore once it gets here, and this sample has to beperfect.”
“I can overnight it.”
“Too suspicious. You can’t hide an overnight shipment in a swag pack or subscription box. People are already watching me more closely.”
“What if I ship it to your sister?”
“No. I want to keep my family out of this.”
“Tavi.We don’t have a lot of options here. And she hasn’t told anyone, has she? Honestly, we need to just sayscrew itand go public. Did you see what happened when Charisma Bliss admitted she uses beauty products that are tested on animals?”
“You mean how she was skewered alive in the media?”
“And then how she announced she was investing in a company that truly did only cruelty-free products after hiring an entire team of investigators to vet the possibilities and exposed three other liars along the way? Hello, you saved a farm, gave a bunch of people in the nearby community solid jobs with good pay, and you know Esteban? Sebastián’s right-hand man? He told me if the mining company had gotten their hands on this land, he would’ve had to move his family or leave them here while he went to find other work, and now instead, he’s doing what he loves. And the school donations? And don’t tell me it wasn’t you who donated the money to fix the electricity at the church building. Your fans will rally.They will.We’ll be okay, and with the public knowledge that you’re on board, we’ll have our pick of investors.”
“No, we won’t, becauseI’m a nobody, and you shouldn’t buy friends.” Tavi comes into view as I turn the corner past the closet and into the main all-purpose room. She’s smoothing the top of a mold with a spreader, phone on the counter. “I know you believe in me, and God knows I love you for it, but until we have an actual product, I’m just a ditz in public who gets paid to shill products because it worked so well when I did it to make my mom happy. Butmy mom’s purses don’t sell. It doesn’t work. I’m not Charisma Bliss. I’m not an actress who left acting for this. I’m a former child beauty queen who didn’t build who I am. Someone else built me to be a puppet. I’m afake. And people don’t follow fakes. This has to bethe fucking best chocolateto ever touch anyone’s lips, and if it’s not—”
I clear my throat, which I should’ve done about thirty seconds ago.
Tavi cuts herself off with a yelp, drops the spreader, and then does something I’ve seen her do too many times in the past month or so.
She ducks under the table. “Go away, Dylan.”
“Dylan? Who’s—ah, hell, Tavi, did you forget to lock the door again?” the voice on the phone says.
Tavi mutters something you never hear on her public social media videos and reaches above her, slapping the tabletop like she’s looking for the phone.
“Don’t hit the—” I start, but it’s too late.
The chocolate mold goes flying, sending thick, melted chocolate all over the floor before it lands right side up between the table and the sink.
“Dammit!”Tavi shrieks.
