Surprisingly, Vanilla

By Marie Ahls

WKZW together with Sweetie Sweets presents the bachelor/bachelorette soda-off. Tickets go on sale this week! Listeners will be able to vote for your favorite soda to be added to Sweetie Sweets new and unique, homemade soda line-up. You can also bid on your favorite bachelor/bachelorette...highest bid winning a fabulous date night."
Rivals Riggs and Ivy have always been competitors and entering the soda-off is no exception. Ivy is looking to gain exposure for her family diner. Riggs wants bragging rights. Will these two be bubbling with pride or fizzing into something else?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fiery Vision Publishing
• Release date: Oct 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201421762

Book preview

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Synopsis:

WKZW together with Sweeties Sweets presents the bachelor/bachelorette soda-off. Tickets go on sale this week! Listeners will be able to vote for their favorite soda to be added to Sweetie Sweets new and unique, homemade soda line-up. You can also bid on your favorite bachelor/bachelorette...highest bid winning a fabulous date night.

Rivals Riggs and Ivy have always been fierce competitors, and entering the soda-off is no exception. Ivy is looking to gain exposure for her family diner. Riggs wants bragging rights. Will these two be bubbling with pride or fizzing into something else?

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Chapter 1

The scream echoed throughout the car, making me swerve over the center lane. When all was righted, I glanced over at Luna with an inquiring look. She was grinning, which only fueled my annoyance.

What in the world was that about? I blurted out, still startled and confused.

Luna was giddy with excitement, bouncing in her seat, barely able to contain herself. Did you hear that announcement?

I shook my head no, as I had been lost in my own thoughts and not following along to the radio.

There doing a soda-off. You should totally do it.

A what?

A soda-off. You know like a bake-off, but instead of baked goods you come up with a soda flavor. She rattled off the registration information and added, It would be great exposure for the diner.

Her eyes pleaded with me to at least consider it, and I couldn’t stop a smile from forming as I glanced at my little sister. If you like the idea so much, why don’t you do it? Passing the buck to her. There was enough on my plate; I didn’t need to add soda making to my to do list.

A quick glance showed Luna looking pouty. That vanilla mixture you use in the pork enchiladas would make a great soda. She continued trying to convince me to enter the contest all the way to the diner, where she then recruited our father to help her cause. They claimed it would give the diner good exposure and even bring in some new customers. They knew how much saving the diner meant to me and used it to their advantage every time they could.

It was widely known that my dad was going to close up shop when he retired, but the thought of his legacy turning into a gas station, a road, another restaurant, or something else altogether was too much for my heart to bear, so I packed up my apartment, quit my job, and moved home to small town Barley to take over the family business.

Pa’s Diner used to be the hoping place in town, but as more franchises moved into the area, the competition became tougher and business slowly began to decline. There wasn’t as much need for an old-school sit-down family-owned diner when you could hit up other fast-food joints on the outskirts of town. Of course, there were some regulars who came in for breakfast and coffee, but even they were becoming scarcer, and they alone weren’t enough to keep things afloat for long.

Dad being old-school himself never understood or cared much for the idea of updating the menu or the look of the place, and when the papers were finally signed and I became the official owner, things looked pretty dismal.

I came home with grand ideas, though, and I was saving every penny to help spruce up the old place.

***

The dough looked right as it squished between my fingers, bringing not only the overwhelming smell of yeast but also comfort. The fresh homemade sandwich bread would be a new signature to our sandwich selections.

It was the raspy voice that brought me out of my happy place, grating on every one of my nerves. What the hell was he doing here?

My rival. My competitor. My secret crush. My older brother’s best friend. The person I left town to get away from.

We were bound to run into each other. It was a small town after all, and I couldn’t avoid him forever, but with my fingers covered in dough, it wasn’t the time to greet the one guy I could never have but always wanted.

Chapter Two

Riggs

Luna. Luna. My girl. You’re looking even more grown up than you did the last time I saw you. When you turn eighteen, I might sweep you off your feet. I leaned on the counter, and with a wink, gave Luna the best smile.

Ah. Riggs. I saw you just the other night at dinner, but you’re still a charmer, she said as the color changed on her cheeks. Your regular? she asked, already filling a coffee mug.

You know it. The best place in town to grab a cup of joe. I checked the time on my phone and realized that I was running early, giving me a few minutes to sit and enjoy my coffee.

The colorful flyer laying on the counter caught my attention. A soda-off, huh? I said to no one in particular.

Doesn’t it sound fun? Luna asked as she wiped down the counter. There has been a lot of buzz about it. Are you going to enter?

It would be good exposure for the restaurant, I stated, being the head chef at the only other restaurant in town, an upscale place on the outskirts of town that opened about a year or so ago, taking a lot of business from the old diner. Luna’s older brother, Tad, and I were great friends, and his family basically felt like my own. His ole man was the one who had given me my start in the restaurant business. Tad was never interested in following in his dad’s footsteps, but I loved being in the kitchen alongside Mr. Neilson.

That’s exactly what I told Ivy.

Do you mind if I take this with me? I asked, holding up the