Free Better Than Chocolate by Sheila Roberts

around,” Bailey offered.
“There’s got to be someone who knows her.”
    “That would be great,” Samantha said. Heck, it would be more
than great. It would be a miracle. “But it’s a long shot. I think we need a more
immediate plan.” There had to be one. Why wasn’t she seeing it?
    Silence reigned for a full five minutes until Cecily said, “You
know, our baby sis could be on to something.”
    “Oh, not you, too,” Samantha groaned.
    “What if we did come up with some sort of event to bring in
money for the business?”
    “A chocolate dinner?” Bailey suggested, coming back to life.
“Every course could use chocolate. And we could do it at Zelda’s.”
    “Guys, I appreciate the thought,” Samantha said, “but a dinner
wouldn’t even come close to raising the kind of money we need.” Maybe they were
on the right track, though. “Let’s think on a grander scale.”
    “I did a chocolate tour in Seattle once,” Bailey said.
    “A chocolate tour, a chocolate weekend,” Samantha mused. Maybe
they could pull that off. They could have a dinner and a chocolate high tea at
Olivia’s B and B. But anything they got from that would only be a drop in the
bucket. “A chocolate festival.” Too bad they didn’t have more time. Festivals
brought in a lot of people and a lot of money.
    “Now, that’s brilliant!” Cecily exclaimed.
    “Brilliant but not practical,” Samantha said. “We need that
money in six and a half weeks. It would take six months to plan something on
such a grand scale.”
    “Then let’s plan on a baby grand scale,” Bailey said. “We can
have it the weekend before Valentine’s Day when people are feeling romantic and
buying candy.”
    Samantha shook her head regretfully. “There isn’t time. It’s a
lot to plan, and you have to promote it.”
    “If you had people helping, you could do it,” Bailey insisted.
“And with the internet and social media you can promote things fast now.”
    “It’s a great idea,” Cecily said.
    Was her entire family certifiably insane?
    Suddenly she could envision Icicle Falls buzzing with throngs
of visitors all on a chocolate high. Something like this wouldn’t just help
their company, it would help the whole town.
    Was she insane, too?
    “Let’s do it,” Bailey said eagerly.
    What was with this let’s do it stuff? They were down there and she was up here. On her own.
    “We can sponser a bunch of events, maybe have some sort of
contest,” Bailey continued. “I couldn’t come up till just before, but I could
help with planning over the phone and on email in between catering jobs.”
    “Actually, I can come up right away,” Cecily said.
    “You’ve got a business to run,” Samantha protested.
    “Things are quiet right now. I’ve got the time.”
    Quiet? What did that mean? Wasn’t her dating service doing
well?
    Cecily tended to keep things to herself. When she had a crisis
they never heard about it until it was long over.
    Still, this worried Samantha. “Not that I don’t want you,” she
said, “but you can’t just up and leave your business for several weeks.”
    Cecily put on what Samantha thought of as her poker face; her
expression gave nothing away. “I’m closing the business. It’s a long story,” she
added before Samantha could press her for details. “Anyway, I’ve had all the sun
I can take. I need seasons. I can rent out my condo, and I bet Charley would let
me have a job waiting tables at Zelda’s a couple of nights a week. That would
leave me free during the day to work on the festival with you guys. Mom, can I
stay with you?”
    “Of course,” Mom said. “But I think you girls need to figure
out a few more things first, like where we’d hold this festival.”
    “All over town.” Bailey almost whacked Cecily in the nose with
her sweeping hand gesture.
    “I bet we could get all the B and Bs to participate and offer
some special rates,” Samantha said thoughtfully. “No one has full