Sweet Revenge (Cocoa Narel Chocolate Shop Mysteries Book 1) by Morgana Best

he had spent far too long at his computer screens. “Chocolate cake!” he exclaimed. “I forgot that’s what you eat for lunch.” He chuckled.
    I followed him into his kitchen and placed the chocolate cake in the middle of his round cedar table. The deep red wood was a sharp contrast to the rest of the house, which was pristine and white. Every wall and ceiling in the entire house was painted white, and although the flooring was comprised of floorboards, they were pale polished pine.
    Even Carl’s huge Persian cat, a huge former show champion by the name of Louis the Fourteenth, was white. Louis the Fourteenth was impeccably groomed and had the biggest golden-orange eyes. He was the most beautiful cat I had ever seen, and he had a temperament to match. Louis loved human company, although he seemed to love sleep even more.
    Carl fetched two delicate white bone china plates and placed them in front of us. “I’ll cut,” he said, and then proceeded to cut two huge pieces of cake.
    “I can’t eat that much,” I protested.
    Carl looked up, shocked. “I’ve never heard you say that before!”
    I shrugged. “It’s because of what they had to do to my insides. Don’t ask me to explain it because it gives me the heebie-jeebies. Anyway, I can eat as much as I like without putting on weight, but the catch is that I don’t seem to be able to eat too much at once. Now I’m forced to nibble on chocolate throughout the day.”
    Carl looked as though he were debating with himself whether this were a good or a bad thing, but he clearly decided not to comment. “Oh well,” he said, “tuck in. Anyway, how are you feeling now, Narel? You look pale.” He leaned down to stroke Louis the Fourteenth who was awake for once, and purring loudly.
    I rubbed my back. “Even walking here was an effort. They said I have to exercise, but even just walking from the shop to my house and my house to here has left me completely exhausted.
    “Well, that makes sense,” Carl said. “You were lying in a hospital bed for many months after all.”
    I nodded. “Yes but I did have a lot of physical therapy. Still, they did warn me that exercise would make me very tired, but they also told me I had to exercise.”
    “Why don’t you start walking along the park? It’s nice and private down your end and if you only walk to where the official walking track starts and back again, and you did it on a daily basis, that would be a good start to your new fitness regime.”
    “Would you walk with me?” I asked hopefully.
    Carl laughed so much I thought he would choke on his chocolate cake. “Are you kidding me? I don’t believe in mornings. And the best way to do any exercise is to make it a habit, and since you’re opening the store, it’s best that you get into the habit of walking early in the morning. You won’t catch me dead doing anything early in the morning!”
    I chuckled. I knew how much Carl dreaded the mornings. Even pumping him full of coffee didn’t help much.
    We didn’t speak again until we had polished off the entire cake. “Yum, that was so good,” Carl said. “Will you be selling cakes in your store?”
    I shook my head. “No, I’ll just be selling all different types of chocolate.”
    Carl appeared confused. “How many types of chocolate are there?” He frowned.
    “There are millions of different sorts of chocolate,” I said gleefully, but then amended it to, “Well, there is dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, boxed chocolate, chocolate bars, chocolates with hard fillings, chocolates with soft fillings...” I would have gone on, but Carl held up a hand to stop me.
    “Too much information,” he said. “Are you going to make them?”
    I shook my head. “I might start making some once I get the business under control, but that would be too much work first up while I’m getting used to running the business. I have enough to worry about without making chocolates, although I really would like to do