Read Ganache with Panache: Book 2 in The Chocolate Cafe Series for Free Online

chocolate. And my swans?”
    “Godiva couldn’t do better.” Mac wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulder and gave her a squeeze. She was tenacious as well as brilliant—an amazing combination, to say the least.
    “What about poor Zachary Lau?” Louis asked.
    “Oh, he quit.” the girls spoke simultaneously.
    “The second Olivia left the room, he packed up his stuff and practically ran out. A designer like him doesn’t need that kind of hassle.”
    Now that Toby had returned to them, the three started to make their way up to the street. It was almost completely dark now and the lights were coming on up along the main drag, one by one. To her surprise, Mac felt her hand slip naturally into Louis’s. This was good. Flanked by her two best friends with a giant, wet dog leading the way. Maybe commitment wasn’t the all-powerful demon she had always feared.
    “You know what,” Brie said, “I’m going to give him a call. He gave me his number before he stormed out. I think he’s just looking for free chocolate, frankly.”
    “That’s a good idea. We can see if he wants to go for a drink or something.”
    “I doubt it. The man hasn’t even been out of rehab for longer than half a year.” Louis said. Mac looked at him, amused.
    “According to police files?” she asked.
    Louis shrugged his lean shoulders.
    “According to the internet.” Both women halted and looked at him incredulously. “Look, McKenzie Bay is hardly London. Most of the time I just respond to noise complaints. Last week, I even tried to help find a kitten! There’s really not a lot for me to do. A man has to keep busy.”
    Brie laughed, shaking her head.
    “All right, let’s see if Mr. Lau wants to meet for ice cream instead.”
    There was a brief conversation as they walked up the steps built into the stone wall that separated the beach from the town. Once up on the sidewalk, Brie slid her phone back into her pocket. She looked troubled.
    “He’s into it, but he sounded upset,” she reported.
    “It’s been a long day for him, from the sounds of it.” Louis said, buckling Toby into his leash.
    “Yeah, I suppose,” Brie said. “Anyway, he’s staying with his sister at the Strand Hotel by Agate Beach. We’re supposed to meet up with him there.”
    “Ice cream with a world famous fashion designer. If my dear old mum could see me now.” He took Mac’s hand again, intertwining his fingers with hers. That wonderful warmth she had felt on the beach bloomed suddenly in her heart again. This was a hand she could get used to holding.
    ****
    The Strand Hotel wasn’t nearly as elegant as it sounded. Apparently Lau’s people hadn’t realized that when they had booked him there for his stay. Off the main drag, it was actually a series of small, rundown cabins facing each other in a wide circle. Each cabin was named after a tree—Maple, Lilac, Dogwood—or an ocean dweller—Dolphin, Puffin, Humpback. The office was in the center and it doubled as an equally rundown fish and chips shop. The smell of grease and less-than-fresh seafood made the hotel a place frequented less by tourists and more by down-on-their-luck locals. It went without saying that Brie had lived at the Strand for a few months in high school.
    She had seemed a little distracted since the phone call with Zach. Mac wondered if it had something to do with going back to one of her old neighborhoods, but when a series of police cars and emergency vehicles roared past them, both she and Louis broke into a run simultaneously.
    “Oh geez, I knew it. I knew it.” Brie mumbled, easily matching Louis’s strides despite his being at least double her size. Toby, his own policing instincts activated, began to bray along with the sirens and once again yanked Mac forward.
    Breathless, the three watched as the cacophony of red and blue lights tore through the gates of the hotel and came to a halt in front of one of the cabins.
    Only seconds behind, they ran across the gravel