The Spring of Candy Apples (A Sweet Seasons Novel) by Debbie Viguié Page A

Traci asked, face pale.
    “If you quit, you’re doing it for you, because it’s too hard and you’re scared. You’re not doing it for the team. Actually the opposite is going to happen. If you walk away and we only have four people to do this, we have no chance of winning. We need five in order to make the pyramids work. There’s no time to start training with someone new even if someone could be persuaded to join us.
    “You’re not only going to be hurting us, though, you’re also going to be hurting yourself. If you run away when life gets hard, then you’ll be running for the rest of your life.” Candace could tell Traci was upset and angry, but she felt like she needed to hear the truth.
    “It’s just a stupid talent show,” Traci muttered.
    Candace smiled and shook her head. “If there’s one thing that I’ve learned at The Zone, it’s that there are no stupid, meaningless activities. Each thing we do is an opportunity to better ourselves, push ourselves to be more, and to have courage. They don’t do things like the summer Scavenger Hunt and the Talent Show as idle amusements. They put these things on to give us a chance to come together in a spirit of fellowship and competition and to push ourselves to be more than we thought possible.”
    Traci began to cry, and Candace wrapped her arms around her. “It’s going to be okay. We can get through this together. If you want, you and I can start practicing on breaks and stuff.”
    Traci nodded but didn’t say anything. A slight sound caused Candace to turn her head. She saw Gary, standing silently, just inside the door of the kitchen. He turned and walked outside.
    Finally Traci pulled away and wiped at her eyes. “You’re off the clock,” she noted.
    “No big,” Candace said.
    Traci laughed. “No, it’s very big. Thank you. No one’s ever explained things to me quite that way before.”
    Candace shrugged. “I’m glad I was in the right place at the right time to help.”
    “Me too. I’ll start bringing my cups and practicing on breaks tomorrow.”
    “Great. Maybe soon we’ll be able to teach Corinne a trick or two,” Candace said.
    “I’d like that. Now go home.”
    “You’re sure you’re okay?”
    “Yes, thank you.”
    Candace left the store and found Gary waiting outside for her.
    “You did a good thing in there,” he said.
    “How long were you standing there?” she asked.
    “I got most of it.”
    “I’d appreciate it if you would keep it to yourself. I wouldn’t want people gossiping about this.”
    “Of course,” he said.
    “So, what brings you on field?” Candace asked, changing the subject.
    “You.”
    “Me what?”
    “I wanted to watch you at work, get more of a feel for you as a person.”
    “As a person?” she asked, ignoring for the moment the part where he’d wanted to watch her work.
    “Yeah. You see, the legends about you are pretty intense. I just wanted to see what kind of person manages to attract so much attention.”
    “I don’t try to, honest. And if you’ve heard the one about me being trapped inside the park overnight and chased by a psycho killer, well, it’s not true. I was trapped overnight in the park, but there was no psycho killer. I was chased by a saboteur through a maze at Halloween, though.”
    He laughed. “You know, I knew about you before I met you the other day.”
    “How?”
    “Let’s just say the urban legends made their way to Florida and Zone World.”
    Candace groaned. “And here I hoped that if I got the scholarship and went to Florida Coast I could be a little more anonymous.”
    “Fat chance of that.”
    “Of getting the scholarship?”
    “Remaining anonymous.”
    “So, why are you being stalker-like?” she asked.
    “I told friends in Florida that I met the famous Candy, and they refused to believe me until I got a picture of us together.”
    “You’re joking,” she said, stopping abruptly.
    “Yes.”
    “That’s a relief,” she said as she started