Page 20 of Harmonizing with Little Heaven Leigh

That was true. When it came to small accent pieces a lot of it was just about presenting an illusion. Angel struggled with the changes from what he’d planned. It was especially hard that he couldn’t really hold the picture of what she was describing in his mind, but he had to agree it sounded better than leaving the blank space in the courtyard.

He’d planned the whole setting to frame that scene and without it… his castle was going to look lackluster. He was sure no one would blame him, especially after what had happened, but he wanted his last in-house project to be amazing.

“That could work. Can you handle all of that, while I try to fix some of the people? The royal family survived on top of the tower, so they’re fine. One knight and horse made it too. I can have him overseeing the market.”

“Yes, Daddy. Piecing the chocolate together is easy enough, I should be able to whip up five or six stalls and then get them painted.” It went without saying that her airbrush skills were on par, if not better, than his. It was something she had used with her realistic cake business a lot.

“Mi corazón, you may have saved the day.” She looked up at him, and he planted a kiss on her smiling lips before she could say anything. They usually tried to keep public displays of affection to a minimum while working—they were both professionals after all, but in this case… they both needed that kiss, and it went on somewhat longer than he’d planned.

He broke it off with reluctance and straightened. “I feel good about this. I’m going to use the molds to make more villagers. That will be faster.”

Her eyebrows went up, but she didn’t comment.

Molds were a normal part of a chocolatier’s toolbox. They were necessary for creating anything major. But those were generic casts needed to build the necessary underlying shapes. He used them on a larger scale, but he preferred to do the detailed work by sculpting.

The small features were what caught the eye and made his creations special. They weren’t “dessert” they were art. Using molds for those fine details felt like a cheat code. It was fine for popping little animals on top of cupcakes, but not for detailed expressions of his creativity.

Even though the small silicone molds were custom-made, by him, it felt like they took some of the artistic flair away from creation. It turned his work into an assembly line. And he was well aware that he was privileged to have the freedom to be a snob about shortcuts, because he had only one client and usually plenty of time to work.

Going forward, with their own shop to keep stocked, along with supplying Rawhide with everything they needed chocolate-wise, he was going to have to be less picky about how he got the work done. But he still intended to do things by hand when it came to the expressive pieces.

And, all of that aside, even the small molds were still very basic. He had people shapes, but not peasant villagers. Using the molds would only give him a little more time, because he was still going to have to customize them. But every second counted right then, and he’d take what he could get.

With Heaven being the absolute best help she could be, he was able to focus on turning plain old chocolate figures into something that resembled people from the Middle Ages. He was able to finish a handful, plus fixing two of the handmade ones from the accident, before he noticed the time.

“Chiquita? Is the market ready? It’s about time to go set up.”

She looked up from her work and grinned. “Five minutes and I’ll be done painting. And I used up a lot of the broken pieces, so not much went to waste. People aren’t going to be able to get too close to the market, not with the chocolate moat and the buffet in the way, so it doesn’t need to be perfect.”

She was right about that, although his pride still demanded certain standards. “I’m going to go and fix the castle. Hurry up on those pieces, please. We still have to set up the fountain and the food before the event starts.”

She didn’t need the reminder, but he was nervous. He had images of another disaster on his mind, and once he had the new wall in place, he took the time to make sure everything was stable. He tested every joint, just to be sure there wouldn’t be any more accidents. A simple table bump shouldn’t have caused such destruction, but most likely the chocolate seams hadn’t completely cooled and hardened yet, when the girls had come in.

Only when he was sure it wouldn’t happen again, did he relax and move on.

They had a little over an hour left, and they worked efficiently to make sure everything was in order before the door opened. Heaven had outdone herself on the buffet side. Not only were there sweet treats, but she’d also collaborated with the kitchen staff to make platters of fruits and vegetables that looked like famous puppets.

Round bowls of white dipping sauces (ranch for the veggies and something with cream cheese for the fruits) were placed as the eyes. A blue monster was made from different berries. A red character was made with cherry tomatoes and a pile of baby carrots for the nose. The familiar grouchy green guy came together with broccoli florets. It was one time the Littles might not complain when they had to eat some vegetables.

Well, they would probably still complain… but they wouldn’t really mean it.

Behind the buffet, a fountain pumped a milk chocolate moat that swirled all the way around the castle. Long skewers were provided so that people could dip their selections into the warm melty goodness.

And safely out of reach, behind the moat, was their castle. Not only his, because Heaven had put just as much work into it. He knew, of course, that up close it wasn’t quite as impressive, but from where the guests would be… it looked amazing. Perfect even if he did say so himself.

“What do you think, Daddy?”

“I think no one will ever know there was an accident,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “Your market idea was perfect.”

“Aww, thank you, Daddy. I really enjoyed painting the stalls to look like fabric. I don’t think I got it quite right, but considering the time…” She shook her head.

“Maybe, but no one will be able to tell from here. Not unless they have amazing eyesight,” he said, laughing.

“Well… I have to say, Angel. You’ve really outdone yourself. I can’t believe you managed to salvage so much,” Derek said from behind them.

They turned to greet the Ranch owner, just as his wife, Sadie, shrieked, “It’s so beautiful!” and clasped her hands together under her chin. “I can’t believe how great it looks. Daddy told me what happened and… I can’t even tell!”

Angel smiled widely at her enthusiasm. “Thank you, Sadie. I agree it did come out better than I expected, but a lot of that is thanks to Heaven. Without her help…” He trailed off and shook his head.

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