Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
“Mr. Connell. I wasn’t expecting you.”
“Hi, Alice. I’d like you to meet someone very special to me. This is Rose Stewart.”
“Hi, Ms. Stewart. Welcome to gumball heaven,” the pleasant young woman said. Her dancing eyes made her words even more humorous.
“Gumball heaven? I love it. Hi, Alice.” Rose looked up at Adam as she realized how smart he was to have such a fun receptionist.
“I’m going to give Rose the grand expedition around the factory, Alice. Don’t tell anyone I’m here. They’ll try to rope me into doing something other than playing tour guide.”
“You’ve got it, boss.” She made a sign of locking her lips closed and throwing away the key.
“Thanks, Alice,” Adam said with a laugh before urging Rose on with a guiding hand at the small of her back. “Let’s get started. Goggles and hardhats first.”
By the time Rose had donned the protective equipment, she was so excited she bounced on her toes. “Can we go inside the plant now?”
“Picture first. I want to remember this. Get close,” Adam instructed, holding his phone out to take a selfie. He took several.
“Can we make funny faces in one?” Rose pleaded.
“Let’s try it!” Adam encouraged her and took several photos of their silliness. When he flipped through all the pictures, Rose’s heart melted. The poses made her feel like they were truly a couple.
“I’ll send them to you,” Adam said as he tapped his screen.
Rose’s phone buzzed in her pocket. “Thank you!”
“Ready to dive into the gumball world?” he asked, guiding her toward the big, heavy door leading into the factory.
“Please!”
Adam escorted Rose from one station to the next. She watched the skilled employees load the gum base into the mixers with flavoring. Today, they were making a batch of cinnamon gum. The smell was amazing, but strong.
As that combined, they followed another cart to the extruder. It shaped the mixture into hollow tubes that then got chopped and shaped into balls. Rose was almost dizzy watching all the machinery work so quickly to create them. Those circular treats then went to huge tumblers that almost looked like clothes dryers. There the coloring was added several times to coat the balls as they rolled around inside.
The final stop was the packaging. Some were individually wrapped while others were dumped into larger plastic containers. Adam plucked one from the conveyer belt with a gloved hand and handed it to her.
Immediately, Rose popped it into her mouth and chewed. The flavor exploded in her mouth. That one was bubble gum flavored.
“Yum! It tastes different than I’m used to,” she said cautiously. “Maybe fresher?”
“You can’t get any fresher than that one.” Adam laughed before adding, “The assortments in the gift shop are just as fresh. Would you like to take some cinnamon gumballs home with us?”
“I’d love that. Do you give tours a lot?”
“We used to have groups of school kids come through. Unfortunately, all the safety precautions make that impossible to do now. It’s a shame. Everyone can watch the process online, but it’s not the same as being here.”
“And smelling everything. It’s so much fun,” Rose gushed.
“I’m glad you enjoyed seeing the factory. Let’s head to the gift store, pick up some treats for you, and head out for lunch. All this activity has made me ravenous.” He wiggled his eyebrows to express that he was not speaking solely about the factory excursion.
“Daddy!” she whispered furiously as she looked around to see if anyone was listening. Thankfully, all the employees worked at a distance from them. As she scanned the factory, a man began to wave in their direction.
“That man seems to be signaling you,” Rose suggested, pointing his way.
“That’s the foreman. Let me go check with him. Why don’t you go through that door and take off your protective gear? If you remember the way, you could go check out the choices in the gift shop,” he suggested after acknowledging the man’s signal with a wave of his hand. “I won’t be too long.”
“Don’t rush. I’ll be fine,” she assured him.
At the door, Rose paused to watch him walk away. The view was extraordinary. Realizing where she was, Rose hurried through the doorway and stowed her glasses in her hard hat on the table. Confident she knew where she was going, she headed down the hallway and turned the corner. Whoops! That area doesn’t look familiar.
As she turned around to try another route, Rose spotted a bathroom and decided to duck inside. Choosing a stall from the line available, she quickly availed herself of the facilities. She had just finished and was righting her clothes when someone else entered the bathroom.
“I thought today was going to be a total waste when Mr. Hotbuns wasn’t here,” a female voice observed.
Rose realized more than one person had entered. She tipped her head down and saw three sets of feet.