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“Did you get a tour of the factory?” he asked.
“You mean where they make the chocolates?” she rasped.
“The very place.”
“No, I didn’t.” She was out of breath from trying to keep up with him and starting to sweat all over on this sticky hot day, which made her feel very unattractive.
He led her to a door beside a dock, where trucks bearing the Schultz Chocolate logo were parked. As she walked through the door he held open for her, she was instantly struck by the aroma of chocolate in the air.
“Oh my gosh.” She breathed in deeply. “I think I just gained ten pounds.” Her eyes found Kurtis’s. “How does anyone get work done in here? Don’t they just want to eat all the chocolate that passes in front of them? I know I would.”
Kurtis laughed. “Come on. I’ll show you around.” He made her stop at the edge of the work area for a few minutes while he spoke to a man who looked like the manager of the factory. He returned with what appeared to be a plastic shower cap, a hard hat, and a white jacket for them to wear.
“You look cute,” he told her once she’d put hers on.
“Oh, yes, it’s my best look ever.”
He chuckled and led her to check out some of the machines. “This is the first step in the chocolate-making process. Roasting the cacao beans.” They watched for a while as he pointed out what the machines did, then he led her to the next area. “The beans then go through this process where the nib is separated from the dried bean. That’s where the unsweetened chocolate comes from.”
“Interesting.” She listened as he told her more about the machines and the process of mixing the unsweetened chocolate powder with milk, sugar, and cocoa butter to make crumbly chocolate, then mixing it up until it was smooth and flowing.
“The last step before putting it in the molds is tempering it by keeping it at a set temperature and constantly stirring. That’s what makes it shiny and firm to the touch.”
“You know a lot about this process.” She was thoroughly impressed with his knowledge of all things chocolate.
“I’ve been working here since I was a kid.”
Her eyebrow lifted. “Really?”
“Uh, well, I mean I was fresh out of college, so I was pretty much still a kid.”
“I didn’t know you’d worked here that long.”
“Over ten years.” He led her through the building to the area where the chocolate was packaged after the molding step. “We’ve got chocolate bars, and nibs and, of course, the famous truffles.”
“Of course.”
“Did you know … Granny Schultz taught Ephraim how to make truffles when he was a young boy, and he went on to make and sell them to put himself through college?”
“I didn’t. And he built this whole company from there?”
“His dad actually started the company, then when he got sick, Ephraim took over and used his business savvy to take Schultz Chocolate from a small, struggling company to what it is today.”
“That’s amazing.”
He nodded, his lips pressed together as he smiled proudly.
“What is it about this company that you love so much?” she asked.
“Everything, really. The history. The people. The … Schultz family, and the relationship they have with their employees. It’s like a great big family here.”
“Sebastian said the same thing.” She smiled. “I have felt very welcomed by everyone. By the Schultzes. And by you.”
He seemed to get quiet for a few moments, like he was deep in thought, trying to work something out.
“What is it?”
“I’m just glad you started working here.” He gave her a cute closed-mouth smile.