Charmed by Chocolate (Love at the Chocolate Shop Book 6)

by Steena Holmes

  Why did men think it was so easy? Why did everyone in this town seem so surprised when she admitted she was too late with Wade? And since when did men think it was a good idea to talk? While she ran the hot water, Leah fumed at the audacity of her brother to assume that she was in the wrong, that she was over exaggerating, and all it would take was a sit down and chat to clear the air?

  Okay, okay, maybe he hadn’t quite said that, but she knew he was thinking it.

  She turned off the water, wrapped a warm robe around herself, and marched back downstairs to give her brother a piece of her mind. There was no way she was going to enjoy that bath until she did.

  “Dylan, since when did you become Mr. Matchma…” She stopped mid-sentence as she walked into the kitchen and caught her brother on the phone.

  “Anyway, Casey, I’ll ah…” He half-turned toward Leah, his cheeks blazing bright red. “I’ll try calling back at another time. Hope you’re well.” He set his phone down on the counter and shrugged.

  “I can’t give you advice if I don’t follow it myself, right?” he said sheepishly.

  Leah dashed across the room and wrapped her arms around her brother, giving him a big hug.

  “What’s this for?” he asked.

  “Cause you’re the best brother a girl could ask for.” She rose on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

  “You were going to yell at me, weren’t you?” He could read her like a book.

  She snagged a cookie from a platter on the counter and took a bite. “Maybe.” She rushed back up the stairs to her waiting bath.

  While she soaked, she thought about her brother. He always seemed so strong, capable, happy with his lot in life, but she’d heard something in his voice when he was on the phone—loneliness.

  She never thought of Dylan as being lonely and that bothered her.

  Like Wade, had she taken advantage of her brother? Assumed he was okay, happy living in Marietta, content with the way things turned out?

  She remembered what he’d been like the last time Casey had come into town for a visit with her parents. Leah had stopped in between schools and found the two of them having a picnic with Grams at the park by St. James Church. Dylan had laughed with ease and wore a constant smile the entire time Leah had been there.

  The relationship between Dylan and Casey was one of a kind. They were soul mates through and through. Leah had once asked Dylan why they weren’t together, and he’d said it wasn’t their time yet.

  It was the yet that she always thought about. To her, yet meant that it would be their time—one day. Yet meant he was patiently waiting. Yet meant that there was hope.

  It was what she’d held on to when it came to her and Wade. It hadn’t been their time—yet. She wasn’t ready—yet.

  Maybe she’d been wrong.

  Wrong to wait. Wrong to assume he’d always be there. Wrong to think there would be time.

  She lightly rubbed her chest where it felt bruised from emotional scarring and sank further in the bath water, until the bubbles tickled her nose.

  What was it with baths and heartbreak?

  Little over a month ago, she’d called Wade from the bath…she could have waited until after, but the need and desire to talk with him, to hear his voice, to share her heart, had been too overwhelming.

  They’d chatted a little bit, shared their day—she’d just returned from a hectic two-week schedule of speaking in high schools throughout Texas, and he was packing for a weeklong hiking trip into the mountains with a tour from Cincinnati.

  She’d delayed as long as her nerves would allow before blurting out everything within her heart.

  How sorry she was it had taken her so long, how she realized this wasn’t the life she wanted—alone and only being friends—that she was in love with him and had been for a very long time, only she had been too afraid to admit it.

  By the time she’d finished, there’d been only silence on the other end of the phone before Wade cleared his throat and said he should probably go, that he had an early morning and needed to finish packing his supplies, but he’d call her when he got back, okay?

  She’d whispered okay, her heart literally breaking into pieces as she did so before she hung up and bawled like a baby until the tub water had grown cold.

  Dylan suggested talking to him. About what? About her mistake? About him not waiting? About her being a basket case on television and now everyone knew it? Or if they didn’t…they would as soon as the episode aired.

  And Betsy wanted to film her some more? Lonely Leah Finds Love?

  What a joke.

  *

  Dylan was sitting at the kitchen table, laptop in front of him, when she came down the stairs.

  “Feeling better?” Dylan quickly shut the screen of his laptop.

  “Warmer, at least.” She stepped to the stove where a pot of soup simmered. “I knew I smelled chicken noodle. Did you make this?”

  He shook his head. “Fundraiser at the school; I bought a bunch of frozen soups and casseroles.”

  She swirled the spoon in the soup before replacing the lid. “Do you eat alone a lot?” She pulled out slices of bread and placed them in the toaster. There was nothing better than buttered toast with chicken noodle soup.

  “Enough.” He shrugged. “Grams comes over a few times a week and plays around in the kitchen or we’ll go out for dinner, but the majority of the time, it’s just me.”

  “I’m sorry,” Leah said.

  “For what?” He gave her a confused glance while twisting in his chair to get a better look at her.

  She relaxed her hands on the counter behind her and gave him a soft smile.

  “What? What am I missing?”

  She shook her head slowly. “Nothing. I just…” She struggled with the words. “Life is so busy sometimes, you know? I think I forgot that I’m not the only lonely one out there.”

  Lonely Leah. The media sure got that name right. She doubted she’d be able to live it down either.

  “I’m not lonely.” Dylan got up from the table and went to the island, across from her. “Is that what you think of me? Here in this house, all alone?”

  Honestly? Yes, that was exactly what she thought.

  “You’re not dating anyone. You spend evenings with Grams, you DJ at the radio station, and you have people taking bets on how badly you forecast the weather. Am I wrong to assume you’re not living the life you want to be living?”

  The look on his face said exactly that.

  “This is the life you want to be living?”

  Dylan snagged the last cookie on the plate and broke it in half.

  “What’s wrong with my life? I have a job that I find fun, I have friends who know how to make me laugh when I screw up, and I make sure our grandmother isn’t lonely. At least I didn’t run away from Marietta the moment I could without looking back.” He offered her half the cookie, which she refused to take.

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” he backtracked, forcing the cookie into her hand. “I’m happy here. I don’t need more from life, and that’s okay with me. Besides, don’t make this about me when we both know it’s really about you.”

  Leah pinched the bridge of her nose. “About me? How so?”

  “Why don’t you tell me about Betsy’s phone call?” Dylan sat back down at the table and pushed the other chair out with his foot.

  Like a good sister, Leah took the hint and sat down.

  “How did you know about Betsy’s call?” Leah frowned. The only person who knew about it was Sage…

  “You told me. Earlier. You got a talking to from Grams, which I can only imagine being about the crap in the papers today, and then you said Betsy called.”

  Leah ground her teeth before she hid her head in her hands. “She’s going to ruin my life.”

  Dylan chuckled. “You’re only realizing that now? At least she keeps you on your toes.”

  Leah looked up and was about to argue when she stopped herself. He was rig
ht. Every single thing that had ended poorly, made her look like a fool, had gotten her in sticky messes…were all centered around Betsy and her bright ideas.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” Leah groaned.

  He chuckled again. “I’m pretty sure both Grams and I have said stuff. You just don’t listen. Anyway, what’s she done now? Doesn’t she realize you need a bit of a break to recoup after the mess she put you in?”

  “She wants to send a crew from Charmed up here to do a special follow up and call it Lonely Leah Finds Love or something equally as ridiculous.” Ten dollars it was Betsy who came up with that line too—she wouldn’t put it past her.

  The look on her brother’s face was priceless. He stared at her with a mixture of exasperation and disbelief.

  “I know.” She shook her head. “Believe me, I know.”

  “No, it’s actually brilliant.” Dylan grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and opened it. “Think about it—they want the focus to be on you and Wade, since you did confess your undying love for him,” he said.

  “Thanks for the reminder.” Leah covered half her face with the palm of her hand.

  “But we turn the tables and have them focus on the town instead.” His animated hands flapped in the air, something he often did when excited by a new idea. “Sure, they’re going to follow you and Wade around, but they’re gonna do a little bit on Marietta, to set the scene and stuff. So, we help them. We show all the good parts of Marietta, the rodeo, the scavenger hunt, the people…heck, we can even introduce them to Sage’s chocolates. That’s free publicity right there for her. This could be good, Leah, really good.”

  He sat back down at the table and started to type rapidly on his computer.

  “What…what are you doing?” She didn’t like this, didn’t like how excited he was—like a dog with a bone or a hamster on a wheel. She knew her brother. Once he got hold of an idea, he didn’t stop until it became reality.

  She wasn’t going to be an idea.

  She wasn’t going to help him make it a reality.

  She wasn’t going to be here in Marietta, period.

  “I’m making a list. Places they can shoot, things we want highlighted. We should talk to the mayor—”

  “Wait.” She stood behind him and squeezed his shoulder. “I’m leaving in the morning, remember?”

  His fingers stopped with their tap-tap-tapping, and he looked up at her.

  “Stay.”

  She shook her head.

  “You have to stay. You can’t leave now.” He twisted in his seat and covered her hand with his. “Don’t you see, Leah, this is the answer. For making everything right, for righting your wrong, as unintentional as it was. This is how you apologize to the town. And let’s face it, you…”

  “Need to apologize,” she finished for him. She knew he was right, but she’d think of another way. Not like this.

  Not with Charmed here digging into everyone’s closets, because that was exactly what would happen.

  Not by pretending something that wasn’t there was there…there was no happily-ever-after for her.

  Not when she was supposed to be keeping her head down before heading back to work.

  Not going to happen.

  “You’re kind of out of options here, kiddo.” Dylan squeezed her hand one more time before letting go.

  Kiddo. He would call her that when he was trying to parent her—at least, it was what he did growing up.

  It was something her father used to call her, when he was still alive.

  “There’s always more options; you just need to give them time to appear.” That was something their mother used to say.

  “Normally, I’d agree with you, but time doesn’t seem to be on your side right now.”

  She ground her teeth. He was right. “You know, Karma can just bite my—”

  “Whoa. Careful.” Dylan laughed at her. He stood and gave her a hug, something she needed right now.

  “I’m going to miss you,” she mumbled against his chest.

  “Then don’t leave.”

  Don’t leave. If only that were possible. Why couldn’t he understand the reasons why she couldn’t stay?

  Seeing Wade, being close to him, spending time with him…it hurt. Hurt a lot.

  If things had been different between them, she’d stay in a heartbeat.

  In a heartbeat.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Leah was leaving tomorrow.

  How was that happening?

  From the moment he found out she was back in town—and not by her—it’d been a train wreck.

  Ever since that one night, things had gone downhill between them. No matter what he tried to do, to say, there was nothing he could do to fix things.

  He needed to fix things. It was what he did. It was who he was.

  So why couldn’t he fix whatever was going on between them?

  He’d thought going skating yesterday would help, but not only did he find out she was leaving him—well, Marietta, but it might as well be him—but there’d been the whispers, the chats, and then Ethel Campton.

  Why did he have to talk to Ethel Campton?

  He blamed the whole debacle on himself. He hadn’t protected Leah like he should have.

  Wade looked at the dollhouse he was building for the Saturday night raffle during rodeo season in the autumn. It was a hobby of his—building things for kids and giving them away. Since dropping Leah off at the house, he’d grabbed his tool belt and focused on the little jobs he’d been putting off, like fixing the radiator in his house, changing the outside lights, adding planter hooks to the front porch for the flower pots he bought every spring…anything to keep his mind off the fact Leah was leaving.

  He’d sent her a few texts, casual at first, but then outright asking if he could see her to talk—but he’d gotten no response.

  Was this the brush-off he’d always feared would happen?

  Years ago, he’d bared his heart and told her exactly how he’d felt. He’d hoped she felt the same way, or at least might give it some thought, but she’d put him down—gently—but it still hurt nonetheless. He’d promised her he would never tell her how he felt again, would never say the words he longed to whisper in her ear, until she was ready.

  He’d always hoped one day she would be.

  He wanted to tell her he loved her with every molecule of his soul. He needed to tell her, but he promised he wouldn’t.

  So, he showed her. At least, he thought he had.

  He’d thought she’d noticed. It seemed like it a few months ago. She teased him about their pending trip, they talked more often than usual, and she’d even hinted that she was ready for a change, that she could see herself moving back home. That she wanted to talk to her boss at KIND about using Marietta as her home base.

  She’d said it was all her fault…but what? What was her fault?

  He couldn’t wrap his head around that.

  He dropped the sander in his hand and made a decision. If she wasn’t going to respond to his text messages, then he was going to go see her in person. If she was that determined to not talk to him, she could tell him so herself.

  He was tired of all these games. Tired of not knowing what was going on. Tired of trying to read her mind—something he obviously sucked at.

  Dylan was outside throwing sand on the sidewalk and walkway from the house when he pulled up.

  “Hey,” Dylan greeted him as he rounded the truck. “About time you showed up.”

  “Your sister seems to be ignoring me.” Maybe Dylan could shed some light on things, or at least give him a heads-up if he was about to enter a war zone.

  “She’s always had a hard time saying goodbye.”

  “Then maybe she should stop leaving.” Wade scuffed his boots on the walkway to check out the layer of sand.

  “I do know how to shovel,” Dylan said, catching him in the act.

  “What happened to all the snow and ice melting by this afternoon?” He couldn’t l
et an opportunity to tease Dylan pass him by.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Dylan waved him off. “If you’re thinking of talking her out of leaving, I might have some info for you first. But keep it up, wise guy, and my lips are sealed.” Dylan finished sanding and set the pail down by the front stair.

  “Loved the snow that fell. Couldn’t skate if everything melted.” Wade was quick with his reply. Any info on Leah was good info.

  “Betsy wants to bring a crew up and do a feature on Leah here in Marietta.”

  By the pinch between Dylan’s brows, Wade wasn’t sure if the feature was a good or bad idea. “But she’s leaving tomorrow.” Right? Or had that changed?

  “Maybe you’ll have better luck talking her out of it than I did.”

  This time, it was Wade who frowned. “What am I missing?”

  Dylan rubbed his chin. “They want to call it Lonely Leah Finds Love.”

  Wade scowled. He hated the nickname they gave her on the show. Hated what it said about her, how it described her, and what it obviously made her feel.

  She was anything but alone. Why didn’t she see that?

  “Yeah, that was her reaction. What is up with you two? I thought you loved her, man. Why did you push her away? She’s not staying because of you—did you know that?”

  Sucker punched in the gut, Wade could barely catch his breath.

  Push her away? Leaving because of him?

  “I don’t understand.” He reached for the rail on the steps and gripped hard. “What are you talking about?”

  “My sister went crazy on television and confessed you broke her heart…and you have no idea what I’m talking about?” Dylan crossed his arms and pierced Wade with one of those you-hurt-my-sister-now-die looks.

  “Broke her heart? Dude, I really have no idea what you’re talking about. Is that why she’s been so cagey and offish with me? Why she won’t talk to me?” He wracked his brain trying to think of a time when he’d done that—broke her heart—but nothing came to mind.

  He would remember if she told him she loved him.

  “It was before you did that one trip into the mountains with the folks from Cincinnati. Remember? The ones I picked up from the airport because you were running late.”