Dreaming in Chocolate
Page 26
Noah’s fingers tightened around hers. He glanced at Ella and River then turned back to Penelope, his expression unreadable. “But if that’s what we both want, to be together, with Ella and another kid to boot, we could make it happen, right?”
“Yeah, if that life is really what we both want.”
But if there was doubt on either side, they could lose it all.
* * *
There was only one way Noah knew how to prove to Penelope he was all in. After his shift at Rehab ended, he borrowed his brother’s car and drove the two hours home and the two hours back to Malarkey, stopping just long enough in between to pick up what he needed from his place.
When he pulled into Penelope’s driveway, he rubbed at his eyes to make sure the house wasn’t just a sleep-deprived hallucination. All the lights were off, which shouldn’t have been a surprise considering it was just shy of 6:00 A.M. But after being awake for almost twenty hours, he’d lost track of time. And he needed to see Penelope more than he needed sleep. Needed to make sure she had no doubts about what he wanted them to be.
Noah glanced at Bombay curled up on his jacket on the passenger seat, tail twitching and eyes round and alert. He typed out a quick text to Penelope and tapped his fingers on the phone’s screen while he awaited a reply.
I’ll be right down, she wrote back less than a minute later.
“You’ve gotta make her love you, okay?” he said as he shifted Bombay off his coat. He couldn’t open the door and risk the cat shooting out past him into freedom so he struggled into the coat behind the steering wheel. After zipping the front most of the way, he tucked the cat inside and added, “If she says no, we’re screwed. Both of us. So let’s make this good.” He hugged her to his chest and got out. She kneaded her claws into his shirt, content to be bundled up with him.
Shit, I hope this is a good idea.
“Everything okay?” Penelope asked as she cracked the door and blocked the entrance. She shivered as the cold air rushed in to flutter the bottoms of her pajama pants.
“Yeah. Sorry,” he said, shifting to block the wind. “I went home to pick up a few things.”
“Did you even sleep?”
He closed the gap between them and twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. “It was important.”
Bombay struggled against his one-handed hold. Then she gave a pissed-off, warbly cry that made Penelope jump away from him. He unzipped his jacket an inch so the cat’s head could poke out.
“Oh, Noah. What are you doing? Please tell me you’re just bringing that cat over here to show it to us,” Penelope said, shaking her head. “If Ella sees her, you’re in so much trouble.”
“Damn. I was kinda counting on Ella helping sway you to my side.” He held up Bombay, lifting her paw out of his coat in a wave. She shook in his hands, her heart hammering against his palm at the unfamiliar surroundings. Rubbing his thumb under her chin, he tightened the grip on his other hand to keep her from bolting. “I don’t want to rush you, but I need you to know I’m serious about staying.”
“I can’t see anything with the way you’re holding her. She’s so small. Give her here.” Penelope cupped one hand under Bombay and stroked a finger down her back. After a few passes, the cat started purring and Penelope eased her away from Noah’s grip to nuzzle her cheek into the cat’s fur, ruffling the black and white markings on her neck. “How old is she? She doesn’t look like a kitten, but she can’t be full-grown.”
“She’s about two, I think. You should’ve seen how tiny she was when I got her. She fit in my palm but she’s always been feisty. It’s a hard combo to resist.” Noah slid his eyes over Penelope again. “So, can we come in?”
Penelope held the door open for him and carried the cat into the living room where she set Bombay on the back of the couch to get a better look. “What happened to her ears?”
Laughing, Noah ran the tip of his finger over one of the short, folded ears. “She’s a Scottish Fold. That’s the way they’re supposed to be. Gives her extra personality.”
“Can’t argue there. And I can see why you thought wooing me with an adorable ball of fur was a smart idea. But I thought you said River is allergic to cats,” she said.
“She is.”
“So what are you planning to do with her?”
“I’m working on it,” he said and fought the smile that threatened to give him away.
“We can’t take her, Noah. I know Ella offered, but we don’t even know what this is yet,” Penelope said.
“Did I ask you to take her?”
“No, but you’re going to. I can see it in your eyes.” She leaned over and picked up Bombay again. Holding her almost nose to nose, she said, “He’s going to ask me. Just you wait.”
But Penelope hugged Bombay closer. A dead giveaway she had no intention of making Noah or his cat leave.
* * *
The end of the Festival of Fate always triggered an influx of customers to the shop, all wanting an extra boost of luck or to drink the Enlightenment hot chocolate to see if their wish had changed their futures yet.
Penelope had been carrying around the recipe card for curing heartbreaks in her apron pocket for days. Her fingers sought it out, needing reassurance that there was still a chance for everything to work out. When the shop finally showed signs of slowing down, she invited Noah over to help them make it.
Ella tackle-hugged him when he walked in the door. With his hands clamped on her skinny waist, he flipped her into the air and carried her upside down with her knees bent over his shoulders and her bubbling laugh filling the shop.
Penelope didn’t hesitate to kiss him when he reached her.
“So, what are we making?” Noah asked, setting Ella back on her feet.
Penelope led him to the kitchen where she had the ingredients already laid out on the work table. “Chocolates to cure heartbreak.”
“And you think we need those because?”
“Because our daughter’s dying. And I’m really not okay with that,” she said. Saying our instead of my was still a conscious choice, but one day she hoped it would feel natural. She fanned the recipe card through the air between them. “So maybe my mom was right and this recipe will stop the heartbreak before it even happens.”
“I’m all for trying anything that might save her. But I thought we couldn’t eat or drink anything we make ourselves. Won’t the magic mess us up?”
“That’s why we’re all making it. I’ve split the recipe so we can each make a fourth and then we swap.”
“I get to make them too?” Ella asked as she and Sabina entered the room, each carrying two mugs of hot chocolate.
“Yep.”
Sabina set her cups on the counter and wrapped an arm around Penelope’s waist and squeezed. “Do you really believe it will work?”
The magic working was the only option she would accept. Penelope pressed a kiss to her mom’s temple, and said, “It has to.”
And they set to work, each on their own small batch of chocolates.
With every truffle she made, the tension in her shoulders receded a little bit more. And as the feeling of undiluted happiness washed over them all, Penelope laughed for the simple pleasure of it.
They all needed more of that in their lives. Laughter and love and the unshakable belief that fate worked in mysterious ways.
ALSO BY SUSAN BISHOP CRISPELL
The Secret Ingredient of Wishes
About the Author
SUSAN BISHOP CRISPELL earned a BFA in creative writing from the University of North Carolina–Wilmington. Susan lives and writes near Wilmington, NC, with her husband and their two literary-named cats. She is the author of The Secret Ingredient of Wishes. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Also by Susan Bishop Crispell
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
DREAMING IN CHOCOLATE. Copyright © 2018 by Susan Bishop Crispell. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Danielle Christopher
Cover photograph © huephotography/Getty Images
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Crispell, Susan Bishop, author.
Title: Dreaming in chocolate / Susan Bishop Crispell.
Description: First edition. | New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, [2018]
Identifiers: LCCN 2017018876 | ISBN 978-1-250-08907-6 (trade pbk.) | ISBN 978-1-250-08908-3 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Mothers and daughters—Fiction. | GSAFD: Love stories.
Classification: LCC PS3603.R5738 D74 2018 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017018876
eISBN 9781250089083
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First Edition: February 2018