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

by Steena Holmes

  Sure, she was petite. About the same height as Leah, Grams was half her size, and that wasn’t saying much. Soaking wet, she probably only weighed about seventy-five pounds. The woman was skin and bones, yet she was as healthy as a horse.

  “Why don’t you go see how Wade’s coming along?” Grams sat and licked her lips at the cinnamon bun. “I’m sure he’d like a piece of your buns as well.”

  Leah loved that Grams’ eyes twinkled with laughter, but hated that the laughter and twinkle were directed at her. “The only buns of mine that man wants are the ones I bake in the mornings, and you know it.” She rolled her eyes at her grandmother’s obvious pun.

  “I’ve never met a more obtuse and blind woman as you when it comes to that man. It’s plain as day how much he loves you, but you can’t see it, can you?” The disgust in her grandmother’s voice wasn’t something she was prepared for.

  “Grams…” Leah started.

  “Don’t you ‘Grams’ me. I may be old, but I’m not blind. If anyone is, it’s you.” Grams’ lips pinched together tighter than the zipper on her coat. “Go on now. It’s the least you can do when he’s out there clearing your sidewalk.”

  Leah didn’t move. She wasn’t quite ready to face Wade yet. She’d kind of hoped she could avoid him the whole time she was here, truth be told. She didn’t plan to stay long, just until things died down a little and reporters weren’t hounding her about her confession.

  “Why did you bring him with you today?”

  With that one question, Grams’ countenance changed. Gone were the zipper-tight lips. Gone were the rigid shoulders and corset-laced straight back. Grams hunched her body forward with a slight tilt, heaved a sigh that would have blown out a dozen candles, and just shook her head.

  “Is it a crime to want to see my granddaughter? You’ve been home for a day and not even a word. Dylan had to tell me you were here.”

  A knot of guilt settled within Leah’s heart. She reached across the table for Grams’ hand and squeezed it gently. “I know and I’m sorry. I was going to come see you, I promise. But you should have called. Dylan will be home soon and could have picked you up on his way home…or not…” Leah tried to backpedal her way out of that comment, knowing she was about to get a talking to from the look on her grandmother’s face.

  “Leah Morgan. I am not, nor have I ever been, a woman who gets picked up, thank you very much. I’ve got two legs that do me just fine. I’m not a frail old bitty who needs special handling. If I wanted to go for a walk to see my granddaughter, then that is exactly what I’m going to do.” Grams’ lips pursed together in one thin line, the red lipstick bright against her pale skin tone.

  “And if you fall and break your neck? What then?” Leah attempted to reach out to pet Jack, but the way he looked at her had her changing her mind.

  Truth be told, Grams might not be frail in spirit, but she was inching her way toward eighty years. Walking on icy sidewalks wasn’t smart.

  “Well then, I guess you’re just gonna have to come with me. Aren’t you?” Grams continued to pet the traitorous cat who arched his back beneath her hand.

  “If we’re talking early morning walks, then I’m in. As long as it’s not too cold out.” Leah averted her gaze while she sipped her tea.

  “Why are you home? And without a word to anyone? Dylan said you wanted some time alone, but that doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  “Would you believe me if I said I just wanted to get away from California for a few days?” Leah wasn’t surprised at Grams’ snort.

  “Or that I was missing you and wanted to spend time with you?” Leah tried again.

  Grams crossed her arms over her chest.

  Guess not.

  “I just needed to get away,” Leah finally admitted. That was as close to the truth as she could handle right now. Every time she thought about what had happened, she was filled with anger, remorse, humiliation, and regret.

  “Who or what are you hiding from, girl?” Grams asked her point blank.

  Leah’s heart spiked and her hands slightly shook, but she didn’t answer.

  Grams’ brows rose with surprise. “Well now, I guess you are running from something.” She patted her hand. “Is there something you need to get off your chest, love?”

  Leah swallowed hard. She wanted to tell Grams everything, confess the mistake she’d made, the consequence of her actions…but Wade was outside. Considering he was the reason she was here, so to speak, the last thing she wanted was him walking in and overhearing the conversation.

  “Did something happen at work?”

  Leah shook her head, then stopped. The slight shrug of her shoulders had Grams pursing her lips and giving her that don’t-make-me-draw-this-out-of-you look.

  Leah bit her lip, glanced over her shoulder quickly to make sure Wade hadn’t come in without her noticing, and then sighed.

  Heavily. With enough exaggeration to have her grams pull her into a tight hug.

  Tiny pinpricks of tears sent stabs of pain through Leah as she tried really hard not to cry.

  Really, really hard.

  “Oh love, what is going on?” Grams pulled away and gently wiped the few tears that had trickled their way down her cheeks. “It’s not that garbage I read online, is it?”

  Startled, Leah pulled back. She hadn’t expected anyone in Marietta to have read that stuff yet, let alone Grams. She thought she had time still…

  Ohgod-ohgod-ohgod-ohgod-ohgod. She couldn’t breathe. If her grams knew, then the whole retirement home knew, which meant Wade knew, which probably meant everyone in this godforsaken little town also knew.

  No wonder he hadn’t called, texted, or sent her a smiley face on Facebook.

  No wonder Dylan seemed dodgy when he came home last night when she’d asked if he’d heard any whispers about what she’d done.

  No wonder her grandmother was here right now. Going on a walk, my foot, Leah thought. Grams had come here to make sure Leah was okay.

  And Wade knew.

  She was a fool.

  “Please tell me you did not go on that reality television show to find a husband when you had someone waiting here at home, did you?” Arms on her hips, Grams gave her the fiercest frown she’d seen in a long time.

  It kind of scared her, truth be told.

  “I did not go on national television to find a husband.” Leah looked Grams right in the eye.

  She wasn’t lying. She really hadn’t gone on that reality show for a husband; it was more of a favor for a friend so she didn’t lose her job.

  That worked out so well for her too. Every time Leah stepped in to save Betsy’s butt, she always ended up burned… One day, she’d learn her lesson.

  “Well, thank the good Lord for that!” Grams raised her hands in the air, reminding Leah of Sunday morning worship.

  God wouldn’t strike her down for telling a half-truth, would he?

  “That’s what I told the girls, but you know them…if it’s in the news, it must be true. Silly group of gossips, if you ask me.” Grams shook her head with apparent disdain while Leah felt absolutely sick to her stomach.

  She was going to throw up.

  “As if my girl would do something so foolish,” Grams continued, oblivious to the way Leah’s face blanched.

  She shouldn’t have come home. Listening to her big brother had been a mistake. She should have flown to Tahiti and spent the next few weeks in complete oblivion on the beach. There was still time. It didn’t have to be Tahiti. It could be anywhere…as long as it was outside the United States.

  “Why would they make up lies like that?” Grams asked.

  “Well…it’s not so much that the papers lied, but that they didn’t tell the whole truth.” Like a little child waiting for the scorn of disapproval, Leah’s shoulders hunched and she couldn’t quite meet her grandmother’s gaze as she said the words as quietly as she could.

  “What’s that? Speak up, girl. I’m not getting any younger.”

&nb
sp; Leah winced.

  Grams sighed.

  They were quite the pair, weren’t they?

  “No. I don’t want to hear it. Not right yet. I have a feeling I need fortification for this news, and the tea isn’t going to cut it. That boy of yours should be close to done, and I’m in the mood for hot chocolate.” Grams lips thinned until they were straight lines. “Do you know what he told me on our walk here?”

  Leah shook her head. “What’s that?”

  “That despite being home now for a good solid day, you hadn’t said a word to him. Normally, he’s the first one you call when you land.” Grams tsked. “It’s why I brought him. I figured you must be fighting. If so, it’s time for you two to make up.”

  Leah rolled her eyes. If only they’d been fighting.

  “I saw that. Now go see how Wade is doing.”

  Despite wanting to do anything but go see how that man outside was doing, Leah made her way to the living room and watched him through the front window.

  Wade was bent over, his shoulders hunched up to his ears as he shoveled the snow in front of the house. “He looks so cold out there,” she muttered.

  “Nonsense.” Grams sneaked up behind her. “That boy doesn’t like to keep still. His idea of relaxing is shoveling the walkways. He was at Kindred Place early this morning. Kathy, the head cook, mentioned he’d already cleared a pathway for her from her cottage.”

  Leah’s brow raised. “He finds that relaxing?” That would be the last word she would have used to describe snow shoveling. Tiresome, cold, exhausting, freezing, time consuming, bone chilling, hard work…those would be her words.

  Grams placed her hand on Leah’s back. “Says it gives him time to gather this thoughts. His daddy was like that, too. A man of few words but full of action.”

  Leah could barely see the man outside, with the way the wind had picked up and blew the snow around in a haphazard way.

  “Oh, he’s no man of few words, trust me.” Leah had always loved that about Wade. He gave off the whole strong-but-silent-type vibe but that man knew how to articulate his thoughts and feelings quite well.

  She’d ran hard and fast away from Marietta…and away from him more than ten years ago because he’d broken her heart. She’d thought they were in love, that their relationship was one of the pure ones. Sure, they weren’t officially dating, but everyone knew they were together. At least, she’d thought they were. She’d thought they were soul mates. Yet, she’d found out through high school gossip that he’d slept with Amy Pickerson, the most popular girl in school.

  She’d been devastated. Destroyed. Their relationship forever damaged.

  So she’d ran. Found a job as a traveling nanny for the summer with the woman who’d created KIND, the charity Leah had eventually started working with.

  After a few months of nursing her broken heart, she let Wade explain what happened. It’d all been a lie, spread after he’d turned Amy Pickerson down when she asked him on a date. But the damage had already been done. It took a few years to salvage their friendship, and now…well, she was lost without him in her life.

  She’d told him that last month. Well, she’d actually told him she loved him, and then waited for him to say those words back.

  And waited.

  Until it was obvious he wasn’t going to say them back.

  What he did say was he had to leave for a trip and would be out of range for about a week, but that he wanted to talk about it when he got back.

  Basically…thanks-but-no-thanks-we-did-this-before-and-it-didn’t-work-remember?

  What she wouldn’t give to turn back time. She felt like she was living Cher’s song…over and over and over.

  After that pitiful conversation, Leah’s life went into a tailspin. She’d been asked…no, make that begged. Betsy, her best friend, had begged her to come onto the reality show after one of the girls had backed out last minute. Leah hadn’t wanted to, but it had seemed like a good excuse at the time to ignore her broken heart.

  She had a hard time saying no to Betsy. She knew it. She didn’t have a hard time saying no to anyone else, but when it was Betsy… Well, the guilt of the one time she’d said no was too heavy a burden to carry.

  They were roommates then. After a really rough day at work, all Betsy had wanted to do was go to a bar and drown her sorrows.

  Normally, when Betsy went to the bar, Leah was there as a support. She was the driver, the caretaker, the shield against those who wanted to take advantage of her gorgeous but drunk friend.

  This one night, Leah hadn’t wanted to go. She’d just come back from a tour of high schools, and the stories she’d heard from the students who’d lost their parents, siblings, or friends due to drunk drivers was still too heavy on her heart. All she’d wanted to do was climb into a hot bubble bath with a good book and then sleep for a week.

  So Betsy went alone.

  At three in the morning, Leah was woken by her phone. She’d missed five phone calls from Betsy throughout the night. This call was from the police.

  Betsy had been drugged and raped that night.

  Leah blamed herself. If only she’d gone. If only she’d been there to watch over her friend, to protect her…

  Betsy never blamed her. Not when Leah rushed into the hospital room and found her friend lying on a bed, curled tight in a blanket. Not when they sat on the couch in silence while watching mindless comedy movies. Not even when Betsy crumpled into a ball and finally sobbed in Leah’s arms.

  Betsy never once said if only…never once.

  But Leah lived with that guilt. And because of it, she couldn’t say no. Not again. Not when it came to her friend.

  So when Betsy begged Leah to come onto Charmed, the reality show where love conquered all…as much as she hated the idea, she didn’t say no.

  What was supposed to be a week of helping her friend turned into a month of torture with no way to contact the outside world. The moment she’d stepped into the hotel, her phone and computer had been confiscated. Betsy had promised it would only be for a few days, that she could leave right after the first rose ceremony if she’d wanted.

  Oh, she’d wanted.

  Looking back, if Leah hadn’t admitted her feelings to Wade and he hadn’t gone on that trip…none of what had happened would have happened. She wouldn’t be here, hiding her bruised heart, wishing for the chance to go back in time.

  She never should have gone on that show.

  But truth be told, whether she’d confessed her feelings to Wade or not, she probably would have.

  Because Betsy asked.

  Things would have turned out differently though. She wouldn’t have been betrayed by her friend, taken advantage of by the show, or made a fool of all because she’d confessed her broken heart on national television.

  Leah needed to remember those feelings of shame and regret for the next time he gave her that knee-weakening-toe-curling-spine-tingling smile of his again.

  “I’ll wrap up a cinnamon bun for him. That’s the least I can do for him clearing the sidewalk.” Leah turned her back toward the window after Wade had glanced up and caught her watching him.

  “Oh for Pete’s sake.” Grams threw her hands up in the air. “Why don’t you join Wade and me for hot chocolate? Don’t bother offering to make me some here, I know that garbage your brother keeps in his cupboard. Come have a cup of Sage’s hot chocolate with us.”

  Grams’ request was more like a demand, and they both knew it.

  All Leah wanted to do was head back to bed, pull the covers over her head, and wish for the day to start over.

  Heading out in public, having to show her face after her public humiliation…not really something on her need-to-do-today list.

  Especially if the local gossip was already growing.

  Grams headed toward the front door where she grabbed her coat. “I realize you’re hiding from him for some reason, but what you and Wade have isn’t to be thrown away. There’s nothing stronger than the bond of f
riendship, Leah. Nothing. So go on now, grab some proper boots, and I’ll tell Wade we’re almost ready to go.”

  Leah bunched her lips together in what she hoped her grams took for a smile. She was quite content to let her think they were arguing. That was so much better than the truth. But, to be honest, spending time with Wade was the last thing she wanted to do at this moment and Grams knew it too.

  “You know, Grams. I think I preferred our relationship when there were states separating us rather than mere houses. You were less…demanding.” She took the jacket Grams held in her hands and helped her grandmother put it on.

  Once the jacket was buttoned all the way to her grandmother’s slim neck, Leah found herself wrapped in a tight hug. “Demanding and yet you love me. There’s a reason you came home, Leah girl.”

  Leah swallowed back the lump that swelled in her throat.

  “My heart is yours, you silly old woman,” Leah whispered before pulling back and staring up toward the ceiling, banishing any hint of tears that would have appeared if she looked into her grams’ eyes.

  “You say that now, but your heart is fickle,” Grams teased. “I know the minute we walk into that chocolate shop you’ll be lured away by another love.”

  Leah chuckled, quite happy to turn the conversation away from her love life.

  Kneeling down, Leah was focused on helping her grandmother step into her boots. “It’s true,” she said. “I’ve only ever had one true love—” She lifted her head and noticed Wade stand within hearing distance.

  For Pete’s sake…

  She hoped he hadn’t heard her, but the way his head angled toward the house and the widening of his eyes, she knew he had.

  Slowly, Leah straightened and gave her sweet, frail-but-stubborn-as-a-mule grandmother a sharp look.

  The gleam of mischief in Grams’ eyes was too much. Too. Much.

  “Don’t play matchmaker, please,” Leah begged quietly as Grams stepped past her and onto the front porch.

  “Oh love, I’m not playing.” Grams winked before reaching for Wade’s outstretched hand, which was meant to help her down the stairs.

  With a very weary sigh, Leah closed the door behind her as she followed.