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

by Steena Holmes

  “Thanks. I’ll probably end up taking you up on that.” There was a sick feeling in his gut every time he thought about Leah leaving, and it only intensified the longer he waited to talk to her. He didn’t know how Dylan did it. Wade remembered how raw Dylan had been when Casey left. He’d gone into the woods and camped out for a solid week before returning to town.

  He headed toward Kindred Place and literally ran to Josie’s apartment only to find it empty. He searched the house for her, but she wasn’t in the dining area or the craft room or the library where she liked to sit and read in front of the fireplace. He asked people as he passed them in the hallway but other than seeing Leah earlier in the morning with a plate of cinnamon buns, they had no idea where she’d gone.

  He wasn’t going to panic. He called Leah’s cell phone, fully not expecting her to pick up. When she did, he hesitated.

  “Wade? This isn’t another one of your butt dials, is it?”

  The sound of Leah’s laughter, the lighthearted, carefree sound, eased the panic in his heart.

  “Hey.” One word, one pathetic word, but it was all he could muster.

  “Oh hey, you’re actually there. I was about to hang up. What’s up?”

  What’s up? Was this the same girl who’d pushed him away all week? The same girl who was running away from him, from what they shared? The same girl who said what they had was no longer there?

  “Wade?”

  “Where are you?” He heard a murmur of voices in the background, and several locations went through his mind. She’d taken Josie to the grocery store. They were having breakfast at the diner, or possible enjoying a cup of cocoa at Sage’s shop.

  As long as she wasn’t at the airport, that was all he really cared about.

  “I’m sipping the best cocoa in the county…oops, sorry, in our country, while helping Sage finish up her coins. Come join us,” Leah suggested.

  Come join us…he couldn’t ask for a better invite.

  “See you soon.” He couldn’t stop grinning after he hung up and jogged to his truck.

  She sounded different. It wasn’t that she was with Sage and putting on a front; she actually sounded…like his Leah. Like his Leah who called him while in the bathtub and just wanted to hear his voice. Like his Leah who suggested an alternate to their trip to Napa. Like his Leah who had talked of a future for the two of them in Marietta.

  Maybe…maybe it wasn’t too late for them after all. Maybe she realized what they had, maybe she was ready to say those words he so wanted to hear, needed to hear.

  But, as much as he wanted to hope, to believe…he tampered all those emotions that bubbled deep within him.

  This wasn’t the Leah he’d watched walk away from him yesterday after the whole skating incident. Something was up.

  He found a place to park down the street from the chocolate shop. When he opened the door, he was surprised at the crowd in the room. The tables were full, and there was even a line at the counter.

  “Hey Wade, it’s about time you showed up.” Sage gave him a wave from where she stood at the cash register.

  Portia looked up and gave him a smile before she continued to fill a box of chocolates for a customer.

  The only ones Wade recognized in the store were Sage, Portia, Leah, and Betsy. Everyone else wasn’t from Marietta. Maybe…wait, Betsy?

  What was she doing here?

  Leah’s face was bright red as he headed toward her. She looked from Betsy to him and then down at her cup before he caught her taking a deep breath and forcing a smile on her face.

  Ahh…that was what was up.

  It wasn’t his Leah who had spoken on the phone.

  She’s been putting on a front for Betsy.

  Wade squashed the disappointment and heartache at the realization.

  For a moment, he’d let hope resurface but he should have known better.

  “Betsy, good to see you,” Wade said as he pulled out the chair and sat. There was a full cup of cocoa in front of him. “I’m hoping this is mine and not meant for someone else.” He pasted a smile on his face, determined not to let his disappointment show.

  “I asked Sage to make you one as soon as I hung up.” Leah’s voice was soft, breathy, but Wade put up a wall to protect his heart.

  “I’d forgotten how much I love Sage’s cocoa.” Betsy giggled before she took a long sip of hers. The tip of her nose was covered in whipped cream. Leah passed her a napkin while rolling her eyes.

  “I thought,” Wade ignored Betsy for the moment, “you were leaving this morning?” He watched the slight flutter to Leah’s lashes, how she looked away and fought the rise of her lips. “Dylan’s waiting for you,” he added as a reminder.

  He enjoyed watching the flush on her face rise.

  When Leah pulled out her phone and her fingers flew over the keyboard, he assumed she was texting her brother. He waited patiently for her to finish, his gaze never leaving her face. He knew Betsy was laughing at him, and as much as it bothered him to be the subject of whatever inside joke was going on…he pretended like it didn’t matter.

  As long as Leah was staying, he didn’t care about the reason.

  He could guess it, however—especially with Betsy sitting right beside him.

  Either Leah had agreed to do the feature or Betsy came believing she could convince her better face to face. He tended to believe the latter.

  Once Leah had put her phone away, they sat there in silence. It took everything inside Wade not to speak up, to ask her outright what was going on.

  Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long.

  “Guess you’re wondering why Betsy’s here?” Leah finally spoke after being nudged by her friend.

  He shook his head.

  “No?” Leah sounded surprised.

  “Figured she’s here to convince you to do the feature. I’m guessing she did if you’re not running out of here to the airport.” Wade leaned back in his chair, his hands wrapped around the warm mug in front of him. He probably should buy Betsy a box of Sage’s best chocolates as a thank you.

  Hell, he’d buy her a year’s supply.

  “About that…” Leah drawled out the words, leaning close, elbows on the table. “I kind of agreed to stay if the focus could be on Marietta. It’s perfect timing with the scavenger hunt happening tomorrow, you know?”

  He nodded. It made perfect sense to him. He’d basically said as much to her last night.

  “But…” Betsy added.

  Wade looked toward Betsy and caught the huge grin on her face, reminding him of a cat who’d just caught a fish and enjoyed every last bite of it, and then toward Leah who looked like she’d just swallowed a horse fly.

  “But?” Wade prompted.

  Leah opened her mouth, but no words came out.

  “Let me guess. This is where that whole Lonely Leah Finds Love thing comes in right?” If it was, sign him up.

  Leah nodded, her face turning an even brighter shade of red than before.

  “How can I help?” he offered.

  Betsy slapped the table with her hand. “See, told you he’d be up for it. And you were all worried…”

  “Betsy,” Leah said between tight lips.

  “What? He said he’d help.” She shrugged her shoulders before looking at her phone. “Oh, I need to answer this. Be right back.” The phone was glued to her hear before she’d stepped away from the table. She headed outside and stood in front of the window, one arm holding the phone to her ear, the other wrapped around herself as if trying to remain warm.

  “Maybe I should take her coat to her?” Leah offered.

  Wade shook his head. “If Cali girl can’t figure out it’s still winter up here, she will soon enough.” He took a look beneath the table and snickered at the rubber boots Leah still wore.

  “You know you can get things shipped here within a day, right? Why don’t you order yourself a good pair of boots? Especially if you’re staying a while longer.”

  A smile bloomed o
n her face. “Done and done. Dylan suggested the same…” She immediately stopped and looked at him with wide eyes. “H-he suggested that last week and I…Betsy said the same thing a few minutes ago.” She stumbled over her words, obviously caught in a lie.

  Wade heard it. He also heard what she didn’t say.

  “So you’re saying you already ordered some, is that it?” He studied her for the tells she gave when she lied.

  “I did. Should be here tomorrow.” She avoided looking at him, turning her gaze to the window and watching her friend freeze outside.

  “About that offer to help, did you mean it?” she asked.

  He waited for her to look at him before he answered.

  “You know I did.” He put all his heart into those words.

  Leah straightened in her chair, her hands wrapped around her mug, like his, and she looked anywhere and everywhere but at him.

  Spit it out, was what he wanted to say to her.

  “Will you pretend we’re together? Like together-together?” She barely whispered her question.

  “No.” The word came out faster than he’d intended.

  Hell no, he wasn’t going to pretend. Having her ask him to hurt. More than he thought it would. He wasn’t going to lie. For a moment, there had been hope that she’d stayed, not just because of Betsy but because of him, but…maybe he was wrong.

  “No?” She looked at him then. This time, he was the one to glance away. He didn’t want her to see how much her question had affected him. “I know…” She sighed. “I know it’s asking a lot, but Betsy and her crew will only be in town for a few days, and—”

  “How many days?” he interrupted her.

  “Three at the most. Today, they’ll scout areas. Tomorrow, they’ll film. The following day will be any required retakes, and then they’ll leave.” Leah worried her lip and moved her cup in circles.

  “So you’re wanting me to pretend that we’re together? That we’re in a relationship, in love, and are preparing a future together?”

  Leah nodded.

  “Here in Marietta, right?” Wade wanted to be clear on what he was supposed to be pretending.

  She nodded again.

  Wade rubbed the back of his neck while taking his time thinking about what she was asking.

  It wasn’t pretending on his part. He loved her, wanted to be in a relationship with her, and wanted her to be here, in Marietta, with him forever.

  He wasn’t sure he could pretend knowing she didn’t want the same thing.

  Because she didn’t, right?

  Except, after his talk with Dylan, he thought she did. Dylan had said Wade had broken her heart. That she’d said she loved him; only, he hadn’t heard her.

  So what was up?

  Did she love him or didn’t she?

  Was she here to stay or was she only here to do the feature on Marietta?

  Was she playing him, hoping he would be a willing participant?

  Why did women have to be so damn difficult to read?

  “Will you, please?” Leah pleaded. The color of her eyes had lightened, and he could see she was really worried that he wouldn’t agree.

  He didn’t like to see her worried. But he didn’t like how he was feeling inside either.

  Torn. Confused. Hurt.

  “Do you love me, Leah?” He decided to ask outright. He needed to know. No more being patient, no more waiting for her to admit what he thought they both knew. No more trying to be patient and hoping… He needed to know.

  “Wade…” Leah swallowed hard, licking her lips. “I-I” She struggled, really struggled to answer him.

  That was all he needed to know. Everything inside of him died as he watched her try to respond. If there was a switch he could flip to turn off all his emotions, he would have done it right there and then.

  “That’s all I needed to know. Your brother is under the impression you told me you loved me and I didn’t respond, except, we both know if you’d actually said those words, things would be a lot different now.” He pushed his chair away with more strength than he’d intended.

  “No, Leah. I can’t pretend. I’m sorry. Maybe you were right last night, maybe things have changed between us and it’s time I accept it.” His chest squeezed, and there was no air left in his lungs for him to breathe. Everything hurt. If he didn’t leave right now, he wasn’t sure if he would survive.

  He briefly closed his eyes, not wanting this moment to be the last one he remembered of her, and turned.

  He heard Sage calling out to him, but he couldn’t stop so he plowed right through the door, brushing past Betsy who stood there with her mouth gaped wide open, and headed for his truck.

  His life was crashing down around him, and it was all because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Leah couldn’t move. She was frozen in her chair, everything inside of her stiff and unrelenting.

  She wanted to call out to Wade to stop, to stay, to listen to her.

  Except, she couldn’t. Her mouth was perma-frozen wide open, but no words would come. She wanted to throw up as she watched the man she loved walk away from her.

  “What happened?” Betsy barged into the store looking bewildered. “Wade just ran past me, and he looked upset. I tried to stop him, but he didn’t even hear me.”

  “He said no.” Leah managed to get those words out. Her voice was a mere whisper, but it sounded like she’d shouted just to be heard over the sound of her breaking heart.

  Betsy sank down in the chair, speechless.

  “I never thought he’d say no.” Leah swallowed hard, the words a jumble of dry kindling in her throat. She blindly reached for her cup of cocoa and took a sip.

  “Well, that’s a little unexpected.” Betsy rubbed her forehead with the palm of her hand. “He’ll change his mind.” Betsy sat up, her shoulder blades a straight line as she did so. “Whatever you said, just go apologize and all will be well.” She glanced at her watch. “I can take the team to scout areas while you go fetch that hunk of a man of yours.”

  “He’s not mine.” Leah’s chin dropped, and the weight of everything she’d lost threatened to cave her body inward. What had she done?

  “You need to apologize.” Sage was at her side, her face clouded by a fury of storm-like emotions.

  Leah had the feeling that in Sage’s mind, hurting Wade was the unforgivable sin.

  “I don’t know what you’ve done or what’s happened between the two of you, but go make it right,” Sage continued.

  “I was trying,” Leah admitted. There was a boulder that sat inside her chest, and it got heavier the longer she sat there. “Sage, I don’t know what I did. I stayed…” She pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers and grimaced. “I stayed here instead of leaving. I thought…I thought he’d understand what that meant.” She entwined her fingers together and twisted them until the bones cracked and her fingers turned white. “He accused me of running away last night, and I told him I wasn’t.”

  Sage pulled out the empty chair at the table with a heavy sigh. “Leah, did you tell him specifically you stayed for him? That you are here for him? That you love him?”

  Leah shook her head. No, she hadn’t said any of those words.

  “Then maybe you should.” Sage stood, one hand on the edge of the chair. “Maybe it’s time one of you stopped being so stubborn and just admitted what’s in your heart.” She placed her hand on Leah’s shoulder and gave a tender squeeze. “God knows one of you needs to step up to the plate.”

  Leah looked to her friend, who gave a slight dip of her head in agreement.

  “Hang tight and I’ll place two hot cocoas in travel cups for you. I’m sure Wade could use another one.” Sage stepped away and briefly chatted with a customer in line.

  “Okay.” Betsy leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. “So maybe my idea wasn’t the right one and if I made things a little…messy, I’m sorry. We can fix this though, I know it.”
/>   “Messy?” Leah rolled her eyes as a wave of hysterical despair underlined with anger rose inside of her. “More like screwed this up. You know, it’s time I stop listening to your suggestions. I should know better by now; I really should.”

  She had to fix this.

  “What did Wade actually say?” Betsy asked, her cheeks a solid pink as she thankfully didn’t even try to defend herself.

  Leah thought back to his words, to the hurt she saw in his gaze.

  “He asked me if I loved him.” She wanted to cry. He asked her if she loved him and how did she respond? “I couldn’t say anything. I wanted to.” She lifted her gaze to look Betsy in the eyes. “I wanted to but…”

  “You were too afraid,” Betsy completed her sentence. “So go tell him. Tell him you love him. Tell him everything that’s in your heart.” She reached across the table for Leah’s hands. “It’s not too late.”

  Leah wanted to hope that. She really did. But she knew Wade. He would only take so much before he shut down. He was the first person to give someone a chance, even a second chance, but take advantage of him too often, hurt his heart one too many times…and he was done. He believed she didn’t love him. Believed that this whole charade with Charmed and Betsy was exactly that—a charade.

  Except it wasn’t. She didn’t want to pretend that they were in love.

  She wanted to be in love.

  She was in love.

  “Then tell him that,” Sage whispered in her ear as she set the cups of steaming cocoa down on the table. “Don’t tell anyone else how you feel until you tell him. He deserves that much.”

  Leah looked up at her old friend. “I will.” She licked her dry and chapped lips as she thought about where he could be right now.

  Knowing Wade, he wouldn’t have gone home. He would be out in the field, trekking through the snow and broken branches, trying to find some semblance of peace in his soul.

  There was only one place he would go.

  She glanced down at her rubber rain boots with dismay. “Betsy, I need your car keys, please.” She held her hand out.