AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ughhhh.Screw this.” I had to get out of here before I went stir crazy.
Cade had told me he didn’t mind if I worked at Violet’s. I shot a text to Dahlia to see if she could meet me. Naturally, she was already there and told me to come on down.
I was feeling better already. I’d get some writing done, and if Cade’s mother happened to drop a few nuggets of information about how he was feeling about me, it would be a happy bonus.
I dug through the bottom shelf of my coffee table for my laptop case and extra charger cord.
“Damn it.”
Whatever.
It was obvious I needed a good night of sleep and perhaps a spa trip to clear my head. I was losing everything lately, including my mind. And now that Cade and I had taken it to the next level, I was losing my heart too. I darted upstairs to my room and grabbed a backpack. I stuffed my wallet, laptop, and other necessities in and headed outside to get the heck out of dodge.
Shoot! My Jeep was still at Cade’s. I threw my hands up, frustrated. “Double damn.” Violet’s coffee shop was close. It was cold as heck, but the sun was out. “Screw it.” I shoved my keys in my pocket and took off walking.
Sweetbriar in spring could often be described as winter part two, and today was no exception. I was only halfway down the block, and I was already freezing my ass off. “Jeez, this fricking sucks. Literally the worst day ever.” I continued ranting to myself as I walked with my breath puffing out in little clouds as I crunched over the—thankfully shoveled—sidewalk. I was going to drink the crap out a hot and steamy huge-ass vanilla latte, and decided maybe I’d get a chocolate croissant too. My standard blueberry muffin didn’t feel like enough of a reward for living through this shitty morning. Blueberries were delicious but felt too healthy for my mood.
Finally, I made it to the little strip mall where Vi’s shop was located. It was adorable and mountain-y—New York had nothing like this. The long building was built to emulate the look of a log cabin, with dark wood and stacked stones, big beams, and forest green trim. Little planters were filled with evergreen shrubbery and tiny topiaries glittered with clear lights wrapped around their trunks.
This town was charming as hell. When the weather grew warm, each light pole would hold a hanging basket overflowing with flowers from the local nurseries and the empty lot at the end of the street would be filled with little stands for area farmers to sell their produce.
With each step I grew angrier with myself. Why had I stayed away for so long? I loved it here. This was my home, not New York.
By the time I got inside Violet’s I was grumpy, and a little bit pissed off. I did this sometimes—got myself worked up over something that was my own fault.
“Hey, Charlotte!” Violet called. “The usual?”
“Not this time. A vanilla latte, extra hot, and something chocolate please.”
“Oh crap, girl, you’re ordering something different. What did my bonehead brother do to you?”
Startled laughter burst out of me. “How did you know? I mean, he didn’t do anything really—”
“One, your face always tells the tale. You’ve always been a wide-open book. And two, duh, he’s my brother and I love him to pieces, but I know for a fact that he can also be a stubborn horse’s ass sometimes. He needs to learn how to communicate.”
“Well, he left me a note earlier and it was brusque to say the least. I mean, we—um, last night—never mind. I just expected more, I guess. He really didn’t do anything. It’s my fault for having expectations before we were able to hash everything out.”
“I’m so sorry. He’ll make it better. Don’t give up yet. His heart is good. You know that, right?”
“Yes, I do. His heart is amazing and wonderful, and I missed it so much—uh, which is probably why I’m so grouchy and hurt this morning, I guess.” My cheeks burned; I didn’t have to spell it out for her to guess what had happened between me and Cade. Her knowing eyes on mine understood everything I hadn’t said.
“He disappointed you this morning, didn’t he sweetheart?” Her eyes shined with sympathy. From the little I’d heard around town about her situation with her ex-husband, she definitely understood disappointment.
I nodded rather than answer with words. Tears burned behind my eyelids and I blinked furiously to clear them. I didn’t want to cry in front of Violet and push her sweet sympathy too far, especially considering how I was the one who had broken her brother’s heart all those years ago.
“Go on and sit with Mom. I’ll bring your order to you. Take a load off.”
The idea of working with Dahlia excited me and perked me up a bit. Getting to be with her again was one of the reasons I wanted so badly to stay in town. “I’m here to work with your mom today. I’m going to soak up all her writerly vibes and get loaded up on coffee and carbs and forget all about what happened last—”
“Oooh la la. I won’t ask. I’ll just make all kinds of assumptions.”
I laughed. “Go right ahead. I don’t kiss and tell. For the most part, anyway.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Thank you, Vi. I—I missed you when I was gone. I want you to know that.”
“Oh, Charli, I know, and I missed you too.” She had been the best sister-in-law, so sweet. We’d have lunch once a week and discuss books and life. We were both big readers, and I had helped her set up her book club. We used to have such fun together.
