Maddie nodded.
“Hmm,” Britt said speculatively.
“I probably misread Leo. He probably wasn’t displeased.”
“Or maybe he was.” Britt’s almond-shaped brown eyes sparked with excitement. “Maybe he just needs some encouragement. Leo’s reserved. What’s that saying? Quiet waters . . . something something?”
“Still waters run deep.”
Britt snapped her fingers. “Yes, exactly.” She bent her head and continued slicing the ganache into perfect squares. “I think that Leo feels passionately underneath that calm demeanor. When he devotes himself to something he’sseriouslydevoted.The problem for you is that men like Leo can be slow to make a move.”
Britt had Leo’s personality nailed. Maddie adored the fact that Leo’s still waters ran deep. He wasn’t glib. He wasn’t the sort of guy who used flattery to manipulate and charm to seduce. Instead, he possessed the less-flashy qualities she cared about most. He was kind, intelligent, trustworthy, real, and sometimes just a little bit self-conscious. When she was with him, he made her feel like the best version of herself.
“Have you considered asking him out?” Britt asked.
The thought of that caused Maddie’s heart to spiral to the ground like a wounded quail. “I couldn’t.” She began to knead her knuckle.
“Why not? We both know that Olivia’s frankness helped her snag Leo.” Britt made her way to the sink and began washing her hands. “I’ve asked out plenty of men in my day, and they’ve usually said yes.”
Britt was both overtly pretty and adventurously forthright. Maddie certainly didn’t consider herself to be as pretty as Britt, nor had she been born with the I-ask-men-to-go-out-with-me gene.
Rejection didn’t scare Britt, but it did scare Maddie. Especially rejection from Leo.Especially. Maddie donned a black apron emblazoned with the shop’s logo across the front in white.
“Ask him out,” Britt encouraged.
“No, thank you.”
“Ask him out!”
Maddie escaped by pushing through the swinging door into the shop.
Britt was determined to bolster Maddie’s hopes where Leo was concerned. But it had never seemed wise to Maddie to hope that he mightactuallycome to love her.
That longing seemed too unlikely, too destined to set her up for a fall.
“I’m not finished lecturing you,” Britt called.
“Funny, because I am finished being lectured,” Maddie called back pleasantly. “Especially about hypothetical situations concerning Leo Donnelly.”
She set about the tasks she accomplished each morning before opening the shop. She brought the cash register to life, refilled the napkin containers, made sure each chocolate in the display case was aligned with all of its chocolate friends. She cleaned the glass front of the antique case, the bar that lined three of the interior walls, and the tops of the accompanying barstools.
Britt shouldered through the swinging door and came to a stop, arms crossed. “Who’s the unsuspecting single man you mentioned earlier?”
“You’re just now thinking to ask?”
“I was momentarily thrown off my game by my dismay over the state of your dating life,” Britt answered.
“I’m dismayed over the fact that I’m slaving away while you’re just standing around doing nothing.”
Britt gave a sly smile. “I’m a master chocolatier, which qualifies me to stand around doing nothing.”
Maddie burst out laughing. “No, it doesn’t!” She tossed a freshly laundered dish towel to Britt.
The two of them worked side by side. Their long history joined them together as surely as did their town and their shared passion for Sweet Art’s success.
“The unsuspecting single man is Kurt Shaw,” Maddie said. “He moved back to town recently and took a job with the Merryweather police.”
“I think I remember him. Did he play baseball in high school?”
