“I love it here too. But I have a Super Bowl championship to chase, and I don’t think I’m done playing ball.” He’d loved the game for so long he wasn’t sure he knew who Sam Hardy was without it.
“If you ask me, I’d rather have Chloe than any Super Bowl championship.” Ruby never shied away from sharing her opinion. “Sam, you got a room full of trophies, I bet. And do you look at them? Wear the rings? They’d just be collecting dust. Family, people, and relationships, now those are life’s real trophies.”
“Maybe, but I told her to take the café. I don’t want to stand in her way and—”
“What?” Ruby flicked him on the forehead.Flickedhim. “Are you really so dumb and dull? You do exploits on the field and fumble in real life. Sam, go after her. Tell her you love her. If you have to sacrifice a Super Bowl ring for a wedding ring, then do it. She’ll be with you long after the league will, which, by the way, won’t give you children or grandchildren, or keep you warm at night when you’re old and cold. Sammy, don’t you know, one fine day, yes one fine day, you’ll realize that loving Chloe LaRue was the best decision you ever made?” Ruby sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
Suddenly, Sam was on his feet. She was right. One hundred percent right. She’d even echoed his own thoughts on which ring he really wanted on his finger. He wanted Chloe’s ring, which represented the greatest prize of all. Love.
“Ruby, you’re a genius. Remind me to give you a raise.” Sam grabbed Ruby’s face and smacked her on the forehead with a big sloppy kiss.
“Is that the same raise as before or are we talking two raises now?”
“Yes, whatever, I’ve got to go.” Sam dashed for the door and then dashed back to Ruby and kissed her again. “You are the fount of all wisdom, despite stirrings of insurrection. I love you.” Another dash for the door, where he paused with his arms raised in victory. Bruno was right. He knew what he had to do. “I’m going to France, ladies. Wish me luck!”
Chapter 19
Saturday morning sun broke through the drawn curtains in Chloe’s second story bedroom at the LaRue’s sprawling estate. Making sports equipment gave them a generous life. She’d been so tired last night she’d turned off her phone and gone to bed after dinner. She’d never been good with jet lag, and this trip seemed to be making her more weary than usual. Sometime in the night she dreamed of Sam. He was drifting farther and farther away, and she couldn’t quite reach him. Now in the light of day, she realized her heart had been speaking to her in the night. What was she to do about Sam? Would he move to France? No, no. He had a job with the Raiders. He had his dreams and she had hers.
They’d talked once, but she’d been so excited about the café he didn’t say much. Though he’d texted he loved all the pictures she’d sent him. Still, where were they in their love affair? They’d confessed their love, but Chloe had made it clear she wasn’t ready to move on. Yet. Maybe the café was the reason. That her heart was still connected to Jean-Marc and she knew he’d not said his final words. Knew they still had unfinished business. Literally. Knew she had to resolve feeling like the Black Widow of Hearts Bend.
Reaching for her phone, she saw a flurry of texts from Robin.
Robin:Look at all the lines for the W4C, Laura Kate’s cookie! It’s a hit. She invented it this week.
Chloe:Wow! W4C?
Robin:White Chocolate Cookies and Cream Cookie. It’s the new TCFC. Ruby might have told everyone it was Sam Hardy’s own recipe and his favorite cookie.
Oh Ruby, you rascal.So, Haven’s had their new TCFC. Good for Laura Kate. And if they’d found the next big cookie hit without Chloe, wasn’t that a sign that she was no longer needed at Haven’s? That she was free to accept Jean-Marc’s gift?
The next message was from Sam. Her heart grew a protective shell as the words sank in. A long, singular message in which he once again called things off.Hope you’re having fun in France… Go for it… I’m off to meet with the Raiders next week… Guess we’re both pursuing our dreams… Wish you all the best… Honest.
Her tears collected as she read the message over and over, sad and angry, hurt, yet wondering if he wasn’t just ripping off the bandage and saying what needed to be said. Despite their affection for one another, their love, their destinies had taken dramatically different turns. In the cozy safety of Hearts Bend, it was easy to pretend they could be the boy and girl next door, the all-American couple who’d secretly loved each other all through high school. But that wasn’t their reality, was it?
The café surprise couldn’t have come at a better time. Mom was nearing the end of her treatments. Laura Kate had invented the W4C. The town council had saved Haven’s from Donut Heaven. While she had to get back to France as soon as possible—she and Albert were meeting with an architect about the café remodel—she’d take time in Hearts Bend to make sure everything was shipshape before she moved here.
Back to France.A wave of wonder washed over her. Was she actually going backward? Would she sink into a world of grief again, working the café without Jean-Marc?
Chloe fell back on her bed, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Sam, I needed to talk to you, but you broke up with me in a text. Again.”
She tossed her phone to the floor, buried her face in her pillow, and cried.
An hour later, showered and dressed, her questions and sorrow in check, Chloe followed the aroma of coffee and croissants to the LaRues’ kitchen. She paused to give Fezzik, their Great Dane, a rub behind the ears. He sighed and settled back onto his giant pillow bed. At the coffee bar, she poured herself a cup and set a buttery pastry on a plate.
“Bonjour,” she said with her best smile.
“What troubles you, Chloe?” Albert saw right through her. Jean-Marc had been the same. She could hide nothing from him.
“The man I love, the one I told you about, sent me a text.”
“I don’t like the sound of this story,ma chére,” Vivienne said, stretching her hand out to Chloe.
“He says I should follow my dream as he’s following his.” Tears she’d been determined to hold in surfaced and spilled over. “I was so excited, I didn’t think what it meant for us. I suppose in the romance of it all I thought he’d say, ‘Forget the football championship, I’ll move to France.’” She laughed softly and reached for the tissue Vivienne offered. “I miss him, but I guess I have to move on. After all, we’ve only really been back in touch for a few months. How can true love bloom in two months?”
“True love blooms the moment it finds the right sun, Chloe.” Albert was the poet of the LaRue clan. “I knew the moment I set eyes on Vivienne.”
“I, however, did not know, and he chased me for two years.”
