Anything But Sweet (27 page)

The camera lights blinked on, and Charli pasted on her cheerleader smile. “Hi. I’m
Charlotte Brooks. Welcome to
My New Town.
Today we’re deep in the heart of Texas Hill Country, where, six weeks ago, our production
crew rolled into downtown Sweet. With the help of the entire community, we took on
the challenge of refreshing some of the historic buildings on Main Street. Wilder
and Sons Hardware and Feed wraps up our project list. And we’re glad you’re here with
us today for the big reveal.”

She glanced at the silent and apprehensive family gathered around her and made some
brief introductions to the viewing audience. Then, with a little professional wheedling,
she coaxed Jana into making some comments about the entire experience. Reno remained
silent, as did Jackson and Jesse.

For the first time since she’d joined the show, Charli was unsure of how to cover
dead air. With Max behind the camera making a move-it-along twirl with his finger,
she trudged on.

“I know you’re all very excited to see what we’ve done with your store, so without
further ado . . .” She gave the truck driver a whistle, and the diesel engine rumbled
to life. The wheels rolled away from the curb. Slowly, foot by foot, the hardware
store came into view. The crowd appropriately gasped. The Wilders remained silent.

Panic lit a fire beneath Charli’s heart as she looked up into Reno’s unreadable reaction.
She turned to look at the other members of the family, who stood at her sides with
identical blank stares.

They hated it.

For a breathless moment, dread hammered inside Charli’s head. Then Jana finally broke
through the ice in the air.

“It’s lovely,” she said. “The daisy-filled red buckets hanging out front really add
a sense of welcome.”

“It looks the same, but better,” Jackson added.

Jesse nodded.

Nothing from Reno.

“Oh.” Charli released a heavy sigh. “I’m so relieved. Come on, and I’ll point out
what we did. Then we can all go inside to see how you feel about what we did in there.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Jana said with little enthusiasm.

The hurricane in Charli’s stomach leveled out to a tropical storm. While the cameras
rolled, she led them all toward the store, pointing out the new cedar siding, posts,
boardwalk, and metal awning. The paint trim had been sanded and reapplied with a fresh
coat of white. And the front window now sported turn-of-the-century lettering including
the established date from when Joe Wilder had first opened the doors.

Reno wrapped his large hand around a post as they moved up onto the boardwalk. He
paused as she opened the front door.

“It’s going to be okay.” She took his hand. “I promise.”

At his almost imperceptible nod, Charli stepped back and allowed the family to be
the first to walk into the store.

The first thing Reno did was to look up at the back wall, where she’d put up barn-wood-framed
sepia-toned photos. Jana had helped her go through the old photos taken at the hardware
store throughout the years. In some, Joe Wilder was surrounded by his boys at various
ages. Others were candid and taken while he assisted customers. A few were of Joe
and Reno working side by side. Charli hoped the gallery would help keep alive a sense
of the man who’d been such a positive influence on Reno’s life.

“Oh.” Jana gasped, while the boys remained silent. “The photos are just wonderful.”

Wanting to hear something—anything—from Reno, Charli’s heart took a plunge. Her
eyes misted. While she recovered, she urged the family to discover the rest of the
newly organized yet still relatively intact store. Including Reno’s barrel display,
which now contained bulk pet treats.

In a surreal state, she managed to follow them about, pointing out specific treatments,
and almost absently making appropriate comments for the camera. But all she could
wonder was why Reno had failed to react—even negatively. He seemed to be running
on autopilot. And that really worried her.

“What do you think?” she finally asked him.

He avoided her eyes. “It’ll do.”

It’ll do?

Yeah. Not really what she wanted or expected to hear.

And still, it told her nothing.

H
eart racing, Reno stood in the middle of his store, trying to take in all the changes
and trying to disregard the cameras shoved in his face. Beside him, Charli asked a
question he could barely hear over the loud buzz in his ears. He managed to mutter
some half-ass response past the knot in his throat.

Everything in the place appeared cleaner and more organized. Charli had obviously
tried very hard to add warmth to what was otherwise a place to buy screwdrivers and
alfalfa cubes. The tractor-seat stools and checkerboard tabletop presented a bit
of whimsy. The photos of his father were a nice touch. The inclusion of the broken-down
desk where the man had worked for years and taken his last breath proved Charli had
paid attention to Reno’s concerns.

But the spirit of his father was gone.

Reno could no longer picture his father behind the renovated counter or putting up
stock on the new and improved shelves.

The buzz in his ears became unbearable, and Reno knew he had to get the hell out of
there.

Without a word, he turned and walked out.

P
anic shot through Charli’s heart as Reno walked out. The despair that darkened his
face as she’d tried to draw him into the conversation spoke volumes of what must have
been going through his mind. Because the show was not live, she had the privilege
to halt the taping. She sent a silent plea to Max, who called for the cameras to be
turned off.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Jana said, her motherly instincts obviously stronger than whatever
had transpired before they’d begun to tape the reveal.

“Let me,” Charli said. “Please?”

Jana nodded.

Charli caught up with him just as he reached his truck. “Hey. Wait a second.”

He disregarded her and opened the door. She put herself between him and the big vehicle.
As if he’d been burned, he put distance between them. Crossed his arms. And seemed
to completely shut down.

“Talk to me,” she said. “What’s going on?”

For a long moment, he just stood there staring at the pavement. Breathing in. Breathing
out.

And breaking her heart.

“I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what’s wrong,” she said.

His head jerked up. “Maybe I don’t want your help. Maybe you’ve done enough.”

“Whoa.” She lifted her hands. “There’s no need to—”

“You shouldn’t have pushed for this, Charli,” he said.

“So . . . whatever is going on here is all
my
fault?”

“It must be easy to just drop into people’s lives, change everything whether they
want it or not, then take off,” he growled. “You don’t have to face the consequences
that way, do you?”

“How can you say that? That’s the worst part of my job.” A cold chill ran up her back.
“Because when I do “
drop in,
” I find people who have everything that
I
want. Yet it always seems to be out of my reach. All I’ve ever wanted was someplace
to put down roots. Where people love you no matter how stupidly you behave. Somewhere—some
one
—to call home. It amazes me how easy something like that can be taken for granted.”

He looked away.

“It’s obvious you aren’t happy with the changes I’ve made to your store. I apologize.”
She took a step back and leaned against the truck for support. “But I promised if
you didn’t like it, I’d put it back the way it was. And I will. So what’s got you
wound up so tight?”

“It’s not just the store.”

“Then what is it?” She wanted to reach out and touch him. Comfort him. But his body
language screamed “hands off.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“Just start someplace,” she said.

“Everything’s wrong. Moving too fast.” He shook his head. “Changing.”

In her mind, Charli flashed back to the expressions and body language she’d witnessed
just before the cameras started to roll. Then her mind zipped back even further to
something Jana had said the day she’d shown Charli her treasure-filled barn.

“
The boys are not ready for me to take that plunge.
”

Realization dawned. “Does this have something to do with your mother wanting to date?”

His head came up. Eyes narrowed. “You knew?”

She shrugged. “It may have come up.”

A muscle in his jaw contracted once. Twice. “And you didn’t say anything to me?”

“She asked me not to.”

“Why?”

Charli pressed her lips together. “Oh. I don’t know. Maybe because you’d react just
as you’re doing right now?”

“My brothers and I had a right to know.”

“But it wasn’t my place to tell you. It was hers.”

Brows tight over tired, haunted eyes, he said, “You just don’t get it, do you?”

“I get it. Clearly.” She took a breath to keep from losing her cool because that certainly
wouldn’t help. And only honesty was going to get it settled. “I know your anger is
misplaced. And I know this has nothing to do with anyone else. This is all
you,
Reno.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I know you loved your father, your brother, and Diana very much. And I know your
grief has consumed you. But this isn’t about them. This is about your not wanting
to let go. You think if you move forward and live your life, you’ll be disloyal to
them. But you’re wrong. If you live your life, their memories will thrive. Through
you. Don’t you think they’d want that?”

He looked away.

“You haven’t grieved alone, Reno. Your mother has suffered too. Your father was the
boy she fell in love with. The man she built a home and family with. And she misses
him terribly. But if he’s the man I think he was, he wouldn’t want her to be miserable.
And she isn’t ready to lie down and die. She’s ready to live the rest of her life
with as much joy as she can find.”

Charli took a breath. “You should be too.” She planted her feet in preparation for
the force of his bitter defense.

Though his body remained tense, when he finally spoke, it was clear the fight in him
had deflated. “Nothing is ever as cut-and-dried as it seems.”

“No. It’s not. I’m sorry you’ve lost so many people you love,” she said softly. “I
wish I could bring them all back. I wish I could tell you that you’ll never lose anyone
you love ever again. But I can’t. All I can tell you is that your mother deserves
the opportunity to find happiness. And so do you.”

Heeding her own advice, she took a chance. Took a step closer. Placed her hand on
his arm and let the warmth seep through her fingers. “I’m in love with you, Reno.”

His unreadable dark eyes searched her face.

“I know I’m a risk. I know there will be challenges . . . things to work out. I know
I’m not perfect. I’ll annoy you, piss you off, say stupid stuff, then take it all
back. But I guarantee you will
never
find another woman who loves you more than me. If you’re ready to take a chance and
step outside that box you’ve built around yourself, I’m here.”

He hesitated for several long, painful breaths that told her everything she didn’t
want to know but needed to just the same.

He wasn’t ready to move forward.

At least not with her.

She’d taken a chance. Again. And she’d failed. Again. She’d jumped too soon. Let her
heart rule her head. And now here she was, having the same conversation with a man
who couldn’t or wouldn’t love her back. Her ridiculous man ban hadn’t worked because
the moment she’d met Reno, she’d jumped ship and dove headfirst into love. Again.

When would she ever learn?

“Charli, I—”

“No need to make excuses. I get it.” She withdrew her trembling hand. Sucked in a
lungful of courage. “But as much as I love you, I’m not going to beg you to love me
back. I’m not going to cajole you the way my mother did my father just so
you’ll
be happy.”

If she wanted to go that path, she could tell him right now that she’d love nothing
more than to stay in Sweet. Make a life here. But really, what was the point?

“
I
deserve to be happy too.” Tears stung her eyes, and she didn’t even try to stop them.
“And if you can’t—or won’t—make this relationship a two-way street, then we really
have nothing more to say.”

She took a step back. Waited several heartbeats for him to respond.

Say something,
she pleaded silently.
Take me in your arms and make this be okay.

He only stood there—motionless—and looked at her like he hadn’t really heard a word
she’d said. Or didn’t care.

As she turned away, her body shook with tethered emotion. Her heart cried out for
him to stop her. To tell her he was ready to take that step.

To tell her he loved her.

But he didn’t.

He let her walk away.

T
he following morning, Reno stood inside his store looking around at all the changes.
Exhaustion ate into his soul.

Until the early hours of dawn, he’d waited for the sound of Charli’s Hummer to roll
into the driveway and park near the barn.

That sound never came.

She’d never come back to gather her things. To tell him good-bye. To tell him what
a stupid ass he’d been.

From the back veranda, he’d looked out over the yard, the garden, and the wide-open
meadow beyond. He’d had an urge to run. To ride. To dunk his head in a cold bucket
of water. When his pity party ended, he knew he needed to talk to her. Explain himself.
Apologize. Figuring her and the crew would still be putting the place back together,
he headed to the store.

It wasn’t every day a beautiful woman told him she was in love with him—even with
all his faults and fears.

She was right.