Sweet Misfortune: A Novel (7 page)

Chapter 9

Don’t get caught up with a hopeless romantic.
The romance will end, and then it’s just hopeless.

F
OR GARRETT, A BLIND DATE SPINNING AROUND THE
Space Needle followed by an evening gazing at faux stars from the comfort of a concrete floor was more than enough time with Sophie Jones to realize that his original plan to meet her only once was very shortsighted. Curiosity had given way to infatuation, and now he wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. He felt slightly silly for allowing himself to be so completely affected by her, but ten minutes after dropping Sophie off at her house at the end of their second date, he decided it was time to ask her out again. He pulled into an empty parking lot and took out his cell phone. Sophie had mentioned earlier in the evening that she was getting good at texting back and forth with Evalynn, so for fun he sent her a quick text message. As he punched in the letters on the tiny keypad, it occurred to him that he hadn’t asked anyone out in writing since he left a note on a girl’s desk in fifth grade and told her to circle yes or no for a bike ride after school.

While pushing send, he decided that the text-invite was much more to his liking, because he didn’t have to sit on the other side of the room and watch her reaction when she got the message.

U free tomorrow?
he typed.

Thirty seconds later a reply came that made him laugh.
Free? No. Not cheap either.

Ha! Can I see u again? Dinner @ 7??

Sorry. I have 2 work. My 1 employee is going out of town.

Mind if I drop by your store then?

Garrett expected a quick response, but it was several minutes before Sophie’s reply came, and the curtness of her answer caught him off guard.
Yes… I mind
.

Hoping she was joking, Garrett quickly thumbed another brief text:
So that’s a definite no???

Yes… sorry.

Sitting in his car, Garrett stared at the words, suddenly feeling just like he did back in fifth grade when his would-be date circled no with a big red pen, and then passed it around the room for everyone to see.

A large pit rumbled in his stomach. He’d been so sure that Sophie had enjoyed herself on both of their previous dates, that he couldn’t believe that she simply didn’t want to see him again.
Then again
, he thought,
I’m no expert on women. Maybe she was just being nice.
After five minutes debating whether or not he should send another text message, Garrett decided just to leave it alone. He threw the car into gear, peeled out onto the road, and drove home.

L
YING ON HER
bed an hour later, Sophie stared at the last note she’d sent to Garrett.
Yes… sorry.
She wished she’d
conveyed the message a little more delicately. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him again; she simply didn’t want to see him so soon. Sophie had had relationships before that started out fast, but they always fizzled just as quickly, and that was something she wanted to avoid with Garrett if at all possible.

For the next thirty minutes Sophie stayed sprawled out on her bed, phone in hand, hoping that Garrett would send another note, but nothing came. After another half hour she began to worry that he might never ask her out again, and so she caved in and crafted a message of her own.
Hey Garrett! Where’d you go??

Garrett was sitting next to his phone as well, and didn’t waste any time responding.
Just sitting here trying to figure out what I did wrong. :-(

SOOOO sorry! I can be lame, I know. But I want 2 see u 2. PLEASE come by the store tomorrow. U can help me make fudge!!

Why the change of heart?

Just come to the store after work… I’ll explain there.

Fine. But only ’cuz I’m a sucker for fudge.

Perfect! G’night!

G
ARRETT DWELLED NERVOUSLY
throughout the entire next day on what Sophie was going to say about why she’d circled no on his message, but when he showed up at Chocolat’ de Soph that evening, he quickly learned that his worry was unwarranted. As soon as he walked in the door Sophie approached him, smiling, and gave him an affectionate hug, then sat him down on one of the stools near the window.

“Do all customers get a hug?” he asked coyly. “I’ll have to come here more often.”

“It’s why I’m still in business,” she shot back with a giggle. Then she sat down on the empty stool next to him and got more serious. “Listen, about last night. It was nerves,” she said. “I don’t exactly have a great track record with
…
” She then spotted a clump of dried chocolate on her apron and began scraping at it with her fingernail.

“ ‘With’?” he nudged, then waited patiently for her to continue.

Sophie kept scraping until the spot was gone, and only then did she look up at him, noting that Garrett’s eyes were the same shade of brown as the creamy dark chocolate. There were several correct ways she could have finished the sentence she’d started, but she wasn’t sure which one she wanted to share with the man she’d just hugged.
A lousy track record with handsome men? With opening up my heart? With reciprocating affection? With commitment? With relationships in general?

“With trust,” she said finally.

He looked at her funny. “You don’t trust me?”

She chortled lightly, patting him on the knee beneath the table. “No, you seem completely trustworthy. It’s
me
that I don’t trust. I have a bad habit of ruining relationships, so when you said you wanted to see me again so soon, I got a little nervous, that’s all. I guess I don’t trust myself to not mess things up. Does that make sense?”

“I think I follow.”

Sophie grabbed a lock of hair and tucked it behind her ear. “It’s kind of ironic, if you think about it. Out of fear of driving guys away, I drive them away anyway.”

Garrett let out a little snicker. “Stop. Any guy would be nuts to let you drive him away.”

Sophie liked the sound of Garrett’s voice. It was reassuring and confident, and strangely comforting. She also liked the way his dimples sank into his cheeks when he smiled and spoke at the same time. “That’s what the last guy who came to my store to help make fudge said, and do you know where he is now?” She watched his face to see if he had an answer. “Me neither!” she laughed. “But I’m sure it’s far away from here.”

Garrett kept smiling, finding Sophie’s self-deprecating humor oddly endearing. “Have I told you what my mom always says about relationships?”

“Avoid them at all costs, because they can only bring heartache?”

“Close,” he said happily. “She says that every relationship will be a complete failure, right up until the one that isn’t, and that’s what makes all the failures a success—that you’re able to get past them to find the right one.”

Sophie folded her arms, grinning playfully. “And do you believe dear old Mom? I mean, this is the same woman who set you up on a date with me, so you have to wonder about her judgment.”

“I do. As bitter as the failures can be along the way—and I should know, because I’ve had a lot of them—I’m still holding out hope that the right person will come along. And that’ll turn the bitter into sweet.”

“Ahh,” she said, gently teasing. “You’re not just a romantic, you’re a hopeless romantic.”

“A
hopeful
romantic,” he countered. “There’s a difference. And I hope that’s not a bad thing.”

She returned his gaze, trying to read what he was thinking by the look in his eyes. “No. It’s not a bad thing.” Then she paused. “Just remember what I said about me and trust, okay? I don’t want you thinking that just because this is the third night in a row that we’ve spent time together that your string of failures is about to end. Consider yourself warned, Garrett Black—the more I see a guy, and the more I like him, the more likely I am to do something to really mess it up.” She paused again. “It’s inevitable.”

Garrett stood up and stepped closer, gently touching her arm. “I’ll take that as a challenge.” He smiled at her, looking directly in her eyes, and then dropped his hand to his side. “Now, are you going to show me how to make chocolates, or what?”

She tipped her head and stood up, too. “Chocolates it is. Follow me.”

Sophie led Garrett to the kitchen and taught him a few basic tricks to making fudge come out just right. Then they moved on to truffles and dipped fruit. For the rest of the evening they worked side by side making all sorts of different confections for the next day. When the bell on the front door rang, Sophie would quickly scramble out front to the cash register and help the customers, but the rest of the time they spent talking, teasing, joking, dipping cherries or filling molds, and otherwise enjoying themselves in the kitchen.

Having Garrett there helped the work move faster than normal. By the time the store closed at nine o’clock, Sophie was pretty much finished with the preparations for the following day. The only thing still simmering, in a quart-size double boiler, was a new concoction Sophie had been tinkering with in her spare time for several weeks. It was a melted brew of complimentary dark chocolates, sweetened condensed milk, a touch of crème de menthe, and an assortment of various creams, butters, and sugars. While Garrett stacked pots on a counter, Sophie carefully dabbed a finger into the chocolaty mix, then licked it clean.

“Come try this,” she said, motioning at Garrett to join her next to the stove. “I’ve been working on a new recipe, and I need an honest opinion.” She grabbed a spoon and dipped it in the pot, then lifted it to his mouth, cupping her other hand underneath to catch any drips.

He leaned in and took a slow bite.

“So?”

Licking his lips, Garrett replied, “It’s good.” And then, without thinking, he leaned in even closer. Sophie didn’t resist as he gave her a single, gentle kiss. “No,” he said, as he pulled back. “It’s more than good. It’s probably the best I’ve ever had.”

Sophie cocked her head to the side and laughed. “The new recipe? Or
…?
”

Garrett beamed. “Both.”

Chapter 10

You are vigilant in hiding your true self to others… and
for good reason.

A
S MUCH AS SOPHIE DIDN’T WANT TO RUSH THINGS
with Garrett—and despite her constant reminders that the more time they spent together the more likely it was that he would want to cut and run—she and Garrett were, by anyone’s standards, hooked on each other. After their first kiss at Chocolat’ de Soph, they spent as much time together as they could squeeze between their jobs. On most days after work, Garrett would pick Sophie up at her store and drive her home so she wouldn’t have to wait for the bus. Then they’d enjoy the evening talking, walking, eating, laughing, whatever filled the time, so long as they were together.

For the first few months of their relationship, Sophie made a point of telling Garrett as often as she could that even though they were seeing a lot of each other, it didn’t mean they were an exclusive item. She insisted that both of them could date other people,
if they wanted
. It was her way of making sure he knew there was an easy out, in the event that he needed one. And although she loved being with him and secretly hoped for things to continue going well between them, in the back of her mind Sophie always expected that sooner or later he’d take the out. Each time she mentioned it, Garrett would patiently remind her that unless she had plans of calling it quits, she was stuck with him.

In January, the fourth month since meeting in the lobby of the Space Needle, Garrett took Sophie for a day trip to Cannon Beach, a quaint town tucked along the northern coast of Oregon, just south of the Washington state line. The weather was too cold to enjoy the ocean water, but searching rocky tide pools for starfish and hermit crabs followed by a fresh bowl of clam chowder at Mo’s restaurant seemed like a perfect way to spend a lazy winter Sunday. As he guessed she would, during the three-hour drive to their destination Sophie casually asked him how much longer it was going to be before he found some other pretty woman that he liked more than her.

He sighed out loud, buying extra time to think before responding. If he was honest with himself, Garrett had to admit that the constant questioning of his loyalty to her was beginning to wear thin. In his mind, he wondered if Sophie would ever really trust him—or herself—enough to keep the relationship going. When he spoke, his words lacked the usual reassurance and conviction that they normally possessed. “C’mon, Soph,” he said without looking at her. “Do we have to go there again?”

Sophie picked up on the difference in his voice. She’d been in enough relationships to recognize the familiar tone, and she knew exactly what it meant: they’d finally reached the beginning of the end. “I’m just being practical,” she said flatly. “All good things must come to an end, right?”

Now Garrett pulled his eyes from the road and looked right at Sophie in the seat beside him, then reached out and took her hand in his. “No. That’s completely wrong. What do you think I’ve been trying to show you these past few months? Not all good things have to end! Why can’t you just accept that I don’t want anyone else?”

She looked at him for a long time, then finally turned away and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

He tried to smile. “Well, one way or another, we have to figure that out. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

She squeezed his hand. “I believe that you believe that. I just… it’s hard for me to imagine that what we have won’t eventually vanish. It’s like it’s too good to be true.”

Garrett snickered. “Is that because your old boyfriends didn’t put up with you as long as I have?”

“Be nice!” she said, poking him in the ribs. Sophie knew he was joking, but she took a moment to consider the question. “I don’t think it was just the guys I’ve dated. It’s deeper than that.”

“What is?”

“The fear. The nagging sense that all good things eventually end. It’s not just because of the men I’ve known.”

Garrett took his eyes off of the taillights of the car in front of them long enough to see that the look on her face matched the sadness in her voice. She’d danced around this subject several times since they’d met, but had never really gotten to the heart of the matter. “Your parents?” he ventured.

Sophie nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Care to share?”

She let go of his hand so she could adjust her seat belt. Not because she wanted to shift positions, but because it suddenly felt constrictive. “Not really.”

Garrett’s soothing, reassuring voice was back. “I’m sure your feelings are very natural. Try me.”

Sophie let out a little laugh. “You sound like the psychologist I saw as a teenager. You know what he told me? He said I was right! That I should get used to the fact that all things go away. We all die, he said, and if nothing else, that brings things to an end, so we should just enjoy the relationships we have while they last, and move on once they’re over.”

“Well, that’s a callous thing to tell a kid.”

“Yeah,” she affirmed. “I stopped seeing him after that.”

“So, you think because you lost your parents, that all relationships are somehow going to end up the same way?”

Looking at Garrett, Sophie allowed a tiny grin to turn up at the corners of her mouth. “Gee, Dr. Black, if people’s feet stop giving them problems, you should try your hand as a shrink.”

“So that’s it?”

She shrugged. “I assume so. I can’t imagine what else it would be.” Sophie knew there was more to it than that—like the fact that she’d played a major role in how things turned out for her family, and that she didn’t want to risk hurting someone she loved like that ever again—but that was way more than she wanted Garrett to know. “Starting with their deaths, relationships in my life have felt very… temporary. And it wasn’t only the loss of my parents. After that, I had several foster families, and they all went south. One of my foster parents even died.”

“What about Ellen? She hasn’t gone anywhere. Or Evalynn.”

“
Pfft.
Ellen’s a cop. She’s constantly in harm’s way. I always worried—in fact, I still worry to this day—that she’ll get in a shoot-out or something, and that’ll be that. And Ev? I already lose her for weeks at a time while she works on issues between her and Justin. And if they ever tie the knot… who knows? I might lose her once and for all.”

Garrett reached over again and squeezed her leg. “Well you don’t have to worry about any of those things with me, Sophie Jones. I’m not a foster parent, a cop, or a best friend who’s dating someone. I’m just the guy who’s falling in love with you.”

The comment took Sophie by surprise. Not only was it the first time he’d used the L word, it was the way he said it that really pricked her ears. She’d had guys occasionally tell her they loved her, but the way Garrett said it actually sounded sincere. There was no hidden agenda in the words, no sense that he was saying it as a means to something else. She didn’t even get the impression that he expected her to reciprocate the gesture, which was good, because she wasn’t prepared to admit to loving him, even though everything in her heart said that was exactly what she was feeling. Instead of saying anything, Sophie unclicked her seat belt so she could stretch far enough to kiss him on the cheek.

“Careful,” he said jokingly, as he squeezed her leg again. “I lose most of my mental and physical faculties when your lips are near my face, so if you’re going to kiss me while we’re moving, at least keep your seat belt on for safety.”

Sophie poked him again in the ribs, then took his hand in hers, interlocking their fingers. There were lots of thoughts running through her head. A few of them were the same old worries that Garrett might eventually run for the hills, but mostly she was thinking about how much she cared for the man who, she’d just noticed, had hands that fit with hers like a glove.

“Garrett,” she said after a few moments of silence, “I’m glad your prying mother works with my snooping foster mom.”

He gave her fingers a little tug. “Me too.”