Page 44 of Wake Me Up Before You Cocoa

Finally, after a whirlwind week living on little sleep and jet lag, she was on the plane home. The excitement was building to see Wade and find out what he wanted to talk to her about.

Her mind had conjured up a million and one reasons but she tried to ignore them all, not wanting to give her heart hope if there was none.

Marina tried to distract herself with an in-flight movie and a book, but it wasn’t working very well. A tired and stressed brain wasn’t very good at concentrating.

After the plane landed and she’d retrieved her luggage and gone through customs, her phone buzzed with a new text.

It was Wade. They had texted a couple times while she was gone, but they were strictly business-like messages. In one of their messages, they had planned to meet at the Sutton Mansion in a couple of days, but after not seeing him for more than a week, Marina was having a hard time waiting. The pins and needles thinking about talking to Wade were growing stronger every day.

Marina,his text read,I think you’re flying home tonight. You’re probably tired, but is there any chance of getting together before Wednesday with Mrs. Sutton?

Any chance? Marina thought while her throat closed up with a thrill.

YES,was her first thought, but she took a few deep breaths and messaged him back in a sedate manner.I could probably do tomorrow afternoon at the antique store? Tuesday New Orleans time?

Marina tried to quell the anticipation of seeing him. He was engaged. He was taken. Shehadto stop these feelings for him somehow, but it seemed futile when her attraction to him was still so deep.

Even so, why had he gone to The Coffee Loft looking for her? And why did Jenna say the things she did about him still caring for her? Why did Mrs. Sutton? That had been one strange day when the older woman had been so open about her opinion on Wade and Marina.

Maybe Jenna and Mrs. Sutton were both crazy and making it all up in their minds.

While Marina waited for an Uber to take her home, she called Jenna. “Hey, I’m back!”

“Super! Did you have a wonderful time?”

“It was splendid,” she replied in a British accent. “I indulged in fish and chips every day and roast beef and Yorkshire pudding every night. And dessert. Probably gained five pounds, but maybe not. I did a lot of walking. My clothes don’t feel too tight, I guess,” she finished with a laugh.

“I’m not sure you’ve ever gained extra weight your entire life, girl,” Jenna told her. “Hey, did you just land?”

“Thirty minutes ago, my suitcase is in hand, and Uber is on its way. Why?”

“I was going to wait to tell you the news, because I’m bursting.”

“What’s happened? Good or bad?”

“Um, both, depending on your point of view,” Jenna teased.

“Spill it, or I’ll strangle you through the phone.”

“I was reading the local news, you know the gossipy one,The Times-Picayune?”

“Do you still watch soap operas, too?” Marina teased.

Jenna pooh-poohed that. “Not since college, as you very well know.”

“It might be your secret indulgence . . .”

“Shut up and listen, woman!”

Marina quieted, a catch in her throat. She pressed a hand against her heart, waiting for Jenna to relay bad news. “What’s going on?”

There was a smile in Jenna’s voice. “The local society news was quite informative in the Sunday morning edition.”

“Keep going!”

“It appears that Wade Kennedy and Lydia Gravois, the city’s most darling millionaire couple, are no longer engaged. The nuptials have been canceled.”

Marina staggered backward in shock. “Wha—at? I—I can’t believe it. It doesn’t seem possible,” she whispered, delight and hope surging in her chest.

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