Page 6 of Wake Me Up Before You Cocoa

“Name your spot. I really don’t need or want your phone. I can be in the French Quarter in twenty minutes or less if that works for a public place to meet.”

“Oh, I know!” Marina suddenly said. “I’ll meet you at The Coffee Loft. It’s in the strip mall near me.”

Of course, that wasn’texactlytrue. The coffee shop wasrightnext door, buthewouldn’t know that. The coffee shop would be completely neutral. And she’d have her best friend, Jenna, as backup, since she managed The Coffee Loft.It was the perfect meeting spot.

“See you in twenty minutes,” the man agreed.

Chapter Four

Wade pressed the OFF button on the Disney mermaid phone and chuckled to himself. The owner of this whimsical cell phone was a bit of a spitfire. He turned the phone over once more to see if there were any other identifying clues he’d missed.

That’s when he noticed a small decal on the back corner of the case with fancy lettering spelling out, Ruby Rose’s Antiques.

The woman had given herself away. Too bad he hadn’t noticed it earlier. He could have just driven to the antique store and found her. That’s where she worked. Or had a relationship with the owner. Or maybe it was just her favorite antique store. Which would then mean absolutely nothing.

Even so, was her name Ruby Rose? It was a bit of an old-fashioned name.

Wade did a quick search for a Ruby Rose in New Orleans, and of course the first thing that came up in the search engine was the antique store. The second was an elderly Ruby Rose who had passed away a year ago. He scanned her obituary and sure enough, she had been the owner of the store.

Was the antique store still in operation or had it gone out of business when Miss Rose had passed away?

Wade was so lost in his thoughts; he didn’t hear Lydia calling out to him. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw that she had climbed out of the car and was stalking toward him in her wobbly high heels.

“What in the world are you doing, Wade Kennedy? I’ve been waiting and waiting. Even with the air conditioner running, the car ishot.I’m actually perspiring! You know how much I hate heat andsweat,” she told him, as if the word was a dirty one and she was cussing.

Wade forced himself not to laugh at her. Instead, he whirled around and engulfed his fiancée in an embrace, grinning at the delicate choice of words to describe her droopy hair and makeup. “I’m so sorry, honey. I—” He was about to say that he’d forgotten about her when he got sidetracked by the lost cell phone but decided that was probably theworstthing to say to a woman like Lydia.

“Whatare youdoingjust standing there?”Lydia went on, sticking a hand on one hip and glowering. “Aren’t the graves over there?” she flung a hand out to indicate the dozens of headstones lined up in neat rows.

Wade shrugged. “I found a cell phone in those piles of old leaves by the back fence and was trying to figure out how to locate the owner when the phone rang.”

“So, who was on the phone?”

“The owner!” Wade said with a big smile. “She was looking for her lost phone and called it, hoping someone would pick up. And I happened to be in the right spot at the right time.”

Lydia looked at him from underneath her long eyelashes. “That’s convenient.”

“It’s called fate, I guess?” he said with a shrug.

“A woman?”

“Yep,” Wade murmured nonchalantly.

“Do you know her name?”

“No, we did not exchange names. Kept it anonymous so she didn’t get nervous about a strange man.”

“I see. Then did she give you an address to mail the phone to her?”

“I’m taking it to her friend’s coffee shop. Faster and cheaper than the post office.”

“Okay,” Lydia drawled, tilting her head at him. “What are you waiting for?”

“I was just on my way to get back in the car withyou,sweetheart and drop it off. Perhaps we can get a drink at the coffee shop while we’re there. Cool you down.”

She widened her eyes and blinked. “What isthatsupposed to mean?”

Wade slipped the phone into his front shirt pocket and reached out to take her hand. “I think a cold drink in an air-conditioned shop will make us both feel better after standing out here under the sun.”

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