Read Online Chocolate Goodies by Jacquelin Thomas - Free Book Online Page A

think so? You think I’m that good?”
    Ransom nodded. “These pictures are excellent. Hey, can I hire you to be our official photographer for graduation ceremonies? You could do a much better job than I can.”
    “Are you serious?”
    He nodded. “It would really help me out and I’ll pay you.”
    “Ransom, you don’t have to pay me. Consider it my gift to the boys. I’ll even throw in sets for them.”
    He hugged her. “Now take me down memory lane. I want to see what you looked like as a high school student and then college.”
    “Why? Because you want a good laugh?”
    “No, I’m just curious.”
    “Uh-huh,” Coco uttered. “One chuckle and I’m booting you out of here.”
    Opening the blue-and-white album, she said, “This was my last year in high school. We lived in Riverside back then.”
    “Riverside?”
    She nodded. “I graduated from Riverside High School. Did you go there?”
    Ransom shook his head. “You were a cheerleader. Why am I not surprised?”
    His eyes traveled to the girl standing next to her in the picture. He studied her face for a moment. A strange sensation stirred in him, prompting him to ask, “Who is she?”
    Coco grinned. “Oh, that’s my best friend, Elle. You know what? She has your first name for a last name.”
    He felt as if he had been kicked in the gut. “Her last name is R-Ransom?”
    Coco nodded and turned the page, oblivious to the turbulent thoughts racing through his mind.
    “This is when we went to the prom.”
    “Are these guys your dates?” he asked.
    “Yeah,” Coco answered. “This one was my date and Elle went with him.” She pointed. “He turned out to be a jerk, though.”
    “What happened?”
    “Oh, he got mad because she didn’t want to sleep with him that night. Elle ended up riding home with me.”
    “It looks like you two were very close.”
    “We are. Our parents were best friends, so we spent a lot of time with them. Both of my brothers are close to Elle’s brothers. In fact, Michael used to date Ivy. She’s Elle’s oldest sister. He was heartbroken when she married someone else.”
    Ransom was still reeling from the revelation that the woman he was dating shared a close relationship with his father’s children. He didn’t know exactly how many there were, and he wanted to ask, but knew that would stir Coco’s curiosity.
    He considered that he might have given her too much information on his past. What if she started putting two and two together?
    No one knows about me.
    His mother had often told him that he looked a lot like his father. If that were true, then wouldn’t Coco have seen the similarities?
    It angered him that she knew more about the other half of his family than he did. Coco showed him pictures from vacations that the two families had taken together. Ransom tried not to let it bother him, but it did.
    “Hey, you okay?” she asked. She wore a look of concern on her face.
    Ransom rose to his feet. “Actually, I’m not feeling well,” he told her.
    “Do you think my cooking made you sick?” Cocoappeared alarmed. “The chicken was cooked all the way through. I—”
    He cut her off by saying, “Sweetheart, it wasn’t your cooking. Dinner was fine.”
    “But you’re not feeling well. You were fine when you came over here.”
    “It’s more from exhaustion,” Ransom said. “Look, I know we were going to go out later for dessert, but I think I’m just going to go home. I’ve got a long day tomorrow. I’m sorry.”
    “Are you going to be able to drive?” she asked. “If you need me to, I can take you home. You can pick up your car tomorrow.”
    “I’ll be fine.”
    Coco walked him to the door.
    He kissed her goodbye, then left quickly.
    Later at home, Ransom went through his own photo album.
    “Why didn’t you just tell him about me?” he whispered. “Why did you ever tell me about him? Didn’t you know that I would try to seek him out?”
    Ransom had a thought. “Maybe that’s what you wanted