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

me to do.”
     
    Something was wrong with Ransom.
    He had been fine when he first arrived, so what could have upset him so much that he practically ran out of her house?
    If it wasn’t her chicken alfredo, then what happened to bring the evening to a sudden halt?
    Coco replayed the events in her mind as she went back through the album, page by page.
    She couldn’t forget the pain she’d glimpsed in his eyes. She had never seen those beautiful, warm brown eyes look so sad.
    Coco glanced at Elle’s picture, and then frowned.
    She picked up another album—the one with the Stanley-Ransom family vacation memories. Her eyes traveled to the pictures of Elle’s brothers. Ray, Prescott and Laine looked most like their father, but even Ellie had their father’s eyes. She gasped.
    “Oh, my goodness!” she uttered as she realized what Ransom must have seen. He had found his siblings. “Is this…could it be?”
    What am I thinking? Ransom never saw his father.
    But that didn’t mean that he didn’t have a photo of the man.
    Coco decided to wait and see if Ransom said something to her. But until then, she was going to do some investigating on her own.

Chapter 8
    T he next day, Ransom surprised her at the shop wit flowers and an apology. “I shouldn’t have left like I did last night.”
    “Do you want to tell me what’s going on with you?” she asked.
    “I was tired,” he told her. “It had nothing to do with your cooking.”
    “Are you sure?” she pressed. “Because you seemed more upset than anything.”
    Ransom couldn’t quite read her expression, but felt that Coco knew more than she was letting on. “No, I was tired.”
    “Okay. Well, you don’t owe me an apology,” she said. “But the flowers were a really nice touch.”
    He smiled. “Can I make it up to you tonight?”
    Coco gave a slight shrug. “Sure, if you’re up to it.”
    “I am, because there’s something I think that we need to discuss.”
    “This sounds really serious.”
    Ransom met her eyes. “It is, in my opinion, Coco.”
    “Okay,” she said. “I’ll see you tonight.”
    “I’ll be there around seven.”
    “That’s fine. Oh, you might want to bring dinner. I’m not cooking for you again until I’m sure the chicken wasn’t the problem.”
    Ransom chuckled. “Coco, the chicken alfredo was great. I was just tired, and when I get that run-down, my body starts to crash. That’s what happened.”
    There was that expression again.
    Coco looked as if she expected some other reason. Had she figured out his secret? He didn’t dare ask, in the event he was just being paranoid.
    Could a relationship still work between them when she found out the truth? Coco was more family to the Ransoms than he was. If she had to pick a side, which would she choose?
    Maybe it would be better to end things with her now. Ransom loved her and didn’t want to put her in the middle of a mess that had been created by his mother.
     
    Coco paced back and forth across the hardwood floor, her stomach full of nervous energy.
    He’s going to break up with me.
    She could feel it.
    It was torture waiting for Ransom to arrive. Coco wanted to get it over and done with.
    The doorbell rang, startling her. She rushed to openthe front door, then stepped aside so he could enter. He had stopped to pick up some dinner for them.
    That’s a good sign, right? He’s not going to sit down and have dinner with me and then just dump me.
    They didn’t talk much while they ate.
    Every now and then Coco would catch him staring at her. It was as if he were photographing her with his eyes.
    That was a bad sign, she decided. In the past, they’d had stimulating conversations over meals. Coco couldn’t take it anymore.
    She pushed her plate away and said, “Ransom, what did you come here to talk about? I’d rather we get that out of the way.”
    “Coco, I’m going through something right now and…right now, I can’t really talk about it because I have to figure some