9. Chapter 9
“W ell, you can, because I’ve forgiven you,” she said. Chet’s warm smile threatened to melt the ice castle’s remaining walls. “But I trust you about as far as I can throw you.” Shivers cascaded down her spine as he tugged her to face him.
“Have I ever lied to you or not followed through?” he asked through clenched teeth.
Nelie knew better than to poke at his integrity, but his hopeful smile had blinded her.
She needed to put them, him , back in his place.
Chet didn’t wait for her answer. “And I verified my suspicions. The conversation I overheard between you and Emily was akin to the mulch pieces Piper showed you. It hinted at a possibility, but I followed up and found facts.”
He moved into her space, and they were almost nose-to-nose.
“And if Emily and Jackson had been forthcoming to the voters about her pregnancy, I wouldn’t be the bad guy and we’d still be together.
” She felt his warm breath on her cheek.
“You know that, right?” he asked gently.
Nelie stood still, warring with herself.
She wanted to believe him so badly, but believing him was an enormous risk.
“And you weren’t the only one hurting. I lost you, and the few close friends I thought I’d made in Haven gave me the cold shoulder and a wide berth. But I had to do what was right. People had a right to know.”
“Would you do it again?” she asked.
“In a heartbeat, but I’d do it differently. I’d try harder to warn her campaign. I should have kept calling Jackson and Miller until they returned my calls. And I should have warned you. Having you see it first in the paper must have hurt.”
Nelie nodded. She’d felt betrayed when Jackson shoved the front-page article under her nose.
Nelie had wanted to throw up and crawl into bed, but she wasn’t a coward.
She’d faced the ire and accusations of her friends and had finished her shift.
Ironically, the only one not mad at her had been Emily, who’d blamed herself for getting them into this mess.
“A warning would have been nice,” she said.
“But if you’d given us a better one, then you would have had to warn the incumbent with the information you’d given Emily for the debate.
You gave us a fighting chance.” It would be easier to stay mad at him if she didn’t respect him.
He might struggle with dragon-tales, but Chet was a straight shooter with the truth and fairness.
“Can you give us one?” He looked into her eyes.
His were warm and earnest, and his lips quirked to the side.
Nelie wanted to feel them on hers. Wanted to muss up his neatly trimmed hair and lightly scratch her fingers through the scruff on his face.
Unable to stop herself, she tilted her lips toward his.
“We found them!” Piper said, running toward them. Nelie jerked away as cold surrounded her body and common sense slapped her back to reality. She’d almost kissed him. In public. Nelie looked around nervously.
“Found what, kiddo? More dragon scales.” Chet asked, his voice tinged with disappointment and missed opportunities.
“Better.” Her eyes gleamed. “Nelie’s cookies. Can we go buy one and get hot chocolate?”
“Just one?” he asked, sounding amused. Nelie loved the way his brown eyes lit when he teased the girls.
Piper laughed. “No, one for each of us. Come on!” she said over her shoulder. Nelie followed, grateful for the reprieve.
Could she give them a second chance? Before, they’d just slid into romance, but this time deciding to give them a second chance would be deliberate.
Chet asked illuminating questions, making her think about her life and putting a spotlight on her decisions.
He made Nelie question her safe, comfortable world.
Chet was both a risk and the opportunity of a lifetime, and Nelie didn’t know what to do.
Stay in the known or reach for more, knowing she’d risk upsetting the apple cart.
“Can you speed it up there, slowpoke?” she asked, looking back at him.
Chet grumbled something about lousy timing and karma, but he sped up and they soon joined the girls in line.
Ava elbowed Piper, and the little girl’s chin jutted out.
Nelie hoped they weren’t heading for a meltdown.
Ava tilted her head between Nelie and Chet several times before Piper’s face cleared, and she nodded quickly.
Nelie wondered what trouble those two were up to.
Piper tugged on Nelie’s parka to get her attention. “There was something I was going to ask you, and I forgot, but now I remembered it.”
“What is it, honey?” Nelie looked between the two girls before steering them out of line. Chet was placing their order, and they could wait for him over by the picnic tables, away from overzealous ears.
“Can you buy my dad?” Piper asked as they neared the tables.
“Excuse me?” Nelie looked around, grateful no one was nearby. Haven’s grapevine would be in full swing with this juicy morsel.
“You know, at the thing.” Piper looked serious.
“What thing?” Chet asked, strolling up with a cardboard tray and handing them each a cookie and a hot chocolate.
“What was it, Ava?” Piper asked, scrunching her face in concentration. Ava sighed heavily. Nelie still didn’t know what those two were hatching, but it was clear Piper had botched Ava’s plan.
“We were hoping you’d bid on our dad at the auction,” Ava muttered, looking hopeful but anxious.
Chet groaned and Nelie’s stomach clenched.
He’d hate being in Haven’s annual bachelor auction to raise money for the hospital and local youth enrichment programs. The auction had grown bigger each year, drawing both local women and women from Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
Hart Haven even offered special hotel rates and packages that night so the women could stay in town and not make the hour-long drive back to the metro.
She’d always thought the auction had been a good idea. Until now.
“Why are you in the auction?” Nelie felt territorial, and she didn’t like it. She also didn’t like that he’d just asked for another chance with her, but he was putting himself out there for the highest bidder. That sounded like a man who wanted to play the field, not one who wanted to settle down.
“Mrs. Hart called. Croix dropped out.” Chet took a sip of his cocoa and frowned. It was watery, subpar, cocoa, but he sounded unhappy about being roped into Haven’s social event of the winter.
Nelie forced a smile. “Mrs. Hart will stop at nothing to make a successful auction for the hospital, but it’s good to know she’ll draw the line at auctioning off married men.”
“She’s hard to say no to.” It sounded like he was apologizing.
“Impossible to, if it’s something she wants or believes in.” Nelie tore her eyes from his and looked at the girls. “How do you two know about the auction?”
They grinned under their chocolate mustaches. “It was in the newspaper,” Ava said.
“We saw your name listed in the big ad.” Piper threw her arms wide. “So, will you pretty please with chocolate syrup on top, bid on our dad?” Piper clutched her hands in front of her, pleading with Nelie. Chet looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, and Nelie wanted to join him.
“I-I wasn’t planning on going.” Nelie tried to make sense of the jumbled emotions in her.
She hated the idea of another woman spending the evening with him, but if she bid on him, she’d be leading him on—until she figured out what she wanted—letting him think she was giving them a second chance.
Jealousy was a terrible reason to go, and even if she wanted to go, who would she go with? Most of her friends were married.
And she’d feel stupid. Nelie wasn’t a young woman with hearts in her eyes looking for The One . And she wasn’t an older widow looking for companionship. Mrs. Hart recruited men of all ages to appeal to the ticket holders.
She’d even recruited Gus once, who’d bellyached nonstop leading up to the event, but once there, he’d enjoyed it.
Mrs. Hart, however, hadn’t asked him again.
Nelie suspected she’d been jealous of the woman from Woodbury who’d won Gus and who’d had the pleasure of his company over dinner and a local theater production.
Who would bid on Chet? Would it be a divorcee who already had children getting the chance to maybe, someday, add Ava and Piper into the mix?
Or someone younger hoping for a daddy romance?
Nelie’s stomach soured. She tossed her remaining cookie and cocoa in the trash can, shoving her hands into her parka’s deep pockets.
“But could you?” Chet asked.