Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Twenty minutes later they were settled together under a tree for shade. He’d grabbed a folded tablecloth to use as a picnic blanket and she helped to spread it. There wasn’t a lot of chatter as they sat down and unpacked lunch. Heaven, he’d already noticed, tended to be quiet. And he was enjoying watching her out of the corner of his eye.

But there had been an ulterior motive for inviting her to lunch. He wanted to get to know her, so once they’d gotten a few bites into them, he started the conversation. “So, did you always want to be a baker?”

It had seemed a fairly harmless question, not too probing, but she still took her time considering it. “No. I don’t think I ever really thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up. Things seemed to be planned for me. But once I… when I was on my own, I needed a job and baking was one of the few skills I had.”

“Oh? It is a useful skill. You must have found some love in it. I mean, you stuck with it?”

“I did. I…” She trailed off, looking hesitant. “I got a job at this bakery and the woman who ran it was the most amazing motherly type. Barbara really took me under her wing. Gave me a job, a place to live… everything. We baked together.” There was a hint of pain in the words.

“She sounds like a great person,” he said carefully.

Heaven nodded without looking up. “Yeah, she was.” She took a bite of her sandwich, and he was pretty sure that was a hint to drop it.

He did, concentrating on his own lunch. But she surprised him a few minutes later.

“She died.” The words were blurted out in a rush. “I-I guess that’s kind of how I ended up here. After she… baking was hard. Doing the things we’d done together just reminded me. I wanted a new start and then I found out about the Ranch.”

Angel nodded, mostly to himself since she still wasn’t looking at him. “A lot of people get a new start here. I did.”

Finally, Heaven looked up. “You did?”

Angel didn’t talk about his past much. When he took the job, he told himself that he’d leave it all behind him and try to move on. But she’d told him something. It was only fair he reciprocate.

“I did. It’s a long story though. You sure you want to hear it?”

“Of course!”

“Okay, but you have to keep eating your lunch. I can’t send you back with an empty stomach.” He gave her forgotten food a pointed look and waited for her to pick up her sandwich before he began.

“My parents were immigrants. They worked hard and didn’t speak the language, so as the American-born kid I was expected to translate for them all the time. They kept me close to home and the idea of me going away to culinary school was a little too much for them, even if we could have afforded it.”

Even now he winced thinking about the tuition costs listed in the acceptance letter he’d received. “Every Christmas my mother would make all this amazing candy to give away as gifts. Every kind you could think of, and I learned from her. It was what I wanted to do… but school was out of the question, so I ended up apprenticed in a chocolate shop.”

“Sort of like me then. You started with some basic skills, used them to get a job, and then got really good at it.” She seemed excited at the similarity.

“Yes, but in my case, the owner wasn’t… parental or nice. I don’t think he cared for me much at all, and I heard him say some things that…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I think the only reason he kept me on was that he could pay me less than everyone else. I didn’t care because I was learning what I needed to know.”

“That sucks! You deserved better than that.” Heaven’s outrage took him by surprise, but maybe she’d understood the subtext he hadn’t put into words.

His mouth quirked up at one end. “Thank you, chica. I guess you could say I was a little bit of a natural. Not only did I learn fast, but I started experimenting on my own. After a couple of years, I was irreplaceable, and he had to treat me better.”

He paused, wondering how far he should go. “And it wasn’t a bad place to work. Let’s just say his daughter didn’t share his dislike of me. We got along very well and when he found out we were dating, there was an explosion that shook the walls.”

Heaven Leigh frowned. “So… what happened?”

“He fired me, but his daughter walked out with me. We had big dreams, Merry and I. We were going to save up and open our own place, get married, have a family… the whole deal.”

Heaven’s eyes went round and a series of emotions crossed her face, leaving him uncertain about what she felt. “That… doesn’t sound so bad.”

“It wasn’t bad at all. It was a wonderful time. We both found jobs. No longer working together, but between us we made enough for a small apartment. After a while we got married and we started to make our dreams come true.”

“But…”

She trailed off. She had to be wondering what happened since, here he was at Rawhide without a wife. It was just that the next part still hurt, and he didn’t like to talk about it.

“Car accident. Exactly two years after we got married… to the day.” He drew in a deep breath and held it until spots swam in front of his eyes. The happiest day of his life had become the worst day when she’d left him on their anniversary.

Heaven made a gasping sound and both hands went up to cover her mouth.

He let out the breath he’d been holding. “She was rushing to get home for our anniversary actually. We had dinner plans, and she was running late. There was a yellow light and she thought she could make it, but…” He closed his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Angel. I don’t… I can’t even imagine.”

He opened his eyes and gave her a small smile. “It’s okay, nina. That was five years ago. It still hurts, but it’s better now. Grief fades over time, yours will too eventually.”

“Still… I’m really sorry.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” He reached over and patted her hand.

“Anyway, after she was gone, I had a lot to deal with. We had a small chocolate shop by then. Nothing fancy, but we had a steady stream of customers. I continued because she would have wanted me to, but the joy had gone out of it for me.”

“Oh, I know what that’s like. I guess I felt the same way after Barbara died. Every time I baked, I’d think of her and… it was too much, I guess.”

He nodded, completely understanding. They really did have a lot in common. He wondered if that was part of what made the boss think they’d be a match. Derek was probably the only one at the Ranch who knew he was a widower. Well, Derek had probably told Sadie, but she’d never mentioned it if so.

“I kept the shop going for a couple of years, but in the end, I sold it to her father. He… blamed me for her death. He’d never really accepted our marriage anyway, so that was no surprise, but he made me an offer.” It had been ridiculously low, but he’d implied Angel owed him for taking Merry away.

“To be honest, I was just tired, so I agreed. And then I was free… free to make a new start somewhere. In a way it was a relief to let the store go. There were too many memories.”

“And then you came here?”

Angel shook his head. “Not quite. First, I traveled a bit. I read a lot, took classes from some of the finest chocolatiers in the country, even visited a cacao farm. I thought about opening a new place on my own. Maybe I would have eventually, but Derek saw one of my creations on display at a benefit for a women’s shelter. It was a chocolate carnival with moving parts—way too much work since my time was donated.”

He laughed. “I was showing off some of the new skills I’d picked up, but I guess it was worth it in the end, since he offered me a place here.”

Heaven blinked. “Wow. I mean, I’m glad he did. And you like it here?”

“I do. I get paid generously to do what I love and I have almost complete creative freedom.” He pointed at her lunch. She’d stopped eating again. “If you want me to keep talking, you do need to finish your lunch though.”

She rolled her eyes but picked up a handful of crisp apple slices and made a point of crunching into one loudly. “Happy?”

His mouth twitched. “Yes, thank you. I do like it here. There’s something healing about Rawhide Ranch. Not surprising given the history, but the whole welcoming atmosphere was a big help when I arrived. I have a place here and it suits me.”

She pushed another apple slice into her mouth. “Um, what about the kinky stuff?” The words were slightly garbled as she talked around the apple.

One eyebrow went up, but he didn’t correct her for talking with her mouth full. It was there on the edge of his tongue, but he refrained. “Are you asking if I’m kinky?”

She nodded.

“Yes, and yes, I’m Dominant, in case that was coming up next.” Her cheeks suddenly bloomed like roses, making him sure that had been her next question.

She made a point of focusing on her food and not asking anything else. He struggled not to grin. She was adorable, and very unlike his wife, which was probably a good thing.

He didn’t want reminders of what he’d lost. He wanted opportunities for the future, and Heaven… maybe she was that. He looked for a new topic, one that wouldn’t leave her flushing. “So, that’s an interesting name you’ve got. Almost sounds like Heavenly. Is that because you’re from heaven? It’s funny be—”

Her head snapped up, eyes wide and upset. “I have to go. Sorry,” she blurted as she got to her feet. She left the remains of her lunch and hurried away without another word, leaving Angel perplexed.

“Shit. What did I do?” he wondered. Had his past been too much for her? It was dark, he understood that, but she hadn’t seemed upset until he’d asked about her name.

He hurried to pack up the lunch leftovers, but by the time he got it all together, she was out of sight. If he’d been her Daddy, he would have hunted her down for answers, but he wasn’t. Not yet anyway. He wasn’t sure if it would be crossing boundaries if he did seek her out and he was still considering what to do when he got back to the kitchen.

Hayleigh was just coming out and she waved when she saw him. “Hi, Angel!”

His mood lifted. “Hayleigh, exactly who I needed to see.” He headed straight for her.

“Uh-oh.” Her eyes widened. “Whatever it is, I didn’t do it. Honest,” she assured him quickly.

His brow furrowed and he snorted a laugh. “Guilty conscience, chiquita?”

“Um, well…”

“Don’t worry, this isn’t about any trouble. I seem to have upset Heaven accidentally and I’m not sure exactly what happened. I know you’re friends so I thought…” He gave her a quick rundown of the picnic, explained how they’d been talking, and what he’d asked.

“Oh.” Hayleigh frowned. “She has a thing about her name. It’s Heaven Layyyyy, never Heaven Lee, and especially not Heavenly. She gets upset about it but… um, I’m not sure exactly why. She actually doesn’t talk much about before she came here.”

Angel shook his head. “Looks like I put my foot into it somehow. I just thought it was funny that we have so much in common and then our names… Heaven Leigh and Angel.” He shook his head.

Hayleigh grinned. “So, you have a lot in common huh? Do I smell chemistry?”

He snorted. “You’re standing outside a kitchen. You smell lunch and probably chocolate, chiquita.” But as she continued to grin at him, he sighed. “Maybe a little chemistry too,” he admitted.

She squealed. “I knew it! I told her—”

Angel quickly pressed one finger to her lips. “Shush. I’ve known her for less than a week. So we’ll see what happens. Don’t be starting rumors just yet.” He used his firm voice.

Hayleigh let out a long sigh and he dropped his finger. “Okay, but you know information moves fast around here.”

“Just make sure you’re not helping it move.” He made shooing motions with his hands. “I’m sure you’re supposed to be some place right now.”

Her expression changed to one of panic. “Oh, crap on a cracker! I’m late for class.” With a squeak she hurried away, not quite breaking the rule about running.

She wasn’t wrong though, and information wasn’t the only thing that moved fast at Rawhide Ranch. Relationships did too, but he wasn’t someone who rushed the important things. If working with chocolate had taught him anything, it was that going slow and easy almost always worked out better in the long run.

So why was he wanting to throw that all out the window for this Little girl he barely knew? Why did he want to track her down and make sure she was okay?