Raspberry Kisses (The Bakery Romance Series Book 1) (23 page)

“I can’t wait to move. As soon as I finish paying Raven back, I’m going apartment hunting.”

“I’d wanted to ask you about your neighbor.” He mentioned her neighbor across the hallway, the one with the dirty children. “Are you friends with her?”

“Not really. She moved in recently. She’s very nosy, and her kids are always running around, unsupervised.” She glanced out the window. “I know the kids are hungry sometimes. I talked to her once, letting her know I run a bakery. I’ve brought leftover food to them and the kids will gobble a loaf of bread, and donuts, in minutes. It’s so sad.”

“My Uncle Jesse’s church has a food bank. They hand out grocery bags of food to the needy on the first of every month, no questions asked. I’ll give you the address to his church and you can let her know about it.”

“I will.” She stared at Martin for a few minutes while he drove. He’d been concerned about her neighbor, and he didn’t even know her. His kind, thoughtful, generous spirit reminded her so much of Stan. She still couldn’t believe she was out with him, alone, and they were going to a fancy place to eat.

After they had arrived and were seated, Rhea stared at their surroundings. Wow, this place looked amazing! Martin must’ve really been looking forward to their time alone if he’d made a reservation at a place like this. Tiny lights twinkled from the velveteen walls, and white candles burned in the middle of the red-clothed tables. Diners spoke in hushed voices as the waiter approached, asking what they’d like to order. After they told him what they wanted, Martin also ordered a bottle of sparkling cider. “To help us celebrate,” he murmured.

He leaned toward her and kissed her mouth, just before the food arrived. The warm, inviting touch of his lips made her stomach flip with joy. She touched her mouth, closing her eyes for a few seconds. What would it be like if Martin kissed her like this every day? She could imagine it being like swimming in a sea of euphoria, so many wonderful emotions twirling through her that she didn’t know how to handle so much happiness at one time. Maybe there was hope for them after all.

After Martin blessed the food, Rhea sampled her crab cake platter. “This is so good.” The sweet, succulent crab meat had been seasoned with tasty herbs and spices.  She sipped the sharp, tart sparkling apple cider. After they had enjoyed their meal for a few minutes, Martin looked up from his place.

“I forgot to ask you something earlier. When I came to the bakery today, you seemed overwhelmed. Was it the number of customers?”

“Not really. It was a bit stressful having so many customers, but I’ve been upset about something else all week.”

“What happened?”

“I saw my sister-in-law, Mary.” While they ate, she told him about Mary fainting and her trip to the hospital, and the feeding of Mary’s cat. “It bothers me that she takes better care of her pet than herself.”

“You said you saw her? She was released from the hospital?”

“Yes, I returned her key, but, Martin, she looked awful. I tried to ask her how she’s doing but, she refuses to speak about her illness. She only wanted to talk about her cat, making sure I took care of her pet.” The thought infuriated her. How did Mary expect to get better if she didn’t start eating regularly? “I’ve been worried about her.” She gripped her fork. “What if she dies, and I did nothing?”

“Honey, you need to stop worrying about that. You’ve done all that you could. Mary needs to admit she has a problem. You’ve already reached out to her, told her to confide in you.” He furrowed his brow, put his fork down, and stopped eating. “It’s awful that she won’t eat, especially if she’s hungry.”

“You look mad.”

“I’m not mad, just confused.”

Confused? “What do you mean?”

“Well, I feed hungry people through my ministry. On the flip side, you have successful people like Mary, who can afford food, but refuse to eat.” He shook his head, lifted his fork. “I just don’t understand. I’ll pray for her. Is she a Christian?”

Was Mary a Christian? Since she’d never been close to Mary, she’d never really talked to her about religion. “This may sound weird, but, I don’t know. I know she was raised in the church, but, I’m not sure how her relationship is with God.” She’d always assumed that Mary was a Christian, but, now she wasn’t so sure. Stan had never talked about Mary’s relationship with God.

“I was just curious. Try not to let it worry you too much. There’s not much else you can do except pray for her.”

Rhea sipped of water. “Yes, I guess you’re right.”

She removed one of the hot, crusty rolls from the basket, slathered it with butter. Martin continued eating, his brow still furrowed. Was he still thinking about Mary? Or, perhaps he was thinking about her neighbor with the small children? Did Martin’s caring nature and pastoral duties have a huge effect on his home life?

She’d agreed to come to this dinner because she loved spending time with Martin, but, she’d also wanted to get to know him better, too. How could such a kind, loving, thoughtful, handsome man still be single?

She touched his hand. “Remember you told me you’d been engaged two times?”

He cracked his lobster, dipping the meat into melted butter. “Yes?”

“What happened?”

“You want to know why I’m not married?”

“Yes.” She bit her roll.

“Well, the first time I was engaged, I found out that the woman didn’t share my feelings.”

Rhea frowned. “Then, why did you get engaged?”

He sipped his cider before continuing. “Veronica worked for me when I owned my bakery.”

“When she arrived to apply that first day, when I saw her I was so attracted to her. She seemed so kind, attentive and thoughtful. We used to talk about food and recipes. We had a lot in common. We grew closer as she continued working with me.”

He paused for a few minutes, looked away. Was he remembering his old romance? Did he still miss his former fiancée? “After we’d been dating for a few months, I asked her to marry me.”

“Only a few months?” Was it possible to fall in love that quickly? She’d been dating Stan for months before they got married.

“I was twenty-five, still kind of young myself.” He paused, and Rhea glanced down at her plate. She was twenty-five—a fact Martin seemed to forget.

He continued. “I just knew that I’d never met anybody who affected me like Veronica did.”

“What happened?”

“Well, my parents and siblings tried to make me see the error of my ways. They didn’t trust Veronica, and they tried to warn me that I was making a big mistake.”

Rhea frowned, still listening. “So you broke up based upon your family’s negative opinion about her?”

“No, that’s not why. As a matter of fact, their negative opinion about my fiancée caused a rift in our familial relationship for about a year. There were things about her they could see, that weren’t apparent to me because I was in love with her.”

He pushed his plate away. “Well, one day, I wasn’t supposed to be at the bakery because I had the day off. I’d forgotten something, but when I walked in, I heard Veronica giggling.”

“You caught her with somebody,” Rhea guessed.

“I sure did. It was another employee. I was shocked when I found them kissing.” He dropped his fork, his lips tightening into a thin line. “We got into a fight. I was angry. We were yelling and screaming. I forced Veronica to give me the ring back.”

“Did you keep the ring?” Rhea sipped her water.

He shook his head. “I sold it at the pawn shop, then I gave the money to my father’s church.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Well, you live and learn. As I thought about our relationship, I could see what my brothers and sisters were trying to tell me. Veronica was only with me because I have a respected family in the area. She was raised by different relatives growing up, her parents never really took responsibility for her,” he said, as if defending Veronica’s actions. “I’m afraid her reputation wasn’t very good, and she just wanted to be part of a respected family. I don’t think she ever really loved me. Later on, I found out that she had been seeing more than one person while she was engaged to me. One of my old colleagues is still in contact with her and the last I’d heard, she’s already been through two marriages.”

Rhea shook her head, again appreciating the close relationship she’d shared with Stan. It was a shame they’d never been blessed with children. It would have been nice to have a reminder of the loving union they’d shared.

“Rhea, you look like you’re about to cry.”

“I’m okay. When people talk about relationships, I think about Stan.” She looked into his dark eyes. “Our relationship wasn’t perfect, but, I doubt a perfect marriage exists. But we loved each other, and if he had not been so brutally killed, I’m sure we’d still be together. I wish we’d had children.”

“You’re still young. You can still marry and have children.”

She shrugged. “Maybe.” She wasn’t sure if she’d ever find the courage to get married again, and fall in love. If she were to open herself up to another man, it’d have to be with someone kind and caring like Martin. “You said you had been engaged twice? When was the second time?”

Martin chuckled. “You really want to know all about my past relationships don’t you?”

She touched his hand. Was she being too nosy? “That’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I don’t mind telling you. The second time I was engaged, it was a few years before I entered divinity school.”

“What happened?” She’d rarely heard about a guy getting engaged twice, without getting married.

“I loved Kelly. I knew her through my father’s church. We dated, and I asked her to marry me.”

“What happened?” Rhea asked again.

He shrugged. “Nothing.”

She stopped eating, frowning. “What do you mean?”

“After we got engaged, I couldn’t get Kelly to decide on a wedding date. We were engaged for two years and never made any wedding plans. I thought my dad could marry us in his church. I tried to get the ball rolling but she always had an excuse for putting things off.”

Rhea shrugged. “Then why did she say yes to you?”

“She told me she loved me, but she wasn’t
in
love with me. She wanted to get married and have kids, but, I think she felt that I wasn’t the right person for her. She was a bit older than me, almost forty, so I think she was thinking we could make it work.” He toyed with the salt and pepper shakers. “She moved to Atlanta after we broke up, and I’ve heard she’s still single.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being single, but if you ask my sister, she acts like it’s some disease and she’ll die if she doesn’t find a spouse right away.” Rhea sipped her cider as somebody grabbed her shoulder from behind.

Rhea turned to the large unfamiliar woman holding her shoulder. “Raven! Girl, I didn’t know you were coming here tonight!”

Rhea widened her eyes, looking at the stranger, almost choking on her drink. Who in the world was this? The woman squeezed her shoulder before releasing her. Then she held her hand out to Martin. “I’m Myra Stubbs. I was in Raven’s book club a year ago. Girl, I’ve been gone for a year, and I didn’t like New Orleans, that’s why I moved back.” She eyed Rhea from head to toe. “Looks like you gained some weight while I was gone!”

Rhea finally found her voice. It had been years since she’d been mistaken for her sister. “I’m not Raven.”

Myra frowned, placing her hands on her ample hips. “You’re not?”

“No, I’m her twin sister, Rhea. Raven never told you she had a twin?”

Myra shook her head, and then looked away as if she were embarrassed. “I kept in touch with Raven on Facebook when I moved away. We’ve talked on the phone a few times,” she paused and shrugged before gazing at Rhea and then at Martin. “I’m sorry to interrupt your dinner. I really thought you were her.”

“That’s okay. I’m glad to meet you, Myra.” It had been awhile since she’d met any of her sister’s friends.

“You too,” Myra said good-bye before sauntering away.

Martin looked toward Myra. “That was a surprise.”

Rhea groaned, leaning forward in her chair. She pushed her plate away, losing her appetite. “It was a horrible surprise.”

“Why?”

“Ugh, you don’t understand.”

“Explain it to me.”

Raven’s irrational attitude and her former delusional attachment to Martin could be an issue for them. Granted, she may be worrying for nothing since Raven’s outlook seemed to have recently changed, but, Rhea would not know for sure until she spoke with Raven. “Myra knows Raven. I’m sure she’ll tell her about seeing us.”

“So?” He took her hand. “Since I visited Raven in the coffee shop, I haven’t heard from her. So, I’m sure she’s accepted that I wasn’t interested in her.”

His low, deep voice soothed her worries, as he squeezed her fingers. The waiter returned to get their dessert orders. Martin suggested he bring the check as well as a takeout box for Rhea’s leftovers.

The hour-long ride home was filled with silence. Rhea thought about her sister’s attitude since she’s last spoken to her. What would happen if she visited her tomorrow, told her all about her dinner date with Martin?