“I am paying her. I…I should go get that.” Nick kept jerking his thumb to the cash register even while walking backward to it. Emma’s cheeks flushed, and she stared at her fingers twisting up. It took him three tries to remember the code before he could pick up enough cash. With two-fifty in hand, he looked up to find the tip jar damn near crammed to the top.
“Here,” he said, holding the bills out. “I couldn’t have survived today without you.”
“You’re welcome, and thank you for giving me a good distraction while I waited.” She carefully folded up the money and placed it in her purse.
“Ah, and…you should take this too.” Nick snatched up the tip jar and handed it to her.
Emma’s eyes went wide. “The whole thing? No, I…that’s. It’s too much. I couldn’t.”
“Believe me, you earned all of this. Most days, all I get are some saver coupons and a Chick tract.”
“Or that mouse trap,” Skylar chimed in.
“Sam thinks he’s a cut-up. Please. You worked for this. I mean, you put up with me for six hours. Think of it as hazard pay.”
“Thank you, it’ll help with my car.”
Or getting her a motel for the night. Though, if it was the catalytic converter and probably worse, she’d need all those Canadian pennies just to drive out of here. Emma carefully removed the bills, counting each one before placing them into her purse with the rest. Once she was done, she returned the jar to the counter where the cobwebs could sprout again.
Then, to his shock, she picked up the broom Skylar was supposed to be pushing. “You don’t need to do that,” Nick said before pointing to his wayward ward. “She is.” At Skylar’s face, he added, “Or do you want to skip your winter ball altogether?”
“Fine!” Skylar snatched up the broom and smacked it onto the floor. At least the dust was moving.
“So I should…” Emma pulled off her hat and handed it to him, then she slipped the apron off over her head. With a finality, they landed in his arms. This angel that had no doubt kept him out of jail was returning to wherever she came. “Thank you, again, for your kindness.”
She put her coat on, hooked her purse to her arm, and walked to the door. He would never get to see her again, and he was going to leave it at that? A couple of hundred bucks and some trite thanks?
“Hey,” Nick shouted. Emma paused with one foot out the door and looked back. “Why don’t I make you dinner?”
CHAPTER FIVE
A TUFT OF snow tumbled off the a-frame roof, splatting on a wrap-around porch. They drove around the house toward a little garage at the back. A net-less basketball hoop hung off the side of the house while an old grill was chained to a post without a fence. Nick put his truck in park and announced, “We’re here.”
Emma let go of her seat belt, realizing how tightly she’d clung to it on the drive. Round about a hundred feet from the coffee shop she’d realized no one knew where she was, and she had no idea how to get back. But the house that’d fit into any family sitcom calmed her fears. At least it wasn’t the middle of the woods.
“Yeah, no shit,” Skylar complained. She popped up from the back and pushed on Nick’s seat. “Can you get out before my legs are impaled through my rib cage?”
The beleaguered man sighed and opened his door. Lightning quick, Skylar leaped out behind him. “Watch it!” Nick shouted, weaving to the side to avoid her flying book bag. The girl didn’t even pause at the near beaning, already running for the front door.
Emma slipped to the cracking driveway and stared up at the second story. “Almost got knocked out by biology,” Nick muttered, rubbing his chin as he came up beside her. “This is the place.”
“It’s nice.”
“It’s four walls and a roof,” he said as if most people wouldn’t kill for such a house. She’d lived in a thousand-square-foot apartment with three roommates. This was a mansion in comparison. “We should get inside before we freeze to death.” He jerked a thumb to the door to make sure she knew where it was, then began to walk. “This winter’s been a brute.”
“Oh?”
“They say there’s gonna be even more snow. Some chicken ate the red corn instead of the blue. How do you argue with that?” Nick paused at the door and stood to the side to hold it open for her. He wasn’t even in a coat, just a flannel shirt, and Emma tried to shoo him in first, but he remained steadfast.
Pumping her short legs as fast as she could, she clipped onto the porch and dove into the house. The heat struck her first, gushing from nearly every side and warming her bones. She stopped on a rug and banged her heels together to try to dislodge the snow. “Should I…?” she pointed to her shoes as Nick closed his door.
“Ah, sure. Or not. Whatever you want to do.” He raised his head and spotted a trail of wet prints dashing inside. “Seems some of us think tracking snow into the house is a good idea!”
“Are you talking to me?” Skylar shouted back from deeper inside.
Nick grumbled under his breath, then he turned and caught Emma struggling to get her shoe off. “Here.” He held out a hand and balanced her until Emma stood in her socks. “How about a tour? This is the…I don’t remember. Side room? Entryway. Used to be a mud room when I was a kid, but I guess my mom wanted a foyer. That’s what it’s called.”
“You grew up here?”
