“I’m sure Nicky didn’t make it easy for you.” She elbowed Emma in the stomach and laughed as if they were best friends. “Do you mind if I fry up one of these donuts? I’ve always wanted to try.”
Emma nodded and watched her lower the dough without splashing a drop of oil. No wonder he’d been madly in love with her for five years. She was perfect.
“Have you been working here long?”
She shook her head. “Only a few days.”
“A few days? Why the way you took charge, I’d have thought you’d been here for years. He must have been desperate.”
Her heart plummeted. Of course he was. Why else would he have given her work? Given her a bed? Kissed her under the mistletoe?
“Hey!”
Emma leaped at Nick’s voice. Was he about to run in and declare his ex was wrong? She picked at her apron pocket as he skidded a halt and scratched his jaw. “Can I…? Emma, can I borrow you for a second?”
Maybe he didn’t hear Rachel. Maybe he didn’t care. Her head jerked in a nod, and she glanced back to the beautiful woman browning another donut. Before she went, Emma scooped up her recipe notebook, then followed Nick to the office. He didn’t say anything, just pulled open a drawer, tugged out a checkbook, and began to write.
“You wanted to talk to me?” Emma began.
Nick nodded, dropped his pen, and tore out the check. As he held it to her, she caught the three thousand on the amount line.
“I can’t accept that.”
Instead of tearing it up, he wafted the check. “Daryl should know I’m good for it.”
“No, that’s not…that’s too much money.”
“You more than earned it.”
No, she didn’t. Not at the rate they’d worked out. Not in the small time they’d had together. Emma couldn’t stop shaking her head, wishing the check would vanish into thin air.
Nick passed it to his other hand and tried again. “The business is booming, customers are happy, and you got the oven working. Some of it’s an advance for that. Please. Take it.”
She gulped, staring at the thin paper with his signature. One last kindness that cut her to the bone. Emma fought back the tears with all she could. “Do you really want me to?”
He floundered at that, the offering hand drooping. Instead of answering, Nick licked his lips and his eyelids hung low. “Without this money, you’re stuck here. You’re trapped, right?” He raised his head, took a steady breath, and declared, “No one wants to be trapped.”
All she had to do was take the check, get in her old car, take a job at a pizza joint and forget any of this ever happened.
Or…?
Emma bit hard into her lip, her eyes swimming in tears as she clung tighter to the recipe book in her pocket. It was stained not with steak sauce or aioli, but dough and sugar. If she left, she could return to her old life, keep her old plans, and chip away at the industry that pulverized people like her to dust.
And if she told him here and now that she wanted to stay?
Her heart pounded in fear, terrified that he’d wave the check at her again, but even more scared of what wanting to stay with him meant. “Nick, I…” Emma closed her eyes and a tear slid down her cheek. “I l—”
“Nicky, look!” Rachel breezed into the office and spun around, showing off the apron and hat for Brew 4 U. “It still fits.” She gave another twirl and Nick watched. “Am I interrupting something?”
I’m an idiot. Why would he want someone as worthless as me when the one that got away walked back into his life?She pinched her thumb and forefinger to the check and slowly tugged it from Nick’s hand. For a second, he tightened around it and jerked away from Rachel. But as he stared at Emma, he relaxed his grip, and let her accept it.
“Thank you,” she said, holding the reminder that she didn’t belong here in her hand. “For everything.”
“Emma.” He moved to chase after her, but Rachel was in the way, asking about the office. “No, that had to be moved after water damage. Wait…”
She’d already dashed down the hall, her heart tumbling with pain. If she didn’t do it now, she never would. “Daryl?”
The mechanic looked up from his coffee and met her eye.
