CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Friday morning, Faith was in the middle of a conversation with Irene when Nick walked in. Her heart rate ticked up a notch, but she ignored it.
“Could we have that many shoplifters?” Faith asked Irene. While reconciling the finances, she discovered tons of books had disappeared over the last several months.
“I bet it was Jesse,” Irene said. “Your mom wanted to give him a chance, but I always thought there was something off about him.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Nick said, approaching the counter.
“Missing books,” Faith said.
“Who’s Jesse?”
“He’s a previous employee.” Faith glared at Irene. “But we have no proof he did anything.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Nick pressed.
“What can I do?” Faith shrugged. “It’s over a thousand dollars’ worth of merchandise, which is a lot of books, but not a lot in the grand scheme of things. Maybe I’ll ask the insurance company what they can offer.”
Nick appeared to mull something over. “Why don’t we go talk to him?”
“Yes.” Irene nodded at the same time Faith shook her head and said, “No.”
“What if it’s not him?” Faith said. “I only met him once, but he seemed nice.”
“You’re too trusting,” Nick said.
“You’re too cynical,” Faith responded.
“Perhaps. But what would it hurt to ask? If it wasn’t him, he can clear his name, and you can move on to another suspect.”
She studied him, brows knitting. “You only want to do this because you miss your job and you’re bored.”
“I don’t deny either of those accusations. I do miss work, and I am terribly bored. But, Faith, this is what I do. All I have to do is look into his eyes, and I’ll be able to tell if he’s lying.”
“Seriously?”
He raised a shoulder and let it drop.
“That’s cool. And a little scary,” she muttered. Did he know she was crushing on him then? Could he tell that every bit of eye contact, accidental touch, or brief conversation had her heart all aflutter? Just in case, she averted her eyes to answer. “Fine. When?”
“I’m free now.”
She wasn’t. She had a million things to do, but the thought of an afternoon with him was too good to pass up. “Um, okay. I suppose it can’t hurt.”
In the car, Faith told Nick what little she knew about Jesse. “He’s in his mid-thirties and lives with his mom in New Hampton. From what Irene told me, he jumps around from job to job but doesn’t stay anywhere too long.”
“Does he have money issues?”
“Pft. Doesn’t everyone?”
“I mean significant or severe problems. Something that could be a motive for stealing.”
She shrugged. “Beats me. Like I said, I barely know him. He quit before I took over.”
“Sounds like he took advantage of your mom while she was sick. Stole what he could while she was distracted and then bailed. I’m gonna do a little research before we get there.”
Nick stayed buried in his phone for the twenty-minute drive. She pulled into a trailer park and stopped at number forty-six. “This is it,” she said, glancing at the Post-it where she’d written his address.
Nick was always kind of gruff, but on the walk to the front door, he morphed into a total hard ass. “Let me do the talking,” he grumbled before using his cane to pound on the door. “Also, if he runs, you’re gonna have to chase him, ’cause I can’t.”
“Chase him?” Faith’s mouth fell open. “And do what with him if I catch—”
Jesse answered the door before she could finish. At the sight of Faith, his eyes popped open.
“Faith…um…hi,” Jesse stammered. “Sorry about your mom. I, ah…I meant to go to the funeral, but…um…forgot. So…um…what are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry to bother you, Jesse. We—” Faith started.
“Mind if we come in?” Nick interrupted.
Faith gasped. “Nick.”
“What part of ‘I’ll do the talking’ didn’t you understand?” He was talking to Faith but didn’t take his eyes off Jesse.
“Uh, the place is kind of a mess,” Jesse said, eyes darting back and forth. “I’d rather not have—”
“He’s gonna run,” Nick whispered to Faith.
And sure enough, Jesse took one look at Nick’s cane, decided he liked his odds, and turned and bolted into the house.
“Go around back,” Nick ordered.
Without thinking, Faith jumped the three-foot entryway fence and ran around the trailer.
When Jesse opened the back slider, Faith was already approaching. He stopped, surprised. Clearly, he had no more of a plan than Faith did and, thankfully, retreated back into the house. She followed him in and saw that Nick had entered from the front. Jesse made a break for the hallway, but Nick casually stuck out his cane, tripping Jesse, who tumbled to the floor.
“Where are the books you stole?” Nick asked, pushing his cane into Jesse’s chest.
“Dude, that hurts. Let me up,” he complained.
Nick rolled his eyes but removed the cane and used it to point at the couch. “Sit.”
Jesse sat. She’d tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. But judging by his actions and trusting that Nick really could determine guilt with just a glance, she had to assume he was the thief.
“Look,” Faith said. “I’m sure you have a good reason for taking the books. But we need them back.”
Jesse transformed from bungling nice guy to callous jerk in a heartbeat. “I don’t have a reason. Your mom was just so gullible it would have been a crime not to take advantage of her. She was asking for it.”
“She was dying of cancer,” Faith ground out, incredulous he could be so insensitive.
“Sure, that sucked.” He shrugged. “But even before that, she had her head so far in the clouds we could get away with anything, and she didn’t notice. I heard you’re just like her. Someone will be along to exploit you too. In fact, why don’t you ask Ruby how much she ‘borrows’ from the till every week? Or ask Irene how often she buys coffee with the petty cash?”
“What?” Faith’s head was still spinning from the insults about her mother. Now she had to process that her current employees might be crooks too?
“See what I mean?” Jesse continued. “You have no idea. They always say they’ll pay it back, but as long as I was there, that never happened. And why would they? Your mom never noticed. And you’re probably just as gullible.”
All the feelings Faith had been neglecting percolated—the anger at her mother’s death, the burden of store ownership being thrust on her, the saddling of responsibility for her sister and her dad, and having to give up her salon career. Rage bubbled up and boiled over, and without a thought, Faith punched Jesse straight in the nose.
Nick’s eyebrows arched, and he gave an appreciative nod. “Nice poke, Sullivan.”
Jesse howled and grabbed his face. “Did you see that? She punched me for no reason. I’m suing. I’m gonna sue you for everything you’ve got.”
Reason boomeranged, snapping Faith back to reality. She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, no. What have I done?” One punch was going to cost her everything. She rushed to help Jesse, but Nick blocked her with his cane.
He stepped up, shook his head at Faith, and addressed Jesse. “If you want to call the cops, go ahead. I’ll tell them exactly what happened.”
“Good. She’s going to jail,” Jesse said, wiping blood and tears from his face.
Faith panicked. Jail? She couldn’t go to jail. Orange was not her color, and she was very uncomfortable peeing in front of other people.
“Yes,” Nick said. “I’ll tell them how you admitted to stealing from her store. Then you grabbed her inappropriately and said some really nasty things. Things I’d have to spell out because they’re too explicit for mixed company. It was when you threatened violence that she finally punched you.”
“What? That’s not true. You would lie for her?” Jesse glowered. “That’s a crime too.”
Nick held his gaze. “Two against one,” he said, looking bored. “Where are the books?”
Anger rolled off Jesse in waves, and Faith could see the wheels turning as he tried to figure out his next move. Slowly, he realized he’d been beaten. His shoulders slumped, and he grabbed a tissue to staunch the blood oozing from his nose.
“Here’s what’s gonna happen,” Nick said. “We won’t call the police if you return whatever books you have left. I found your online store and know you’ve already sold a bunch, but there’s not much we can do about that. You’ll get away with theft and selling stolen property. I’d take that deal.”
Jesse hung his head in defeat. Faith relaxed, knowing a jail cell wasn’t in her future after all. Nick was willing to lie for her. Willing to let this guy walk away from his crimes to protect her from arrest. And she’d never been more grateful to anyone for anything. She took a quick stride over to him and threw her arms around his waist.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Thank me later,” he said. “Right now, make sure this guy gives you everything. Let’s go, buddy. Up and at ’em. Those books aren’t going to haul themselves to the car.”
Thirty minutes later, they pulled out of the driveway.
“Oh my gosh,” Faith kept saying. “That was wild. When you tripped him. When I punched him. I still can’t believe I did that.”
“That was kind of fun.” He chuckled. “How many books do you think you got back?”
“At least half,” she said. “Which is better than nothing. And definitely beats a stint in the pokey. Thanks for that, by the way.”
“Yeah, after your Mike Tyson impression, I decided we’d better leave the cops out of it. It irks me that he’ll skate on the stealing, but it’s not worth an assault charge on your record.”
“Seriously, Nick. Thank you.” They were at a stoplight, and she looked over at him. Piercing brown eyes found hers, and she knew instantly the attraction was mutual. They locked eyes and then lips. He met her halfway, and they made out over the center console until someone behind them honked.
“Light’s green,” he said, as breathless as she felt.
“So it is.” She let off the brake and refocused on driving. Okay. Now what? Tess would be mad. But if she never found out…
“Don’t tell Tess,” they said in unison.
“Agreed,” they said at the same time again.
“I have a confession to make,” she said.
“This oughta be good.”
“In high school, I had a major crush on you.”
He chuckled. “Is that why my name’s written on a poster in your closet?”
She was confused for a second and then realized what he was referring to. “You found my vision board? Snooper!” She smacked his arm.
“It’s taped to the door. Not like I had to go hunting for it. Also, I will probably regret asking this, but what’s a vision board?”
“It’s a way to tell the universe what you want. You use pictures and words to ask for things, and the universe gets them for you.”
“And you believe that works?”
“You did just make out with me.” She tilted her head.
“Touché. So, what about the other stuff? Why is there a picture of a run-down house?”
“That’s the old Ashford mansion. On Second Avenue. I love that place and want to live there someday.”
“It’s a dump. And it’s been abandoned forever.”
“All I see is potential. I walk by there every day and envision it all fixed up, restored to its original beauty.”
He went quiet. Was he thinking about the kiss too? Should they talk about it? Do it again? No, he was off-limits. Tess would kill her if she let anything happen between them.
“Since we’re coming clean. I have a confession too,” he finally said.
“Interesting. Do tell.”
“About ten years ago, the night before I went back to college, I was walking home from a buddy’s and detoured to the lake. There was a full moon, and I wanted to get a cool picture. Instead, I saw you swimming.”
Her brows furrowed, trying to remember. She would have been about sixteen. Her eyes flashed wide, recalling a sweltering summer night right before school started.
She’d read a book about getting in touch with nature by swimming naked in a natural body of water. When she’d come out of the lake, she’d felt someone watching her. At the time, she brushed it off as paranoia, but it must have been Nick.
“I remember that night. I knew someone was there. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Uh, you were buck naked. I was nineteen, and you were sixteen, and I didn’t want to get in trouble.”
“That was a decade ago. I’m surprised you remember.”
“Remember?” He huffed. “The image was seared into my brain. Even then, you were hard to forget.”
They pulled to the curb at her house, and she flashed him a sultry look.
“Don’t do that,” he said.
“Why not?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.
“Tess would kill us.”
“She did make a good argument for why we shouldn’t get involved,” Faith said. “You’re leaving soon. I’m terrible at men. You might get hurt.”
“We had a similar conversation. I only love my job. You don’t do relationships well. You might get hurt.”
“All valid points,” she said but continued to stare at him.
“So, that settles it then.” He didn’t look away. “No getting involved.”
He was right. She knew that. But she also had an overwhelming desire to kiss him again. And if she read him accurately, he was just about to do so when Tess came bounding down the walkway.
“Where have you guys been?” she said as Nick opened the door. “When I stopped by the bookstore, Irene said you’d gone to confront Jesse about stealing books?”
“Yeah. We got about half back,” Nick said, unfolding from the car. “And found out Faith’s got a pretty mean right hook.”
“You punched him?” Tess’s eyes went wide.
From the driver’s seat, Faith shrugged. “Nick can tell you the story. I’m gonna get these books back to the store.”
“You’re still going to the watch party for Maddie’s show, right?” Tess asked.
“Crap. I forgot all about it. But, yes, of course, I’ll be there.”
Nick cast a parting glance that she took to mean they weren’t finished with the conversation. It was a good thing Tess had interrupted them. Faith’s self-control was no match for Nick Walker. Even a gimpy leg didn’t diminish his commanding presence. Broad shoulders and the air of complete confidence had him oozing alpha. And to Faith, that was like a drug. A highly addictive one.
The only way to keep her promise to Tess was to keep her distance from Nick. Which was fine. She had enough going on in her life without adding forbidden love to the mix.
She dropped the books at the bookstore, stopped by to ensure her father ate something and check on Hope, and then drove to Max’s inn for the watch party.