Love Inspired November 2014 #2

by Lorraine Beatty

  * * *

  Latimer’s Office Supply was open and ready for business. It was also devoid of customers. Ethan had opened the store twenty minutes ago, but not one person had come through the door. Granted, it was early on a Tuesday, but normally someone from one of the nearby businesses would come in needing some small item, and they usually took a moment to ask about Sadie or chat with Nicki.

  But she wasn’t here. Nicki had taken Sadie for a pediatrician checkup and had left him in charge of the store for a few hours. He’d grown comfortable helping the customers and no longer wanted to hide in the stockroom. But the quiet now gave him too much time to think about Nicki and her reasons for bringing him the jambalaya. He wanted to believe it was more than just a friendly gesture, that it meant she thought about him after work hours. Mostly he wanted to believe she enjoyed spending time with him.

  Nicki was the first woman in a very long time that made him think about a future. Her bright smile and her boundless energy were like a sweet infusion of adrenaline each time he was near her. But she didn’t seem ready for any kind of relationship. Her focus right now was on saving the store. His was on finding a new direction for his life. Which was why a few customers would be nice. To keep such thoughts at bay.

  As if reading his thoughts, two gentlemen entered the store, glanced at him briefly and moved on to walk through the aisles, not giving him a chance to offer his assistance. A few moments later, the taller man stepped from the third aisle. “Where did you hide the computer paper?”

  Ethan pointed toward the next row of shelves. “It’s right around the corner.”

  The man frowned and glanced around. “Moving things around, huh?”

  “We’re doing a little reorganizing, yes, sir.” The man nodded and went in search of the paper.

  The men’s voices could be heard as they walked the aisles. Ethan ignored them until he heard them mention the robberies.

  “...another one last night. This is getting out of hand. Why can’t the police department catch these bozos?”

  The tall man appeared from the center aisle. “Beats me.” He placed his items on the counter. Two reams of paper, a pack of high-quality pens, a roll of tape and box of staples.

  Ethan hadn’t heard about any new robberies, but he was more convinced than ever that taking the apartment upstairs was a wise move. He rang up the sale, bagged it and thanked them. The other man slid his purchases toward him, pulling out his debit card.

  “If you ask me, it’s probably some crazed ex-soldier looking for drug money. Why else would he be hitting the downtown stores?”

  The tall man laughed. “No kidding. There’re all a bunch of PTSD wackos.”

  Ethan clenched his jaw. Thanks to movies and TV shows, most people now thought PTSD sufferers were ticking time bombs poised to turn into homicidal maniacs. He resisted the impulse to set the men straight, knowing that antagonizing Nicki’s few customers wouldn’t help her business. But the comments did reinforce his decision to not tell Nicki about his emotional problems.

  “We’re back.”

  The sound of Nicki’s voice flowed through him like warm sunshine. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the big smile on her face. But as she approached with Sadie, a new vision flashed through his mind. The mother and child in Afghanistan were walking in a market. He sucked in a breath, forcing the image back into the recesses of his mind. This was Nicki and Sadie. The others were gone. He turned aside briefly to collect himself before forcing a smile and facing them. All he saw was a lovely smiling mom with her sweet little girl.

  He reached out for Sadie when they drew close, settling her on his shoulder. She tilted her head to look at him, grabbing his lower lip with tiny fingers.

  “How is she? No problems?”

  Nicki gently stroked the tiny arm. “Not a one. She’s right on track for everything. The doctor said she’s very strong for her age.” Nicki smiled at him. “How about here? Any problems?”

  Ethan handed the baby back to her. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

  Ethan watched them walk away, a strange sensation blooming inside his chest. What would it be like to take care of Nicki and Sadie? To make sure they were safe and happy? He’d like to try, but he had no idea how to go about it. Foster care was a poor training ground for marriage or fatherhood.

  Then there was his PTSD to deal with. Each time he thought he’d made progress, something would trigger a flash. It made it impossible to think about any kind of relationship. The best he could offer Nicki was to make her life as easy as possible. Starting with the second apartment above the store. The sooner he had it done, the sooner she could move in. He couldn’t save her store, but he could save her sanity.

  * * *

  Nicki was in the middle of placing a special order for a customer later that afternoon when she heard someone call out her name. Glancing up from the checkout counter, she smiled when she saw Jacqueline Wheeler and Diane Ashton coming toward her. “Good morning, ladies. What are you doing here? Did you close up shop today?”

  The tall, elegant black woman who owned Jacqueline’s Boutique on the square waved off the comment. “Cynthia has things under control.”

  Diane, who owned the Kiddo’s Kloset children’s store, nodded. “Same here. My assistant can handle things for a while. You should get someone to help, sweetie. None of us can run a business all alone.”

  A knowing grin appeared on Jacqueline’s face. “I hear you have a very nice assistant. The tall, dark and too-handsome-for-his-own-good type.”

  Diane’s eyes widened. “Really? I heard you hired someone but not that he was a hottie.”

  Nicki started to talk about Ethan, but the man himself chose that moment to walk onto the sales floor, looking every bit the way her friend had described him. He stopped at the counter and smiled at the ladies. Nicki’s cheeks turned pink. There was no way she could deny how attractive he was. She introduced Ethan to the ladies, cringing when neither of her friends made an effort to hide their appreciation.

  “So what can I do for you?”

  Jacqueline blinked and looked at her. “Oh. We brought you some things for the sidewalk sale.” She laid a large poster on the counter. The colorful images and bold lettering proclaimed the excitement of the upcoming Square Fair. “Hang this in the front window so everyone will see it as they pass by.”

  Diane placed a stack of smaller notices on the counter. “And these are flyers for you to stuff in customers’ bags along with their purchases.”

  “Thank you. I’ll make sure we use these.” Ethan picked up the poster, removed a roll of tape from the drawer and headed to the window.

  “I think this is going to be our best Square Fair ever. I’ll have three racks of clothing from my boutique out front, and everything in the store will be marked down twenty percent that day. You’ll have to come by and shop.”

  Nicki would love nothing more. “I’m hoping I’ll be too busy myself to leave the store.”

  Diane touched her arm. “Well, you must slip away and see all the precious baby clothes I’m putting out on the sidewalk. You won’t want to miss these deals for that little princess of yours.”

  “I’ll try my best.”

  Diane leaned in close. “I’ll put back several things for you to look at. You can come in on Monday. I’ll honor the sale price for you.”

  “Thank you. That’s very sweet.”

  Jacqueline stretched out her hand. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Angie Durrant said a reporter from the Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson is coming down to do a feature about the Square Fair. And she said one of the local TV stations will be here to cover the events that day.”

  Diane clasped her hands together. “Praise God. This will raise so much money for our shelters.”

  Nicki’s hope soared. She’d counted on the sidewalk sale to
shore up the store’s bottom line, but with the added publicity, she was beginning to think it might mean a real turnaround.

  She approached Ethan as soon as the women left. “Did you hear what they said? The fair is drawing people from Jackson and probably the surrounding areas like Madison, Brandon and Clinton. This could be the answer to my prayers.”

  Ethan replaced the tape in the drawer, then rested his elbows on the counter. “I hope so. I know how much you want this store to survive.”

  She sighed and laid her hand over his. “It has to. My parents are depending on me. I know I can’t count on the sidewalk sale to save Latimer’s, but it could give us a big boost.”

  Ethan touched his finger to the tip of her nose, making her smile. “Not unless we get this new floor plan together in time. I’d better get back to work.”

  Nicki smiled as she watched him go. Without Ethan’s help and support, she would be floundering. He kept her focused and moving forward. She was starting to depend on him more and more. But she had to be careful not to depend on him too much. Her goal was to rebuild her confidence and regain her belief in herself. Gathering up the pieces of her brokenness was harder than she’d expected. But she refused to give up. Though there were moments when leaning on Ethan’s broad shoulders was very tempting.

  * * *

  Rain postponed painting the shelves for the next two days, but Friday dawned clear and warm, and Ethan managed to get caught up. The delay had cut into his work on Nicki’s apartment, so he called in reinforcements. His buddies from the PTSD group arrived the moment Nicki drove off after work.

  Tearing down the wall between the living room and kitchen was a bigger job than Ethan wanted to tackle on his own. Fortunately, Joe and Bobby both had construction experience. The job was completed without any complications, but it was past midnight and they still had to clean up.

  Ethan pulled the six-pack of soda from his fridge and started back to the apartment across the hall. He tossed one to each man.

  Ron caught his with a frown and a pointed stare. “This is it? We get one soda for all this work?” The others chuckled.

  Ethan grinned and tossed another can over to Stan. “I fed you pizza and those chocolate-chip cookies from that lady you’re always talking about.”

  “Miss Edith.”

  Joe tilted his cap back with a frown. “Right. This is supposed to be a service project, remember?”

  “Since when is helping out a pretty lady a service?” Bobby tossed a grin over his shoulder.

  Stan nodded in agreement. “Yeah, if you ask me, this project is all about Ethan getting that pretty lady to live across the hall from him.”

  Ethan ducked his head to keep the guys from seeing the blush on his cheeks. He was worried that having her near him all the time would be dangerous. She already scrolled through his mind like an endless slide show.

  Bobby nudged Ethan’s shoulder as he walked past. “Yeah, I think the only service being done here is helping Ethan score points.”

  Ron moved to his side, a quizzical look on his face. “Are they right? Do you care for this woman?”

  “We’re friends. Coworkers. Nothing more.”

  “Have you told her about your PTSD?”

  Ethan placed his cordless screwdriver in his toolbox, avoiding his friend’s probing look. “No. She doesn’t need to know about that. She wouldn’t understand.”

  “Ethan, whether your relationship develops or not, you need to get that out in the open. You know that.”

  Loud banging on the outside door halted the discussion.

  “Dover police. Open up.”

  Ethan exchanged puzzled looks with his friends before hurrying out to the back door. A uniformed officer stood in the glow of the landing light, one hand resting lightly on his holstered weapon. “What’s the problem, Officer?”

  “The problem is no one is supposed to be on the premises. Care to tell me what you’re doing here and who else is with you?”

  “Yes, of course. Come in. My friends and I are fixing up the apartment for the owner.”

  The officer—Captain Ty Durrant, according to his name tag—looked skeptical.

  “Is that so? Well, when I called her, she didn’t know anything about it.”

  Ethan’s heart sank. “You called Nicki?”

  “It’s my job to notify business owners when there are trespassers on their property.”

  Footsteps on the wood floors drew the cop’s attention. His stern expression eased into a smile as he looked past Ethan. “Ron. What are you doing here?”

  “I was going to ask you the same thing. Guys, this is Captain Durrant. Stan Arnold, Joe Ford, Bobby Edmonds and Ethan Stone. He lives here.”

  “Oh, you must be the new assistant Nicki took on. Sorry to interrupt your party, but when I drove by and saw all the cars and the lights, I called Nicki and she didn’t seem to know anything about it.”

  Ethan ran a hand through his hair. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”

  “Sorry. But with all the robberies going on, it’s my job to question anything that looks out of place.”

  “Any leads on that?” Ron asked.

  “A few.”

  “Hey, I hear congratulations are in order.”

  Ethan watched as a huge smile appeared on the cop’s face, and he stood a little taller.

  “Yeah. It’s great news.”

  “Boy or girl?”

  “Don’t know yet. We’ll find out next week.”

  The sound of the back door opening drew the men’s attention. Nicki rushed toward them, stopping in her tracks and staring at Ethan. “What’s going on? Why are all these men here?”

  She glanced at Ty, who smiled and gestured to the men. “Seems they were working on a project and didn’t bother to tell anyone. If you’re okay with this, I’ll be on my way. I’ll leave the explanations to you, Stone.”

  She nodded, but Ethan could see the fear and puzzlement in her eyes. He’d messed up. He could only pray she’d understand. He should have told her what he was doing instead of trying to surprise her.

  “Someone tell me what’s going on.”

  His friends drifted back to the apartment, allowing them privacy. He wasn’t sure if he was grateful or irritated. He could use some backup.

  “Ethan. Tell me what’s going on.”

  * * *

  Nicki stared at Ethan, waiting for some explanation. After getting Ty’s call, she’d raced over here, horrible scenarios swirling around in her mind. Had the robbers hit the store? Had Ethan tried to stop them and been injured? Why were there so many cars out back? She didn’t recognize any of them. She turned to Ethan once more.

  Ethan took her arm and led her to the second apartment, where the men were gathering up tools and equipment. The place looked different somehow, but she was too upset to process that now.

  “I suppose I’d better introduce you. These are the guys from my prayer group at Hope Chapel.”

  Ethan rattled off names, but Nicki was too befuddled for any of them to register.

  “I asked them here to help me finish up.”

  “Finish up what?”

  He motioned her deeper into the apartment, gesturing with one hand. As she stepped into the living area, she gasped. The outdated apartment had been transformed. The mauve carpet was gone, revealing wooden floors polished to a shine. The hideous borders along the ceiling were gone and a fresh coat of pale green paint made the room warm and soothing.

  “It’s for you and Sadie.”

  Finished collecting their tools, the men filed out with nods to her and smiles directed at Ethan. Nicki looked around the space again, unable to find words to express her surprise. She turned to Ethan. “You did this for me?”

  “I know how important it is to have a pl
ace of your own.” He broke eye contact and moved farther into the room. “We’re not done painting. I’ll finish that tomorrow. Then you can move in whenever you’re ready. Sadie’s room is done.”

  Happy anticipation flew through her. Inside the small second bedroom, she pressed her fingertips to her lips, overcome with joy. The room was the perfect shade of pink. She could already see where the crib would go. “It’s beautiful. Sadie will love this.” She looked at Ethan, who was leaning against the doorjamb watching her, a pleased smile on his face.

  “Her mom’s room is ready, too.”

  Brushing past him, she crossed to the master bedroom, smiling at the fresh, inviting feel of the room. Light from the arched windows would flood the room in the daytime. Happiness and surprise bubbled up from inside. “I never would have believed that the apartment could look like this. How long have you been working on it?”

  Ethan shrugged. “Not that long, really. Taking out the wall in the kitchen took the longest. I needed help with that.”

  “Does my father know about this?”

  “All done with his approval.”

  She faced him, her heart so full of appreciation she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Why did you do this?”

  “You’re under a lot of pressure. You deserve a place of your own. This seemed like the best solution.”

  “Thank you.” Tears welled up in her eyes. This kind, thoughtful man had gone out of his way to provide a home for her and Sadie. The depth of his consideration was almost too much to grasp. How could she ever tell him how much his gesture meant to her? Getting out of her parents’ home was exactly what she needed. Impulsively, she hugged him. His hands rested lightly on her shoulders, but he didn’t hug her back. She looked up into his face, his brown eyes a warm chocolate color. In that instant she realized she wanted to kiss him. He must have read her thoughts because as she inched closer, he took her shoulders in his hands and held her still.

  “Don’t. Unless you mean it,” he whispered.

  What did he mean? Did he want the real thing? If so, did that mean he had feelings for her? She held his gaze, rose on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. His dark eyes warmed.