Lorraine Beatty - His Small-Town Family

Insecurity and doubt washed over her like a wave on the beach, sucking her confidence out from under her. A tidal wave of emotions swelled in her chest, but she had no strength left to fight them. Laying her head on her arms, she gave in and cried.

* * *

Ethan tossed the utility knife onto the worktable in the stockroom. Six o’clock. Time to leave. Time to tell Nicki Latimer he was quitting. He took a deep breath, resting his hands on his hips. His resolve had wavered slightly since this morning after he’d overheard Nicki’s friend telling her about the burglaries in town. A woman with a baby working alone at night wasn’t a good idea. He didn’t know Nicki well, but he’d learned enough to know she’d stay until her work was done, no matter how late the hour.

Those protective instincts that had been triggered early were growing. But that wasn’t his problem. Nicki wasn’t his problem. Nicki and Sadie together were the issue. He’d managed to keep busy all afternoon, and the few times he’d wandered out into the main part of the store, he’d been able to concentrate on his task and nothing else. Unless Nicki was there. Then he’d had to battle the wish to watch her while she worked. Another reason to leave. The lovely store manager messed with his mind. Thankfully, the baby hadn’t been with her those times or he would have had a different reaction. He’d heard the little one crying once, but that hadn’t bothered him. It was seeing the two of them together that would trigger the horror.

He wondered about the man who had stopped by. She’d hugged him like an old friend. Was there something more than friendship between them? A prick of unreasonable jealousy lodged in his chest. The man hadn’t stayed long, but the look on his face when he’d left suggested something serious.

Ethan rubbed his forehead. He had to remind himself that Nicki wasn’t his concern. His sanity was. The dark memories he’d locked away were trying to break free, threatening to pull him under again. He couldn’t stay. Scooping up his jacket, he set his jaw and headed toward the office. Best to end this quickly. She’d find more help soon enough.

He heard muffled sounds as he stepped to the threshold of the office. He looked in and his throat tightened. Nicki had her head down on the desk, sobbing. Her soft groans and sniffles pierced his heart. Had something hurt her? The baby? He glanced toward the back room, but he found no clues.

“Nicki?”

She gasped, but kept her head down.

“Are you all right? What happened?”

Slowly, she raised her head, keeping her gaze averted and swiveling her chair to keep from looking at him directly. “I’m fine.”

Clearly she wasn’t. He stepped into the office, stopping in front of her desk. “Beautiful women don’t cry when they’re fine.” That got her attention. She looked at him, wiping tears from her cheeks.

“I got some bad news today.”

“The man who was here?”

“Yes. He’s an old friend. An accountant.”

Snagging a folding chair, he opened it and sat. “And?” She wanted to tackle life alone. He recognized the symptoms.

Nicki looked away. “Nothing. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Bad idea. Talking about a difficult situation is the only way to get past the problem.” She stared at him, and he could see her contemplating his suggestion. She shook her head and pulled a tissue from a drawer to wipe her nose.

“I have to save the store.” She kept her eyes on the tissue she was twisting in her hands.

He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “Save it from what?” An uneasy feeling formed in his gut.

Her shoulders sagged abruptly, as if she’d lost all strength in her body. “Bankruptcy.”

Ethan forced his features to remain neutral and not reveal his surprise. Nicki needed to get this off her chest. The least he could do was listen before he walked out.

“Is that what the accountant told you?”

She slipped her fingers through her hair, grasping it at the back of her neck before letting it go. It fell in tangled strands across her shoulders, and he found himself wondering what her hair would feel like in his hands.

“He only confirmed what I’ve suspected for some time. The store is failing. I should have paid closer attention. I was dealing with...personal issues. I had a feeling something was wrong, but I didn’t want to know. Now I’ve got to find a way to keep this place going. It’s my parents’ only source of income.”

“Why is that up to you? Why aren’t they here helping you?”

“My father is recuperating from a kidney transplant. My mother is caring for him. When I came home after... they asked me to work at the store. Of course I said I would. I was pregnant with Sadie, but it was so nice to be busy again.” She sniffed. “Then Sadie was born, and Dad found a donor, and Charlie had to stay on to run the store until I could come back, and then he left, and now it’s all up to me.”

He tried to connect all the dots in her explanation, but one thing was certain: she was in over her head. “So your plan to change the store—moving fixtures around, bringing in new stock, giving it a hipper image—is your attempt to save Latimer’s for your parents.”

Nicki’s blue eyes darkened. “Yes. And it’s a good plan.”

He wanted to smile at her defensiveness, but didn’t figure that was a wise move. “It is a good plan. I think it’ll work.”

She blinked her eyes, still moist from tears. “You do?”

Her lack of confidence surprised him. She’d been clear and precise about what she wanted done. So why the doubt all of a sudden? “I do. But you can’t do it all by yourself. You need help.”

“I have you.”

But he was here to quit. He couldn’t stay and risk dredging up the darkness again. He might not survive a second time. “Yeah. If you don’t mind me asking, where is your husband? I would have thought he’d be here helping out.”

Her expression went from worried to closed off in an instant.

“Dead.”

The hollow look in her eyes hit Ethan like a blow. Nicki had been through something terrible.

She clasped her hands in front of her on the desk. “I know my plan will work, and with your help, I’m sure we can change the way people think about Latimer’s, and business will pick up, and by the time Dad is ready to come back to work it’ll be back on its feet. Then Sadie and I can leave.” She stopped, staring at the desktop before looking up again. “Well, it was a good plan.”

Leave? Was she planning on moving away from Dover? “What do you mean?”

She stared at the report. “My father didn’t tell me the whole story. Gary suspects Dad has been robbing Peter to pay Paul. Once I settle all the outstanding accounts, there won’t be enough money to redesign the store. I’ll have to work with what’s left, but I doubt that’ll be enough to turn things around.”

Ethan nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “Sounds like time for plan B.”

“I don’t have a plan B.”

Her bottom lip quivered, filling him with a desire to pull her into his arms. “But you will.”

She met his gaze, her blue eyes wide. “How do you know that?”

“Because you made a plan A. You don’t strike me as someone who gives up easily.”

She looked away, fidgeting with the papers on her desk as if uncomfortable with his observation. “I’m just tired, that’s all. Sadie was up a lot last night, and I didn’t get much sleep. Things will look better tomorrow.”

Ethan tensed. He needed to get this over with. “Tomorrow.”

He saw her mentally gird herself. She looked up at him, her usual smile once more shining through. He doubted if anything could keep her down for long.