Page 14 of Don't Scare Me, My Love

“Bless your heart,” Nicholas called after her as the ringing of the door announced her departure.

He let go of the countertop, his hands shaking and searching for each other. He turned to me, and his eyes met mine just before they dropped to the floor. “I’m so sorry.” His voice broke. “I shouldn’t have…” He glanced at me but looked away just as quickly. “That was unprofessional.”

“No, it wasn’t. She got what she deserved.” I took a step toward him. “I would’ve told someone like her to fuck off, too. As soon as she realizes that this is the only gas station for fifty miles, she’ll be back, and I promise she will behave differently.”

“Still, I shouldn’t have used your…” He didn’t say it, but I knew he was talking about my missing eye. “My brain didn’t realize it might offend you until the words left my mouth.” He propped himself up on the counter, scrunching his neck into his shoulders. “Please accept my apology.”

“Nicholas—“ I paused for a moment.Why was he beating himself up like this now?“Don’t apologize for standing up for me.” I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder without thinking. “You have my full permission to keep saying things like that if anyone ever makes stupid comments.” My hand stayed on his back for a second before I realized I was touching him. I pulled it back, though the beaten smile on his face as he looked at me now made me want to leave it there.

He pushed himself up again, his neck reappearing. “It still wasn’t right. But of course, I’ll stand up for you. I can’t bear people like her. She attacked you for literally no reason.”

Damn, how I wanted to hug him.I expected anything, but not that he would beat himself up so much.

“As your boss, I hereby make it company policy that you have to tell people that story if they ever ask again.”

His eyes closed for a second as a laugh left his mouth that could have easily turned into a cry. “Thank you.” When his eyes opened again, he still looked at me like a beaten dog, but at least he didn’t avoid my gaze anymore. “Was it gory enough for you?”

“I couldn’t have come up with a better story.”

I know I shouldn’t, but I patted him on the shoulder again. “Thanks for standing up for me. You’re a good guy.”

“You’re welcome.” His shoulders slumped back. His eyes wandered outside, probably eager to see if she was still there.

I looked past him and found her talking furiously on her phone.

“Do people like her come here a lot?” Nicholas asked.

“Once in a while, but not every day. Most of the customers are people from Seastone, and you’ve met some of them. They’re very open.”

“Yeah,” he turned back to me. “More open than I expected from such a small town.” His smile differed from the ones before. His eyes were downcast, showing that he was still ruminating on what had just happened.

I leaned against the counter next to him. Since he’s been so diligent all day, we had nothing to do but wait for more customers. “You’re head is still spinning, isn’t it?” I asked.

“A little, but it’ll be over soon, I promise.” He crossed his arms and drummed his fingers on his elbow.

I had to redirect the conversation and make sure it was clear that I honestly wasn’t mad at him. “So, did you have time to see Seastone yesterday?” It wasn’t the best subject, but I just couldn’t think of anything more casual.

“Yeah.” His fingers tapped harder against his skin until he finally let go of his arms. “I went downtown, if you can call it that, and took a lot of videos and pictures.”

“On a scale of zero to Seastone, how disappointed are you?”

“Not at all. It’s still as intriguing as it was yesterday.”

“What do you find interesting about a dead town where eighty-five percent of the people are over sixty?”

His chin dropped to his chest. He stared at the floor for a second before looking at me. He tried to hide a grin by biting his lip and shaking his head, but it was too late. I had already seen it.

“Come on, you can tell me.” I nudged his shoulder.

“I…” He exhaled deeply. “It was merely a gut feeling at first when I followed the signs to Seastone. It’s what I do, you know. Everywhere I’ve been, I’ve just followed my gut.”

“That’s—” I searched for the right word.

“—super weird. I know. I told you I was.”

“I was going to saycoolbecause you must have seen a lot of places that others would never get to see, but okay, let’s go withweirdinstead.”

He raised his eyebrows to his hairline. “You don’t think it’s weird?”

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