Page 15 of Morning's Light

CHAPTER 4

Another long day of solid work awaited her. Aisanna made it to the shop with hardly a minute to spare, freshly showered and—if not smelling like a rose—at least marginally cleaner. The shower helped. In the light of day, her apartment didn’t look spooky at all. Safe enough she managed to rush through a shower without incident.

The second cup of coffee she got from the shop around the corner worked miracles. They knew her by name there. How sad.

She could almost forget about what happened the night before.

The cold winter air was invigorating and she drew it down into her lungs until her throat stung. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she stared into a cloudless sky the rich blue of a robin’s egg. It was a new day and she intended to make the best of it.

She had enough time to unlock the door and sigh before Elon burst inside with a flurry of activity and color. Today, he’d decided on primary colors: red pants, blue shirt, yellow bow tie. The look shouldn’t have worked, but somehow it did.

“There you are,” he called out to her, juggling his car keys and lunchbox.

“Here I am,” she responded semi-sarcastically. “Opening the shop right on time. You know me.” She took a sip of coffee. “Always on time.”

“You didn’t answer your phone.”

Before she uttered a protest, Elon moved behind the glass countertop and gathered her close, wrapping his arms around her slight frame and drawing her against his chest. His lunchbox dug into her hip.

“Do you know how frustrated it made me? To know you were alone and I couldn’t get in touch with you? Call me crazy—”

“You’re crazy.”

“—but I was concerned.”

“I left my phone at home when I went to visit my sister,” Aisanna told him, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt. “See? I wasn’t alone. I had company.” She pushed away, although it took several tries to get him to release her. His scent overwhelmed her—clean soap and a hint of male sweat.

It wasn’t unpleasant.

“Good. I’m glad to hear it,” he said softly.

“Come on, Elon, that’s enough.” Aisanna stepped back and took a moment to collect herself. His nearness set her teeth on edge, but not in a bad way. Yikes.

“I get it. I care too much.” He fixed her with a look. “It’s a family trait. Passed down in my DNA. I can’t help it. So sue me.”

Passed down like her magic, but more inconvenient. “Try to help it, will you? You need to stop worrying all the time. The stress will kill you.” She felt like death warmed over and tried not to think about it.

He was standing too close.

Just make it through the day and go from there, she decided. Work your little tush off and the rest will fall into place.

Then Elon flashed her a sweet smile and she forgot what she was thinking. “I’m used to the stress,” he said. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Then how about you take the initiative and grab the roses for the Peterman wedding.”

“Are you sure you’re going to be—”

“Elon!”

He held up his hands, side shuffling toward the walk-in refrigerator. Aisanna shook her head and allowed herself a tiny grin. There were too many balls up in the air for her to deal with Elon and his concern. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she hated working alone more than she hated his cheery optimism keeping her attention swayed. Well, hate was a strong word.

Yeah, she had issues. More than she’d thought before.

It didn’t help matters when Johan phoned to say he wouldn’t be in because of some personal business he must attend to. Short-staffed again…and Valentine’s Day looming. Aisanna operated on autopilot and watched the clock. At one point, she glanced up and noted the time. An hour later, she peeked again and only five minutes had gone by. Her head sagged to the desk, eyes closing and a groan beating at her.

“Are you okay?”

She was getting sick of hearing the question. “Yes, I’m fine. You have the flowers done for the library luncheon?”

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