Page 46 of Crazy in Love

“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 crimenotto 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 youask 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 wasnother 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.

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