Page 5 of Resisting Fate
“Are you mad I made you kiss me?”
His lips twitched. “I’m not mad.”
“You seem…not happy?”
He leaned close to her ear, his words hot against her skin. “When a gorgeous sexy woman lays a kiss on you like that, twice, and then gives you the cold shoulder, you might be a little not happy too.”
She warmed at the compliment. She’d never been called gorgeous before, and coming from his gorgeous self—wow. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to give you the cold shoulder.”
He straightened. “Okay. So now what?”
“I really do need to get back to work. I’m sure I’ll run into you again. Fate, right?”
He leveled her with a look of pure aggravation. “Right.” He snagged his sweater and stalked off.
“Wait!”
He stopped, slowly turned, and looked at her expectantly.
“You forgot your jam!” She held it out to him.
He marched back to her, irritation written all over his face. “Thank you,” he bit out, taking the jam.
“Bye and thanks again.”
He stalked off, jam in one hand, sweater box tucked under his arm. She let out a soft sigh, watching him go before remembering herself and jumping in to help.
By the time the craft bazaar ended at five o’clock, Missy was proud to say it had been a huge success. Her goal to raise two thousand dollars had been met and then some. Twenty-three hundred dollars, all of it going to the Harper family—Rena with her three kids, ages six, eight, and ten. She was one of the women Missy helped through the women’s hotline. Rena was starting over in an apartment in Clover Park after escaping her abusive husband. The church community had come together to make sure the Harper family had furniture and the basics, but Missy wanted to do something more. She wanted the kids’ first Christmas in their new hometown to be special. They’d each escaped with only one suitcase of personal belongings, not wanting to alert the abuser that they were leaving for good. The kids needed continuity—a tree with decorations, presents, a special Christmas dinner—to keep their childhood intact. They needed to know everything they loved about Christmas would still be there for them even if some things had changed. Missy knew from personal experience how important it was for a kid to have something they could depend on when their world turned upside down.
She tucked the money she’d collected from each vendor into the metal cash box, locked it, and stored it under the table. All the vendors were packing up, and she jumped in to help. There was still a pile of men’s sweaters, probably their worst-selling item. She pulled a large plastic container from under the table and piled them in there. She found herself smiling, looking at the bluebird of happiness sweater. She briefly considered getting it for Ben as a joke gift, but then decided he might take it the wrong way. Like she wanted to continue with more flirty stuff, bantering back and forth…kissing. She flashed hot at the memory.Onetime thing. She tossed a few more sweaters on top, covering up the birdy goodness.
She finished packing the remaining knits and checked if anyone else needed help, but half of the volunteers had already left, and the rest were fine on their own. She went upstairs to the storage closet, grabbed a broom and dustpan, headed back downstairs, and got to work. It was the Saturday before Thanksgiving, a date she’d planned purposely so she could hit all the Black Friday sales for the Harpers. She wanted those kids to wake to the excitement of a pile of presents on Christmas morning, to believe that Santa was there for them more than ever, to know they were good kids on the nice list no matter what their dad had done.
“Bye,” Cheryl called, her hands full with a container of knits.
Missy set the broom against the wall. “You want help getting that to your car?” The woman maintained a teased blond hairstyle, but she had to be at least seventy.
“No, thanks, Harry’s here. He’ll be down in a minute to haul the rest.”
“Okay, thanks so much for your help today.”
“You’re welcome. Your boyfriend was cute. Mr. Leather Jacket.”
Missy fought back a blush, sure Cheryl had seen them making out. “Oh, ha-ha, he’s not my boyfriend.”
Cheryl raised her brows up past her fluffy bangs. “Whatever you call it these days.”
Missy waved that away, grabbed the broom, and went back to sweeping. She couldn’t dwell on Ben. She had bigger problems. Louis might show up at her apartment again, trying to get her alone. She’d better not hang onto the cash long. She’d deposit it as soon as the bank opened Monday morning. Then on Black Friday, she’d pay for everything with her debit card. She never carried debt on a credit card and kept a month’s worth of rent saved at all times just in case. She’d hung onto that just-in-case money, her safety net, for years. Her former teen runaway self needed it to feel secure.
By the time she finished sweeping, everyone had cleared out. She stopped for a moment, sweating, and pulled her sweater away from her body, fanning it a bit. She was thirsty too, but she wanted to finish the job first. She bent to grab the dustpan when she heard a noise behind her. She whirled, her heart thundering.
Louis was standing by her table, cash box in hand.
“No!” she shouted, racing toward him.
He met her halfway, shoving her sideways, the metal cash box slamming into her shoulder. She hit the floor and he took off for the stairs. She scrambled to her feet, chasing him and hollering the whole time. “Stop him! Somebody stop him!”
He had a head start and was fast. She ran up the stairs, her eyes glued to that cash box.
