Page 7 of Her Mountain Man's Christmas Lie
Grabbing the lotion, she squirts some into her hand, warms it between her palms then rounds the end of the breakfast bar to stand behind me. “Watch the clock. I need to stir the eggs and flip the bacon in fifteen minutes.”
Her touch almost immediately sends me back to that warm relaxed place I went last night. When the time is up, I feel refreshed. I can stretch each arm above my head with less of the stiffness on the right and the biting pain on the left. It mayonly be an inch or so, but my left arm goes a touch higher than yesterday, and it feels significantly looser. “Okay, you were right.”
Her look is totally gloating. She dishes up breakfast, and we eat in companionable silence. For the slender little thing she is, she can pack away the food.
“Thank you. Breakfast was great. I usually have cereal.”
“I guessed that when I saw like ten boxes of the same cereal in the pantry. Breakfast is my favorite meal. Bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, French toast, omelets, quiche, the good stuff. The rest of the day I can survive on coffee, granola bars—which you do not have any of—and fruit, also sorely missing.”
“Dually noted.” I grin. “I’ll do the dishes.” Grabbing our empty plates, I round the counter to the sink as something starts chirping. When I look at her, she rolls her eyes, stands and goes to the end of the counter where I now see she’s plugged in her phone to charge. Scowling, she starts speed typing with two thumbs on her phone.
I never mastered that with my big fingers. “Something wrong?”
She shakes her head. “No. Noelle wants to borrow my computer, and she can’t find it. Which means she’s picked the lock to my bedroom. Again. I told her I have it with me.”
“Cady, does your mom know where you are?”
She glances up from her phone. “No. Honestly, I don’t tell them anything more than I have to. They come and go as they please. Now, so do I.
“The only time they care is when one of them wants to borrow something of mine like the keys to my junker car when hers is out of gas. Or my phone when she’s forgotten to charge hers. Today, she wants my computer, which is really code that she wants to try and shop using my accounts. Which is why all my electronics are always in my backpack.”
“Doesn’t she have her own trust fund from her father?”
“She did, but I’m pretty sure she’s blown through most of that. She’s hoping this guy she’s dating can support her the way she wants to be taken care of. His daddy has money. What she doesn’t know is his daddy has him on a tight leash. He may drive a Mercedes, but it’s his dad’s old one.”
“You know all this how?”
She tilts her head and smiles. “Two years of cybersecurity classes?”
“Reckless and a little scary.”
Her laugh does something to my chest and my breathing. She’s so beautiful, smart, and kind. Chris was right, when he said she best of all of us.
“Get to your homework, I’ll clean the kitchen.
“Uhm, I do have a paper I need to work on for school. Do you have ink in that printer?” She nods toward the electronic station where her phone was charging next to the printer.
“Yes. I’ve been sending out resumes and trying to figure out what I want to do. I would have fallen into construction but with my injury….”
“You should go back to school. You were always smart, and you have the GI Bill. We could go together. Commuting would be so much easier with both of us,” she throws out before switching subjects. “I have a shift later at my online customer service job. It’s all internet chats so I don’t need a phone or anything.”
“No problem. Do whatever you need. I have some work I need to do as well.” Like getting my head back on straight. She’s talking, acting like we’re a thing. Commuting? Together? As in a couple? Lovers? My heart is beating so hard I’m surprised she doesn’t hear it.
CHAPTER 6
Cady
Man, I could see the panic in his eyes. Good thing I stopped before I said, ‘commuting once we’re living together would be sweet.’
We’ve been working companionably at the table for a couple hours. Homework is done and, my shift is going to start in another forty-five minutes.
I don’t think he even realizes tomorrow is Christmas. I have plans to make him a gift but need the printer when he’s not paying attention. He’s been frowning at his computer for the last twenty minutes, his shoulders have stiffened, and his keystrokes have gone from normal tapping to literally pounding.
“Shea, what’s wrong?”
He looks up at me, jaw clenched. “I’ve been contacted by the Veterans’ Life Insurance office. I was listed as secondary beneficiary on Chris’s life insurance policy. They’ve been trying to reach you with the email they had on file, but there has been no response.
“They were contacted by your mom but since she was not on the policy they couldn’t respond. Now they believe someoneis fraudulently trying to collect the benefits by pretending to be you.”
