Written on Her Heart (18 page)

“Tell me about this soldier you’re looking for. You don’t know his name. What does he look like?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then what do you like about him?”

Emma rolled her lips in and out thinking. “He’s kind.”
Like you
. “He loves his town and his family.”
Like you
. “He’s honest and real in a way most people aren’t.”

“Sounds like a catch.”

I think you’re a catch.
“Yeah. He does.”

“I could help you find him.” His eyes narrowed and a line formed between his brows.

“Why would you do that?” Help her find another guy? A good catch guy? Was she in this alone? Did the sun-melting chemistry she experienced even as they spoke flow only one way?

“Because I want you to be happy. If there’s a way I can help you smile, I want to do it.”

What did that mean? He cared about her, like a friend? The small of her back heated where his hand had been. He hadn’t moved when Clarissa confronted them. He pulled her closer. Her mind sizzled from overheat. She pictured smoke rolling from her ears. “Okay.” She nodded. In case he didn’t feel the same way she did, maybe the added time together would change that.

“I hope when we find him he’s not 75 years old.” He turned away and sipped his drink. “Or a woman.”

She choked out a laugh.

“You never know. Don’t ask. Don’t tell and all that.”

“Shut up.”

Nicholas slipped his hand onto her back once more and led her through the crowd toward the band. Heather and James were doused in sweat and laughing on the makeshift dance floor.

“There you are,” Heather called. “You want to go to the lake?”

In a heartbeat, James tossed her over one shoulder and strode off with her pounding against his back and calling out to Emma. “Come on!”

“Well?” Nicholas stepped away and looked at her from head to heels.

She shivered and shrugged, feeling like a leaf caught in the wind.

He bent at the knees and hoisted her over his shoulder, mocking James, being silly. Emma laughed and buried her face in his back. The town was watching, and she knew it. Nicholas slowed. She expected to land on her feet, but he held her legs fast to his chest.

“We’re going out to the lake. Can we stop by tomorrow?” His voice boomed over the music, and they were moving again.

“Who was that?” she asked, afraid to look.

“My mom.”

“I just met your mom like a cavewoman.”

He chuckled and broke into a jog for his truck.

Chapter Fifteen

Hopping out of the truck, Emma smiled. A small group near the lake had music going and a fire lit in a large steel trash drum. The darkness narrowed the field, and Emma relaxed her shoulders, scars concealed by the night. Fireflies drifted over the lake, mingling with embers from the fire in a beautiful reverse cascade. Toasted marshmallows sweetened the air.

Gravel crunched under Nicholas’ boots. Rounding the front of his truck, he took her hand in his and intertwined their fingers. Somehow the simple act felt more intimate than their kiss. Walking in the dark toward the fire, they listened to the juxtaposed sounds of loud happy people and the quiet, languid lake.

“I never knew you existed until this summer.” Nicholas chuckled almost too soft to hear. The gentle vibration of his laugh shimmied down his arm to their fingers. Heat and electricity buzzed over her skin. “Then last month, I saw you in an apple tree photographing bees. Do you know how dangerous that is?”

“Says the soldier.” She slid her eyes toward him. “I remember you.”

“You do?”

They moved through the grass avoiding the crowd. Heather and James stood on the beach skipping rocks across the lake. Days from now, the full moon would glisten on the ripples again. For the night, the sliver of silver moon added darkness to the water and magic to the fireflies. They stopped at her willow.

“Sure. You and your friends were older. We watched you play baseball, volleyball, pitch horseshoes.” She laughed. “We spent our summers fawning over the high school guys. The boys in our grade never had a chance at gaining our attention.” Shadows covered his eyes, disappointing her. She hoped to get a reaction. “Why didn’t you ask why I climbed a tree to take pictures of bees?”

“What do you mean?”

She smiled into the night. His nearness added a new sensation to her favorite view in town. She’d never stand under her tree again without the new memory. Nicholas changed her life anytime he came near. With him beside her, she didn’t have to try to be brave. She was brave.

“I started seeing you everywhere I went after that. You and your camera.”

“I’m making a brochure for the lodge.”

“I started thinking I might be stalking you and not know it. Then I realized you were a magnet for me. I couldn’t stay away from you. When I tried to figure out if you noticed me too, you’d run away.”

“Because you scowled at me.”

“I don’t scowl.”

She waited. He had to know. Someone must’ve pointed this out before.

“It’s my thinking face.”

Emma’s soldier came to mind. He’d given her what she needed to smile at him for the first time. Reading his words opened her heart to possibilities. As if he read her mind, Nicholas squeezed her fingers. Her soldier inspired her to try. If he could endure war and loss and still come to the lake and live his life, she could too. For all she’d been through, it didn’t compare to his trials.

“I don’t want any help finding the book guy,” she said, surprising herself.

“No? Have you given up already?”

“I haven’t given up anything.” She leaned her weight into his side and sighed. “I don’t want to know who he is, and I don’t want him to know I read his most private thoughts. Nothing good could come from that. But, I do think it’s time I let the book go.” In the morning when she came to bring some sample photos to the lodge, she’d turn the journal over to the lost and found.

Nicholas stroked her hair and stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Warmth radiated from his chest to her back. She was out of practice, but the handholding and snuggling seemed to fall beyond the borders of plutonic. With his heart beating against hers, she knew she could stand there until the sun rose.

****

“Is that the same outfit you had on last night?” Emma waved a finger at Heather.

“I need coffee.” Her cheeks matched her red halter.

“Well, this is a fine surprise from Miss I Don’t Date Honey Creek Men.”

“We talked all night. He’s homesick and out of place here. He needed someone to listen.”

Emma sipped her coffee to hide her smirk. “
Mmm
hmm.”

“I swear to you, nothing happened.” She dragged a shiny red nail across her heart. “We skipped rocks so long I got carpal tunnel. I beat him at that, in case you’re concerned.”

“I wasn’t.”

“He told me so much about his life I felt like I knew him for years by the time he dropped me off this morning. We watched the sunrise together. I mean, if that’s not a first date story to tell the grandkids, I don’t know what is.” Her eyes looked tired and dreamy. Her body sat at the table, but her mind was a million miles away. “How about you? Where are you headed off to looking so fancy and happy this morning?”

“First, I’m headed to the lodge to return this.” Emma lifted the journal and placed it beside her purse on the table. “Then, I’m meeting Nicholas. He’s taking me to meet his mom.” She shifted in her seat. “Do you think meeting his mom is moving too fast?”

“Honey, around here it’s a miracle you aren’t already in her bridge club.”

“True.”

Coffee percolated on the counter as the girls sipped from their cups in companionable silence. Emma examined her short blue nails. She’d spent an hour dropping dots of white polish onto each fingernail and dragging a toothpick through it. Swirling patterns emerged in the most interesting ways. She picked a green and blue sundress to bring out her eyes and look more lady like than she had while thrown across Nicholas’s shoulder.

“You really like him.” Heather nodded her approval before Emma could answer. “Better than your book guy?”

“Yeah.” Her answer took them both by surprise. No hesitation. She thanked her soldier for making her brave, but the thought of losing Nicholas broke her heart. “In fact, I’m going to go. I want time to talk to the office about my photos for the brochure before I meet Nicholas. You can go upstairs and sleep. Don’t try to drive home like this, your eyes are at half-mast already and you’re drinking coffee.”

“If you insist.” Heather dropped her cup off near the sink and dragged dramatically up the steps. Exhausted as she might be, she had energy left to sing, “Emma and Nicholas sitting in a tree….”

Emma locked up behind her and froze on the front steps. Nicholas pulled his truck in behind hers and jumped down. He’d gone home, showered, shaved, changed clothes and returned looking good enough to eat. His jeans hung on his hips. The deep V of his waist disappearing behind a lucky metal button. His plain blue button-down covered a crisp white tee.

He rubbed his palms together when he saw her. “You look like the poster girl for summer in that dress. You should be on the cover of that brochure you’re making. Right beside those bees.”

“Thank you.” She laughed. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

“I plan to check in on my proposal for the gazebo and landscaping while we’re out there. I thought since we’re both going to the lake, maybe you’d let me drive you?”

Nicholas swung the passenger door open for her and offered her a hand. His truck stood tall and manly. Her dress didn’t appreciate it. When she pulled her skirt inside, he shut the door, moved around to his door, and climbed in. Emma placed her bag and the journal on her lap. The engine revved to life and soon wind blew through her hair. Her mother would probably show up at her door soon if she didn’t call her back. She wondered if Heather would answer the landline if her mother tried that again while she was away. With so much to tell, it was hard to know where to start. After meeting Mrs. Fenton. As soon as she got home, she vowed to tell her mother everything, or at least fill in what the town scuttlebutt didn’t report.

“These last few days have been the best I’ve had since I came home.” Her voice sounded small, but her heart expanded with every word. He needed to know.

Nicholas searched her face but said nothing. He reached out and took her small hand in his. Raising her fingers to his lips, he placed a kiss on every knuckle. “I’ve never been this happy. Never. I couldn’t even sleep after I got home. I kept one eye on the clock and got ready to come back to see you. Now that I can be with you, hold you, kiss you,” he lifted her hand to his cheek, “I don’t want to leave. In fact, can I suggest a nap now? As soon as we leave my mom’s house, let’s take a nap.”

She shivered. He smiled against her hand and let it fall onto the seat between them once more. The idea of falling asleep in his arms did things to her. Warm things. Waking up in his embrace gave her a visual she’d never get rid of. “A nap sounds wonderful.” She leaned closer to the window hoping to sneak some cool air to settle her down.

Too soon the ride ended and Nicholas examined the journal on her lap. A look of consternation covered his face. “Why don’t you let me take this to lost and found while you meet with the staff about the brochure?”

“No. I’ve got it. You go ahead and see about your proposal.” She turned to climb down from the truck, but he had a hand on the journal. She needed a minute to say goodbye before she turned it in to the front desk. It killed her to give all her soldier’s secrets to some cranky teenage summer help. They wouldn’t take care of it, and they most likely would read it.