WindSwept Narrows: #3 Emily Temple

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  Jack slid the large tray of gems into the safe, closing the heavy door with a spin of the old fashioned handle. “Do you ever pick up lunch for Emily?”

  Chet looked up from his work, his shrug crooked. “Sure. All the time. Usually Emily buys.”

  “What’s she like best?” Jack asked, knowing his effort to sound casual wasn’t believed. “Don’t look at me like that…”

  “She likes the Big Town subs…turkey, cucumber, sprouts, crème cheese and mayo…and a large icy Dew,” Chet confided with a chuckle.

  “Thanks…you want something?” Jack checked his pocket for his wallet and went to the back door.

  “Naw…Grace brought some stuff her mom made last night…we’re going to the park out back.”

  “I’ll hurry,” Jack promised, striding off whistling.

  Emily waved a careless palm when Grace announced she was off to lunch at the park. “Have a good time,” she murmured, her head bobbing to the music as she stitched, the little glasses she wore perched on the edge of her pert nose. A nose that twitched a little. And then a lot, a long slow inhale making her look up. Paper rustled as the sandwich was placed in the center of her desk, a tall icy drink set next to it. With her head still tilted down, she peered over the edge of the glasses, from the loose fitting bright reds and golds of the flower shirt to the neatly trimmed beard and moustache and shorter haircut.

  “Hungry?”

  “Do I know you?” She asked frostily, even as her stomach betrayed her with a loud grumble.

  Jack pulled a chair from the side, turned it and straddled it before opening his own sandwich, a large collection of vegetables with oil and vinegar and spices.

  “We’ve shared a bed,” he said with a wink, his chuckle warm when her eyes narrowed. “Come on, Emily…you can’t hold a grudge. It’s not in your nature. So you like sci-fi, huh?”

  “If you’re referring to that quite accurate description I shouted of you…” Emily set the piece she was working on down on the sewing cabinet, the little glasses placed on top. She stretched slowly, straightening up and inhaling deeply.

  “I like the braid…it looks good on you,” Jack commented after taking a large bite of the sandwich.

  “Yes, I like sci-fi…” She eyed the sandwich cautiously. “Is this a peace offering or a bribe?”

  “Which one gets me more guy points?”

  “You make me want to bang my head on the desk,” she said through her laughter.

  “Then we’re even on that score. Eat, Emily…”

  She looked from him to the sandwich, opening the waxed paper slowly and peeking inside. “Who did you bribe?”

  “Guys don’t need to bribe another guy on the path to navigating girls,” Jack remarked, taking another bite and watching her lift half the sandwich and bite down.

  “Chet,” she said simply, nodding. “I never actually thought just how much information someone could get from speaking with friends of mine. So is this your way of apologizing?”

  One eyebrow arched. “An apology implies I made a mistake.”

  “You…” Emily choked on the swallow she was in the process of, taking the cup of soda and drinking deeply. “You don’t think what…what you did was a mistake?”

  “Nope. Not at all,” he took a drink of his tea.

  “How about audacious? Caveman? Overbearing?”

  “How about…concerned…caring…protective?”

  “Grrrr…”

  “Using your own logic,” he watched the sudden wariness enter her eyes as she ate. “What measures would you go to in an effort to make me do what you felt was best for me?”

  “I certainly couldn’t carry you across the street!”

  Jack laughed aloud. “Okay…I’ll give you that one. Maybe I just wanted to get back into your good graces. Close your eyes.” He waited, the wariness still there but she did as he asked. He quickly lifted her wrist and snapped the slender bangle around it. “Okay…then I gave some thought to jewelry…girls like that.”

  “I…” Emily looked from his eyes to her wrist and back, her head shaking. “Jack…it’s beautiful…they’re opals…I can’t…this is…”

  “You can because it is now yours,” he said simply. “And it looks good on you. It’s your birth gem.”

  “I…yes…yes…it is…thank you.” Emily took a small bite, chewing thoughtfully.

  “Nothing’s too good for my girl,” he told her with a teasing wink.

  “You’re sweet, Jack,” Emily said without looking up from the slim band around her wrist, her fingers turning it and lightly touching the engraving around the sparkling stones. “I…you should really…you don’t know me, Jack…I’m not sure I really know me…”

  “It’s okay, Emily,” Jack saw a hint of moisture in her eyes. “Chloe called last night to check on you. She was worried. I asked a couple questions…something Ian said at the hospital made me curious…and she told me about the amnesia.”

  “She is so kind…I can’t imagine what she thought…what Abby and Cassidy thought,” her head shook slowly, fingers picking at the sandwich and eating her sandwich in bits.

  “Maybe they thought they met someone who might need a little help,” Jack suggested quietly.

  “The first thing I remember was waking up sitting in my car…in a parking lot of one of the small parks a little south of here,” she told him, lifting the sandwich and taking a small bite. “I…there was nothing inside my head…I was scared. I went and sat on the beach for half a day, just trying to think. I only know the car was mine because I went through the identification in my wallet…and the papers in the glove box of the car.” She looked up to find him watching her. “That’s why I can’t tell you anything about that envelope, Jack…I just don’t know.”

  “Do you want to know what was inside?” He asked cautiously, her eyes immediately filled with fear. “Emily…”

  “No…no, I don’t…I…I feel like a coward, Jack…but my head is so full of…things that might be…of…”

  “You are not a coward.” He told her firmly.

  “I don’t want to know. What if that dream last night…what if it wasn’t a dream? What if I…I can’t remember because of something that happened to me? What if there’s something really bad back there that I can’t…I…I’m happy, Jack…I can sew and dance around and sing and just be me…I have really nice friends…” Emily shook her head. “I am a coward, but I don’t want it back. I don’t want anything from before back…I’m afraid of it,” she whispered honestly.

  “Emily, I think you’re a lot stronger than you’re giving yourself credit for,” Jack finished off his sandwich and lifted one of her unmoving palms in his. “You’re not eating.”

  “I’m good…I’ll save it for later,” she pulled her fingers from his and carefully wrapped the remaining sandwich. Holding the paper wrapped sandwich between her hands, she looked up at him, her words hesitant. “Was it something you needed? The envelope.”

  “Yes, it was. Even before…the other you…” He tilted his head and coaxed a grin from her. “Was a very smart cookie. Yes, what you were holding will solve a problem we were having.”

  “Good. I’m glad…and thank you for the lunch.”

  “You won’t go upstairs and rest for a while, will you?” Jack aimed his empty wrapper at the trash can, standing up and sighing at the look on her face. “Are you tired, Emily?”

  “A little…but I have a lot of things that need done, Jack,” she gazed up at him with a tiny shrug. “Costume season is right around the corner. It’s my job and it’s important to me.”

  “I know…and I do understand, Emily,” he leaned over the desk, kissed her softly and turned, stopping at the door. “I’ll be back at five to help you upstairs, okay? Wait for me, please?”

  “Yes, Jack,” Emily knew there was a teasing gleam in her eyes because he shook his head and went off whistling with a chuckle.

  Chapter Eight

  Emily was hanging up the new skirt she had fi
nished when she saw Jack striding into the shop. Grace had just left out the back for her evening classes. He closed the door and turned the locks, glancing over at her as she tapped on the alarm keypad and nodded.

  “All done…”

  “I heard the customers this afternoon,” Jack commented, walking to her side and glancing down at the floor. “Do you ever wear shoes?”

  “Sometimes…three of the sales this afternoon were fun…one had both me and Grace ready to scream into the pillow,” she said with a shake of her head. She saw the confusion on his face and lifted the twelve inch square colored pillow sitting on the empty chair. Emily put the pillow over her face and let loose with a scream, lowered the pillow and offered an arched eyebrow.

  “I see…” Was all Jack had to say, checking the back door without thinking and waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

  “What’s that smell? I’ve been catching whiffs of it all afternoon…” Emily held the railing, straightened her back and climbed the stairs much slower than she was accustomed to.

  “Spaghetti,” Jack followed behind her, his hands visibly jumping when she faltered a little and relieved when they hit the top and solid ground. The door closing behind them. “Meat sauce…pasta…Italian seasoning…salad.”

  Emily paused at the opening to the dining area, looking at the table all set. The fragrance and new things in her kitchen. The only thing she recognized were the plates and silver.

  “How…you did all this during the day?” Emily felt his hand on her waist, gently guiding her to the chair by the table.

  “Snuck in the front door when I took a break,” Jack told her, an amazing streak of warmth flowing to his toes when she stared up at him. “I guessed by some of the stuff you have the in freezer what was safe to make. Emily…don’t…I can take you shouting at me easier than I can take the watery eyes…

  She shook her head, her palms up and fingers pressing tightly to her eyes.

  “Sorry…it’s just…this is so sweet of you…you did all this…for me…considering…”

  “It just goes to show you we can shout at each other and still be friends,” he commented with a casual shrug.

  Emily watched him remove plates from over other plates with pasta spread across them. He ladled sauce over top and carried them to the table, returning to bring two bowls of salad and a small container of cheese.

  “You know it makes me nervous when you’re quiet,” Jack filled her glass with water and ice; his own hot tea was brought out of the microwave.

  “I think I’m in shock…” she sprinkled some cheese over the top of the steamy sauce and lifted her fork. The extra thin pasta twirled slowly. “You’re staring…”

  “Waiting for the verdict,” Jack admitted quietly, pulling his chair close and beginning to eat.

  “It’s delicious, Jack…I love garlic,” Emily took another bite, scooping up some of the meat in the sauce. “Really good…what’s in the bottle?”

  “Olive oil and balsamic vinegar.”

  “Is it good?”

  “I think it goes well with spaghetti,” he answered, shaking the bottle and pouring it over his salad and hers when she nodded.

  “You are a most fascinating man, Jack,” Emily sampled the butter lettuce and tomatoes, her tongue out to catch the drop on her lip. She used her fingers, dipping a cucumber slice through the dressing and chewing. “This is really good…you’re spoiling me,” she said with a sigh, eating slowly.

  “Good…I’ll cook, you clean up…it’s a fair arrangement,” Jack told her easily, digging into his food with a new relish.

  “I don’t have a problem with that at all…have you always enjoyed cooking?”

  “Yeah…it was just me and my mother growing up so between her and my grandparents, I was always under foot wanting to help,” he told her with a grin at the memory. “First thing my grandfather taught me to make was a fried bologna, fried egg, cheese, lettuce and tomato with mayo sandwich. I still make them now and then.”

  “That…is an interesting combination,” she said with a soft laugh. “You’re going to laugh…but I think it would be fun to grow your own salad…I’m going to find a nice little house with room for a garden,” she confided with a nod, eating thoughtfully.

  “I noticed the farm girl magazine,” he commented curiously.

  “Well…she goes a little more to the extreme than I think I’m ready for,” Emily admitted, her nose wrinkled in thought. “But raised beds and growing things…organically…healthy food…maybe even a couple chickens. Grace says they make sweet little noises all day and are quiet at night.”

  “For the most part, they are,” he agreed, enjoying watching the animation in her features.

  “Grace brought in something in jars when she first started working with me,” Emily listened to his laughter at the expression on her face. “It was very heavy with garlic…”

  “Given that she’s Korean, I’m guessing it was probably kimchee.”

  “That’s what she called it. Her grandmother makes it and they can it for the off season. I think that would be interesting, too…growing things and learning to make pickles or…or jams…”

  “Did you try the kimchee?” Jack couldn’t stop his laughter at her face.

  “I was polite…” She said carefully, finishing the spaghetti on her plate and setting the salad bowl in the center, munching as she talked. “I thought I was going to die…I think I drank a gallon of water after I took one bite…Grace told me it was an acquired taste.”

  “It is…it goes well with some Asian foods,” Jack told her with a nod. “So you want a house with space for raised beds…and maybe chickens…what else would you put in your house, Emily?”

  “Hmmm…a fireplace…I love the smells that come in the fall when people start toasting trees,” she told him happily. “And a big, big living room for a huge Christmas tree…and good speakers for music.” His laughter made her smile.

  Jack stood up and carried the empty plates to the sink, returning to stop her from getting up. “You’re off duty until the stitches come out…no protest…”

  “That hardly seems fair,” she ignored him and stood up, carrying her plates to the sink and turning the water on to rinse them. “I worked…I can handle a few dishes,” she pulled the dishwasher open, unable to stop the groan when she bent to the side. “You already emptied the…Jack!”

  Emily decided she should be used to looking down from four feet off the ground, her arms wrapping around his neck for balance. She glared at the side of his face, the cushions of the sofa beneath her a second later. Her hands went to the cushion, but her body froze in place when he leaned over and took her face between his palms.

  “When the stitches come out, Emily. Do I need to ask Ian to check your hearing?” He almost laughed at the glare she worked hard to maintain. “I can stand here until you crack…” he watched her eyes narrow a little more, deciding that issuing a challenge to Emily might not be the smart move. Instead, he put his mouth over hers and began a slow, sensual attack. He saw her lashes flutter closed, her lips parting a little to allow him inside, their tongues twining and soothing over one another.

  Emily knew she had been less than happy with him. She knew she had been frowning until his lips parted hers, teasing and cajoling until she needed to touch him. Her hands moved between them, gripping the edges of his shirt and using it to lever herself to the sofa and then winding around his neck. Her lips parted and her tongue fenced with his, trailing a hot line around his lower lip before drawing it between her teeth. Her mouth settled more firmly against his, losing herself in the sensual delights exploding around them.

  Jack wasn’t sure where he began to lose control. This certainly wasn’t his intent, although his body was extremely keen on the whole idea. His hands moved from her face to her shoulders as he dug deep for self-control and pulled his mouth from hers. He stood up and went to the kitchen, breathing raggedly as he cleaned up the dining room and loaded the dishwasher.


  Emily pushed her hands against the sofa, blinking and watching the efficient movements. She blew a long, slow puff of air between her lips.

  “Jack, you are confusing me,” Emily said carefully, standing up and heading slowly to the bathroom. She carefully opened her vest, relieved to see the bandages were still white. She just wasn’t all that sure she could handle more lectures today. She moved cautiously, keeping her back straight and stomach taut as she walked, going out on the patio and leaning on the railing, watching the sun go down over the mountains.

  “Emily…” Jack moved quietly behind her, one hand on his neck. “How about a movie?”

  “I don’t have a TV…it’s on my list…” Emily looked up at him, one eye closed against the gleam from the setting sun. “Why did you stop?”

  Jack inhaled slowly, sinking back in one of the patio chairs. “There are two things at the top of my never want to experience list, Emily,” he saw her interest as she straightened up and turned to face him, waiting patiently. “One…I never want to have to put you into the SUV and take you to the emergency room again.”

  “And number two?” She pulled her lip between her teeth with a thoughtful expression.

  “I never want to have to stand before Ian and explain why I had to bring you to the ER…that I couldn’t control my hormones until you were healed,” Jack told her honestly, her eyes lowered and staring at the ground.

  “It isn’t me?”

  “You?” Jack met the concern in her eyes. “You as in…” he stood up and took her hand, leading her into the living area and gently pulling her onto his lap on the sofa. “As in you are an incredibly sexy woman and I could very easily lose myself in your kiss?” He almost laughed at the wide eyes watching him, the self-doubt gone.

  “Then sitting like this is probably a bad idea.”

  “Yeah…I realized that,” he said gruffly, gathering her in his arms and standing up, lowering her feet to the floor and taking her palm. “Let’s go to my place…we can watch a movie and relax. Where’s your keys?”