She did.
The store was an entity, while Ellie was a living, breathing woman.
And she was his, even if she didn’t know it—yet.
He thought about their morning after. Not a morning typical of that connotation. But then again, Ellie was often not what he expected. He hadn’t thought of telling her about Alexis, especially after the night before, after the way they had made love, but it seemed natural to talk to her, to tell her the details of a life that was so much a part of his own that it seeped into all aspects of his days.
Ellie’s tears had moved him. She understood how he felt as no one else could have. He smiled at the thought of her. She truly completed him. He could hardly wait to see her again. When one of the employees caught him and returned his smile, Blake knew he had to get back to work.
He was in the men’s department when his watch buzzed, and he checked the time. It was nearly four o’clock and he had an appointment. At the elevator, he met Will Jerome, the person he was expecting.
“Will, good to see you again. Thanks for coming.” The two shook hands.
“I don’t know why I’m here, really.” He paused. “Did Ms. Hamilton ask you to talk to me?”
“She did not. She doesn’t even know you’re here.”
Blake noticed he relaxed a little. Obviously Ellie kept in touch with him. She probably kept in touch with everyone at the farm.
The elevator doors opened, and they exited on the office floor. Blake led the way, past glass walls that let in the natural light, to his office. Will looked around at places the public never saw.
In the small reception area, two girls Blake had met at the farm were coming out. Both smiled and gave a short wave, then giggled as they continued down the hall.
“Hi, Will,” they said in unison.
“Patty, Gloria?” He made their names a question. “What are they doing here?” Will turned to Blake when the girls were no longer within hearing distance.
“The same thing as you.”
Will looked confused. “And what is that?” His tone was challenging. Blake knew they were back at the farm, untrusting and unknowing what the other was about.
“In due time, but don’t worry. It’s all good.”
In his office, Blake took the seat behind his desk and offered Will one of the guest chairs. The young man dropped his backpack to the floor and took a seat. He glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if the two girls were still in the hallway.
Blake looked through the glass enclosure.
“I’m waiting,” Will said.
“Are you always this impatient?”
“Sometimes I’m intense,” he said.
Blake sighed. “I thought we agreed to be friends.”
“Why did you ask me here?” He emphasized the last word. It took Blake a second to understand what the young man was thinking.
“I said it was all good. I didn’t ask you here to reprimand you on our previous discussion. That’s all in the past.”
“And not to be repeated.” The kid appeared to finish a sentence Blake had not started.
“That’s not it,” Blake said. “But I hope it will not be repeated.”
“Okay, if it’s not about me stealing, then what is it?”
“I have a job to offer you, if you want it.”
The look on Will’s face was pure surprise. His eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. “Where?” he asked after a moment.
“Here at the store.”
Will appeared stunned for a moment, then he burst into laughter. Blake waited while the sound reverberated around the room. He kept his expression steady, letting Will know he was serious.
“Here? Are you kidding me?”
Blake understood that kidding wasn’t the word he wanted to use. He took it as the young man’s show of respect for Blake. Instinct told him there was a good kid inside this almost man’s body, and that with a little guidance, he’d turn into a solid citizen.
“Where?” Will asked. “In the basement, janitor or—let me think... In the shoe department, specifically the area that sells sneakers.”
Blake shook his head. “Security,” he said, his voice nearly a whisper.
“Security!” Will’s shout was loud. “Come on, man. Why are you putting me on?”
“I’m as serious as cancer,” Blake said. He waited a beat or two to let Will take it in or contradict him. The young man said nothing. “The job is in Security.” Blake held up a hand to stop Will from speaking. “Yes, I based it on your previous experience. I hope that was just a one-shot deal, but we’re not going to rehash it. If you understand how people shoplift, you’re perfect for the job of making sure it doesn’t happen.”
“You mean like giving the guy who hacked into your website the job of securing it?”
Blake smiled. “Exactly.”
Will sat back in his chair. Blake knew enough about selling and closing the deal to tell Will was more than interested in his proposal.
“What would I have to do?”
“First, keep your grades up in school.” Blake lowered his chin and waited for Will to agree. It took a moment, but he nodded.
“What’s next?”
“Three days a week, you come to the store, report to the security office and work for three hours.”
“Do I get paid?”
“Initially, no,” Blake said. Will’s face fell. “After you cover the cost of the stolen sneakers, you’ll earn a salary. Human Resources will give you all the details.”
“They took the sneakers back. Why do I gotta pay for them?”
“Because you’re going to donate them to a kid who needs them.” Blake kept his face serious.
Will smiled for the first time since he’d entered the store. “When do I start?”
“Monday afternoon. If you have other activities, we can work around them. Just give your schedule to the counselor, put in the hours and I know you’ll do a good job.”
Blake offered his hand. Will stood up and took it.
“You have that much faith in me?”
“I have more faith in you than you do,” he answered honestly. The young man suffered from self-esteem issues. Blake felt that trust and a little belief from adults that he could do a good job would help him do just that.
Will turned to leave, then turned back. “Where will Patty and Gloria be working?”
Blake smiled. “Patty is in the shoe department, and Gloria will be in the bakery.”
Will smiled, then frowned. “Are they here because...” He didn’t finish the sentence.
“I can’t answer that,” Blake said. “It would be a breach of confidentiality.” The two men looked at each other for a long moment. “Just like if I told them why you were here, it would be a breach of your confidentiality.”
* * *
Today wasn’t one of the days Ellie spent at the Purple Cloud, but Edna was away and they were short a counselor. So Ellie had agreed to fill in. Since she was so busy, she didn’t have a lot of time to talk to some of the kids who had been there awhile. Finally, when she was leaving, she saw Apple.
“Hey, Ms. Hamilton. How’s it going?”
“Good.” Ellie smiled. “You know I always feel good when I come here.”
“Me, too,” he said. “That’s why they can’t get rid of me.”
Apple was a mainstay. His community service time had been fulfilled, but he’d rather spend time with the horses and the other teens than anything else. And the Eastwoods were grateful for his volunteering.
“Where’s Will?” Ellie asked. “I didn’t see him today.”
“He’s not here anymore. Neither are Patty and Gloria.”
“They weren’t sent back...?”
“Oh no,” Apple interrupted.
Relief had her dropping her shoulders an
d expelling a long breath. For a moment, she thought they’d done something to get sent to juvenile hall.
“They were reassigned,” Apple told her. “To your friend Mr. Thorn.”
“What?” The relief was gone, and Ellie was tense now. Blake’s name did that to her. It was like she needed to keep her guard up, yet when she was near him, she couldn’t remember anything about keeping away. Truth be told, she didn’t want to be away from him. She wanted to be around him all the time. It made no sense. Her brain told her that and she agreed with it, but her body had different things in mind when he was close.
“He got them transferred to his store,” Apple said, bringing her back from the fantasy playing out in her mind’s eye.
Ellie kept her mouth closed, although it was an effort.
“Will said Mr. Thorn gave them a job. And they’ll get paid. Sounds like a sweet deal to me.”
Too sweet, Ellie thought. And it sounded too good to be true, her brain engaging in the logical progressions it was designed for. What was Blake up to? He didn’t do charity work. Maybe he didn’t consider his hiring the students to be part of a charity. Or maybe he didn’t understand what it meant to push and pull the kids around from place to place.
Ellie did.
Doing what Blake had done wasn’t an easy trick. Getting a kid reassigned was a process. There were bureaucracy, forms, meetings with court officers, transfer forms and the obligatory psychology sessions. Had Blake done that for three students? And in so short a time? As far as Ellie knew, the House of Thorn had no program for community service. Had Blake added one in the last few days?
She had to find out.
It was Sunday, but retail establishments had only three holidays a year: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. It was likely Blake was at the store. Ellie entered the building through the main doors. The place conveyed the feeling that it had stood there for decades. It wasn’t a modern glass-and-steel building, but one that blended into the hundred-year-old neighborhood. Its walls were designed to withstand an earthquake. So far, though, they hadn’t suffered any damage due to Mother Nature’s testing of the tectonic plates.
The store was crowded with people shopping and buying. Ellie went straight to the elevators, but before the doors opened, she saw Blake coming from the bakery area. He hadn’t seen her yet. His attention was focused on negotiating the crowd. As the floors ascended, the number of customers thinned out. This was the first and busiest floor.
Blake stopped at the set of elevators farthest from Ellie, the private one that went straight to the top floor. Using his key, he called it. The doors opened and he stepped inside. Just before they closed, Ellie slipped through an opening barely wide enough for her body.
Ellie was the only word he got out before she clasped her hands on both sides of his head and kissed him. At first Blake was stiff with surprise, but a second later, he was fully engaged in mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Ellie hugged him, squeezed as hard as she could and aligned her form to his in a way that rendered them one and the same.
He understood that her kiss was for gratitude; at least it had begun that way. Yet somewhere between the first touch and the next nanosecond, the spark between them flared into a raging fire, and she forgot everything and everyone while clasped in Blake’s arms.
The bells rang, indicating they had risen to the desired floor. The doors would open. Blake pushed her back.
“I’m not complaining, but what brought that on?” he asked.
Blake took her arm, led her to his office and closed the door. He looked at the glass walls. Ellie could almost read his mind. It didn’t take a medium to know what he was thinking. She thought the same thing. If the walls were not made of glass, they could continue the kiss they had started in the elevator. She desperately wanted to kiss him again.
“Now that we’re alone, what brings you here?”
Even though it was Sunday, there were people in the office. “I hear you have three new employees.”
Blake dropped his head, then lifted it with a smile. “Who told you?”
“Apple. I went to the farm this morning, and the roll was down by three.”
“They’re doing fine here. I thought they could work out their service here and learn the retail business.”
“How’s it going?”
“It’s only been a few days, but I put them in places where they had an interest.”
“You’re taking responsibility for making sure they comply with the court order?”
He nodded. “I’ve been instructed on what to do. Don’t worry. We’ll be fine.”
Ellie wanted him to see what the work was like, but this was a wrinkle she hadn’t anticipated. She thought they’d do projects like the one at the farm, or even the support they’d lent to the diabetes fund-raiser. Taking responsibility for keeping kids in check was a completely different animal.
“Will is here today,” Blake said. “Do you want to see him?”
Ellie shook her head. “I don’t want him to think I’m checking up on him.”
“Maybe if you said you were concerned, it would save your face and pump up his self-esteem.”
Blake had discovered the young man’s need to believe more in himself. Ellie’s heart warmed. She nodded, indicating that she wouldn’t mind seeing him.
“Where does he work?”
“Security.”
Ellie nodded, although that was the last place she expected Blake would put him.
“I’ll give him a call to let him know we’re coming.” Minutes later, they entered the control room for the store. Ellie was amazed at all the equipment.
“Hello, Will.”
“Hi, Ms. Hamilton.” Will came to her with a smile. He looked like a different person. His clothes were clean and pressed. His hair had been brushed and cut. His face was clean, although a little acne showed along his forehead.
“You look great, Will. Working here must agree with you.”
He glanced at Blake. “Mr. Thorn trusts me, and I don’t want to disappoint him.” He paused. Ellie waited. She could tell he wanted to say something else. “My mom thinks the change is good, too.”
“What do you do here?”
“I check the monitors, and if I see anything suspicious, I alert someone on the floor. Sometimes I’m the person on the floor.”
“I’m glad you’re happy. I was concerned that something had happened to you when you weren’t at the farm. But I see you like this work a lot better than being around the horses.”
He smiled. “And I get a store discount.” He pulled his pant legs up and let her look at his new pair of sneakers.
“Nice.” Ellie smiled, recognizing the brand.
“My mom got them, but I’m grateful to Mr. Thorn for choosing me.”
“Enough,” Blake said. Looking at Ellie, he explained, “He’s said that at least five times today.”
All three of them smiled.
“We’re going now,” Blake said.
“See you later, Ms. Hamilton.”
Ellie smiled and they left the room. She wanted to hug Will, but that would be stepping over the line. She’d just have to settle for hugging Blake.
Chapter 9
“You’re awfully quiet,” Blake said when they’d walked several yards and taken the steps back to the office floor.
The corridor was empty, and Ellie stopped and faced him. “On the surface, this looks ideal.”
“On the surface,” Blake repeated.
“Is this real? Or are you setting these kids up for something that will hurt them in the long run?”
“You think I would do that?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to believe that.”
“Then why do you?” He tried to keep the anger out of his voice, but speaking through clenched teeth didn’t allow for that.
“You’ve met him once,” Ellie said.
Her voice was controlled. At that moment, Blake thought she would make a great social worker or 9-1-1 operator.
“He’s been reassigned to your store. That involved a lot of work, transfers, the court, interviews, not to mention specialized training. It begs me to wonder if there is another reason behind all that.”
Blake took a menacing step toward her and stopped. Ellie didn’t move, didn’t give up any ground or appear threatened.
“I’m only interested in their well-being. I thought they could profit from the experience they could learn here, and they wouldn’t have to begin at the lowest level. But I can see clearly that, in your eyes, I’ve failed.”
Blake walked away from her then. He headed for his office without looking back. He wanted to slam the door, give it all the force of his strong arms. But he resisted. As he softly closed it, he heard the muffled sound of the elevator bell ringing.
How could she think that? He paced back and forth. He’d been interested in Will after talking to him. The same with Patty and Gloria. He did feel he could help Will with some sort of rehabilitation that involved trust and not iron bars. Patty and Gloria had expressed an interest in retail.
Ellie worked with a charity all day. She participated in the development of programs to do exactly what he was doing. He didn’t need her approval or sanction. He had the court’s permission. The kids were doing all right. He monitored reports about them every day, and so far they were taking to their tasks with enthusiasm. Patty had even made a suggestion in the shoe department for a better way to display shoes that appealed to her demographic.
Blake wanted Ellie to approve. He hadn’t had the kids reassigned to get her approval, but he thought that would be one of the outcomes. When she arrived, practically implanting her body onto his, he was sure she was onboard with him. The interview with Will was nothing but positive.
Love in San Francisco ; Unconditionally Page 12