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He wondered what Emma was doing with the heavy snow, and whether she’d be in town or even in work, which gave him a thought.
If he couldn’t drive out and find where Emma lived, he could walk around town and check out Elizabeth’s Emporium. He didn’t need to go inside, but nothing was stopping him from checking it out, and if he caught sight of Emma, then so be it.
His heart thumped in his chest at the thought that he might get to see Emma, even if it was from a distance.
With his mind made up, he drained the cup of lukewarm coffee and grabbed his jacket from the stand at the entrance near the door. Cabin fever was about to end as he stepped onto the porch and looked around before he stepped into the snow.
The B&B was only a few minutes walk to Elizabeth’s Emporium, and, although the brisk walk warmed him, his feet started to drag, the cold nipping at his exposed skin and his thoughts, as he approached the store.
The spirit of Christmas was strong at the store. There wasn’t a window free of decorations, or Christmas lights. A Christmas tree was decorated to the side of the entrance and the lights twinkled against the green background.
“You coming or going?”
He looked around and realized he blocked the entrance of the store while he stood looking at the tree.
“I’m sorry.” He backed out of the way. “I’m just admiring.”
“Hmm.” The woman in question ignored him and disappeared through the doors, a frown marring her lips—she seemed to need some Christmas spirit herself.
A heavy sigh followed while he stepped further away and watched through the window, and that’s when his heart stopped beating for a few seconds. Emma. Her lovely hair was pulled into a band at the back of her head, and her trim figure was encased in jeans and one of the ugliest sweaters he’d ever seen—a jarring mixture of red and green knit that had white reindeer jumping all over it amongst oversized knitted snowflakes. The sweater made him smile but the sight of her made his fingers itch as he ached to touch her. She had purple, knee-high snow boots on her feet and she looked so damn comfortable that he was tempted to walk in and tell her who he was.
“Emma Keller.”
The voice startled him, but he smiled when he met the woman’s gaze. “Hello, Betty.”
“You can’t take your eyes from her,” the old woman from the night before said with a twinkle in her eyes. “She’s single...if you were wondering.” She winked, and carried on along the sidewalk.
Well, that’d been easy. Finding out if she was single had seemed like a monumental feat but he’d needed to know before he showed up on Emma’s doorstep. It was good to know that he wouldn’t be screwing her life up by his unexpected arrival.
His fingers itched to touch her. His heart ached to talk to her. He shook his head, he wasn’t ready yet. He needed it to be perfect and he’d waited this long, so a little bit longer wouldn’t hurt him. It might give him another rough night with thoughts of her waking him, but he could wait.
He glanced through the window again and found that he couldn’t look away or move. She had him captivated, and his body hummed with pleasure at how close she was to him.
One more night, and he’d find a way to her, even if it killed him.
Chapter 6
Once Emma discovered that Travis, her brother, was about to head into town for a few hours, she’d grabbed it as a lifeline and hitched a ride with him. She didn’t think Elizabeth would mind her being underfoot for a while until Travis was on his way home.
She’d needed to escape the house once she’d written in her diary to express her feelings about missing Logan. One thing she couldn’t understand was why her family was so against her communicating with him in the first place. Well, okay, she got that she’d dated Seth at the time when they’d first started corresponding, but it had been over twelve months since that had dwindled into nothing when Seth left town. So why continue to be unsupportive?
Perhaps she needed to listen to her mom for a change and pull herself together instead of constantly having a cloud of heartache following her. Easier said than done, though.
As she bent at one of the tables in the coffee section, Emma felt a chill race along her arms. It wasn’t unpleasant, and the goose bumps that were left in its wake made her glance around the store. Her gaze landed on the front window as she caught the back of a man as he left the sidewalk.
Strange.
Elizabeth nudged her hip with her own. “Okay, you need to talk.” Elizabeth followed her to the counter and waited patiently while Emma took her time with the dirty pots and the display. “You’ve acted odd for a while now, but today it’s...I don’t know really, but I guess it’s more noticeable. It’s as though you can’t be bothered with Christmas, and that isn’t like you at all.”
Elizabeth knew her well. In fact, Elizabeth had known her since she was a teenager, and she used to come inside the store with Bree. She could talk to Elizabeth, at least, she’d never had trouble talking with her before, but now she found it difficult.
“Emma, honey. You know I don’t spread gossip like the others in town, but please know that I’m here for you if you need to talk.”
Emma nodded, not trusting her voice. She could feel tears burning her eyes but she didn’t let them fall.
Elizabeth squeezed her hand before she went off to see if anyone else needed help, leaving Emma with her mind still on Logan.
He held her heart, and she needed to do something to find him instead of feeling sorry for herself. So that’s what she’d do. She would head to North Carolina after the holidays, and find out about her man.
