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“Want me to check inside for you?” Jasper offered.
Jolene fought the urge to immediately say yes and instead shook her head. In truth, she would have preferred it, but she didn’t want him to think she was afraid.
“I’m alright,” she assured him, unlocking the door, “but I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jasper confirmed, nodding his head.
The two of them said their goodnights, and once Jolene locked herself inside, she turned on the lights and took a quick look around. An eerie feeling crept over her as she looked from room to room, and even when she found nothing, she still felt unsettled. As she got ready for bed, she wondered if she’d made a mistake not letting Jasper take a look first.
6
The next day began well for everyone. No rocks or flowers were found, and no moving shadows. Just a beautiful summer day at the beach. With no clients in her books, Emma joined Jolene and Jasper in the repairs that Jasper was staying in. By noon, they had made as much progress as they had the day before on Jolene’s cabin. Inspired by their work and Jasper’s calm leadership, Emma began to envision adding little accents here and there to make them more unique.
“What do you think about expanding the beachfront windows out front? Almost like a wall-to-ceiling pane?” Emma asked Jasper as he washed his hands. He turned around curiously and looked at Emma. He could see her wheels turning, and he was glad his work had inspired it.
“I think that’s a great idea. It would open up the space more and maybe do a section at the top with stained glass?”
Emma’s eyes lit up as she envisioned it.
“Iloveit,” she said emphatically.
“How much?”
Jasper shrugged, drying his hands.
“Depends on which contractor you get. I can check out the standard local rate for you if you want.”
Jolene rolled her eyes as she hip-checked him out of the way so she could wash her hands next. She was excited to go toThe Rock Barand see where Clarissa worked.
“I think she was asking you specifically, dumdum,” she teased, soaping up her hands as she narrowly avoided his counterstrike kick to her behind.
“Yes, I was,” Emma confirmed, amused by Jolene and Jasper’s interaction. Throughout the day she had noticed they had lost their venom toward one another that they had on the day they arrived. They were catty and sarcastic to one another, sure, but in a cute kind of way.
“So, how much?”
Jasper gave her a bashful smile, making him suddenly look boyishly young.
“Well, ma’am, I think we could come to a fair deal, given you’re practically kin now. Why don’t we take tomorrow and look for some local glass distributors? See what we can find?”
“Excellent,” Emma beamed, feeling enthusiastic about the changes she was making.
“Should we head toThe Rock Barfor some lunch? I’m starved.”
Jolene and Jasper agreed and got into Jasper’s work truck. Just as Jolene was about to scoot into the middle seat, she noticed something odd about the texture of the seat covers. She paused and reached down to pick up one of the little, hard, brown, spiky balls. The tips were sharp, and stung her fingertips as she held it up.
“What on earth?” she said aloud as Jasper opened the driver’s side. At first, he looked at her curiously, then his eyes widened as he looked down at the seat and saw the mess.
“How in the heck did these get in here?” he asked gruffly, taking his arm and sweeping the seat off forcefully. “What are they?”
“Seed pods,” Emma said, picking one up. “I can’t remember what tree, but they get tossed around in the wind. Never this bad, though.”
“Were your windows open?” Jolene asked, helping sweep the annoying pods out of the truck. Their little spikes clung to the covers, making it difficult.
“Yeah, but it’s like ninety degrees out. How could I not?” he replied defensively. His thumb snagged on one of the spikes, ripping it open.
“Sweet Jesus on a spindle, these suckers hurt,” he grumbled, sucking at the wound.
“That’s worse than gettin’ hit with a hammer. Emma, you said it’s never been like this. So, you’ve had this happen to your car before?”
