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“Thanks,” Mike said with a grateful smile. “I’ll let them know. I’m sure they’d appreciate that.”
Nicky’s curiosity got the better of her, and she inquired further, “When are you leaving?”
Mike rechecked his watch and sighed, realizing that time was slipping away. “In... a few minutes,” he admitted with a hint of regret. “Harry’s meeting me at the cottage.”
Nicky’s response trembled with emotion. “Okay.”
A soft smile crossed Mike’s face, though it held a hint of sadness. “I’d better get to the cottage and get my stuff,” he said.
Nicky nodded, understanding his reluctance. “I need to go home and fetch Riley,” she offered. “I’ll walk with you.”
Mike’s smile turned slightly gruff as he agreed, “I’m going to miss her and Jade.”
With those words, he turned away to lock the front door. Nicky retrieved her purse and waited by the back door. Her heart raced as she watched him approach. He wasn’t just handsome; he had a good heart, too. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to breathe as he drew nearer, their eyes never leaving each other.
He stopped in front of her, and unexpectedly, Mike whispered her name, and before she could react, she found herself enveloped in his arms. His lips crushed hers, and the world spun away, wrapping them in a dance of emotions as their hearts pounded out the beat. Then, all too soon, the song only they could hear ended as the sharp, shrill sound of Mike’s ringtone broke the spell and dumped them back into reality.
Nicky felt a pang of sadness as she watched Mike reluctantly break their embrace. Her heart ached with the impending separation, and she tried to hide her feelings behind a forced smile. Her lips tingled with the imprint of his. Nicky felt giddy and breathless from their kiss. She stood dazed for a few minutes, staring into Mike’s emotion-darkened eyes as his phone continued to ring insistently, pulling his attention away from their tender moment.
He sighed, his brow furrowing with a mix of frustration and responsibility. “Oh darn, it’s Harry,” he muttered, glancing at his buzzing phone. “He’s at the cottage waiting for me.”
Nicky nodded understandingly, even though her heart longed for him to stay. “You’d better take that and go,” she said softly, trying to mask the disappointment in her voice.
Mike’s conflicted expression mirrored her own as he answered the call. Their eyes locked for a fleeting moment before he nodded and turned away, stepping outside to speak to Harry, leaving Nicky standing there, battling the emotions that stirred within her.
Nicky quietly locked the store and slipped away onto the sandy path leading to Scott House. Her mind was a whirlwind of emotions, replaying that passionate kiss with Mike over and over again. Her heart sang with a newfound joy, and as she walked, it felt like it was beating to an entirely new rhythm. Each step felt light as if her feet weren’t quite touching the ground, and she floated over the sand, carried by the intoxicating feeling of that moment.
“Nicky!” Lorry’s voice dragged her from her thoughts as she looked up and realized she was almost home.
Nicky saw Lorry waving to her from the deck. She sat with Steph at the table with two large boxes in front of them and papers stacked in neat piles beside the boxes. As Nicky drew closer, she recognized the boxes as the ones Megan had left behind that were marked “Scott,” and in which Nicky had found old receipts, photos, and a few financial log books.
“Is Mom back?” Nicky asked after greeting her sisters.
“Nope,” Steph answered with a shake of her head. “Gran called and asked us to tell you they’re taking Riley to the Granny and Me group.”
“They’ve had Riley the entire morning,” Nicky hissed, wondering if she was feeling separation anxiety because she missed Riley so much her heart felt bruised.
“We know that look!” Lorry told her.
“What look?” Nicky frowned at her older sister.
“The one where all you want to do is hold your child, breathe in their scent, and feel their warmth against you,” Steph added with a knowing smile.
Nicky sighed. There was no use denying it. That’s exactly how she felt; she couldn’t have said it better herself. That, and this other feeling whirling inside her as the memory of the kiss she’d shared with Mike flashed through her mind. Her phone buzzed as if on cue, and Nicky pulled it out of her pocket. Her heart did somersaults when she saw a message from Mike.
We never got to say goodbye. I’ll miss you and can’t wait to get back to see you and the girls again... Oh, and Belvedere :-)
“Now that smile—” Lorry commented, “we haven’t seen on your face in a long time.”
Nicky’s head shot up, and she felt her cheeks heat as her eyes moved from Lorry’s knowing ones to Steph, who gave her a slow smile.
“What’s all this?” Nicky cleared her throat, pocketed her phone, and changed the subject.
“The boxes you were going through from Megan’s grandmother’s cottage,” Lorry told her. “I think you may have found where the mystery funds were going to.”
“Oh!” Nicky’s eyes widened as she pulled out a chair and sat.
“Yes, these log books are journals of money paid to the Rileys for the past seven years,” Steph told her.
