AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That I do know. It doesn’t make me feel any better, though.
“Thanks for your help, Sim.”
“Any time. I’ve got to get back to work. Honey, take my advice and pin that man down if you can. They don’t make many like that.”
I don’t think they make any like that, but I keep that thought to myself.
“Later, Sim.”
“Bye, Nee.”
I hang up and tap my cell against the palm of my hand while my brain whirls. Maybe Simone is right and I should just ignore it, act like it never happened.
I don’t have much time to think about it for the rest of the afternoon. I’m busy sorting the last of the stock out and looking into where I can pick up more stock from. There’s a couple of storage unit clearance sales just outside Baton Rouge after the weekend that I’m contemplating going to. Sometimes they have great stuff, other times it’s all junk. It’s a risky strategy to buy a storage unit full of belongings with the hope something good will turn up in it, but I also enjoy the thrill of it. I’ve gotten a few decent items that way, including an eighteenth-century candle holder that is my main window display. Maybe I’ll get lucky again.
The jangling of the bell over the door draws my attention. I’m about to say we’re not open, but my words die in my throat as I see Thomas standing there. My ex is nothing like Jared, although they both have dark hair. Thomas is shorter than Jared by a good way, and he has small eyes and too much mouth. There’s also an ugliness to Thomas that I didn’t see until I left him, an ugliness that is still there.
His eyes roam around the space before locking on me.
“So, this is what you left me for?” He snorts. “It’s… interesting.”
The way he says this suggests he finds it anything but.
I don’t bother to respond to his question—I’m not sure it was a question anyway. Instead, I say, “I’m closed. You need to leave.”
He doesn’t. He moves into the store, his fingers trailing over my things as he steps toward me. I want to move back, but I hold my ground. I’m not scared of him—not anymore. At least that’s what I tell myself, even though my heart is racing.
“You don’t want to show me around? Give me the guided tour of your new enterprise?”
“Not particularly,” I tell him. “Are you leaving?”
He raises cold eyes to me, eyes I once found enticing, alluring, beautiful even. I swallow back bile, but don’t move from my spot. This is my place, not his. I won’t allow him to intimidate me.
“I hope you’re happy now, Nia. Truly, I do, but I just wanted to see with my own eyes what you left me for. I don’t think it was worth it, do you?”
“I think it’s absolutely worth it,” I tell him candidly. I don’t want him to get the wrong impression—whatever that might be.
He grimaces as he picks up an ornament and examines it. I brace for whatever is about to happen, which, knowing Thomas, could be anything.
“I wish you well with your endeavor, sweetheart.”
He puts the ornament down, turns and walks out of the store, leaving me shaken. Him coming here feels like it’s put a bad cloud over the whole thing, but I push that out of my head.
Nothing, not even Thomas, can put a dampener on my excitement.
