Hearts on Fire 4: Kisses Sweeter Than Pie(12)
“Oh brother, here we go. I don’t know a thing,” Ace said as he leaned back in his chair but kept a possessive hand on Serefina’s thigh.
Serefina gave him a light tap to his chest. “She doesn’t have a job, and no other money, Cindy?” Serefina asked.
“She works a few hours a week at Angel’s Wings but the owner can’t offer more hours. It’s not busy enough.”
“I should go by the apartment and let her know that it’s okay she couldn’t get the pies done. Perhaps she can try again when things get better,” Florence said.
“I have a better idea. If this was what she was counting on to make money and support herself, then none of this is her fault.” Michaela spoke up.
“Well, she’s not very trusting. She had a hard time even accepting the apartment, and Buddy said she thought they wanted something from her in return.” He raised one eyebrow up. Serefina scrunched her eyebrows together.
“That doesn’t sound good. Maybe Jake was right about her having a troubled past. You said she wouldn’t give all her information either?” Michaela asked.
“She’s just scared. She reminds me of myself when I first came to town,” Cindy offered. “I had a bad relationship, lots of trouble. I thought my life was a mess. But then everyone was so nice here, and I felt so good about things that I started a new life here. Nina is the same. I get the feeling that she’s scared, but she’s also strong and determined. She’s very shy, too. That’s why waitressing or doing anything that involves a lot of socializing wouldn’t work right now for her.”
“I have an idea,” Serefina said.
“Oh no,” Ace said.
Florence and Cindy smiled.
“What is it?”
Serefina leaned forward and began to explain, and with each detail Cindy and Florence jumped on board to help. Florence was so thrilled that her sons fell in love with Serefina. She was an amazing woman.
* * * *
Nina had a tough time sleeping despite the fact that she felt as if she were in a resort. Johnny, Buddy, and Trent never mentioned that their house was on the beach and that the apartment above the garage had a gorgeous view of the ocean. She kept the windows opened last night and enjoyed the sounds of the small waves hitting the shoreline. This was heaven, but she was scared.
Just like everything else that occurred in her life, the moment she felt confident, a little happy or positive, her world came crashing down.
She had taken a shower and put on new clothes and thought about what she should do first today. She needed to contact Fannie somehow to say she might not make it in to work tomorrow because she was miles from the boutique instead of within walking distance. That was a negative. She would have to see if she could pick up a bike, maybe find one at a garage sale or something.
Just then she heard the knocking on her door.
As she walked through the living room, still in awe of the décor and the beauty of the apartment, never mind the queen-sized bed in the bedroom, she opened the door.
“Good morning.”
She was shocked to see Cindy, Florence, and another woman there all holding boxes and grocery bags.
“We heard about what happened. I’m so glad that you’re okay,” Cindy stated, setting down the bag and pulling Nina into a hug.
Nina didn’t know what to do. She didn’t quite hug Cindy back but she didn’t pull away either.
“We got you a bunch of things to help you get back on your feet and get the business started,” Florence said as she began to pull out new pie pans, baking supplies, eggs, milk, fresh fruit.
“Oh God, I can’t believe this. I don’t know what to say,” Nina said, standing there in complete shock. The tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Just say thank you. Oh, I’m Serefina, welcome to Treasure Town.” The beautiful woman stuck her hand out for Nina to shake, and Nina reached out and said thank-you.
Florence came over next, held Nina by her arms, and smiled.
“You’re no longer alone in this town. You have three new friends, and if those pies come out as tasty as the other day, then you’ll have yourself a steady job at Sullivan’s as our own local pie maker. We’ll order only from you, and cash on delivery. How does that sound?”
Nina was overwhelmed, and without even thinking she hugged Florence who chuckled and hugged her back.
Perhaps things were looking up after all.
* * * *
“She lied about her last name,” Jake told Buddy over the phone.
Buddy ran his fingers through his hair as he looked out the back window toward the garage and apartment. He could smell the most delicious scents coming from that direction and he knew Nina was baking pies. He kept making excuses to go outside and sniff the air. She had been at it all day since Cindy, Serefina, and their aunt Florence stopped by with supplies.
“I had a feeling. She’s definitely hiding something,” Buddy said, feeling his gut clench.
“I can’t find out anything about her. It’s like she just showed up here a few months ago out of nowhere. I even stopped by Angel’s Wings to talk with Fannie Higgins. She said that Nina is a sweet young woman, very quiet, great, hard worker, and she wished she could give her more hours, but the truth was she hired her even though she didn’t need help. She felt badly for Nina. When she arrived looking for work, she appeared exhausted and only had change in her pocket for a water bottle from the machine.”
“I don’t like the sound of that. You think she was homeless or something?” Buddy asked. Saying the words out loud, thinking that was a possibility, upset him.
“Could very well be. She did say she would find a place to stay for a day or so back at the apartment. She had no money other than the hundred dollars. If she’s on the run from trouble, we would need her real last name to try to find out more about her.”
“Or we could ask her and say we will keep it private. She’s scared and untrusting. That’s for sure.”
“Well, you and your brothers sure did take a liking to her.”
“Just as my aunt and Serefina did,” Buddy replied, explaining about them dropping supplies off and offering help.
“My God, we’ve got some great people in this town.”
“We sure do. But I don’t want their kindness taken advantage of either. If Nina turns out to be some scam artist or criminal, we need to find out before anyone gets hurt,” Buddy said, and felt that sensation in his gut chime off that he was totally wrong. Nina wasn’t a criminal.
“I’ll give you and your brothers a few days to see what you can find out. Then I’ll come back over and have to insist she tell us the truth about her last name.”
“She really doesn’t want any of us to know anything more about her. Trent thinks she saw the arsonist and can describe him but simply is scared about being involved.”
“It could be because of what she’s running from if that’s even the case. She seems really sweet, and she’s very attractive. Those eyes of hers are amazing,” Jake added.
“I know. But it’s odd, it’s like I can see how beautiful they are but yet they’re filled with sadness. I don’t know. Maybe I’m losing my fucking mind?”
“Or you just found the woman of you and your brothers’ dreams? It happens just like that. Believe me, it’s instant,” Jake said and chuckled.
“Like you guys and Michaela?”
“Could very well be, and if you recall, Michaela was pretty secretive when she first arrived. Look where that led.”
“Great. Thanks, I’ll talk to you soon,” Buddy said and disconnected the call.
He put down his cell phone and looked back out the window. He needed to figure out who exactly Nina was. Why did she lie about her last name? What was she so scared of? He was a detective, and he could definitely do this.
* * * *
Nina was exhausted but she’d done it. She’d made a dozen pies for Sullivan’s as ordered. As she looked at all of them lined up on the island in the kitchen, she smiled. If this took off, she would have to order some custom boxes with a name on it. That brought tightness to her chest. She always imagined her name on the box and on a storefront. But could she do that or would putting her name out there bring Rico to her door? What would he do if he found her? Would he kill her on the spot? Would he beat her, rape her first since he failed the first time? Would he make her come back to him and to a life of abuse? She felt the tears fill her eyes, and then there was a knock at her door.
She thought it might be Cindy. Nina needed a way to get the pies to Sullivan’s. She was in a jam again and would have to rely on help from strangers or her new friends.
She opened the door and was shocked to see Buddy standing there. He looked good. Too damn good for her comfort zone.
“Good morning. Did you sleep all right?” He stepped inside. She closed the screen door, but left the wooden door opened so that she wasn’t completely closed inside with Buddy. As much as she wanted to think she was safe, she knew her judgment wasn’t good about men.
“Everything was fine. Thank you,” she said.
“Wow, you made all these from scratch?” he asked, walking around the kitchen inhaling the smells and smiling. He was truly a handsome man. He had to be in his thirties, a good eight or so years older than her. He was sporting his dress pants, the gun on his hip, his badge, and a dress shirt. He must be heading to work.