A California Christmas (Silver Springs #7) - Brenda Novak Page 0,51

worry about anything. I hope you feel better soon.”

Susan thanked her, and Emery maintained her smile until Susan made her way gingerly out the back door to her car, which was parked in the alley. Then, as if fate was determined to make a liar out of Susan, the store got busy in spite of the bad weather. Emery had to focus on what she was doing to keep up, especially because she’d never worked a cash register.

Three hours passed and Susan didn’t return. So when Emery heard the bell ring over the door at three-thirty, she didn’t think anything of it. It had been ringing all day, and it was the front door, not the back. Whoever had just walked in wouldn’t be her employer.

She was so intent on continuing to manage the store alone—and get a large, boisterous family their ice cream cones and sandwiches—that she didn’t even look up until she heard a deep voice she immediately recognized.

Dallas. He was there with his two younger brothers. Dressed in faded jeans and a gray, long-sleeved T-shirt that had a picture of a stick figure rock climbing that said Roam Free, he’d just had his hair cut. Emery could tell Liam and Bentley had been to the barber, too. No doubt they were getting ready for the wedding.

She felt a strange sensation in her stomach the minute she looked up, knew her odd reaction to seeing Dallas was a result of Thursday night and cursed herself for being foolish enough to get so intimate with her new friend. Now she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from undressing him with her eyes.

He smiled, and she smiled, too—shooting for a perfunctory expression to cover her sudden self-consciousness—before finishing with her current customers.

“Hey,” she said once the large party left.

His eyes searched her face. She wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but she could guess. He had to be wondering if she was going to be true to her word and treat him the same as she’d treated him before they made love. “We were in the neighborhood and thought we’d drop by and see how you’re doing on your first day,” he said as Bentley and Liam hunched over the ice cream case, trying to decide on what they wanted.

“I’m doing okay.” She checked the clock. “Except that I’ve been on my own for the past several hours. I keep thinking Susan will be back, but...”

“Do you know where she went? Because it’s sort of strange she’d leave you alone so long already.”

“I didn’t think anything of it in the beginning. She wasn’t feeling well, and I was glad I could spell her so she could go lie down. But now I’m starving and wondering whether she’s ever going to take over so I can buy some food. I would’ve packed a sandwich if I’d known I wouldn’t be able to get away.”

“I’ll grab you something from down the street,” he said. “What would you like?”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll survive. I’m just beginning to worry that something might’ve happened to her. She gave me her cell phone in case I had a question or couldn’t figure something out. Maybe I should call her.”

“I’ll have an ice cream sandwich with confetti ice cream and sugar cookies,” Liam piped up, so intent on the treats offered in the store he seemed oblivious to their conversation.

Bentley chose Oreo cookie ice cream between white chocolate chunk macadamia nut cookies.

“And what would you like?” she asked Dallas.

He ordered a coffee, said he wasn’t much for sweets when she asked if he was sure he wouldn’t rather have ice cream, and paid for the three of them.

“Thanks for coming in,” she said, and breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone. She’d promised him it wouldn’t be awkward between them, and she was trying to keep that promise by acting as though it wasn’t. But their night on the beach had definitely altered something.

Fortunately, she had a break in the amount of traffic in the store after that, and she used the time to clean up. She still hadn’t decided whether to bother Susan. Maybe her new employer had been so exhausted she’d dropped into a deep sleep and Emery shouldn’t disturb her.

She decided to give Susan one more hour before calling and went into the back, where no customers would be able to see her eat a cookie to stave off the hunger pangs. But before she could take her first bite, the