box has been stashed in her closet forever. I asked her about it once, and she said these things were for you to have one day. Something told me that day had come.”
Emma gave the box a curious look, aware that customers were starting to line up behind him. What on earth would Jack’s mom have in her closet that she thought Emma would want? “Okay. My curiosity is up.”
“I’ll put it in the back, and you can take a look when things slow down.”
“Thanks. And thank you for last night, Jack,” she said quietly.
“Just being a friend,” he said, stepping away from the register with the shoebox under one arm and his drink in the opposite hand.
None of Emma’s other friends gave her heart flutters though. Just Jack. Emma refocused on the customer who was behind him. “Good morning, Halona.”
“Thank you for last night?” Halona repeated in a whisper as she approached the counter. “Sounds like someone had a good birthday.”
Emma’s cheeks flared hot as she shook her head. “You know it’s not like that between me and Jack.” Emma grabbed a cup from the tall stack beside her. “Your usual?” she asked, moving the subject forward.
“Yes, please. I have a busy day at the flower shop, and I’m going to need this.”
“Is Brenna meeting you here this morning?” Emma asked as she prepared the drink.
Halona shook her head. “No, she has the day off, and she’s spending it sleeping in.”
“I’m jealous.” Emma placed a lid on Halona’s cup and slid it toward her.
“Me too.” Halona paid and then tasted her coffee. “Best coffee in Sweetwater Springs. See you tomorrow, Em.”
Emma greeted the next customer who stepped in front of her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jack walk back around the counter. He waved as he walked toward the front door with his drink. Emma waved back, a hot flash rolling over her as she watched him exit. No, none of her other friends or customers did that to her.
The rest of the morning went by in a blur as Emma served customers. By midmorning, all the seats at the café were full. The negative review on the A-List site was right in the sense that there was no room to take a seat with your breakfast.
“I can handle the counter,” Nina offered. “If you want to take a break and go sit down. No napping on the job this time though.”
Emma laughed. “Thanks.” She poured herself a cup of coffee, her second today, and beelined toward the box that Jack had left her. There was a Hershey’s Kiss lying on the top, which made her smile. She grabbed it, peeled off the wrapper, and popped it into her mouth, her gaze catching on the writing across the top of the box’s lid: JENNY’S THINGS.
Emma’s breath caught. Then she took a step backward, away from the box. Going through her mom’s belongings at work wasn’t a good idea. That was something that needed to be done alone.
* * *
Jack’s rain jacket wasn’t doing its job. He was drenched from head to toe, and even his boots were waterlogged as he walked along a trail in the park. A hiker had returned earlier, when the sky had just been gray and heavy with clouds, reporting evidence of a campfire near Blue Sky Point.
The skies had broken as Jack drove uphill looking for it. He’d slowed and had gotten off his ATV when he saw the pile of sticks, charred in the middle. Whoever had made it was no doubt taking shelter somewhere now. If they were on foot, they’d have very few places to go, and Jack knew all the places to hide. This was his territory, and he didn’t appreciate someone putting the area and wildlife at risk.
He shrugged deeper into the shelter of his raincoat as he climbed back on his ATV and checked a few locations that might provide a reprieve from the rain, finding nothing. Then he came across a young woman with a small child in tow. He didn’t think for a second that they were the culprit of the illegal campfire.
Jack slowed his vehicle beside them. Both were completely soaked and had obviously gotten surprised by the summer showers. “It’s a good mile back to the parking lot. Want a lift?”
The woman looked relieved. “Yes, thank goodness.” She hopped on his ATV beside him, pulling her young son close, and Jack took off down the trail, delivering her directly to her