The soothing love-filled aspects of the morning clear from my body as soon as one foot enters A Healing Hand. Nate is here. This cannot be happening.
He sees me before I can register the scenario and escape.
“Hi, Mary.”
There’s that smirk of his I know all too well. It’s sick, really. He must think he’s hot stuff. I know he does, in fact. He thinks he’s God’s gift to women. Well, not this one.
I walk toward him, look him in the face, and ask, “What are you doing here? Scoping out how to destroy my life as soon as possible?” I stand tall with my shoulders back. My expression is tight, and I crinkle my eyes like I’m ready to take on any fight he throws my way.
“Th-that’s a nice greeting. No, I come in peace.” He makes a peace sign with his hands. “I came to say hello, and I was curious about the inside of your store.” Now he holds his hands up like I have a gun pointed at him. “That’s all, I swear.”
“Why do you think you’re welcome here? Why do you think I would ever want to see you, let alone have you in my store?” My voice raises a notch, and I see Ada look up at me.
She squints and puckers her lips, which is her thinking face.
“Calm down, Mary. I come in peace.”
“Stop saying that!”
He’s still smiling! I want to smear it off his face with a slap.
He puts down the book he’s holding and walks toward me.
I instinctually back away.
“You have a nice little store here.”
“Yeah, I know. And it’s not little. It’s big enough that you want to destroy it. And apparently, you realized at some point that it is mine, since you weren’t shocked at all at the town hall meeting when you saw me there. Now, please leave.” Why doesn’t he get a clue? Who wants to be in the presence of someone who doesn’t want them around? Oh yeah, people with egos the size of New York City, where I wish he’d slink back to yesterday.
“Can I help you?” Ada comes over to help me out. She also stares him down.
“No, Ma’am. I’m an old friend of Mary’s, and I thought I’d come and see her store,” he replies.
“Ada, he’s no friend of mine. This is the person responsible for this building being a pile of bricks soon. He’s leaving.” I glare at him and point to the door.
“I want you to know that I was bound to confidentiality before revealing the news. When I found out about your connection, I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t yet. Before I leave, though, as you’ve asked me so politely, I wanted to give you a heads up. I’m a gentleman like that,” he says. “Because now I’m able to speak freely about most aspects of the sale.”
“I guess I should be sooo grateful to you.” I can’t help but tsk while Ada has a permanent scowl on her face.
He seems unaffected and continues to speak. “Things are moving swiftly on this project.”
He persists, but I’m focused on the word project and still on the word little. This is just some “project” to him. It’s meaningless, just like I was to him.
“You’ll be getting a letter soon, as Mr. Bayole said in the meeting, but as an old friend, I wanted to tell you ahead of the others that you need to make sure you are finding a new space and home. Fast. I’ve never seen a deal move this quick.”
My heart hurts. Nate standing in the same vicinity does that to me. The bad news he always brings with his existence sends a signal straight to my brain, which is currently compounding with the aggravation from last night. There’s only so much a person can take at once. But I won’t let him see me sweat.
“I’ve already got some places lined up, so I don’t need a ‘heads up,’” I say with a sarcastic tone. Maybe my exaggerated scrunched-up face and attitude will cover the lie.
“That’s good to hear.” He pauses. “I’ll always look out for you, you know.” He stares into my eyes with a hint of kindness.
How does he suck me in for a fleeting moment? No, no, no, no. He’s a bad, bad man. Damn that teenager inside me.
“See you soon,” he says.
He walks toward the door as I scream out, “No, you won’t. And we aren’t friends!”
As soon as the door shuts, my heart races, and I’m speechless for what feels like hours but is probably twenty seconds. My legs feel weak. My breath desperately needs to deepen.
Ada wraps her shawl-laden arm around my shoulder, leading me to the counter so I can sit on the stool.
I haven’t even told her yet about Ian, but I don’t have the energy right now. I’ll fill her in later. Let me focus on regaining stability for now.
“You need anything, sweetie? That Nate sure is a bastard if I ever saw one. He knows you don’t want him here, but he came anyway,” she reassures me. “You know, we’re surrounded with many options to hex him in this town. Just sayin’.”
I can’t even react to her humor. “He actually tried to disguise his visit as a nice gesture. Doing me a favor.” I sigh.
“If I woulda known that was him before you came back, oh I’m tellin’ you, I’d—”
I cut her off and emphasize, “I know you’d get him!” This time, her protectiveness evokes a smile.
“That’s right.” She mumbles fight phrases as she walks away to tend to the shelf she was decorating before Nate rudely interrupted. “That no good twerp, thinkin’ he can come in and run the show. Take our store. I don’t think so!” Her feisty words are hilarious since coming from such a petite senior lady. But that fire in her can’t be denied. Much like her boss.