It Started with a Snap by Piper James

Chapter Five

Ember

“I’m sorry, Miss Ember. I can’t patch it up like before. The condenser is dead and needs to be replaced.”

I frowned at him. “Jesse, I asked you to call me Ember. Leave off the Miss. You know it makes me feel old.”

He ducked his head in agreement, but I knew he’d revert back to the respectful title the next time we spoke. The kid had proper southern manners bred into him.

“How much is it going to cost to replace it?” I asked, but he was shaking his head before I finished.

“I can’t do it, Miss—er, Ember. My dad lets me do the small odd jobs while I’m learning, but this is too big for me to handle. The compressor and the evaporator coil need to be replaced, the wiring was held together by duct tape and chewing gum, and the air ducts are clogged with dust bunnies. The whole system needs an overhaul, and I already called Dad. He can’t fit you into the schedule for another month, at least.”

“A month?” I mouthed, then snapped my jaw shut.

It didn’t matter how long it took. I couldn’t afford this. I didn’t know exactly how much it would cost, but I was sure it would be in the thousands of dollars.

Maybe I could work out some kind of payment plan with Jesse’s dad. We’d known each other for years. In fact, I babysat for him and his wife when Jesse was two or three. He’d been friends with my dad before he died, which was why he always sent Jesse to help me out when I had a problem at the boutique.

And I’d seen a fucking lot of Jesse in the last several months.

“I can get you a list of HVAC guys, if you want,” Jesse offered, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Okay, thanks,” I said with a fake smile, knowing I wouldn’t use the list.

I couldn’t.

What in the hell am I going to do?

Jesse shifted his weight from foot to foot, looking incredibly uncomfortable before bobbing his head and giving me a muffled goodbye. He darted out, and when the door swung closed behind him, the wire connecter that secured the bells to the bracket over the door snapped, and the bells fell to the floor.

“Why not?” I whispered, a manic laugh bursting through my lips as I walked over to pick up the string of bells. “Everything else in this godforsaken place is broken, so why not these?”

My laughter quickly turned into a sob, and I thanked God above that I was alone in the store. I hurried back to my office in the back, dropped the bells on my desk, and grabbed the box of tissues I’d left there the last time I had a head cold. Plucking several tissues from the box, I dried my eyes and blew my nose.

I needed to get back out there. Without the bells, I’d have no warning if someone came—

“Ember? You here?”

I stiffened as Belle’s voice rang out from the front of the store. Shit. I checked the mirror on my office wall as I called out that I’d be right there. My eyes looked a little bloodshot, but not swollen from the tears I’d shed. If she asked, I could just tell her I was sleep-deprived and hungover.

When I walked back out into the boutique, I spotted Belle, one hand resting on the handle of her baby stroller, and Sage, flipping through a rack of new arrivals I’d showcased near the entrance.

“Hey, guys,” I said, moving toward them with what I hoped passed for a genuine smile.

“Hey,” Sage said, giving me a quick hug when I reached them. “Chase and Ryder had to run out for an emergency job, so we decided to do a little shopping. How’s everything with you?”

“Good,” I said, widening my smile. “Where’s Daniel?”

“He went with Chase,” she said, tilting her head. “Why is your face doing that thing?”

She swirled a finger in front of my mouth, and my smile dropped. I looked to Belle for backup, but she was giving me the same narrow-eyed stare as Sage.

“What do you mean? I was smiling,” I said, my voice carrying an edge that I knew would give me away. Shit.

“If that’s what you want to call it,” Sage said, her head shaking slightly. “Is something wrong?”

“No,” I said, striving for nonchalance. “Just hanging out here until Patty comes in to relieve me. Then I’m heading over to Dakota’s to pick up Kane. I guess they have to leave early in the morning for the airport.”

“Seems legit,” Belle said, the words slow and measured like she didn’t believe for a minute that nothing was wrong with me. Then she frowned and pulled her shirt away from her body. “Why is it so fucking hot in here?”

I stilled, my mouth opening and closing several times as I searched for words to explain why this place felt like the armpit of hell without admitting the truth. There were no words. I was going to have to tell them the a/c was broken, but I could play it off like it was no big deal. It was Sunday. I couldn’t find anyone to fix it until after the weekend. Yeah. It could work.

“The—”

My words cut off when a loud snapping sound echoed around us. Belle ducked over the stroller, protecting Jamie out of pure instinct. Sage ducked, too, covering her head as if the entire ceiling was falling in.

In the deafening silence that followed, I looked around and spotted a jagged wooden beam poking through the ceiling over one of the dressing rooms. Small, translucent-white insects swarmed the edges for a few seconds before disappearing up through the hole in the ceiling the broken beam had created.

“Was that…termites?” Belle asked, staring at the hole with her mouth hanging open.

“I don’t know. I guess,” I breathed, feeling the tears pooling in my eyes again.

It was too much. I couldn’t handle this, not on top of everything else. My shoulders began to shake as sobs wracked my body. I felt arms circle around me before Belle whispered soothing words in my ear. I heard the front door lock, and looked up to see Sage flipping the “open” sign to “closed.”

Belle led me back to my office and sat me down in my chair. Sage walked in right after, pushing the stroller. Jamie had slept through the whole thing.

“Start talking,” Belle said once I’d gotten the crying under control and blew my nose several times. “I knew something was up with you. You’re a terrible liar, but I’ve let it go, thinking you’d tell us when you were ready. And I’ve decided you’re ready. Right this minute.”

I found myself blurting out the whole sordid story—the broken air conditioner, the other issues in the store and my apartment upstairs, the bells, and now, the termites. I sobbed when I admitted my lack of insurance and my inability to pay for the repairs the place needed.

“Jesus, Ember,” Sage said. “Why didn’t you say anything? You know we could have helped. Hell, the guys would’ve had all this shit fixed months ago.”

“I’m calling Ryder,” Belle said, pulling her phone from her diaper bag.

“No, don’t,” I said quickly. “I’ve got this under control.”

They both looked at me like I had antennae sprouting from my head. My body sagged back into the chair, and I motioned for her to go ahead.

I so fucking did not have any of this under control.

And unless I wanted to lose my business and my home, I needed to accept help from my friends. I swallowed my pride and nodded when she told me Ryder was on his way. I let them lead me outside and into the coffee shop up the street to wait, a place where the drinks were hot and the air was pleasantly cool.

And little by little, the weight that had been piling on my shoulders lifted. Everything was going to be okay.

I was so fucking lucky to have friends like these. And I wasn’t going to forget it again.