“I’m pleased for you,” Maisy said, and gave Morgan’s hand a gentle squeeze.
The rest of the afternoon dragged past. Wednesdays were their slowest day of the week, but due to the economy and less traffic in shopping malls, the jewelry store had suffered through a lot of slow days. Maisy worked on rearranging the display case when she sensed a customer approach. When she looked up, she nearly gasped.
Chase Furst walked toward her, wearing a smile.
Maisy hadn’t heard from him for the last week—not since their last conversation. He’d hinted at what he intended to do tofulfill her request to pay her kindness forward, but then nothing. She had to assume it was unlikely she’d hear from him again.
“You look surprised,” he said.
“How…” Shocked as she was, Maisy couldn’t seem to get her mouth to cooperate.
“How did I find you?”
She nodded, too flustered to utter another word.
“That was easy. You mentioned the jewelry store, and all I had to do was check online and there you were. Gallagher Jewels.”
He seemed to be staring at her intently before he frowned.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, as she did a quick review of her attire, wondering if a button from her blouse had come undone or her lip gloss had smeared. The way his gaze lingered flustered her.
“Sorry,” he said. “You look different from the way I remember.”
“How’s that?” Nothing was different about her. She hadn’t cut her hair or changed her style of clothing.
“Your eyes are much greener.”
Unnerved, Maisy instantly lowered her gaze.
“I meant it as a compliment.”
“Thank you,” she answered, and then, because she needed to know, she asked, “Did you…Why are you here?”
“You recently asked if I’d paid your kindness forward, remember?”
“I do,” she said, and added, “and then you said you’d tell me later, which implied you hadn’t followed through yet and didn’t want to admit it.”
He grinned and looked almost boyish. Waving his index finger at her, he said, “O ye of little faith.”
“You mean you did?” Leaning closer, she wanted to hear more, and hoped he’d decided to help Laura. It was a natural assumption after all the quizzing he’d done, asking about her friend. “Tell me.”
Before he could answer, Maisy’s uncle stepped out of his office. He looked from Maisy to Chase and then back to Maisy.
“Can I help you?” he asked Chase.
“I came to see Maisy,” Chase explained.
A little embarrassed, Maisy cleared her throat. She hadn’t mentioned meeting Chase to her uncle. She didn’t see any reason why she should. “Uncle Fred, this is my…my friend Chase.”
Chase seemed to notice how she stumbled over defining their relationship and appeared to find that amusing.
“Nice to meet you, Chase,” her uncle said. Maisy noted that her uncle’s smile was warm and inviting, as if he understood this man was more than a casual acquaintance, which he wasn’t.
“If you can spare Maisy, I’d like to take her to lunch,” Chase said.
The invitation came as such a surprise, Maisy whipped her head around to stare at him.
A sparkle flashed from Uncle Fred’s eyes. “The person you need to ask is Maisy.”
