Page 6 of Two Favors Repaid

Emma stopped to look at herself in the full-size mirror inside her closet. The bright green and purple cotton fabric made her smile. She’d read somewhere that muted, pastel colors were the best colors for a good night’s sleep, but she’d never been a pastel kind of person. She saw life in colors and loved to surround herself with the brightest, sharpest colors she could find.

She reached up and ran a hand along her curls in an attempt to smooth them. The second her hand left her head, each curl went back to its starting place. She sighed at the resulting, frizzy mess then found herself staring at the growing bruise on her cheek, pressing it gingerly.

Ouch.

Thinking some tea would make her feel better, she made her way back to her small kitchen. She’d chosen a caffeine-free tea bag from her drawer and already had the kettle in her hand when the downstairs doorbell rang. She jumped in the air then laughed, glad that there was nobody there to see her.

“Hello?” she said quietly.

“Emma? It’s Rob.”

Emma buzzed him in and went to open the door of her apartment, unable to hide the surprise on her face as she saw him appear on the stairs. He’d never been to her apartment before. She didn’t even realize he knew where she lived.

As always, her heart sped up when she caught sight of him. With his blond locks and green eyes, he should have been handsome, but his features were only just too rugged, and his Roman nose looked like it’d been broken several times. Right now, he also wore a look of extreme disapproval.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You should have waited before opening the door,” he said, “to make sure it was really me.”

“I recognized your voice, Rob. I knew it was really you.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed.

“May I come in?” he asked.

She walked inside to her open-plan living room and kitchen and left him to close the door behind him. Realizing the kettle was still in her hand, she filled it with some more water, then put it on the stove before looking back at Rob. She was mildly curious to see what he would think of her apartment. With large paintings lining each wall, and the bright orange sofa and chaise longue, her apartment wasn’t for the faint of heart. She liked to think of the style as Bohemian chic but knew it would probably make the lawman cringe. She would bet anything his apartment was decorated in multiple tones of gray.

Rob caught her looking at him and met her gaze straight on.

“Nice place,” he said, intrigued. A faint smile played on his lips for a moment then dimmed. Emma saw his lips tremble. She wondered what it was that was upsetting him so.

Maybe something happened to Old Joe.

“Is Joe okay?”

Rob nodded quickly. “Yes, he’s fine. Still at the hospital, but fine. His son’s on a flight. He should be here soon.”

“That’s good.” The kettle whistled behind her, and Emma busied herself with the tea. “Would you like some tea, Rob?”

“Sure,” he said absentmindedly. He didn’t even look at the mug as she placed it in front of him.

She held on to her own mug, waiting for him to start speaking, but he didn’t say anything.

“Is the truck okay?”

“Pretty much totaled, but Jimmy has it in his shop.”

“And the lamp post?” she went on.

He nodded.

Since he didn’t seem inclined to get on with it, she decided to speak.

“I realized something today.” Rob’s eyebrows went up at her words, but he didn’t say anything. “I can’t keep waiting for life to happen. I’ve come up with a three-step plan to get my mojo back. Want to hear about it?”

Rob nodded uncertainly. “Sure.”

“First, I want to learn how to defend myself. Second, I’m going to go out on the water again. On a real boat. I’m hoping you can help me with both of those.”