“I hope you do,” she responded.
And just like that, he gave it a shot. He looked into her eyes. He sensed the presence there, beyond her pretty appearance. It was like a light, shining out from within her. He was startled that he’d never noticed the intensity of her presence before.
What feels good right now? he asked himself. Then, the words came to his lips. It was like his body knew what to do—exactly what to say. “You said that whoever is blackmailing your father sent an email, is that right?”
Half of her face was hidden by shadow, the other half beautifully illuminated by the soft light cast down from the lamp above. She nodded.
“You could trace it to the computer it was sent from,” he said. “That might help you figure out who sent the message.”
“Sebastian, that’s a great idea,” she said, a grin forming on her lips. “Do you know how to do that?”
“I can figure it out,” Sebastian said.
She laughed. “Let me guess—it’s not rocket science?”
He laughed, too. “I’ve got a few connections,” he said. “Can you send the original email to me?”
She nodded, pulled out her phone, tapped the screen a few times and then held it out to him. “Can you put in your contact info?” she asked.
He entered his contact information. As he handed the phone back to her, their hands brushed. He felt the familiar surge of energy that he’d noticed anytime she was near.
She pulled back quickly, and he wasn’t sure if it was because she noticed the tension, too, or if she was eager to get away from him.
She pointed right. “I’m down this way.” She tucked a loose strand behind her ear and looked down the shadowy street.
He was about to offer to walk her the rest of the way home instead of continuing on his way to his own apartment, but she spoke before he could.
“I’d better leave you here,” she said. “It’s nice getting to know you a little bit, Sebastian.”
“You too, Bridget,” he said, just before she waved goodbye, turned, and walked away.
11
Beauty
Bridget yawned as she pulled open one of the double glass Glitter Cup front doors. A toddler carrying a tiny, glittery pink cup of milk was too busy sucking up the yumminess of her drink to see Bridget, and Bridget narrowly avoided a collision.
She stepped aside and held the door open as she finished her yawn. It had been a long night of tossing and turning—she doubted she got more than three hours of sleep, all told. She was too anxious to sleep. The blackmailer was expecting payment that very night, at midnight. She had to crack the case soon.
She’d intended on getting to work at seven—two hours early—but since she hadn’t fallen asleep until the wee hours of the morning, she’d decided to ignore her alarm and stay in bed until eight. It was now almost nine.
“You look just like I feel,” a young mother, who was chasing the toddler through the open doors, said. She had a baby bump and another child at her side.
Bridget managed a smile. “Omph... I think it’s time for coffee!” she said to the mother.
Once she made it inside, she was about to head over to the café when Jeremiah caught her eye. He was behind the register on the bookstore side of things. He waved her over.
“I printed out the HR forms for Adrienne to sign,” he said as soon as she reached him. “And I’m going to ask her out. Look at what I did.” He held up a paperback book. There was a UFO on the cover, along with a woman in a white dress. A man carrying a glowing green sword had his arms around the woman, and there was an alien, along with a horse, in the background.
“It’s the newest book in the Galaxy Rider series by Buster Leeman,” Jeremiah said. “I’m going to give it to Adrienne, with the papers inside! I sort of got her into the series. She likes how the protagonist is sort of known for rising up out of the ashes. Do you think that’s romantic...? Or just weird?”
Bridget wanted to say “weird,” but couldn’t bring herself to crush Jeremiah like that.
“Um... I think it’s... well, it could be a nice gesture, Jeremiah. But maybe I should talk to her before you spring this on her.”
His face fell.
“The book is great,” she said. “It’s really thoughtful. Adrienne is going to love it. But maybe just give it to her separately, once the paperwork is sorted out. I’m her immediate superior. I’ll talk to her about the HR forms. Then, once it’s signed, and maybe when you two are on your own personal time—not here at work—you could give her the book.”
“Right, right,” he said. “You’re right. Absolutely. Okay... That’s what we’ll do.” He pulled out two white pages that had been folded and tucked into the middle of the paperback.
“Here are the HR forms. I already signed my part. They just need her signature.”
“I’ll handle it,” Bridget promised.
She left him as he started wrapping the book in gift wrap, and headed over to the café.
As usual, there was a short line, and her staff was bustling behind the counter.
“I have a triple shot caramel macchiato with soy for Hannah!” Sean shouted out. This was followed quickly by Adrienne’s, “and a plain bagel with butter for Inez!”
Christine was chatting, smiling at the customer before her, while making a note on a paper cup in marker. She passed the cup over to Sean.
Bridget stepped behind the counter. She was determined to talk to Christine today, no matter how busy and hectic things were. Her father’s future depended on it. After tossing her jacket and purse into the office chair, she moved over to the hangers of aprons. It was so hard to get a moment alone with Christine in the back room yesterday, she thought. I’m just going to have to join her up at the register and talk to her between customers. She found the apron that she wore when she jumped in on the service line with her crew.
She didn't feel excited at the prospect of trying to question Christine while the busyness of the café buzzed around them—not to mention the fact that Adrienne and Sean would be within hearing distance. It might be hard for Christine to be honest about what she’d seen or noticed that morning with her coworkers listening in.
“Oh well,” Bridget whispered to herself. “I gotta do what I gotta do.”
Resolved to make the best of it, she headed out to join her staff. Christine was standing at the register, and to Bridget’s surprise, so was Sebastian. Not only was he two hours early for his shift, he was also dressed in a clean uniform shirt, a crisp apron, and his nametag was square on his chest. His khaki pants looked pressed. There wasn’t a smile on his face, but there was no frown, either, which was progress.
She approached them just in time to hear Christine say, “Nice job, Sebastian! You handled that order perfectly.”
“Sweet,” he said. “I think I can do this.”
“Of course you can!” she chirped, while giving him a pat on the back. “You take the next one, too.”
The two of them turned to face Bridget as she joined them. “Good morning,” Bridget said to Sebastian. She was curious about whether or not he’d been able to track the email, but she didn’t want to ask him in front of Christine. So instead, she said, “I didn’t see you come in. You’re early!”