“Delores, I can’t take this.” I say, handing it back to her.
“Nonsense. You’re the daughter I never had, but always wanted. Take the money, Natalie. Go get you a good cup of something too. You deserve it.” Delores runs her thumb across my chin, and then touches my scar on the right side of my face. “You deserve so much, sweetheart. Go get you something too, alright? And if you’re still going to yammer on about this, I’ll have you know I have an appointment at two o’clock today and I want Herold to snap this ol’ neck of mine. He’ll be no good if he isn’t jolly as a giant, now get going. You’re already running late.”
“Mum!” Aggie yells from the passenger side of the car.
I thank Mrs. Donovan again before rushing over to the car, getting behind the steering wheel and starting the car up. After I’ve slid my seat belt on and have ensured the girls have theirs on, I drive the few miles to their school and drop them off.
It takes me about five minutes to get back into town, and I park behind the chiropractor office that I work at. Herold is obviously the owner. I see his car is already here, so I walk up the back alley and head into the coffee shop next door.
The moment I walk in it’s like I’m slapped in the face with cinnamon, chocolate chips, espresso, and hazelnut scents. “Natalie, how are you today?” Chastity, their morning help asks. She’s a beautiful woman in her early twenties. She has this dark chocolate hair that comes down in loose waves. I swear it’s almost black.
“I don’t know yet,” I laugh, knowing she understands. While I have three girls, Chastity has three boys. God bless her.
“I know the feeling all too well. What’re you feeling today?”
“I need the usual for old Herold, and for me . . . hmm . . . what have you concocted?”
Chastity’s smile grows far wider than I’ve ever seen before. “Okay, so we’re kind of in the Christmas spirit here already, right? I created a white chocolate, gingerbread mocha. I know it sounds like a lot at once, but Natalie, it’s so good.”
“Alright, fix me up one then.”
“Perfect. Just a minute.”
The bell rings on the door, indicating someone else has entered the shop. I glance around to look at the artwork in the shop. The owner here has locals put their art up for sale. It’s so adorable and I love it so much. It makes this town feel a lot smaller, even though Billings is practically a major city when you consider everything that’s here.
“That’ll be four dollars and forty-five cents.” Chastity tells me, pulling me from my daze. I look down to my hand and realize I let go of the five-dollar bill Mrs. Donovan gave me at some point. Shite. This is just my luck. Chastity furrows her brows, “Everything okay?”
“I lost my cash, like an idiot.” I place my hand over my eyes, embarrassed beyond belief. “I’ll be back in a couple. It’s probably in the car. I’ll be right back, okay?” I say, my embarrassment taking over. Gosh, I’m repeating myself over and over.
I turn around and come face-to-face with a man who towers over me. He’s wearing a leather vest with a black t-shirt underneath. He must be a solid foot taller than me, making him seem rather intimidating. He smirks at me, “Mornin’.”
“Good morning. I’m so sorry, I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t worry about it, Nat. I’ll take care of him while you go out to your car.”
“Thank you!” I say, running out the door, I turn the corner and head back to the car. Sure enough, my five-dollar bill is in my center console cup holder. I open the door, grab the cash and shut it. Instead of running back around I take my time, needing a few moments to calm down my anxiousness. When I open the door to the coffee shop, Chastity has a bag sitting next to my two drinks.
“So sorry about that, here you go.” I hand it over to her but she pushes it back.
“You’re all good, girl.”
I furrow my brows. “What?”
“That handsome guy paid for your drinks and wanted to make sure you had breakfast. Super sweet, right?”
“What?” I repeat, a bit mind boggled.
“Enjoy your cream cheese Danish and sausage burrito too,” Chastity smiles devilishly. I never buy food from here often because it’s a little bit pricey, but this handsome stranger managed to buy my favorite meals.
My heart sinks into my stomach and I go from thinking this was a nice gesture to wondering if my husband sent this man after me. Fear crosses through my chest and I suddenly feel hot. Mrs. Donovan and Chastity are really my only friends in this town. I’ve kept my circle small on purpose, because I knew it was possible something like this could happen.
Chastity grabs my hand and squeezes it. “Relax, Nat. He’s just a nice guy who saw you had a rough morning, okay?”
“He’s just a nice guy,” I repeat, nodding my head, hoping I’ll believe it too. I pull my hand from her grasp and take the two drinks, plus the bag of food and start to head out the door.
“Have a great day, babe!” Chastity tells me on my way out.
I turn and face her, “You too.”
Chapter Six
“You will always be a monster, there is no turning back from it. But what type of monster you become is entirely up to you.”
~ Kanin
Natalie
“Natalie, is that you?” Herold questions from his office. I turn the corner and walk straight in.
“No, I’ve been replaced by the coffee fairy.” I joke, setting his coffee down on his desk.
“Good girl, always bringing gifts when you’re late. At least it was only five minutes today.” Herold points out, taking the coffee he brings it to his mouth and has a sip. “Mmm, so good. Chastity is a master of those machines.”
“That she is,” I agree with him.
“Speaking of masters, I’m hoping you’d be able to help me figure out this new system we have.”
“You mean the update?” Our systems had an update last night. We chose to move things around a bit because the other system wasn’t as functional and was charging the clinic double what this one will. I told Herold it didn’t make sense to keep it when it was less than what we needed and cost more than the new one.
“Yes, that. Ugh, I hate change. Why did I let you talk me into it?”
“Gee. I don’t know. ‘Cause it saves you almost two-hundred dollars a month?” I might be a bit of a penny-pincher as they call them here in the States. I can’t stand the thought of someone wasting their money for no reason, so I might’ve mentioned it to Herold when I was going over the books.
“Okay Miss Smarty Pants. You can tell me how to access the patient files then. Can’t you!?” He raises his voice. Herold is in his late-sixties and probably should’ve retired like his wife has . . . but he can’t stand to be home with her for that long. He’s flat out admitted it to me a few times, how he loves her yet can’t sit around and watch tv shows with her all day long. I can’t say I blame him. I could never be the type to sit around and do nothing either.
“Alright, you see the patient’s name?”