The Echo Ridge Romance Collection

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

CARLOS BLINKED. WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED? Apparently, Anika didn’t want a knight in shining armor to save her or her Christmas tree. He nudged a piece of glass with his work boot. He looked up and saw the swish of Anika’s ponytail, probably heading toward the employee break room. Something had happened to her. Carlos recognized the look he’d seen in her bright blue eyes. It wasn’t right that a woman like her should hurt so much. Carlos figured that a man had probably been responsible for that hurt. He’d seen something like this once before, and many times in himself. Anika was pushing him away before he had the chance to get to know her. But she didn’t know how determined he could be when someone gave him a challenge. He’d been about to give up on the possibility of Anika last night, but she’d just knocked him to the ground. She probably thought he didn’t have a fighting chance. Carlos smiled and went to retrieve a broom.

He swept up the shards of glass and restacked a few boxes. When he heard someone approaching, he moved quickly back to the children’s area to finish his work. The shelves lining the wall looked great. He just needed to polish them. The light oak was perfect against the dark hardwood floor. A cheerful braided rug in rainbow colors was centered among the boxes of books and toys. Carlos looked around Kenworth’s and wondered if there was anything else he could do that would keep him in close proximity with Anika. The Kenworth building was nearly a hundred years old, and a person with an eye trained for renovation could see how much work had gone into keeping every geriatric feature in good repair. Someone had mentioned that the building had almost been demolished thirty years ago, but old man Kenworth was able to come up with enough funds to give the store a facelift and keep it going. Still, Carlos could see that much of the department store had a dated look, as if it was stuck in the 1980s.

The store was quiet and almost everyone had left, but he heard Anika speaking to her daughter occasionally. He took an armful of paper towels and his tool bucket out back. On his way in, he made a slight detour to see how Anika was coming along with her Christmas tree.

Carlos saw Megan sneak behind the counter and dart into the cupboard under the register. Then she poked her head out and tickled Anika’s leg.

“Hi Sweetie. I’m almost done and I’ll be so glad. How about you?” Anika asked.

“I’ll be so glad too, cuz Santa’s coming,” Megan replied.

Anika paused and clenched the ornament she was holding tightly in her hand. “Just remember that Santa has lots of kids to help this year so he’s only bringing one thing to our house.”

“I know and he’s bringing me the best present ever!” Megan popped out of the cupboard, bouncing up and down. “A doll house for all my dollies. He’ll bring it won’t he, Mommy?”

Anika sighed. “Meg, honey, Santa is always watching out for us, for everyone, and he wants to do the right thing. Sometimes that means we don’t get exactly what we ask for.”

“But a doll house is the right thing,” Megan said. She folded her arms and tucked herself back into the cupboard. “My dollies are tired. Can we go home now?”

“Soon.”

“Are you going to decorate a tree for our house too?

“One tree is enough for me. You can look at this one all you want,” Anika said as she hung the last few ornaments. Carlos moved toward the exit before she turned to see him eavesdropping. He carefully swept out the children’s area, the entire time thinking about what Megan had said. He missed his chance to help Anika to her car. She must have hurried out when he wasn’t looking.

Carlos brushed his hands against his pants and pulled out the card Anika had shoved at him an hour ago. He studied the slightly crumpled card in his hand. Girl, size 8, Jeans, shirt, pajamas. A flicker of an idea ignited in his mind. He smoothed the card and folded it neatly into his wallet. There might be a way to help after all.