“Jingly,” Coop says, not looking up from his drawing.
“Stay here, son. I won’t be a second.”
Pushing up from the desk, I give my kid a quick glance before I head into the reception area. There’s a middle-aged woman standing at the desk and she looks a little relieved when she sees me.
“Oh, thank God someone is here. I was worried for a moment.”
“What can I help you with?”
“My car is making a weird knocking sound on the front end. Do you have time to look at it?”
“Sure.”
Coop is safe in my office, so I don’t feel worried. I head over to the car and pop the hood. It doesn’t take me long to identify the source of the knocking sound and I relay the bad news to the client. It’s going to need a part to fix it, one I don’t have in stock.
She takes the news well and leaves her vehicle with me. I head into the office to sort a loaner car.
As soon as I step inside, my stomach drops. Where the fuck is Coop? His pencils are scattered on the floor and his book is open, but there’s no sign of my kid.
I check the bathroom, my heart galloping in my chest. He’s not in there. I rush into the small kitchenette and find that empty, too.
Now, my panic is through the roof. I’m used to being in high-stress situations, but no amount of time spent in Afghanistan could prepare me for this feeling right here. My stomach rolls as my fear grows and a hundred scenarios race through my head.
Has he been snatched?
Has he wandered off?
Where the fuck is my kid?
10
Nia
After spending the whole of yesterday buried deep in my newly acquired storage unit, my muscles are aching this morning. I’m in the back room, trying to sort out my stock, when I hear the bell in the main room jangle, telling me someone has entered the store.
When I pop my head around the door, I see a familiar face.
Harry Fenwick.
“Harry! It’s good to see you.”
He comes to me and enfolds me in his arms. Harry is a big guy, so it’s easy to get lost in his grasp. He’s also one of my oldest friends.
When he pulls back, his gaze goes around the store. He whistles. “Damn, Nee, this place looks amazing.”
I beam with pride. I can’t help it. I worked hard to get this place looking as good as it does.
“You’re looking pretty good yourself. Have you been hitting the gym?”
He snorts, but I’m not lying. He does look good. His dark hair flecked with gray is a little longer than last time I saw him and it’s given him a much softer appearance than his usual shorter cut. The crow’s feet at the edge of his eyes are a little deeper, though—a reminder that time has ticked on while I was wrapped up in my personal drama. A reminder I should have done better to keep the people important to me in my life, despite what Thomas demanded.
“Unless you count lifting pie to my mouth or walking to the fridge as going to the gym.”
I grin. He always could make me laugh, even when things were bad. “So, you like my store?”
“I think it’s magical, darling.” He stops turning in a circle to take everything in and studies me. “You’ve come a long way from the girl hanging around the auctions, looking for a bargain.”
“Thanks to you, I have. You taught me everything I needed to know.” And more. His patience knew no bounds.
“It’s not often I have someone so intent on learning how things work.” He picks up an old bookend and examines it. “Can I say I’m proud of you? Because I’m so proud right now, I might burst, Nia.”
Something lodges in my throat.
“Okay, you can’t say things like that to me, Harry. I’ll cry.”
As it is, I feel tears welling in my eyes. I swipe at them before they can fall.
“I know things haven’t been easy for you, and the way you picked yourself back up. Well, I think you’ve done so well, girl.”
“I had a good teacher.”
The best. Harry is the closest thing I had to a father figure after the death of my own dad. He taught me everything I know about antiques—at least, everything I couldn’t learn from picking up a book.
“You were a quick student. You learned everything so fast.”
I glance down at my feet to hide my pleasure at his praise.
“Thank you.”
“So, you said something about a portrait on the phone.”
“Yes. I found it in the back of a storage unit I bought. I was wondering if we can find out some details about it. I don’t really know where to start.”
“Did it have any documentation with it? Provenance, history even?”
“Nothing. It was stuffed in the back of the storage unit like it’s not even important.” I sigh. “Anything you can find out would be great, but I’m not holding my breath much will come back from it. It’s just such an interesting piece.”
“May I see it?”
“Yeah, of course. Come with me.”
I lead him into the back room to where the portrait is leaning against a mid-nineteenth century dresser and I’m not surprised when he heads straight for it.
“I see why you’re interested in it,” Harry says, going down to his haunches to look at it closer. “It’s an intriguing piece.”
“It’s ugly, but I just wondered if we could find anything out about it before I put it up for sale.”
“I’ll have a dig around. Do you mind if I take it with me?”
“Not at all.”
He lifts the portrait by the frame and moves toward the door. “Next time I’m around let’s have lunch. I wish I had the time today, but I’m rushing off to make an auction this afternoon.”
“Absolutely. It’s been too long.”
He hugs me and then I walk him to the door. I watch as he puts Mr. Creepy in his trunk and wave him off as he takes off.
I’m about to go back inside when I notice something out of place. A little boy. It’s Jared’s son, I think.
He’s wandering around outside, looking a little lost. When he heads around the side of the building my heart starts to race. Where’s he going?
I can’t see Jared or any of the other guys working in the workshop, which makes my panic skyrocket.
I jog across the street, heading in the direction he disappeared, and see him just a little ahead of me.
“Cooper?”
He turns and smiles. “Nee Nee. Have you seen my Daddy?”
My heart doesn’t stop racing until I’m right beside him. I hold my hand out to him and he takes it without question. Safe now, I feel my pulse return to normal levels.
“Let’s go find your Daddy, okay? I’m sure he’s worried about where you are.”
“He was supposed to be back soon, but he was gone ages, and I need pee pee.”
The overshare has my brows arching, but the kid is only little, so I guess oversharing is what they do.
“Okay, we can sort that as soon as we find your daddy.”
I lead him back to the front of the garage and as we round the corner, we’re practically bowled over by Jared. He reaches out to steady me and I see the concern there before his eyes drop to his son. The concern is replaced by relief.