Seaside Gifts: a Seaside romance (Hometown Romance) by Gayle Roper

Author:Gayle Roper
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Redbud Press
Published: 2015-08-18T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Mooch coughed. "In case you're interested, I'm okay too."

Nan blinked and came back to the world around her. She felt the blood rush to her face as she realized her father had seen that moment between her and Rog.

She told me you've taken up with someone unsatisfactory down here.

They didn't come more satisfactory than Rog, and she hoped Dad realized it and told Mom. She didn't want to fight them about Rog as she had about Present Perfect.

She turned to Mooch. "I'm so glad you're okay, too. After all, you're the hero here. You're the one who chased that kid, and at great potential risk to yourself."

Mooch stood straighter, and his eyes skewed to Tammy, handling a customer at the register. She kept writing information for the woman, looking up frequently with an anxious expression. She was missing all the excitement, having returned to her job like the good kid she was.

Nan decided to make a fuss over Mooch for Tammy's benefit. She went up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "That's for risking everything for Present Perfect."

Two customers who had seen at least some of the action patted Mooch on the back, and Ingrid gave him a big hug, earning a frown from Tammy. Nan bit back a smile.

She turned to speak to her father, but he was no longer paying attention to her. He was looking around the store with a frown, studying, evaluating. She swallowed hard.

"It's a great store, Nan," Rog whispered in her ear. "He's bound to be impressed, and I think he might actually admit it." As opposed to Mom, who wouldn't under any circumstances.

She watched Dad pick up a sand sculpture and turn the jar this way and that, examining it as if it were fine art. He put it down and ran a finger over a silver frame. His face gave away nothing.

Nan had to stop watching him for reactions, or she'd make herself a nervous wreck. She'd already done that this morning with her mother, and once a day was more than enough.

"Come on back to the office, Mooch, and tell me exactly what that kid did." She led the way to the back of the store. She was aware of Mooch picking up a vase on the way.

He slowed as he passed the register and Tammy. In what he must have thought was a whisper but was loud enough for the whole store to hear, he leaned toward Tammy and hissed, "Later, pretty lady."

Knowing full well he wasn't talking to her, Nan turned and gave him a huge smile. "Why, thank you, Mooch. We ladies do love to be called pretty."

Mooch stared at her, nonplussed. "Uh, you're welcome." He swallowed, then smiled broadly as if he'd been talking to her all along. Both Tammy and Rog laughed. So did Tammy's customer.

Shaking her head at the kid's chutzpah, Nan entered the office. Mooch followed and held out a beautiful vase. It was a little over a foot tall, white with stylized butterflies and blue flowers painted on it.

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