“What do you like to do in your spare time, Toria?” Mortimer asked, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her up against him.
“I like to sew, knit, bake, and so many other things. Sometimes I even like to hide away from the world and read a novel.”
“Novels? How shocking!” He grinned, enjoying her companionship. They were starting to build a friendship that was comfortable. He hoped he’d put a little twist on things with his kiss. He wanted her to look at him as something other than a friend she could go to with her troubles.
Toria enjoyed their conversation, but she couldn’t stop thinking about how it had felt for his lips to be on hers. They talked for more than an hour about things they liked and disliked. She told him of her ideas for the store, and he liked them.
“I think we could implement all that on Saturday night while we’re doing inventory.”
“I’d like that!” She looked up at him once more, feeling a bit shy. “I liked it when you kissed me. Would you do it again?”
He blinked down at her for a moment. Even his wife of twenty years hadn’t just asked him to kiss her. Mortimer turned to her fully on the sofa and cupped her face in his hands, lowering his mouth to hers. He lingered over the kiss, pleased to know she enjoyed it as much as he did.
When he lifted his head, he whispered, “Goodnight, Toria. I look forward to seeing what adventures tomorrow has in store for us.”
“I look forward to a whole life of adventures with you.”
Toria woke with a smile on her face the following morning. Maybe she and Mortimer weren’t destined to be just friends after all. She dressed quickly and hurried into the kitchen to make a special breakfast for him. One of her favorite things was French toast, and she pulled out the ingredients to make it.
“You’ll get further with Mortimer with pancakes. The man could never turn down a well-cooked pancake. And don’t forget the bacon.”
Toria spun around to find that same woman who had been on the train and in Beatrice’s house sitting there at the table, watching her cook. “Who are you? You’ve shown up in places you couldn’t possibly be!”
“I don’t think you’re ready to know who I am, Toria. Give it some time, and I’ll tell you. For now, just accept that I’m here to help you.”
“How do you keep getting to where I am? I know the door wasn’t left unlocked. And when you showed up at Beatrice’s place, I was sitting alone in a room, and you appeared out of nowhere.”
The woman shrugged, a smile on her face. “Can you just accept the fact that I’m a benevolent presence in your life? I promise, I’m here to help you and nothing else.”
Toria frowned. “Would you be able to accept the same thing from me?”
“I already have. Make Mortimer the pancakes. French toast will just disappoint him. Pancakes.” Before Toria’s eyes the woman disappeared.
Toria blinked a few times, convinced that she must be losing her mind. But even as she knew she was losing her mind, she reached for the flour to make pancakes. She wanted to please Mortimer, and whoever the woman was, she knew Toria’s husband. At least she thought she did.
When Mortimer stumbled into the kitchen, still looking tired, he saw she’d made pancakes and his whole face lit up. “Pancakes are my absolute favorite breakfast! Thank you!”
Toria didn’t question who the woman was, she just served the breakfast she’d made, making sure to slip a cup of coffee onto the table. “I thought that might help you wake up.”
He smiled. “It will. I tossed and turned half the night. I don’t know what my problem was, but I almost felt like someone was watching me sleep. It was a very eerie feeling.”
“That would bother me too.” Toria couldn’t help but wonder if her mysterious visitor was the one who was watching him sleep. She certainly seemed to know enough about him that it was possible. “I made four dozen cookies to sell today, and some extra for your lunch.” She had to quit thinking about the mystery woman and get her mind on the tasks at hand.
“Oh, good. I’m glad you didn’t forget me.” He winked at her with a smile.
“Would you like me to come down and look at your books today? See if I can find the error?”
“I would love that. Are you sure you have the time?”
She nodded. “I’m caught up on housework. I’m going to serve leftovers from last night for lunch today, and it will only take me a couple of hours to do the baking for tomorrow. That gives me time to do whatever you need in the store.”
“Do you want to start working on your ideas for the new displays? I want to see how they work, if you don’t mind.”
“I’d love to. I’m glad you don’t mind that I want to make a few changes.”
Mortimer shrugged. “If you were wanting to make changes because you thought the food should be next to the yard goods, because women buy both, I wouldn’t be happy. The changes you’re talking about make a lot of sense to me, and I think we could help people’s shopping experience.”
“I have a few ideas about new products you could sell as well, but we’ll get to those.”
“It sounds like you made a study of the way a store should be set up before you came here. You really amaze me, Toria.”
“I studied some university marketing books when I was helping the Penuckles increase their business. Once I’d gotten their books in order, Mr. Penuckle told me that I would have to prove my worth. I doubled the store’s income in a three-month period.” Toria looked down at her hands. “I love to learn new things, and the marketing was fascinating to me.”
“That’s not something to be embarrassed about. I’m excited that you came here ready to take my store and make it more profitable. And I hate doing the books, so if you want to take that over forever, feel free!”
“I’d like that a great deal. I’ve found others use a different sort of accounting system than I do, and I would prefer to be able to use my system at all times.”
“How much work will it be to convert to the system you like?”
She shrugged. “It shouldn’t take me more than a few hours. I’m pretty quick with numbers.”
“Come down to the store as soon as you can, and I’ll show you how I do things. I’m really excited that you want to help me.”
“I’m not one to sit idle. I can go to tea parties only so many times before I lose my mind. Now if they’d provided sewing to keep my hands busy while we talked and sipped tea, then I would have been all for it.”
“Maybe you should carry your own in a bag so you have busy work at all times.” He laughed softly. “I think I’m going to keep you.”
She grinned. “We’re married, so I really don’t think you have a choice.”