The Christmas Thief by Julie Carobini Page B

table.
    “Is that what all this questioning is about?” She crossed her arms, her laughter without much mirth. “You think Jeremy sent me flowers, and then ran off with the boss’s daughter? Man, that would have made me a little testy.”
    He rubbed his face, his hand scraping across stubble. For the first time, the confidence in his eyes wavered. She kind of enjoyed seeing that. “I suppose I misjudged the situation,” he said.
    “I suppose you did.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Marc? Why do you care who sent me the flowers? Or if Jeremy and I had a thing going? Aren’t I the enemy?”
    He shook his head. “I thought I already ... no. No, I don’t think you’re a criminal, Tasha.”
    “Gee, thanks.”
    “You’re really not going to let me get off the hook easily, are you?”
    “No.” His dark eyes turned into pools of sadness and she sighed, exasperated. “Sit down,” she said, pointing to a seat at the end of the table. As he took a seat, she did too. “The roses are from my ex.”
    He listened and nodded, but didn’t say anything.
    “Roger called off our wedding less than two days before we were to walk down the aisle.”
    “Oh, Tasha.”
    She waved a hand at him. “It was hard at first. Very hard. But I moved here to start fresh in this beautiful place, even though the house does need a ton of work. I figured the peace and quiet would be good for me ...”
    “And then I showed up with my work crew.”
    “Right. Well, best laid plans and all of that.” She idly splayed her left hand on the table. He reached for it and she darted a look at him.
    “You know you drive me crazy, don’t you?” For once, she couldn’t say a thing. He kept holding her hand and staring at her. “I just have one question,” he said, his voice a dark whisper.
    She quirked her head, waiting.
    “Do you want him back?”
    ~~~
    Early the next morning, Tasha slipped out the door, coffee in hand, and settled on a cushioned seat on the small patio on the front side of her cabin, the one overlooking the street and the sea beyond it. The eastern sunrise cast a red and yellow glow across the sky, but nothing about the water looked amiss. The waves appeared calm today, with only an occasional slosh against the cliff’s edge. She took a sip of her hot coffee. Marc had asked her a question last night, and though she knew the answer deep in her heart, she hadn’t divulged it fully to him.
    Now as she sat here contemplating the day, she wondered why. As it was, they spent the evening talking just about everything else—trivial to significant—in their lives. He had expressed his sympathy for her broken heart, and she in turn had felt her chest clench more than once when he told her that he’d lost both of his parents before he’d turned eighteen.
    No wonder he had such a soft spot for Andy and the other crew members.
    “We need to get a move on!” Helena huffed her way along the road, her tiny hands rolled into even smaller fists.
    Jim trailed behind, his pet beagle coughing and straining forward. “For once in your life, woman, stop trying to control everything!”
    Tasha shrank back in her chair as if she were about to be caught eavesdropping. Again. Kind of unfair, considering she’d spent far less time on this patio than she imagined she would.
    “Well, hullo, Miss Tasha!” Mr. Cho drew up behind Jim, Courtney prancing along beside him.
    The morning had become a regular neighbor brigade. She waved to Mr. Cho from her perch, causing Jim to swivel a look at her. His scowl morphed into a smile. After they moved on, a truck pulled up in front of Marc’s lot, followed by another.
    With one last glance out to sea, Tasha drained her coffee cup. She took the activity around her as a sign that it was time to get to work.
    ~~~
    After another long day’s work, Tasha stepped out of her car and lingered by the edge of the road. A crew of four guys including Marc were ogling their day’s progress. She knew this day was coming, the