Nickels (32 page)

In another five minutes, she was standing in front of his
door.  What had possessed her to do this?  She had second thoughts as she stood
posed ready to knock.  The door swung open and Brenda Jacobs jumped back in
surprise.

“Niki!” Brenda exclaimed before wrapping her in a big hug. 
Guess that answered the question of whether or not Brenda and Rick held a
grudge from the weekend.  Was that really only three days ago?

“Come on in,” Brenda said holding the door open.  “Kyle,
Niki’s here.  I’m just gonna run down and get your mail.”

Niki entered as Brenda exited.  She looked at the dining
table turned laundry table.  Moving to the kitchen she set the food down on the
counter as Kyle entered the kitchen from his new bedroom.

“What’s this?” he asked pointing to the food.

“I thought I’d stop by before Bible study.  The idea grew
into bringing dinner, too.  Hope you don’t mind.”  She laughed nervously. 
Maybe she’d gone overboard.

Kyle put her out of her misery with a huge grin.  “I think I
like the new Niki.  She’s always bringing me food.”

Brenda popped back in from outside.  “Oh, Niki.  That was so
kind of you to cook for Kyle last night.  And look, you’ve brought dinner again
tonight.”  She looked at her son with an odd expression, probably some
mother-son telepathy.

Brenda set the mail on the counter and started clearing the
stack of laundry from the table.  “Let me just get this cleared off and then
I’ll be out of your way.”

“You’re not staying?” Niki asked.

“Oh no.  Rick will want his dinner sometime before eight. 
I’ve made a nuisance of myself long enough today.”  Brenda made three trips
from the table to Kyle’s room with the laundry before giving Kyle a big hug and
a kiss on the cheek.  “Call us tomorrow, to let us know how you’re doing.  And
if your back gets bad like this again, you call us, you hear?  There’s some
benefit to living in the same town as your mama.”

“Yes, Mom.”  He rolled his eyes for Niki’s benefit.

“I saw that,” Brenda said, gathering her things.  “You two
have fun.  And why don’t you come out for dinner in a couple of weeks?  I’ll
call with the date.”

In her whirlwind wake, Brenda was gone.

As Kyle turned from closing the door behind his mother, Niki
noticed how much better he looked today.  He was clean shaven and neatly
dressed.  His color returned to normal and his eyes were clear.  He looked… 
Perfect.

Niki cleared her throat.  “Um, well, shall we eat?”

She grabbed the salad mix and opened it.  Finding a bowl,
she mixed it together before setting it on the table.  He pulled two plates
from the dishwasher and some silverware from the drawer.  Together, they set
out the meal quickly.

Taking the seat to the right of his, she bowed her head.

“Would you like to say grace?”

Her head shot up as her throat constricted.  “I wouldn’t
know what to say.”

“Just thank God for the food.  There’s no right or wrong
thing to say.”  He squeezed her hand.  “Come on.  You can do it.”

“Promise you won’t laugh.”

He smiled.  “I won’t.”

Niki bowed her head.  “Um.  God, thank you for this food and
thank you that Kyle looks better today.  Um.  Help me not to look stupid
tonight.  Amen.”

“Good job,” he said reaching for the chicken.  “Why would
you look stupid tonight?”

She wished she could pull those words back.  Too late, so
she might as well explain it.  “It’s just that I have no idea what to do in a
Bible study—or what to say.  I’ve been nervous all day.”

He gave her funny look.  “It’s just the gang.  No one is
going to think anything bad about you.  Everyone loves you.  Beside, we’re all
learning.”

She stuffed a forkful of the Caesar salad into her mouth so
she wouldn’t say anything else.

“So, were you here last night?”

“Yeah, how do you think you got a big pan of lasagna in your
fridge?”

“I remember that.  What I don’t really remember is how my
bedroom furniture ended up downstairs.  Or how I got to bed.”   His cheeks
flushed a bright red.  “But, somehow I remember thinking you were here.”

She smiled.  Should she tell him, or let him wonder for a
few days?  “Evil Niki thinks she should just let you guess what happened.  But
angelic
Niki might be inclined to fill in a few of the gaps.”

At her emphasis on “angelic,” Kyle’s face went even deeper
red.  “I called you an angel or something like that didn’t I?”

She put one finger to her lips and tapped.  “Hmm.  I guess
angelic Niki would tell you yes, something like that.”

He swallowed the bite of food in his mouth.  “I really need
to get some new meds.  These mess with my head.  Guess I must have embarrassed
myself last night.”

“Don’t worry.  Marcy and I were the only witnesses.”

“Okay.  That must be evil Niki now.”  He laughed.  “I
suppose you owe me a few digs.”

“Naw.  You’re slate has been wiped clean.”

They both focused on their food for a few minutes, before
Niki spoke.  “Chad, Matt, and Joe moved all the furniture.  Marcy and I managed
most everything else.”

“So,” she said changing the subject.  “You’re looking better
today.”

Kyle snorted.  “I think anything would have looked better
than yesterday, right?”

“Well, you weren’t quite to the mountain man look yet, but
getting close.”

“I do feel much better.  Sleeping on my bed helped.  That
and doing absolutely nothing for three days.  I should be at work tomorrow.”

She blew out a sigh of relief.  “That’s good.  Todd is… 
Well he’s being Todd again.  Let’s just say, you’re gonna be busy the next two
days.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

Niki checked the time on her phone.  “I need to get going.”  She
stood, taking her plate to the sink.

“I’ll get this.  Thanks for everything.”

The sincerity in his eyes warmed her heart as she gathered
her things.  “See ya tomorrow then.”

Chapter 29

Friday morning, Niki headed to work a little earlier than
usual.  She wanted to get in and double check a few things before Todd reared
his ugly head.  Okay, maybe that was a bit unfair.  But, yesterday he’d been
impossible—destroying the great feeling she had when she left Bible study on
Wednesday night.

The Bible study had been great.  Everyone was so kind and
made her feel like she belonged.  They talked about a passage in Romans—Marcy
helped her find it.  She even asked a few good questions that Matt admitted
challenged the rest of them.  She left feeling like she was part of something
bigger than herself and that these friends would help her continue to grow.

That new warm feeling of belonging shattered on Thursday morning
during the status meeting.  Todd threw a fit about them not being ready for the
simulation.  They weren’t scheduled until today.  Why was he constantly shaving
a day off here and there?

Then, as if Todd hadn’t been bad enough most of the day, he
walked into the break room when Niki and Kyle just happened to be there.  She
had been talking to Kyle about the simulation.  But, Todd took one look at them
and made some comment about keeping romance out of the office.  Then he
threatened her, well sort of, saying she needed to stay focused on the job and
stop trying to find a husband or she might just find herself with another
client.

Today was a new day.  She set her laptop down in her cube
then started rubbing her temples.  It was too early in the morning to get a
headache.

Remembering her conversation with Doug yesterday wasn’t
helping.  She let Todd get in her head and she asked Doug if he saw whatever it
was that Todd did.

“Um… Yah,” Doug said.  “Kyle’s totally into you.  And since
the Fourth you’ve been acting all weird around him.”

“Have not.”

“If I didn’t know you better, Nik, I’d think you like him.”

After Doug’s hard-to-hear honesty, she stormed back to her
cube.  Things were getting complicated—exactly what she was trying to avoid. 
She thought about Kyle a lot.  Too much.

The idea of dating him sent little tingles radiating from
her heart.  Two weeks ago, she would have thought the idea ludicrous, but now… 
She kinda hoped maybe he would ask her out.

Regardless of her feelings, she must maintain a professional
air with him at the office.  If others thought they were dating it could really
cause some problems.  It would fuel Todd’s hatred against her and that would
not end well for her.  This is why she didn’t date clients.

But, Kyle had become so much more than just a client.  He
was a friend.  Her best friend’s brother.  The guy who led her to Jesus.  And,
just maybe, the guy who was stealing her heart.  Yep.  Things with him were
definitely complicated.

Niki poked the power button on her laptop.  She needed to
focus.  Stay focused on work.  Stop thinking about all of this.

Bringing up the code, she ran through a few tests from her
laptop.  Everything looked good.  She had nothing to fear.  They were ready for
the advanced maneuvers simulation.  So why did she have this bad feeling?

Pushing her chair back from her desk, she went to the break
room to get some coffee.  The clock on the wall said six thirty.  No coffee had
been made yet, probably because no one else was insane enough to be at work
this early.  She dug around in the cupboard to find the coffee packets and a
filter.  She filled the coffee maker with water.  When she tried to pull the
little tab on the coffee packet, it ripped off without leaving a hole for the
coffee grounds to pour out like it was supposed to.  She tried pulling it apart
like she would open a bag of chips.  Just as she almost had it, a noise from
the doorway startled her.

“You’re here early.”  Kyle’s voice came, followed by the pop
of the coffee packet exploding all over her.

She stared at the shower of coffee grounds covering her
blouse, skirt, and shoes.  It was everywhere.  Probably in her hair.  Kyle
snickered then tried to keep a serious expression as she started brushing the
little black dust from her ensemble.

He retrieved a new packet from the cupboard and finished
preparing the coffee while she still tried to clean up her mess.

“Guess I’m not the only one nervous about today,” she said.

“Nervous?  I’m not nervous.  I just got a message that there
might be a damsel in coffee distress this morning and that my presence might be
needed to rescue her.”  He took a step closer and lifted his hand to her face.

Not here.

“You have some coffee grounds right here,” he said, rubbing
his thumb across her cheek.

“What are you two doing?” Todd’s accusing voice assaulted
her ears.

Niki jumped back a step.  Great.  That reaction will surely
convince Todd that there’s nothing going on between them.

“Making coffee.  Niki had a run-in with the coffee packet,” Kyle
said, wagging the empty packet in the air.

“Sure didn’t look like much
coffee
was being made,”
Todd said snidely.  Did he have any other tone?

She closed her eyes.  Maybe she was stuck in some strange
dream and when she opened her eyes it would all fade away.  She opened her
eyes.  Nope.  Angry Todd and calm Kyle stood there.  Both of them looked at
her.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see if I can free my hair
from the coffee explosion.” Turning on her heel, she rushed towards the women’s
restroom.

Behind the safety of the women’s restroom door, Niki took a
deep breath.  Could this day have started any worse?  She leaned closer to the
mirror.  Bits of black coffee dusted her face and neck and hair.  She leaned
over and shook out her hair.  Most of the coffee grounds dislodged.  Taking a
slightly damp paper towel, she dabbed her neck and face, trying not to lose too
much of her makeup in the process. 

When she fixed her appearance as much as possible, she
returned to the blissfully empty break room.  She slid a cup from the stack and
poured a cup of coffee.  After adding flavored creamer to it, she returned to
her desk.  Another cup of coffee sat on her desk holding down the corner of a
yellow sticky note.  “Hope your day gets better.  K.”

Heat rushed to her face.  She carefully pulled the yellow
sticky note from her desk and rubbed her thumb across the words.  A smile
curled her lips.  She leaned down and put the note in her purse.  For some
reason, she wanted to hold onto it for awhile.  Maybe she was losing her mind. 
Maybe coffee grounds when absorbed through the skin and hair made a person
overly sentimental.  Or maybe just mental.

She sighed.  This day had to get better.

Then, she remembered what Marcy said on Wednesday night. 
She told Niki she could pray no matter where she was.  It was kind of like
talking to God in your head.

God, um.  Please let everything go good with the
simulation.  Thanks.