“I concur,” Drew said, taking off in another direction, Gabby still in his arms.
“I’ll text you!” Gabby hollered.
Noel pulled his hand away. “You better!”
Nick slid his arms around her waist, hugging her. “You two are crazy.”
“I will take the insanity. You don’t know what it was like when she wasn’t talking to me. It’s only happened a few times since we were fourteen and never for very long, but it’s like a hole in my heart.” She nudged him with her shoulder. “Kind of like when you were gone.”
Nick turned her around and kissed her nose. “The good news is, I’m not going anywhere.”
Noel didn’t immediately respond and he noted the way her eyes darted to the side. She still didn’t believe he really wanted to be with her and that was okay. They had plenty of time for him to prove it.
“What do you want to do next?”
“I think I need to hit the little girl’s room before we stray too far from it.”
“Gotcha. I’ll wait over there.”
“Stalker.” She waved her hand, disappearing behind the tile partition.
Nick grinned, leaning back against the wall of the community center. Life had a crazy way of taking you right where you needed to go. A month ago he couldn’t wait to get home and be with Amber and she’d dumped him. If she hadn’t done that and if Trip hadn’t moved on with Jillian, he wouldn’t be as happy as he was right now. He wanted to believe that even if they hadn’t been single at the same time, right when he got back into town, that they still would have found themselves feeling this way, but who knew?
Nick copied the link to “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer and sent it to her. He could just imagine her expression when she came out of the bathroom, shaking her head, that smile on her lips.
“Hey, Nick.”
Nick winced at Amber’s high-pitched greeting. “Hi.”
His ex wore a fuzzy red off-the-shoulder sweater and blue jeans tucked into black boots. Her glossy red lips wore a broad smile, with just a touch of pleading.
“I know you’re probably busy and I hate to ask but, can you help me? My tire’s flat and I don’t know how to change one.”
Nick couldn’t imagine why women didn’t learn how to change their own tires. Noel could change a tire faster than he could. It was pretty impressive.
“I’m waiting for Noel. Isn’t there someone else you can ask?”
Her smile dimmed a bit, and a guilty twinge pinched his conscious, but he pushed it aside. Any other citizen he’d have already been out the door, but with everything he’d learned about Amber, he knew the chances of her having ulterior motives were high.
“Really? You can’t just pop out for a minute to help? Otherwise, I’m going to have to sit outside and wait for AAA.”
Then again, Noel had nothing to worry about. No matter what Amber tried, Nick wanted nothing to do with her.
“Fine. I’ll help you.”
Amber’s blue eyes lit up and she beamed. “Oh thank you! You are a life saver.”
“Just give me a minute. I want to wait for Noel.”
“Oh, sure. I get it.”
Noel came out of the bathroom a few seconds later with his sister, Holly. Noel noticed Amber first and her smile faded, her gaze shifting back to Nick.
“Hey, Amber’s tire is flat. Do you mind if I step outside and take care of it for her?”
Noel cleared her throat. “Of course not.”
“Thanks, Noel. You’re a peach,” Amber said, sweetly.
Holly glared at her. “There’s a hundred tutorials on YouTube that will show her how to change a tire.”
“I’ll be quick.” He leaned over and kissed Noel’s forehead. “I’ll find you in a bit.”
“Sure. Come on, Holly. I want to see your tree again.”
His sister kept giving Amber the evil eye until they disappeared into the crowd.
“Shall we?” Amber asked.
Nick nearly told her he’d changed his mind and she needed to find someone else, but Noel said it was fine. He loved her. Noel had to know that. She trusted him at the very least and he’d be quick.
Nick followed behind Amber out the side door to the gravel parking lot. The place was packed but luckily, she’d parked off to the side in the last stall. He grabbed her spare from the trunk of her car along with the jack and tools, wanting to get this done and be back at Noel’s side.
Amber leaned up against her car, watching him work.