Page 62 of One Kind Soul

“Rada, it’s okay.” He put his hands on her shoulders and her face immediately relaxed. His touch apparently soothed everyone. “We’re nearly finished cleaning. The shelves will be ready to restock and that’s where I’ll need your help most.”

She nodded then looked at Nicole.

Christian put his arm around Nicole’s shoulders. “Rada Ahmid, this is Nicole Travers. Nicole, this is Rada, my amazing store manager.”

They shook hands. “Nice to meet you,” Nicole said.

“And you as well.” Rada bowed her head a bit in greeting. “Ben and Jared said you were beautiful. They were correct.”

Nicole had met Ben and Jared earlier in the week when they came over to help Christian paint a few rooms in the farmhouse. They’d been fun, telling her some embarrassing Christian stories, and it was as if they were extra Henley brothers. They were here now too, carting away debris in their pickup trucks. How nice it was for Christian to have all these people in his life who knew him so well and cared about him.

She had Tessa. She had her parents too, but they weren’t all that close. Growing up with Lynda had kept Nicole separate from too many things. Being here in Vermont made that abundantly clear.

“She is gorgeous, isn’t she?” Christian stepped over to stand beside Rada and give Nicole an appraising look.

“Stop it.” Nicole pulled her light sweatshirt a little tighter around her.

Christian stilled her hands on her sweatshirt. “You stop it. Don’t hide a thing.”

“I agree with him,” Rada said. “Flaunt what you have while you have it.”

“Hey, Rada!” Aliza called from her car. “Come do yoga with us!”

Rada looked at Christian. “Go ahead,” he said. “We’re all taking a break now. We’ll finish up after.”

“Okay.” Rada ducked into her car to grab her purse then with a squeeze on Christian’s forearm, she headed to Aliza’s car.

“You go ahead too,” he said to Nicole. “Get all properly stretched. I have plans for you tonight and you don’t want to pull a muscle.” He kissed her, the smooch full of naughty promises that curled Nicole’s toes in her sneakers.

“Pulling a muscle would be totally worth it.” She hugged him then darted off to join Tessa and Rada in Aliza’s car.

Aliza pulled out of the driveway and Nicole noted the police car that fell into line behind them.

“Are they following us?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Tessa said. “Donovan asked him to. Another car is staying at the farm.”

Nicole hated this need for additional security. “I wish Lynda would come after me and get it over with.”

Aliza shook her head. “Let’s hope for Lynda getting caught by the police instead before she comes after anybody.” She looked at Nicole in the rearview mirror. “If she’s here.”

“She’s here. I’m sure of it. The way that store was trashed has vindictive written all over it and that’s Lynda’s middle name.”

Rada reached over to rub her arm. “Karma will do its job.”

God, Nicole hoped that was true.

When they arrived at Aliza’s studio, Tessa advised them to wait a second for the police car to pull into a parking spot nearby. These extra precautions made Nicole want to scream.

Inside the studio, some of the tension in Nicole’s shoulders released as Aliza led them through a sequence of moves that stretched out all the right places. Between the moves, the soothing music, and the lavender fragrance in the air, Nicole felt a million times better when they were finished.

“That was great. Thank you,” she said to Aliza.

“I’m convinced there’s nothing yoga can’t fix.” She drew in a deep breath. “Don’t you feel all realigned?”

“I do.”

“And now I’m starving,” Tessa said. “Let’s eat.”