Love Defined

Part 17

Chapter 16

The day after my big move back home had been a busy one. My mother had kept to her word about helping me; and though she spent the day at work, she had left me the number for my insurance company on the kitchen table. I was nervous to call the company; I was never good with strangers. A small part of me wondered if they would cover the theft or if my dream as I knew it would cease to exist. After finally storing up the courage to call, it was already midday. The phone call had been long as they needed every detail possible but, the news was good.

I would keep my store.

I had called Javier as soon as I ended the call with the insurance company. "Chica, how are you this afternoon, beautiful?"

I blushed and I was grateful he couldn't see it otherwise he would tease me nonstop about it. I could hear power tools in the background and I was relieved to know that the men were carrying on as normal. "I'm good; actually I'm great. I just got off the phone with the insurance company and everything is great. We can continue with the renovations though, I'm sure this puts us behind a bit."

"That's good chica. I'm happy for you. I really am sorry about what happened. It's my fault. I never should have hired the boy."

"Don't worry about it Javier. I've already filed with the police station and they said they'll go look for Mr. T. Everything is okay. We can't always know someone fully, especially if they're good at putting on a mask." I replied honestly.

He sighed and I could imagine him running his fingers through his thick hair. "As long as you are okay, now don't worry about the store. We already have the graffiti off two of the walls and we are working on the others. My men are filling in the holes of the walls that the delinquent caused with the hammer. Since it was our mistake this happened, we are going to be working overtime to make up for the delay. All you need to worry about are the orders you have."

I breathed out a breath of relief and fell against the headboard that was behind my bed. "Thank you Javier. It means a lot to me to know I can rely on you. Stay safe and please make sure the locksmith comes and changes the locks. This time only you and I will have keys okay."

"Sure thing chica, we'll talk later. Stay beautiful."

I giggled, "One of these days you're going to stop embarrassing me like that."

He laughed his usual carefree laugh and it made me smile in return. "That's never going to happen, Piper. A girl like you needs to be reminded just how beautiful she is. Take care." He ended the call and I couldn't stop grinning. Javier was a sweet man, only eleven years my senior yet, as charming as an eighteen year old. Though he made it his job to flirt with me, I knew he was never serious about his advances. I had found out only a little while ago that Javier was actually in a serious relationship with his right-hand man, Gary. They made an adorable couple and Javier loved to rile him up. He had told me that he found an angry Gary hot and, nothing got him angrier than seeing Javier flirt his pants off.

They made going to work fun and it had taken me far too long to realise that I had found friends in them.

My cell phone rang soon after I ended the call and I jumped from the sound. The screen flashed an unknown number which had me hesitantly sliding my finger across to answer. "Hello, Piper Baker speaking."

"Piper, hi it's Crystal Marshal speaking. Do you remember me?" A loud and happy sounding voice squealed through the phone and I groaned knowing immediately who Crystal was. I thought the last I'd ever hear from her was at the festival but it seemed bad luck still followed me.

"Of course I remember. How did you get my number?"

She laughed, "You had this number on your business card silly."