Read Online The Heart of a Hero by Janet Chapman - Free Book Online Page B

belongings in trash bags as she runs away from home.”
    Nicholas shoved his hands in his pockets and turned away to hide his scowl. “I’ll wait at the truck, then. But call me if there’s a problem.” Only he hadn’t even gotten the driver’s door open when Olivia called out to him from the mill.
    “Nicholas, we need you,” she shouted before disappearing again.
    He ran through the mill and practically beat her back to the shed. “What’s wrong?” he asked, following Olivia inside to see Julia cradling a hand wrapped in a rag as she sat on one of the chopping stumps. And if he wasn’t mistaken, she’d made a valiant effort to rub away the evidence that she’d been crying.
    “She was trying to pry up that board,” Olivia said, pointing at the floor where he specifically remembered bags of pinecones had been but were now shoved to the side. “When the hatchet slipped and cut her hand.”
    “The wood is swollen stuck,” Julia said, her voice husky with restrained tears. “But I can’t leave without the box hidden under it.”
    “I’ll get it for you,” Nicholas murmured, crouching in front of her. “After we decide if you need stitches.”
    “I just skinned it, and the bleeding’s already stopped,” she said, even though she allowed him to take her hand and peel the rag away. “It’s mostly my back that hurts. I must have . . . I guess I wrenched it again prying on the board.”
    He shot her a grin. “I’m worried you’re a bit of a walking disaster, Julia.”
    That certainly wiped away those threatening tears. It got rid of the defeat in her eyes, too. He let go of her hand and turned away before she saw his triumph, and grabbed the raised end of the spongy floorboard and popped it free.
    “Apparently muscle also matters,” he drawled as he reached in the cavity and pulled out a plastic container. He turned still crouched to hand it to her, arching a brow when he saw her eyes suddenly narrow. “Not a very creative hidey-hole, though,” he added, taking the box back when she started wrestling with the lid—which he popped off before handing it to her again. “Or safe from a fire if this—” He snapped his mouth shut when she pulled out a large plastic bag stuffed with money.
    “Julia,”
Olivia said on a strangled gasp. “What on earth are you doing hiding that much cash under the floorboard of a shed?”
    Her face draining of all color, Julia darted a worried glance at him, then looked at her boss. “I can’t . . . It’s my and Trisha’s savings,” she whispered.
    “But why isn’t it in the bank?” Olivia asked just as softly. “There must be thousands of dollars there.”
    “Almost eight thousand,” Julia confirmed, her voice having grown husky again. “And I can’t keep it in the bank because Clay’s sister works there, and I don’t want him knowing I have this kind of money.” She darted another glance at Nicholas, then took a deep breath that squared her shoulders as she looked Olivia directly in the eye. “I’m still paying off a credit card bill he stuck me with.”
    “But Julia, bank employees can’t talk about customers’ accounts.”
    She looked down at the bag and merely snorted.
    Olivia sighed. “Then give it to Nicholas to put in the safe in my office until . . . well, we’ll figure it out.” She looked around the workshop and picked up the box of little soaps. “Is there anything else in here you want to bring? I suppose we could come back for the cones and whatever kindling you’ve already split. But what are you going to do for a source of cedar now?”
    “I’ve been paying Reggie to save the butt ends from the mill and stack them in here for me, so I might be able to get him to bring them to the resort. That is, if you don’t mind. I can keep them out in the woods and just cover them with a tarp.”
    “We’ll make it work,” Olivia assured her. “You’re my only source of kindling, and winter’s coming. Maybe we can set you