Page 35 of The Finder

“I got them settled into a small apartment and helped Amy get childcare set up for Olivia,” Garrett said.

Emma was speechless. “I, I had no idea. Thank you. Thank you so much for doing that. You have no idea how much that means to me,” she said.

“I’m glad. Be safe, Emma,” he said, and Emma knew he was done.

Emma passed the phone to Kyle who talked to Garrett for a few minutes. Emma couldn’t believe that Garrett had done that. She was on cloud nine. She couldn't wait to get her phone and be able to check in with Amy to see how things were going.

Madison talked them into grabbing dinner before heading home. After eating at a burger place, they finally arrived home. Emma and Madison worked on putting all her new clothes away. “Thank you so much for today,” Emma told her sincerely. “There’s no way I could have done all that on my own.”

“Of course,” Madison said. “What are friends for? Besides, I love spending somebody else’s money,” she said with a wink. Emma smiled. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to your training today. We will tomorrow, I promise.” They finished up putting everything away, and Emma worked on getting ready for bed. She pulled on the softest pair of flannel pants and a long-sleeved sleeping shirt. She grabbed her new phone from off the end table and crawled under the covers.

She still couldn’t believe Garrett had gotten her such a nice phone. It was the newest version iPhone. She knew those weren’t cheap. She wasn’t sure why Garrett was doing all this. Obviously, he had a lot of money, but she was sure he had better things to do with his money than spend it on her. She wondered what his end game was. She opened up her contacts and found his name in her favorites. After debating for about ten minutes, she finally texted him.

Emma:Thank you so much for the phone and everything today. I really appreciate it.

She wrote several more things but deleted all of them and decided to just keep it simple.She didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

Garrett:You’re more than welcome. Get some sleep. Know that you’re safe.

With a smile on her face, Emma set her alarm for three thirty and closed her eyes. She was asleep within minutes.

_________

The next afternoon, when Emma got home, Madison was waiting for her. “You ready?” she asked.

Emma nodded. “Let me go change really quick.” She looked through all the clothes they had bought before settling on yoga pants and a sports bra. She figured it would just be the two of them. She threw those on and the new sneakers Madison talked her into getting.

Madison led her down to the basement. “I wasn’t sure if Garrett would have stuff down here, but he has a few things. All right. Go ahead and stretch and get warmed up; then we’ll get started.” Emma did as she said.

“I picked these up for you. They should be your size,” she said. She handed Emma a pair of boxing gloves. Emma looked at her in surprise. “Ready to hit something?” Madison asked.

“So ready!” Emma responded.

Madison laughed and led her to a punching bag. “Eventually, you will train without the gloves; but we’ll start with them on for now.” Madison spent the next hour running Emma ragged. She put her through a series of hitting and kicking the bag. Then she had Emma doing jogging, jump rope, pushups, sit-ups, pullups, and more. By the end, Emma could barely move her body. Madison didn’t even look tired.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding. You’ve been doing this a long time,” Emma said in awe.

Madison smiled. “Yeah. Come on. Let’s get some supper. Make sure you take a hot shower tonight and maybe some pain reliever. You’re going to be sore tomorrow.”

Madison wasn’t joking. The next day, Emma could barely move a muscle. A hot shower helped. She made it through her day at work; then met Madison downstairs for her second day of training.

The next few days passed quickly in like fashion. She would work at the shop all day; then come home and train with Madison for a few hours, eat dinner, crash in bed, and start it up all again the next day.

Emma felt good about it, though. She could tell she was getting stronger. Work was going well too. Business was growing at the shop. Her cinnamon rolls were selling out earlier and earlier each day. She was starting to make more each day. Customers were getting in on creating new drinks and voting for their favorites.

Kevin seemed to be coming by more frequently. He tried talking to her each time she came in, but she was too busy. Finally, he asked for her number. Emma wrote it down on a napkin quickly during one of the short reprieves she had and handed it to him. “Thanks,” he said grinning. “I’ll call you.” Emma smiled at him and continued serving the next customer. She didn’t really think anything would come from it, but she misjudged him.

Chapter 21

He called her that night. Emma didn’t recognize the number when her phone rang at dinner. “Hello,” she said.

“Hey Emma, It's Kevin,” she heard him say.

“Oh, hi,” Emma said, standing up from the dinner table. She walked up to her room and closed the door behind her.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he said.

“You’re good. What can I do for you?” she asked, wondering why he had called.

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