Ultimate Nyssa Glass by H. Burke (ebook reader browser txt) 📗

if he could catch her to tease her about her mysterious appointment with Amara. Before he could act, though, a handsome man rushed up and pulled Nyssa into his arms in an elegant maneuver that would’ve been more at place in a ballroom than on the street.

Ellis’s stomach tightened. That’s not Amara.

Nyssa stayed against the stranger’s chest for what felt like an eternity. A steam car rattled down the street. When it passed, Nyssa and the man had separated, but her back was to the street. The man, however, gazed at her quite intently.

Who is he? How does Nyssa know him? Why is he not Amara?

A trolley rattled by, obscuring Ellis’s view.

“Hey, Ellis, look!” Theo called.

“Please don’t touch that!” the clerk shouted.

Ellis spun his chair towards the commotion, then back to the window. Nyssa and the strange man were both gone.

Theo groaned and put down the china jewelry box he’d been clutching. “I just thought it would be nice for Nyssa.”

“Have you made any decisions yet, sir?” the clerk asked through a tight smile.

Ellis tried to swallow down the lump in his throat. It’s nothing. If she said she was meeting with Amara … the man … it’s nothing. “Yes, I think so. Could you wrap up this rose pendant?”

“Oh, an excellent choice.” The clerk’s stiff posture eased.

“And the jewelry box? From me, right, Ellis?” Theo asked.

“Yes, the jewelry box too.” Ellis forced a smile.

Nyssa wouldn’t lie to me. I’ll just ask her who her … handsome friend is when we get home. There’s bound to be a reasonable explanation.

***

Nyssa wiggled her toes inside her boots as the trolley finally rounded the corner onto her street. After the disaster with Henri, she’d tried to redeem the outing by finding a Christmas tree.Tried being the operative word. The closest she’d found consisted of some green wire wrapped about a roughly tree-shaped wooden skeleton. A shop girl swore up and down this was “supposed to be” a tree. That wouldn’t compare to the massive, marvelous trees of Ellis’s perfect childhood Christmases.

When the trolley pulled to a stop, she trudged out.

I’m not going to think about Christmas for the rest of the day. Tomorrow I’ll find the perfect gift for Ellis, but for now, Christmas doesn’t exist.

The palm trees lining the street swayed in a breath of wind. Puffy clouds skated across the sky, almost like snowballs.

“I wish it would snow,” she whispered.

I taught myself to repair clocks. Why do I need Henri to teach me dancing? I’ll go to the bookshop tomorrow and get a book on the subject. Books are better than arrogant dandies with stupid accents and God awful cologne.

She pushed open the shop door.

Ellis sat behind his workbench. His eyebrows melted together. “You’re later than I expected.”

Nyssa hesitated. Her plan could still work. If she let on about the failed lesson, her surprise would be ruined. She’d tell Ellis about the Henri disaster after Christmas. “I thought I’d try again to find a Christmas tree. Struck out.” Not completely a lie.

Ellis’s eyes narrowed. “Oh. That’s too bad.”

A chill cut through her. He suspects something … Shock me, I need to be careful or he’ll figure everything out. Quick, change the subject.

“Well, I’m just glad to be home. Does Mrs. H have dinner ready yet?” She started towards the back door, but he wheeled in front of her. Their eyes met, his expression dark and hard. Her stomach quivered. Even with the best of intentions, hiding things from Ellis grated like rusty nails on her soul.

He took her hand. “You look … worried.”

She shrugged. “Holiday pressure? I want this to go well, for all of us, especially Theo. Where is he?”

“Upstairs wrapping the gift he bought you today.”

Her cheeks warmed. Even Theo is better at Christmas than I am.

Ellis drew her hand closer and wrinkled his nose. “Are you wearing—perfume?”

She pulled away. Stupid Henri and his cologne.

“Some sample a shop girl sprayed at me. Awful, isn’t it?”

“A little … masculine is all.” He rolled away, his shoulders slumping. Stationing himself behind his workbench, he took up a screwdriver, then put it down, then picked it up again.

“Are you all right?” She tilted her head.

“It’s just … Nyss …” He cleared his throat. “You know I went shopping today?”

“You mentioned you planned to.”

“Well, while I was out—”

“Hey, Nyssa!” Theo burst into the room, beaming like an incandescent bulb. “You’ll never guess what I got you!”

“I’m not even going to try.” She forced a tight smile, still conscious of Ellis’s eyes on her.

“Ellis got you something pretty nice, too,” Theo said.

Nyssa’s bit her lip. Of course he did. Shock me, if this dancing thing doesn’t work out, what am I going to do?

“Dinner’s ready!” Mrs. H’s voice echoed from the hall.

“Bully!” Theo whooped and ran for the kitchen.

“Oh good. I’m hungry.” Nyssa smiled, relieved to escape the talk of Christmas gifts.

“I’m not really. Tell Mrs. H I’m working through dinner.” Ellis plugged in his soldering iron into his voltaic pile battery and began tinkering with some spare parts scattered around his desk. The corners of his mouth quirked down.

Nyssa hesitated. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” Sparks hissed from the soldering iron.

“Okay. Well, don’t forget your safety goggles.”

He scowled. “I’m not a child. Go eat.”

The harshness of his voice hit her in the chest. Ellis never snapped at her, even when she nagged. What’s gotten into him?

***

Ellis gritted his teeth and slammed his soldering iron down on the workbench. A mess of tin plates, fused together at slanting angles, stared up at him, completely useless, but he’d just wanted to throw things together.

In the wake of his accident, when his father grew distant and treated him like a broken machine rather than a human being, he’d taken to his workshop for days at a time. Out of that frustration had come his mechanized chair as well as several other smaller inventions. Sometimes, however, when it all came crashing down on him—that his mother was