Always Room for Cupcakes (3 page)

Cade chuckled.

“Nah, I’ll leave you to it. Now I gotta know ... I’ve seen you alone, with your girl, and with your kids. No ring.” He looked pointedly down at my hand. “You got a man?”

I’m sure my eyes were wide and my face was covered in shock, that’s how taken aback I was at his question. Sure, he’d said he’d seen me around, and even I wasn’t so dense that I didn’t notice the flirting, but I’d never had a guy pursue me before. Not like this.

With
The Douche
, I was the instigator. The only other serious boyfriend I’d had before him was in high school, which pretty much entailed him asking me if I wanted to sit with him at lunch and Bam! We were dating.

I was unsure what to make of Cade, but I realized I’d only been with him for a short amount of time and he definitely lit a fire in my belly … along with other places … so I mentally shrugged and thought,
what could it hurt?
It’s not like I was going to take him home, introduce him to my kids, and we were all going to move in together.

Maybe a walk on the wild side was just what I needed.

So I replied, “Nope, no man. Just an ex.” Then I mimicked him and looked down at his hand and asked, “What about you? No ring … no woman?”

“Not if I’m with you,” he stated.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that answer, but right then my phone went off, distracting me from questioning him further.

“I gotta get back,” I said after I read the text.

Cade gave me a brief nod, then righted the bike and kicked the stand back up, scooting forward to give me room to get back on.

I may have hugged him a smidge tighter than necessary, and taken advantage of the closeness to allow my senses to get their fill of him.

The ride was over much quicker than I liked, but I got off when he stopped in front of the bakery and said, “Thanks for saving my ass back there.”

He just lifted his chin slightly then stated, “I want you on my bike tomorrow. We’ll grab dinner.”

My heart leapt in my throat.

“Uh, I can’t tomorrow, I’ve got my kids,” I replied, then quickly added before I could think better of it, “But, they’re with their dad this weekend.”

“Friday, then.”

When he looked like he was about to leave I asked, “Don’t you need to know where I live?”

Cade just shot me a look, then took off, the sounds of his motorcycle growing distant as I watched him get farther and farther away.

“What the hell?” I whispered, then turned my head and laughed when I saw Amy May standing behind the counter, her mouth wide open as she stared out at me.

I kept laughing out loud, like a freak on the street, then gave her a little wave as I walked away.

My phone rang immediately.

“Get your ass back here and tell me
who the hell that was
,” Amy May screeched in my ear before I could even say hello.

“I’ll call you later,” I managed, still laughing.

“No, you can’t do this to me…” I heard her yell as I ended the call.

And as I walked to my car, smiling and chuckling softly to myself, I realized I felt lighter, and giddier, than I had in years.

“What are you so happy about?”

I looked over my shoulder at my ten-year-old daughter, who was standing behind me in the kitchen, tablet in hand, her headphones down around her neck.

“Just a good day,” I replied, then turned back to the cutting board and resumed singing along with the Top 40 music that was playing in the background.

When I didn’t get a response, or hear any movement, I turned back to see Elena still standing there, watching me curiously.

Shit,
had it been that long since I’d been in a good mood?

“Everything okay?”

Elena shrugged and answered, “Yeah, I guess,” then put her headphones back on and walked out of the room.

The twins had come home, finished their homework, then retreated to their separate bedrooms to
do their thing
before dinner. This typically meant Elena was on her tablet and Elin was sitting in his gaming chair, playing video games online while talking to his friends through Bluetooth.

After dinner the drill was family time, showers, then back to their lairs for a little private time before bed.

This worked for us, since we enjoyed being around each other, but really liked our private time too. It also meant minimal bickering between the twins, who were really close, but were still ten-year-old kids, which meant they got on each other’s nerves.

I finished up the potato salad and went to pull the burgers off the grill. It was homemade burger night, so there was a bacon cheddar burger for Elena, feta and spinach burger for me, and a plain hamburger with season salt for Elin. It was a night of family favorites, paired with the potato salad and grilled asparagus, and something we had at least every other week.

I grabbed the kids so we could sit at the table and eat as a family, which is what we did every night they were here. I may not be able to give them the things we had when I was married to their father, but I could give them a home-cooked meal and family time.

That’s what I’d had growing up, and I thought it was an important tradition to keep.

“Dad said we’re going camping this weekend.”

My fork clattered against my plate as I dropped it and asked, “Say what?”

“Camping,” Elena repeated.

“Your dad doesn’t go camping,” I explained. And he didn’t. He was the opposite of outdoorsy.

“Well, when I told him that Carl’s parents bought an RV and go camping all the time, and that I wanted to try it, he went out and bought one.” This was said by Elin.

“He bought an RV? What the hell?”

“Swear jar,” Elin shot out.

In an effort to get the kids not to swear,
The Douche
and I had introduced the swear jar. Anytime someone swore, they had to put a quarter in the jar, and every so often we’d cash it out and the kids would get to pick out a movie to buy, or we’d go out for ice cream. I’d put a lot of money in that jar since the divorce. Elin loved that damn thing.

“Mom, yeah, we’re going camping in Dad’s new RV.” This Elena said quietly.

I took a moment to look around the room, then gave myself a small pinch to make sure I was awake.

“You
mentioned
that one of your friends had an RV and you wanted to
try
it, so your dad went out and
bought
one?”

The twins were now watching me like they were afraid my head might explode, and they were right … it was about to.

That son of a bitch,
I shouted in my head, while trying to keep my face blank for the kids’ sake.
Throwing money around on stupid shit, shit I could never in a million years compete with…

“Mom?” Elin called tentatively. “Are you gonna blow a gasket?”

Deciding it was best to change the subject I asked, “Your friend’s name is Carl? Who names their kid Carl nowadays?”

“Uh, yeah, not everyone has weird names like us,” Elin said.

“Your names aren’t weird,” I argued.

“Yes, they are,” Elena put in.

“Are not.”

“I’ve never met another Elin in
my whole life
…”

“You’re ten, give it time,” was my response.

They shot me identical looks that screamed, “
Whatever
” then took bites of their burgers.

Sometimes it was a little freaky when they did things in sync like that, without even realizing it.

We stayed away from mentions of RVs and Carl for the rest of dinner, then Elena did the dishes and Elin took out the trash, before leaving me alone to check in on my computer and see if there were any new developments from Moose.

Moose had responded back to my shots of the cokehead and told me I’d gotten what he wanted. But, since this was the first actual
illegal
activity I’d captured, I didn’t feel right just leaving it at that. I should probably give copies to my friend, Bea.

Beatrice “Bea” Cooper was a local cop and my other best friend. She wasn’t in love with my new profession, but appreciated it when I kept her in the loop with stuff happening in Greenswood.

Moose had also sent me info on a new job, so it looked like tomorrow would be a full day. I’d have to stop by the police station on the way to Amy May’s, put in a few hours at the bakery, then head to the bank to try and get some dirt on one of the tellers.

This made me sigh … loudly, because
The Douche
was the Branch Manager at the bank I’d be staking out. Not only did I not want to be that close to him unless absolutely necessary, but he also didn’t know what I did to pick up extra money, and I didn’t want him to.

Not that I thought working with Moose put my kids in any danger, or affected them at all, but I worried that my ex might have other ideas. He may be a cheating bastard, but he was a great dad, and he might have objections about me following around the underbelly of Greenswood, The Heights, and the next three counties.

“Have you ever seen that guy anywhere before?” Bea asked after I told her everything I’d seen the day before.

“No,” I replied with a shake of my head. “And I’m sure I’d remember, he was pretty slimy.”

“Okay … I’ll talk to Clarice and see if she knows who he is,” Bea replied, then she cocked her head and looked at me seriously. “I need you to be careful, Lila. I’ve been pretty quiet about you working for Moose.” I almost snorted at that, because she’d made her feelings on the matter very clear. “But if this guy’s some sort of drug dealer or something from out of town, he probably won’t take too kindly to you taking pictures and talking to the cops.”

“I hear you; if I see him again, I’ll steer clear.”

“And give me a call.”

“And, give you a call,” I promised.

Bea may be petite, with a pixie cut and tiny features, but she could take down a man twice her size in minutes. I’d seen it happen, and it was
awesome
!

“I gotta get to Amy May’s,” I said, gathering my things as I stood. “You gonna stop by to get coffee this morning?”

“Nah, Shannon made me breakfast this morning and sent me with a to-go cup,” she replied, gesturing to her mug that said,
I am woman, so back the fuck off.

“Nice,” I said with a laugh. “All right then, Bea, I’ll see ya later.”

“Bye, babe,” Bea said, then called out before I could get to the door, “Watch your back.”

I gave her a thumbs up, then exited the station and climbed in my van so I could get to work.

“You didn’t call me and you didn’t answer my texts,” Amy May accused before the door of the bakery had even closed behind me.

“I know, I’m sorry. I was busy with the kids, then work, and was just so wiped that I ended up going to sleep early. I knew I’d be here this morning, so I figured you’d be all right with me telling you in person.”

Amy May was quiet for a moment, then threw her hands up, exasperated.

“
Well … Who was the sex god on the bike
?”

Kidding around, I covered my ears at her screech and yelled, “Sheesh… don’t yell!”

My best friend rounded the corner, her finger wagging.

“Don’t play games with me, Delilah Horton, or I’ll tell Elena how you kissed Joey Miller on the lips under the bleachers when we were eleven. How old is she again?”

“Easy,” I replied throwing up my hands, knowing full well Amy May always followed through on her threats. “I’ll tell you…”

So I told her all of it: the cokehead, the slimy guy behind Clarice’s, and Cade pulling up next to me and helping me out of a bad situation. Then I told her about the date.

“You’re going to go out with him?” She made a point of looking me up and down and then repeated, “
You
?”

“Hey, what does that mean?”

“It means that both,” Amy May held up two fingers, as if I didn’t understand what
both
meant, “Joey Miller and The Douche are a certain
type
of guy. Clean cut, bordering on metrosexual, pretty boys, who wouldn’t know how to give a girl a
wild ride
, if she gave them play-by-play instructions … But that
man
you were with yesterday? He could give a girl an orgasm just by looking at her. He is the opposite of your usual pretty boys. I just never knew you had it in you.”