Mia instantly perks up. “Sounds great. I’ll bring the junk food.”
“Okay, yay! I’m going to go talk to Liv really quick, then I’ll come back and help you out here.”
“Don’t rush,” she starts, “I know Liv has been worried about you all morning. Take your time. I’ve got it out here.”
She is such a great friend. I thank her again and turn in search for Liv.
“Hey, Annie,” Mia calls.
“Yeah?” I turn around to face her.
“I have a feeling things are going to change. Everything will be okay. Have some confidence.”
She always tells me to have confidence. Maybe I should start listening to her. I smile and nod.
Liv is still loading pastries when I walk into the kitchen.
“Damn, woman, are we completely out?” I ask.
Liv huffs and brushes her short hair out of her eyes. The long hair she had when we first met is gone. Her dramatic, short bob makes her already intense beauty that much more powerful.
“Yeah, we had a crazy rush this morning. Thank goodness we baked our asses off yesterday.”
I turn to look at the glass counter out in the shop. Sure enough, it’s empty.
“Well, we can make more tonight before we head up. We are going to have a movie night with Mia, is that cool?”
“Sure, sounds fun. After last night, I don’t feel much like going out.” Liv adjusts the cupcakes on her tray.
“You doing okay? How’s the hangover?” I ask with a grin.
She gives the cupcakes a murderous glare. “I’m not going to be eating cupcakes any time soon, but I’m fine. How did your meeting go?”
“Well, you aren’t going to believe what I’m about to tell you.” I lean on the island.
Her eyebrows shoot up as she trades a full tray for an empty one on the table. “What? What happened?”
I can’t help but laugh. Only my life would be so crazy that a guy I’ve been thinking about non-stop after a chance meeting in a bar would be my damn lawyer.
“It’s him. Duane from last night. He’s my friggin lawyer,” I blurt.
Her eyes go wide. She drops the empty tray and it clangs loudly on the ground.
I snort at her reaction. “No shit. My thoughts exactly.”
“Oops,” she says and quickly picks up the tray to put it in the sink. “Holy shit, Ann. How is that possible?”
I shrug. “It’s not like I got his whole back story in the five minutes I talked to him in the parking lot.”
I make it sound simple, like I’m over it, but I’m not. I’m pissed at myself for getting excited about a man, and I’m sad. How is it that I finally meet a guy I’m interested in, the first one in years, and he’s unobtainable?
I’m not worthy of his love—or like. But still.
The past set my future in stone a long time ago.
“True. So, no chance of you and Mr. Delicious getting together, then,” Liv adds solemnly.
Having Liv say it out loud makes the sting a little worse. “Nope. Guess not.”
No chance of it now.
She wipes her hands on her apron and pulls me closer for a hug. I wrap my hands around her, thankful to have someone who understands that, even though I wasn’t going to pursue him, he’s the first guy in a long time to make me feel any sort of—anything. She may not know exactly why I hurt so much, but she could tell, even in her drunken state last night, that I was pretty taken by him. I’ve never blatantly sought out a man. Ever. So, this debacle really comes as a hit to my heart.
Liv releases me from her arms. “So, what else happened?”
I brace myself for the long haul and tell her everything. From the fact there’s nothing in the report about Dad supposedly being followed to the odd coincidence that there’s still no suspects.
“You’re kidding me,” she spews. “This just keeps getting more and more out of hand. What are you going to do?”
“Hell if I know. Duane is going to look into it and we’ll get together once he gets some answers.”
Biting her nail, Liv nods and pats my shoulder. “It’ll be okay. Mia and me are here, and Jason is just a phone call away.”
“I know. Thank you, but let’s get through the day, and have a fun night with Mia. I could use the distraction.”
We fill the glass cases with cupcakes, cookies and pieces of cake, and get back to our routine for the day.
With happy customers and a good time, we laugh and drink coffee with everyone.
This is the exact reason why I opened a shop like this. I wanted people to come here and have a relaxing read while eating delicious pastries. I wanted the place to resemble someone’s living room. Somewhere people feel safe—comforted.
I want this to be a second home.
Once the last customer leaves, I flip the OPEN sign to CLOSED and sigh. Mia went home to pick up some movies and candy, and I decide to make a couple batches of cupcakes before she gets back. A head start is always smart, especially if today was any indication how tomorrow will be.
Turning on my heel, I head to the back of the shop to my kitchen. I feel so blessed to have a top-of-the-line kitchen. Five ovens, a walk-in refrigerator, two sinks and tons of space to create anything I want. It’s no wonder I spend most of my time here, tweaking recipes and testing new creations. Just being here relaxes me.
I feel a smile slide onto my face.
Duane would make it better, though. It’s easy to picture him sitting on the island in the middle of the kitchen, with his feet dangling off the edge, smiling at the flour on my face. His legs crossed at the ankles while he balances his laptop on his lap looking over some case that he’s working on.
Oh, wait. That case he’s working on is mine and that fantasy can’t happen.
Ugh. I need to stop picturing him in my life, get a handle on my emotions and move past this.
Chastising myself, I add the ingredients into my industrial sized mixer and wait for it to finish working its magic. I get a few dishes cleaned before I need to pour the batter into over-sized muffin tins and put them in the oven.
Our monster-sized cupcakes are a big reason why I’ve made a good name for myself. Two people could easily share one and still have some left over. Hey, this is America and we like more—the bigger the better, Super Size it. Especially in the South. They love it.
I prop myself up on the island and pull my glasses out of my purse from under the counter. Opening my eReader, I dig into my latest novel. It sounds cliché, but romance is my favorite genre. I love reading about love. It gives me hope that one day I can get over my shit and have love in my life again.
Not likely if you shut everyone out.
But, that being said, today I need to keep my mind off of anything love, so I find myself a mystery and try to get lost in the “who done it.”
The timer dings and I take the cupcakes out to cool. Once they pass inspection, I put them in the fridge to keep until I can ice them tomorrow. It’s already well past six and Mia arrived thirty minutes ago.
When I find my way upstairs, Mia and Liv are already eating pizza and drinking wine.
I sit down next to Mia on the couch and pull my feet up. Without saying a word, she hands me a glass full of dark red wine and I take a big gulp. I don’t care what it is, as long as it numbs the throbbing in my head. It goes down smooth with a bit of a bite at the end and I smile at her. Mmmm, alcohol.
A piece of pizza beckons me, and I grab it, taking a big bite. The grease and cheese make their way through my system and I start to feel a little more like myself.
“What took you so long, you noob?” Liv asks from across the couch.
I wipe my mouth, and take another drink of wine. “I got ahead on baking. I didn’t want to have to wake up early in the morning.”
She nods, and tosses her slice back into the box. “Well, what’s our poison tonight, girls?”
My first thought is alcohol. Alcohol sounds amazing, but I know that’s not what she means. Movies, she’s talking about movies, Ann. Lord.
Getting sloshed probably isn’t the best idea. Duane was simply a man I met.
That’s right. He’s just a man. I can find another one. Another guy who isn’t my damn lawyer. Better yet, no men. I made that promise a long time ago.
I attempt to take another swig of wine when I look in the glass. Holy crap, it’s empty? How the hell did that happen? I need to slow down.
“I don’t care what you choose, as long as it’s not The Notebook,” I chime in.
The girls’ faces fall, pouting. With the DVD already in her hand, Liv throws it on the floor and stomps to the couch muttering ‘party pooper’ under her breath.
“I heard that, you dillhole.” I laugh. “I just don’t want to watch a movie that’s going to make me cry.”
See, simple. It’s a lie, but it’s simple. I’m sure when I see Noah, I’m going to picture Duane. I need something that’ll push him out of my mind, not bring him in. What can we watch that won’t remind me of him?
I tap my chin. Action? Nope, stupid sexy men are in those types of movies. Chick flick? Hell no, lead actress always falls for a guy. Horror? Boo, no I don’t like gore, it grosses me out. I only have one choice left.
Freaking cartoons.
“Let’s watch Madagascar,” I suggest.
Yeah, no love story, that sounds good. This is what I’m reduced to. Fucking animated animal movies.
Thankfully, the girls and I are kids at heart and they both perk up at my recommendation.
Liv runs to the kitchen to pop some popcorn, so I get a bag of chocolate candies and wait for my helping. Once the buttery smell hits my nose, I get too anxious and sprint to the kitchen to help. Liv rolls her eyes at me, knowing what I’m about to do.
The moment the microwave dings, I pull the bag out and put another in. Finding a big bowl, I empty the popcorn and chocolate into it. The chocolate instantly melts, making a sweet salty mixture that I love so much. The first bite sends my taste buds in happy-mode.
I love instant gratification.
I put the bowl on the coffee table and head to my room to get changed.
A few minutes later, dressed in favorite PJ’s, I’m ready to start movie night with my girls. Like magic, my wine glass is full again, and Mia is stealing popcorn from my bowl. I jokingly pull the bowl away from her, and take a bite. She never liked the stuff until I talked her into trying it for herself.
“That’s disgusting, Annie,” she had told me, wrinkling her nose.
Now? It’s all she’ll eat on movie nights.
Three bottles of wine and two hours later, we’re all laughing at the talking animals on the next movie. I can’t seem to remember what this one is called, but the animals are hilarious. At least—I think they are.
We might be slightly drunk.
Snorting at Mia doing an impression of a turtle, I get an idea. Bouncing on my knees, I squeal.
The girls look at me expectantly.
“Ooooh, guys!” I shout, being extremely loud. I cover my mouth in hopes of quieting myself down.
The girls giggle and fall back against the couch.
“You want to know what sounds so fun?”
Nope, covering my mouth didn’t work. I feel like I’m yelling.
They sit straight up with glossy eyes to look at me. In a chorus of ‘whats?’ I shush them and drum on my knees. “Let’s build a fort!” My face clear with how unexplainably happy this makes my drunk ass.
They scream and clap in a fashion that would be embarrassing if we had other people here to witness.
You’d think it’s the best idea we’ve ever heard. We cackle, and run for the hallway closet. Pulling out every sheet, blanket and pillow we own and throwing them at each other.
I told you, we’re drunk.
Taking the cushions off the couch, we stand them up and throw the blankets and sheets over them, but the fort keeps collapsing on itself.
We’re stumped. Maybe it was a bad idea to encourage fort building along with wine drinking.
“Guuuuys,” Mia whines. “Why isn’t it staying up?”
Liv and I look at each other and bark laughter, thinking the same inappropriate thought.
Mia looks to us as if we’re insane. I don’t think she’s getting the joke. Stumbling to my glass, I take a sip. She’ll figure it out, eventually.
“What?” Mia asks.
Yeah, she’s definitely drunk.
“Mia, honey, think about what you just said,” Liv encourages.
Mia crinkles her eyebrows. “I just said, ‘why isn’t it staying up.’ I don’t get it.”
“It?” Liv emphasizes, urging her to figure it out.
Mia looks like a drunken sorority girl, twirling hair around her finger.
Finally, it clicks. “Oh my God. You two are awful.”
I drunkenly saunter to her, offering her a high five. She rolls her eyes, but slaps my hand.
The deflated fort catches my attention and I plop myself on the floor. “Guys, come on, we’re three smart women. We can figure this out.”
Without another word, Liv spins on her heels to run to her room, stumbling along the way.
It’s probably safer to stay where I am. Getting up to help her might be hazardous to my health.