The color drained from her face and her tight grin from before instantly disappeared. She looked like she was going to collapse right in front of me and if no one noticed when I initially walked into the door, they were all looking now.
“Hello, is there anything we can help you with?” the older woman piped up, ignoring her daughter’s seemingly stunned reaction. She tried nudging her but got no response.
“No, thank you. I’m just looking around right now. I’m trying to find a birthday cake for my mom,” I heard my voice say from far away. I wasn’t aware I was even speaking.
I had no idea where the words came from. Mom’s birthday wasn’t for another three months, but the look on the girl’s face had clearly meant she knew who I was, and terror ghosted her eyes while she stared at me. My presence terrified her. I could sense her fear from where I stood, and it fed the pissed-off beast that wanted to pummel Cooper into a coma.
“Okay, well, we have plenty of samples on display. Go ahead and flip through one of our portfolios and get some ideas about what you’d like. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.” The woman smiled at me, pointing to a table with three more binders that were overflowing with photos.
I nodded and walked over to where I was directed, carefully opening one of the binders to flip through the pages. The photos all seemed to be taken with a professional camera, but some had the shop peeking through the background. These were clearly originals of her work, and it was beyond anything I thought could be done with cakes. She was able to turn desserts into an entire storyline and from the looks of it, had many loyal customers. Maybe Cooper was right, and she was doing just fine after what he did to her.
Although, the look in her eyes when she saw me made that hard to believe. I must not have heard the other couple walk past me as they left, because when I finally looked up no one was at the counter and the girl was standing against the wall across from me, arms crossed defiantly over her stained-up apron and a hard look plastered on her face to intimate me. Cute.
“You made all of these?” I pointed to the pictures in a shitty attempt at small talk.
“Why are you really here?” She hissed, glancing toward the back room. Probably to see if the other woman, who I assumed was her mom, was listening.
“I told you I want a cake for my mom,” I ground out stubbornly, angling my head to get a better look at her face. Her eyes were a deep, dark brown and they looked sunken in, as if she hasn’t gotten sleep in a while.
Shit, that very well might be true, I rationalized. Owning a business could be tiring, and bakeries were usually open earlier than anything else, weren’t they? I was even surprised to find that the shop was open so late when I looked up her business hours. But I knew what exhaustion from living two separate lives looked like, and she fit the bill. A soft, defensive voice interrupted my thoughts.
“I know who you are, and I heard his message loud and clear. I won’t be telling anyone what happened that night, so tell him he can call off his dogs.”
Her upper lip rose in disgust at the last word as she gestured toward me with her right hand. A clump of pink frosting sat in her hair, dancing around her head while she spoke just enough to distract me from her words. When my eyes grazed back down her face and met hers, I saw the fear burning in them. I realized then how my appearance in her shop, in front of her mother, might have actually looked like an attempt to keep her in line for Cooper.
“Why wouldn’t you tell anyone?” I challenged, crossing my arms over my chest and standing to approach her, mirroring her stance.
It was hard to keep my voice down from where I sat in the quiet storefront, and I didn’t want anyone to hear us. From the looks of it, she really hadn’t told anyone what happened. If she did, then no one acknowledged it because I could guarantee that if I had a daughter that beautiful and knew she had been raped months before, I wouldn’t leave her alone with a creepy gang-banger looking guy like me.
She had a short build, barely reaching five feet, and I towered over her at six-foot-one when I stopped an arm’s length away. The apron she wore covered most of her body, only allowing her printed leggings to peak out from beneath before they met with her white slip-on Vans. Despite the colorful frosting stains that littered her clothing, her appearance was remarkably clean next to my grease-stained jeans and shoes that were falling apart from too much use.
She was alluring without putting forth any effort, unlike the women I was usually surrounded with. They seemed too artificial compared to her, and until this moment I had doubted if women like her even existed anymore. Her presence was refreshing, like a breath of fresh air after sitting in a stifling room for hours.
“Because nothing happened.” The words ground between her teeth as she forced them out, tugging me away from my distracted thoughts. The scowl on her face told me she thought I was still testing her. I wondered then what Cooper threatened her with.
I wracked my brain for something to say that would calm her down but came up short. In her mind, I was the fucker who was with her attacker the night he raped her, and nothing could change that. I opened my mouth to at least apologize for what he did to her but was cut off by a voice approaching from the back room.
“Has Luna shown you our price list yet? She always gets so excited about the work that she forgets to tell people what we charge for it.” The woman teasingly smiled at the girl, Luna. I pondered the name, considered how it felt rolling off the tongue, and decided it suited the girl in front of me, blending with her weird, hippie style.
The older woman held up a sheet of paper and waved it around dramatically before setting it on the counter, pulling my attention back to her.
Luna smiled back at her and replied for me, “No, I haven’t.” She walked over toward the counter to step behind it, inserting a barrier between us. “But, Mom, he was just about to leave.”
“Actually, I think I want to order something,” I cut in while she finished, sending her another strained smirk that probably looked creepier than I’d intended. Smiling was a foreign expression for me, so I settled on my usual straight-faced stare, guessing it was less intimidating. “I thought I wanted a simple cake for my mom’s birthday until I saw what you can do with them. I’m not worried about the price, either.”
Her mom’s eyes grew larger at my promise for a large commission and she beamed at her daughter. “That’s all Luna’s work. Isn’t she amazing?”
Luna rolled her eyes at this and finally they landed on me, warning me one last time. I decided to take a chance and ignore her. Something told me she needed me there more than she wanted me gone and her pained expressions felt familiar to me. I wondered if her soul was as damaged as mine was. She obviously had no idea what danger she was really dealing with. Cooper was fucked up, but what he did for the Reapers was child’s play compared to my track record.
“I don’t know if we have time to do a birthday cake, though. We have three weddings coming up, remember?” she asked, begging her mother to hear her underlying tone.
The woman ignored the hint and shook her head. If I could read her desperate thoughts as a distant outsider, how did her own mother not realize what she was saying?
“I’m sure it’s nothing too extravagant. Don’t be rude,” she admonished. “I need to head out a little early today, honey. Your father is off, and he requested I make spaghetti for dinner. You’re welcome to join us when you close. I cleaned up the back room and put tomorrow’s dough in the refrigerator. Let me know when you get home, okay?” She smiled and kissed her on the cheek and once again I saw fear dance around in Luna’s eyes; fear of being alone with me.
The woman then turned in my direction, kindly dismissing me with her words. “My name is Lynn if you have any questions. Stop in any time or call the store and one of us will answer. Have a great night.” She had no idea what kind of monster she was leaving her little pride and joy alone with.
Lynn left out the back door and the scared look never left Luna’s eyes, even when she tried to scowl at me in an attempt at intimidation. She looked like an angry puppy.
I gave her my most comforting smirk and sat down on the chair next to me, brushing her off. “I’m the last person you need to be afraid of. Now let’s talk about my mom’s cake.”