Brody
I stared at the image on my phone, and my mouth dropped open in shock. It was taken from a distance, so I had to zoom in to get a better look, and even though it was grainy and pixelated, there was no mistaking that hoodie. Audrey. And the caption said it all.
You’re welcome ;)
That was all Indie wrote. I checked the time stamp. She’d sent it almost six hours ago.
“Dude, are you listening?” Ricky, my partner, punched my arm.
I turned to him, unable to hide my smile. She did it. Holy shit.
“Clearly not. What’s got you smiling like the cat that got the cream?”
We were finishing for the night and heading back to the depot so the nightshift could take over. It wasn’t so much a depot as it was a large warehouse that was part of the fire station. It sort of made things awkward, with Nate being at the station almost every time I started or finished a shift. Thankfully, we were usually just passing each other.
“What were you talking about?” I changed the subject, not wanting to discuss Audrey with him. It wasn’t because he didn’t know about her situation. He was fully aware. He was there the day Nate and I pulled her out of the fire. Drove the ambulance faster than I’d ever seen before. I just didn’t know how to describe how thrilled and proud I was without sounding like an idiot.
“Well, I was trying to tell you about the twins and this thing they—”
I held up my hand to stop him. “Don’t.” I didn’t want any details.
He laughed and pulled into the depot. I’d introduced him to the twins months ago, after a disastrous double date with Nate. I, as well as everyone else, was unaware at the time that Nate was banging my ex behind my back, so Indie, being the unhelpful person she was, decided to set us up with twins.
It was never going to happen. They were every blonde bimbo cliché you could think of. Turned out Linc, being Nate’s best mate, knew all about Nate and Harper but went along with Indie’s plan just to piss him off. The date ended with Nate declaring his love for Harper in the bathroom at the roadhouse while I witnessed it and the twins waited outside.
“You missed out, man.”
I rolled my eyes and climbed out of the cabin. “More like dodged a bullet.”
“Worth it.” Ricky laughed and clapped me on the back as we made our way in to sign out for the night and grab our stuff from the locker room.
“I’m out. Catch you tomorrow,” I said to Ricky and rushed out to my car.
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I looked at the picture again, studying it a bit more. It deserved a treat. A celebration. A goddamn parade. She went out in public. Alone. And by the look of it, she spoke to someone. The photo showed Audrey at the counter of a clothing store buying clothes, naturally. I couldn’t tell what from the picture, but I wasn’t an idiot. I knew Indie and Kenzie were dragging her out today.
I threw my phone aside, started the car, then pulled out of the depot and headed home. It was late, but I knew she’d be awake. The dreams kept her awake most night. The memories haunted her. The fear of being seen in public and judged scared her. It all stopped her from getting much sleep.
Cupcakes.
She needed cupcakes. I was almost home when I realised I needed to get her something to celebrate. I turned the car around and made my way to the roadhouse. Jeremy, Harper’s brother, should have still been there.
As expected, the parking lot was empty when I pulled in. A dark figure leaned against the freezer, a small orange ember burned, and the smell of cigarette smoke filtered through the air.
“That’s gonna kill you one day, you know?” I said to Jeremy as I approached.
He chuckled. “Not if Kenzie kills me first.”
“Trouble in paradise?”
“Not at all.” He blew out a puff of smoke and stomped on his cigarette. “You’re out late. Didn’t want to run the risk of seeing my sister, huh?” He walked inside, and I followed.
Huh. I hadn’t even given Harper a thought. All I wanted to do was get Audrey a rainbow cupcake. I shrugged. “Nah, just on my way home. I need to get Audrey a cupcake.”
Everyone knew of her obsession with these cupcakes Harper baked. Jeremy sucked in a breath. “We’re out, man.”
I groaned and tilted my head back. What else could I get her, this late, to celebrate?
“Come back tomorrow and there’ll be a fresh batch.”
“Kind of needed it now. It’s sort of a celebration.”
Jeremy raised an eyebrow.
“Audrey went shopping with Indie and Kenzie today.”
“Online?”
“Storm Cove.”
“Shit.” He nodded, impressed. “That is a celebration. Let me go and see if Harper has anything upstairs.”
“No, it’s all right. It doesn’t matter,” I argued, but he’d already walked away and headed to the stairs leading to the apartment above the diner.
I glanced around. He and Ryder had done a lot to the place. The workshop was open, so Jeremy spent the days fixing cars and the nights renovating the inside, with Ryder helping when he wasn’t at the bookstore. It was undoubtedly bringing in more customers. And the addition of the bar was bound to increase revenue for the place as well. I wasn’t sure a bar was the way to go at first, but it could be the one thing this place needed to become a profitable business. How Johnny and Julie kept it running all those years with only the two of them was beyond me.
Two sets of footsteps sounded on the stairs. I pulled up a stool and sat down, quickly pulling out my phone and pretending to look busy, so I wouldn’t have to make idle chit-chat with Harper.
Jeremy cleared his throat and at least had the decency to screw his face up in apology for bringing his sister downstairs.
“Brody,” Harper said softly with a smile, “Jeremy said you needed a rainbow cupcake.”
“Ah, yeah. But it’s fine. I’ll find something else.” I really just wanted to get home and see how Audrey’s day had gone.
“Don’t be stupid. Let me see what I can do. This is huge.” Her smile widened, and she clapped her hands together and rushed into the kitchen, leaving me with Jeremy.
“Beer?” he offered.
“Please.” I nodded, taking a deep breath now that Harper was out of sight.
He pulled a beer out from the fridge under the counter and slid it over to me.
“Don’t you think it’s time you forgave her?” Jeremy levelled me with a hard stare.
I gulped down the beer and stayed silent for a moment. “I have.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s c—”
“Don’t you dare fucking say it’s complicated. She’s my sister. I know she screwed up and handled it wrong, but she never meant to hurt you.”
“It’s just…I don’t know. I mean, I know why they did it the way they did. I understand the secrecy and the sneaking around.”
Jeremy gave me a sceptical look.
I knew it sounded crazy, but I did understand that, at least. The attraction between Nate and Harper was obvious. Blind Freddy could see it, and you’d have to be an idiot to not admit that. I knew they tried to stop, move on, forget each other and be friends or whatever. Linc had filled me in on that much. They tried to do the right thing, but it was simply out of their control.
“I’ve forgiven them both for lying.”
“But?”
“Doesn’t mean I like seeing them together.”
“Ah. Enough said.” He took a mouthful of beer.
“Enough said?” He spoke like he understood how I felt.
“Yeah. You think I’d like to see Kenz with anyone else? Let alone Cole hanging out with another fucker. Hell, no.” Jeremy’s jaw was tense, his mouth pulled into a frown at the thought of Kenzie with someone else.
And Cole.
He loved that kid, doted on him. Regardless of the fact he’d been in prison, Jeremy was a great role model for Kenzie’s son, and a great support to Kenzie. She deserved to be happy more than anyone else, and Jeremy made her that.
We fell silent. The only sound was from Harper clattering around in the kitchen. I hoped she wasn’t actually baking something.
The kitchen door swung open a few moments later, and Harper came out with a small box in her hand. She placed it gently on the counter.
“All done.” She smiled.
I reached for the box and peered inside. “Wow.”
“It’s okay?”
“She’ll love it,” I replied and closed the lid. I didn’t think they had any cakes left, but I wasn’t going to ask because I really wanted to get out of there.
“They’re not rainbow. They’re chocolate with peanut butter filling. I just decorated them with colourful frosting.” Harper must have read my mind. She wrinkled her nose. “Bailey is going to kill me for giving away her cakes.”
“Bailey’s cakes?”
“Yeah.” Harper laughed. “Cravings.”
“Tell her I said sorry.” I did not want to be the reason a pregnant woman with cravings had to miss out and suffer. And I certainly didn’t want to be the reason Ryder suffered as a result of said pregnant woman not getting her peanut butter fix.
“There’s eight tubs of chocolate chip peanut butter ice cream in the freezer out there. I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Jeremy said.
“Eight?” I laughed. He had to be joking, right? “I didn’t even know you could buy chocolate chip peanut butter ice cream.”
Jeremy laughed. “You can’t. Ryder and Cole spent an entire day melting tubs of ice cream and mixing peanut butter and chocolate chips into them. He’s so whipped.”
Harper scoffed. “Like you wouldn’t do it for Kenzie too.” She punched her brother in the arm, but he ignored her. “Ryder has it stashed everywhere she goes. Your freezer has a tub or two as well,” Harper explained. “The cravings are real.”
“Right, well, maybe I should leave these for her.”
“No, she’ll understand. Give them to Audrey. This is definitely cause for a celebration. I can’t believe she went shopping. How is she? Was she okay? Did she freak out? You must be proud of her. You’ve worked so hard with her.”
“Harper?” Jeremy interrupted.
“What?”
“Rambling.”
“Right. Well…” She looked at me as though waiting for me to say more, and when I didn’t, her mouth twisted into a frown. “Guess I’ll be going.”
She turned and walked away. And suddenly, I felt like crap. I didn’t like seeing her with Nate, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t be pleasant or at least make a freaking effort when we were together.
“Harper?” I called after her. She stopped and spun slowly to face me. “Thank you. For the cakes. I appreciate it.”
Harper grinned. “Anytime.” Then she walked off with a bit more of a bounce in her step.
“What do I owe you?” I asked Jeremy.
“Nothing. Just quit being a dick to Harper and Nate.”
I rolled my eyes and bumped Jeremy’s fist with mine. “Whatever.”