Jada felt strangely energetic when she woke up early the next morning. As soon as she opened her eyes, she sent a quick prayer heavenward, thanking God for a new day and then grabbed her phone to make sure she hadn’t dreamed her conversation with Adam last night.

When the phone displayed their brief back-and-forth, she kicked her legs and squealed. He had reached out first! She could barely believe it.

“Mff,” a muffled sound came from the bed below and Chelsea’s satin-scarf-wrapped hair appeared in Jada’s view. “What’s the use of making so much noise this early in the morning?”

Jada smiled. “Chels, it’s after five. Didn’t you say you’d be applying for that job down at the bakery today? They have to wake up at four.”

Her cousin clutched her chest. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

“You’re a great baker,” Jada said. “Your Creole bread is to die for. Try it out for a bit and see. You might actually like the gig.”

“Doubtful.” Chelsea yawned and peered at her cousin. “You never answered my question. Why are you in such a good mood?”

“No reason,” Jada sang. She shooed Chelsea away so that she could climb down the ladder in peace.

“What is this I smell?” Chelsea bent her head and sniffed deeply. “My cupid senses are tingling.”

“What?”

“I have a sixth sense when it comes to love and relationships.”

“Which is why all the men you choose to date are winners, right?”

“Hey, it doesn’t work for me. It just works for others.” Chelsea followed her to the bathroom. “Who is it?”

“Who is what?”

“The guy you’re crushing on.”

“Could I have some privacy while I use the bathroom?”

She tried to shut the door, but Chelsea wrenched it open and sat on top of the sink while Jada waddled to the toilet.

“At least look away!” Jada cried.

Chelsea obliged. “Is it someone I know? Is it that Trevor guy that keeps hitting on you? Or Stanley, your primary school sweetheart? Or… no! Is it Adam?”

Jada snorted.

“It is! Isn’t it! I thought you said there were no romantic feelings there?”

“That’s still true!”

“Then why did you light up when I said his name?”

“I didn’t!”

Jada finished her business and pushed Chelsea off the sink so she could wash her hands. Her cousin insisted on getting in her face. “You may not be ready to admit it, but I’m rarely wrong.”

“Rarely?”

“Okay, it’s half and half. Did something happen recently?” Chelsea scrunched her nose and strained to remember. “He hasn’t gotten in touch with us since Sunday.”

“Actually… he sent me a message last night asking if I was okay.”

“Really?”

“It was probably because he heard about the gang leader on the news.”

“Yeah, but he knows the both of us live here and he didn’t send me a late night text. You know what that means, right?”

“What?”

“He’s totally interested.”

Jada tilted her head. “I don’t think so. When he responded to me, I got the sense that he didn’t want me to take it the wrong way.”

“Let me see.”

Jada produced the phone and the girls bent their heads over the screen to decode the message. Chelsea made grunting noises every so often and rubbed her chin. Jada waited with a half-smile to see what her cousin’s ‘cupid senses’ were saying.

“You’re right,” Chelsea deduced. “He’s completely uninterested.”

Jada frowned. “Hey!”

“I said my senses had a fifty percent chance of being wrong. The problem is Adam’s niceness. He’s so kind and considerate to everybody that it doesn’t feel all that special when he’s paying special attention to you.”

While in her mind Jada agreed with Chelsea’s assessment, there was a part of her that was mildly disappointed by the confirmation. She didn’t ‘like’ Adam, but the thought that he wouldn’t consider looking at her as more than the woman he helped out was upsetting.

“I… I have to get ready for work.”

“Ah,” Chelsea shuffled out of the bathroom. “You’re always working. You make me feel like such a bum.”

“You took me in that first year and didn’t ask for a cent of rent. I think I can wait a little while you get on your feet.”

Chelsea flopped into bed and rolled on her stomach. “Still, don’t you think it’s a little much? You have to stock shelves at six. Then you have to clean the museum at seven. Then at lunch, you wait tables at the café. And in the evenings you go to the bookstore and then at night, you go to school.”

“You make it sound worse than it is.”

“If you married Adam, you wouldn’t have to worry about finances ever again.”

Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Go score that job at the bakery then I won’t have to work so hard.”

“Uh,” Chelsea groaned, “this would all be easier if we found one old man with money to spare—” At Jada’s glare, Chelsea offered a sheepish grin. “I mean, yay for strong, hardworking, independent women!”

“I’ll find a better job soon, but for right now, all that’s available are part-time gigs.”

“I know. I’m not complaining. I just feel sorry to you.”

“Don’t,” Jada grinned. “When you make it big time through your own hard work, I’ll be mooching off you.”

“Ouch! You think I’m mooching?”

Jada rolled her eyes. “Please make sure there’s hot water for me when I get back.”

“See yah and be careful out there.”

She closed the door behind her and walked out, taking the stairs two at a time. As Jada walked toward the bus stop, she was surprised by the amount of activity on the street.

“Mr. and Mrs. Curtis!” she waved to a tall man with dark skin and tattoos ranging up his shoulders to his face. “How are you?”

Yanique Curtis was a drug dealer and used to run with the gangs, but when his wife was shot, he chose to leave the thug life behind and stick to the drug trade. Jada had heard all of their business at the beauty salon.

She stopped in front of the woman in the wheelchair. Mrs. Curtis had beautiful brown hair and bright brown eyes. Though she had to be carried most everywhere, she never lost her spunk or her hope.

“I’m fine, Jada. It’s good to see you. But… what are you doing out?”

“I still have my job, Mrs. Curtis.”

“Well, be careful. I have my Tommy to take care of me,” she smiled up at her husband, “but not everybody’s this lucky.”

“Mr. Curtis is protecting you, huh?”

Tommy dipped his head. “Come on, babe. We’ll be late for your swimming session.”

Jada stepped out of the way and waved as they walked off. Something about the interaction tugged at her and it wasn’t until the couple had driven away did she realize exactly what it was.

Driven by sudden inspiration, Jada pulled out her phone to tell her supervisor at the grocery store she’d be a bit late and hurried up the apartment stairs.

***

Later that morning, Adam found himself creeping outside of Jada’s apartment complex. No, not creeping exactly… just… observing. He wasn’t quite sure why he had parked his car across the road, only that he’d been going insane at the office, had gotten into his car for a drive, and had somehow ended up here.

She wasn’t home, so this didn’t technically count as stalking. Did it?

The discomfort continued to build, so after a few short moments, Adam started his car to drive away when he heard a tap on the window. Immediately, his fingers flipped the latch to shut the doors.

To his surprise, Chelsea’s scrunched face came into view and she waved when she recognized him. Feeling caught, he lowered the window and greeted her.

“Adam!” she called and, without asking, opened his door and climbed in. “I knew it was you!”

“How’d you find out?” he asked nervously.

“Truthfully, there aren’t many fancy vehicles like yours around here. The next time you come to visit, try to ride in a car that isn’t so… new.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll remember that, but I actually didn’t come to visit.”

“Oh?”

“I had some… business in the area.”

“Business?” she glanced around at the Chinese grocery store at the end of the street and at the lines of residential houses. “What business?”

“You wouldn’t want to be bored with the details.” He cleared his throat. “How is everything? The air here is very tense.”

“It is, but we gotta live, right?” She held up a plastic bag. “I just came from the bakery. Want to share?”

“Alright.”

She opened the bag and the scent of Creole bun washed over him. He had to admit that since coming to Belize, he’d gained a few pounds. The food here was rich and flavorful. Even the pastries were baked with love.

Chelsea broke the bun in half and handed it to him. “Oh, this would be so good with a little condensed milk.”

“Huh?”

She waved her hand. “It’s a Belizean thing.”

They munched in silence for a while.

“Jada said you texted her last night.”

“J-Jada did?”

Chelsea swallowed and nodded. “You should text more often. She was really happy to hear from you.”

The words filed into his mind and he tried to unearth the meaning behind them. Did Chelsea mean Jada was happy to hear from him because he had paid her rent? Or was she happy to hear from him… just because.

“I-uh-wanted to make sure you were both taking the necessary precautions.”

“What precautions?” Chelsea laughed. “If we hear shots firing, we duck. There’s not much we can do outside of that.”

Her words concerned him. “Would you like to move somewhere else?”

Chelsea’s mouth hung open. “Excuse me?”

Realizing the offer might have seemed excessive, Adam strained to back up. “I mean, I know of a place in the north side. It’s safer and there’s even a park close by. The rent is very reasonable too.”

Given Jada and Chelsea’s situation, the rent was anything but reasonable, but who could put a price on security? Adam grew more and more entranced by the idea of moving Jada… and Chelsea… not only to safety, but closer to his residence.

“My friend owns the building. I can talk to him and—”

“Do you like her?”

Chelsea’s question was so out of the blue that Adam stopped mid-sentence.

“I mean,” Chelsea licked her fingers, “it makes sense if you do. I haven’t met a man that’s spent a large amount of time in Jada’s company and not fallen for her.”

He sputtered. “I’m just concerned. There’s nothing more than that.”

“She said the same thing this morning,” Chelsea mused. “But I’m not crazy. There’s more to your relationship, right?” She nudged him in the side. “Look, I get that you want to protect her, but if you want my advice you’re going about it the wrong way.”

Adam said nothing, but he did tilt his head toward Chelsea to clearly hear her words. The slim girl rolled up the paper bag containing the second half of the Creole bun and pierced him with shrewd eyes.

“She won’t be swayed by gifts. Trust me. We’re like two different people when it comes to that. The more you give her, the more trapped she’ll feel.”

Adam had never heard of a woman who hated gifts.

“Don’t get me wrong. When she’s accepted you, you can give her all the gifts you want, but what matters more to Jada isn’t material things.”

“What is it?”

Chelsea rolled her eyes. “It’s love.”

“Love?”

“Yup and not just any love. Perfect love.” Chelsea nodded and patted his shoulder. “Most guys can’t live up to her standards, which is why she’s always been single. I wish you luck.”

“Wait… Chelsea!”

But the girl was already slipping out the door.