Chapter 48

Ally

The kitchen was my favorite place to be. Maybe that was a little fifties housewife, but so what? I loved creating, coming up with new recipes for cupcakes done a different way. Someday, I might even wear my frilly pink apron for Gabe while I whipped him up a batch of Dark Decadence. With nothing else underneath.

This week’s creation was the perfect way to get Gabe and Faith and the cluster fuck of crazy off my mind.

“Have you got an idea for the name?” Kelly asked, stealing a scoop of pink frosting from the bowl. It was good to see her again. Having her in the bakery was refreshing; like I had a sister to talk to.

“I’m not sure. Something sexy. Sultry Strawberry?” I asked, mixing the batter, then bringing out a cupcake pan. I brought out the plain white cupcake wrappers and opened the bag.

I always used plain white for test batches, and with the bakery closed for the evening, this was the best time to get imaginative.

“Hmm,” Kelly said, tapping her strawberry tipped finger against her lips. “I like that, but what about… Strawberry Seductress?”

“Yeah, that is better,” I replied, nodding, then laying the wrappers in their respective holes. Gabe popped into my head every few minutes, which made it nearly impossible to concentrate.

“I wish you’d come over for Valentine’s dinner,” Kelly said, with a sly smile. Oh, she knew all right. I had no idea how my best friend did it, but she always had the dirt.

“I was busy.”

“Oh?” Kelly asked, feigning innocent and widening her eyes. “Busy with what?”

“Don’t make me smack you,” I scolded, raising my wooden, batter-coated spoon. I began pouring the mix into the wrappers. “Gabe came over.”

“I’m shocked.” Kelly wiggled her eyebrows. “And I’m happy.”

“What?” The last I’d told Kelly, I’d been furious with Gabe because of the engagement thing. Had she forgotten my utter humiliation on the steps of Donovan Moreno’s mansion?

I shuddered at the recollection.

“I figured there would be an explanation for what happened.” Kelly wiggled her butt, swaying her hips in a mini-salsa dance of indecision. “Look, Gabe Moreno is special, Ally, even Pat thinks so. He told me Gabe is clearly head over heels for you.”

“Yeah, but the engagement.” It was off now, I had to keep reminding myself of that. Keep telling myself that nothing else would go wrong. It felt like tempting fate to think that.

“Faith is a lecherous little princess, Ally. I didn’t believe the engagement and I’m sure there’s an explanation for it. Am I right?” Kelly tried to dip her finger in the rapidly emptying bowl and I slapped it away.

“Yes, you’re right. But—”

Kelly’s phone trilled and she whipped it out of her handbag, along with a handful of tampons and a few tissues. She pulled a face and answered. “Hey honey, what’s up?”

I put the bowl down and helped repack her handbag while she chatted with Pat. She hung up a few seconds later.

“I’ve got to go. Pat’s put something unspeakable down the coffee grinder.” She shook her head and accepted her tote with a nod of thanks. “I’ll be back over later if you’re still busy.”

“That would be great,” I replied. “Have fun!”

“Yeah, right,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Men these days, God.” She stomped out of the kitchen and into the bakery proper. The bell tinkled and the door slammed.

Pat and the coffee grinder had been waging war against one another since Kelly bought it. We joked about it every now and again because it was the only thing they argued about. If you called light quips arguments.

I finished spooning the cupcake mixture and popped them into the oven with a smile of satisfaction. Strawberry Seductress was cute. I liked the idea of calling out that we needed more Seductresses in the bakery. Tess would love that one and she just might volunteer. She’d even been flirty with Hank the plumber when he’d been by last week to seal up a leaky pipe.

I set the timer and turned to start the dishes.

The bell out front tinkled again.

“Back so soon?” I called. “Thank God, I worried Pat had lost a finger to the beast this time.”

“Hello, Ally, you’re looking good enough to eat.”

I spun on the spot and met Matthew’s sleazy gaze. This guy just didn’t know when to give up. Both his eyes were still black and blue from the beating in the dive bar.

“What are you doing here? I think I made it clear I don’t want anything to do with you.”

“You’re alone,” he said, glancing at the staircase in the corner, spying for Gabe. “Where’s lover boy? With his other slut?”

This guy was such a fucking idiot. “You can’t seriously think I’ll ever be with you after what happened. You’re not that crazy, right? Matthew, tell me you’re not that crazy, because if you are, I’ll have to call your brethren.”

Calmness on the outside, freak out on the inside. Why couldn’t he leave me the hell alone? Did all women go through this shit with their exes? I could handle an occasional whistle in the street by the local construction crew, but this?

“I am the cops.” He swaggered closer. I wondered when that card would lose its value since he laid it down every damn time.

I whipped a rolling pin off the counter and slapped it in my palm a few times, hoping he’d get the message. He stopped swaggering. Was he drunk?

“Don’t try that with me again. I don’t care if you’re a cop, you’re behaving like a cockroach and I will blacken your entire face if you continue this shit.” I’d get a restraining order tomorrow. Stomp right up the courthouse steps and tell them all about Matthew’s dangerous ways. I should’ve done it ages ago.

“You couldn’t squash me if you tried. No one would ever believe you,” he said, as if he could read my thoughts by looking at my face. Maybe he could. He was all kinds of insane.

“Matthew, get the hell out of my bakery. I have nothing more to say to you. We’re so over. We’re afros and mullets over. Do you get that?” I shook my head. “I mean, do you actually comprehend that I do not want you?”

“I don’t care if you don’t want me. Just as long as he can’t have you.” Matthew paused and fiddled around with his belt.

“He can have me and will have me, every day for the rest of my life.” I paused and checked my watch. “In fact, he should be back any second.”

Matthew paled and he touched a hand to his nose.

“I’m going to tell him you came to see me, and then I’m going to report you to the police,” I said, dotting the side of the rolling pin to the counter. “And if you ever come near me again, I will lop off your dick with my Wedgwood cake knife.”

“Jesus,” he said, then took a single step back. “You’re the crazy one.”

“Why? Because I won’t be bullied by you anymore?” I asked, cocking my head to one side. “Get the hell out of my bakery,” I spat.

Matthew blinked a couple times, and I could make out the humiliation and anger warring in his gaze.

The bell over the door tinkled again.

“Bitch!” Faith’s voice traveled through from the front. “I’ll kill you for this.”

“I think that’s your cue,” I said with a sigh, waving towards the front. “I can only deal with so much crazy in one day, and this one is pregnant on top of that.”

Matthew’s humiliation won out. He spun on the spot and marched out of the bakery.

I turned to face Faith. The one person who still had the ability to implode my new found happiness.