Cupcake Overload

by Bethany Lopez

  Cold water surrounded me as I was submerged in it and I came awake in a panic.

  I really was underwater, that part wasn’t a dream, but as I flung my limbs around, my feet felt the bottom and I pushed myself up to stand.

  “Lila, are you okay?” Amy May was yelling as I shoved my wet hair back from my face and blinked, trying to get my bearings.

  They were a few feet down the river from me, and Cade had already gotten off his tube and was wading through the water toward me, his face full of concern.

  “I fell asleep; I must have fallen off,” I explained when he was almost upon me.

  Cade didn’t say a word, just gathered me in his arms and held on for a minute, then began moving us toward the group.

  “You scared me,” he said gruffly in my ear.

  I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes as I listened to the rapid pounding of his heart.

  “I scared myself,” I admitted. “I was dreaming that I was drowning, and when I felt the water surround me, I thought it was really happening.”

  I felt Cade’s lips on the top of my head and snuggled in, reveling in the safety he provided.

  “Do you want to keep going, or head back?”

  “I can keep going,” I assured him. “I just won’t fall asleep again.”

  Cade gave me one last kiss, then laid me gently back on my tube, before pushing through the river to get to his own tube and jumping on.

  “Jesus,” Amy May said, pulling my attention from Cade. Her eyes were wide. “That was crazy. One second you looked peaceful on the tube, and the next you started thrashing about. Before I could call out and try to wake you, you toppled over into the water. Scared the shit out of me.”

  “I’m okay.”

  “I tried to get out, but my ass got stuck in this stupid tube, and when I saw Cade jump out rush toward, cutting through the water with no problem, I knew he’d reach you before I could anyway.”

  “Hey, it’s okay,” I assured her, not wanting her to feel guilty for not helping me out.

  “Mom?”

  “Are you okay?”

  I looked over to see Elin and Elena watching me, their faces etched with worry.

  Hoping to ease their minds, I smiled brightly and said, “I’m fine. I just fell asleep and fell out of my tube. You know how clumsy I can be … I’m perfectly okay. I promise.”

  They both nodded and went back to talking with Cassidy, but I noticed Elin kept his eye on me for the rest of our trip down the river, and I had to admit, his protectiveness warmed my heart.

  Things were starting to feel normal again, which was how I liked it.

  The kids and I were settled and happy in our new home, they were on their last few days of school, and my business was fully up and running. Things between Cade and I were great, and although I was nervous, I was really looking forward to taking the trip to Hawaii. And, Bea and Shannon were planning their wedding reception, and I could not wait to celebrate their marriage with them.

  The only black cloud over my head was Sledge, who seemed to have gone into hiding, because I hadn’t seen him since that day in my van. Other than a couple of texts asking if I’d cleared his name, it had been radio silence.

  I loved my new place, but I was really looking forward to going to Cade’s cabin this weekend. I hadn’t realized how much I loved it there until we started spending all of our time getting my house ready and staying on my side of town. I even missed Rufus, Cade’s crotch-sniffing black lab. And I was excited to introduce him to CB.

  It was Monday, and I’d had a new client call and set up an appointment. She was pretty vague on the phone, just said that she’d lost something, so I agreed to meet, even though I was already mentally clearing my schedule for Hawaii.

  We were supposed to meet at the local Starbucks, since I wasn’t too keen on having clients come to my house. I was thinking that once the business was in the black, I’d start looking into commercial space for an office in town.

  “I’ll have a skinny chai latte with vanilla, please,” I told the barista as I looked around the seating area to see if my new client was already seated.

  Since the place was empty, I surmised that she wasn’t.

  “Where is everyone?” I asked the barista as I handed him my money. “This place is usually busting at the seams.”

  “A new bookstore with a coffee shop just opened on Main Street. They’ve been doing a lot of grand opening specials and stuff, so most of our regulars have been going there,” the young kid answered, sounding bored and unconcerned with the lack of customers.

  “Oh, I hadn’t heard that, I’ll have to check it out,” I replied, wondering how long it had been since I’d had time to read a book.

  When the barista didn’t respond, I walked down to the end of the counter to wait for my order.

  “Excuse me, are you Delilah Horton, Private Investigator?” a small voice said from behind me.

  I turned to see a sweet-looking lady, about sixty years old, with graying hair pulled back in a bun, standing with her hands clenched in front of her.

  “Mrs. Diamond?” I asked, assuming this was the woman I’d spoken to on the phone.

  “Yes, that’s me,” the woman said, her ears darting around the empty Starbucks nervously.

  “Would you like something to drink?” I asked, gesturing toward the counter.

  “Oh, no,” Mrs. Diamond replied. “I don’t support big business.”

  I wondered why she’d suggested we meet here, but didn’t say anything, just grabbed my drink off the counter and led her to a seat by the window.

  “Could we sit over there?” she asked, pointing to a table in the corner of the room away from prying eyes. “I don’t want anyone to see me.”

  “Sure,” I replied smoothly, then followed her to the back.

  Once we were seated, her with her back to the wall so she could see who was coming and going, I tried to take control of the situation.

  “Mrs. Diamond, you said you needed to hire me to find something for you. Can you tell me what it is, how long it’s been missing, and the last place you remember seeing it?”

  “Well,” she began, her tone oddly wistful. “The last time I saw it was on Saturday last week. It had dropped me off by my tent by the lake, then hovered for a moment before leaving off.”

  Confused, I asked, “What dropped you off?”

  “The Mother Ship,” Mrs. Diamond explained.

  I narrowed my eyes, searching her face, but she looked completely serious.

  “The Mother Ship…” I repeated dryly, wondering if she’d just escaped from a mental ward or something. Maybe there was a BOLO out for her.

  “Yes,” she confirmed with a nod. “It was supposed to come back and get me this weekend, but never showed up. I waited on the outside of my tent all day, Saturday and Sunday, but they never came.”

  “Um…” My mind was working as I tried to figure out the best way to handle this situation, but something else snagged my attention. “Are you saying you live in a tent by the lake?”

  “Yes, it’s been my home for years.”

  “I’m not sure that’s safe, Mrs. Diamond,” I began, stalling for time. “Are you out there on your own?”

  “Yes, but usually The Mother Ship gets me for a couple days every week, so I can be with my friends.”

  Mrs. Diamond’s face turned down, and her eyes began to well up. I realized I was way out of my league here, and it would be best to get Mrs. Diamond someone who could help her in ways that I could not.

  “Mrs. Diamond, I’m going to need to refer you to a friend of mine. She specializes in this kind of thing, and I think she would be able to help you much better than I could. Her name is Beatrice Cooper … Let me write down her number for you.”

  “Oh, okay,” Mrs. Diamond replied, obviously disappointed that I wasn’t able to help her. “Will she be able to see me today?”

  I nodded as I wrote Bea’s number on the back of my business care.

/>   “I’m positive that she will, just tell her exactly what you told me, and I’m sure she’ll see you right away.”

  We both stood up and I thanked Mrs. Diamond as I passed along Bea’s info, then I sat back down as I watched her leave Starbucks.

  I scratched my head as I thought about what she’d just told me, then grimaced when I realized that Bea was going to kill me if I didn’t call and give her a head’s up.

  I got out my phone, pressed Bea, then smiled and said, “You’re not gonna believe this one…”

  “Dammit!” I yelled when I felt a warm mixture of shit and piss squish between my toes.

  “Swear jar,” Elin called from the living room.

  “Where’s that dog?” I bellowed as I hopped on one foot to the nearest sink.

  “With me, why?” Elena answered, from who knows where.

  “She went to the bathroom on the floor again…”

  “We’re out of puppy pads,” Elena explained.

  “So you take her outside, you don’t let her piss and poop all over the place!” I yelled back angrily, gagging as I tried to clean my foot off.

  “Swear jar,” Elin called again.

  “Shut it, Elin,” I retorted.

  “Rude,” was his reply.

  “I’ll take her outside,” Elena said, her voice getting farther away as she moved toward the back door. “Don’t be mad at her, she can’t help it if she has to go to the bathroom.”

  I grumbled to myself, cursing Cade for bringing home an untrained puppy, then sighed once my foot was clean and the mad wore off.

  CB was just a puppy, and it wasn’t her fault that she wasn’t trained yet. I just needed to be patient. She wouldn’t have accidents in the house forever.

  I cleaned up what was left of the mess on the floor, then went outside to where Elena was sitting on the steps with CB.

  “Are you mad at her?” Elena asked as she nuzzled her treasured pet.

  “Nah,” I replied, reaching out to pet CB’s fluffy skin. “How could I stay mad at this face?”

  Elena giggled as CB licked her chin happily.

  “Want to do burgers for dinner?” I asked.

  “Is Cade coming over?”

  “Yeah, does that work for you?”

  Elena nodded.

  “He said he was going to help me teach CB some tricks.”

  Feeling the need to take her pulse concerning Cade, I asked, “You like Cade, right? You don’t mind having him around?”

  “Cade’s the coolest,” Elena replied with a grin, and the tension I hadn’t realized I had wound within me at my question loosened, leaving a warm buzz. “He talks to Elin and I like we matter, like he cares what we have to say. Plus, he’s got a motorcycle, wears cool jewelry, and all my friends think he’s totally dangerous.”

  “Is that a good thing?”

  “Yup,” my sweet daughter answered, then her voice got soft and she said, “Plus, he makes you really happy, he has Rufus, and gave us CB, and he’s always really nice. He never yells like Alicia’s stepdad does.”

  Alicia was one of Elena’s newer friends in school. I hadn’t seen her much, but she always seemed really shy. Almost timid.

  Cade and I were planning to tell the kids about the trip to Hawaii tonight, but I suddenly felt the need to let Elena know how serious I was about my relationship with Cade.

  “I’m in love with him, honey,” I said softly, taking her hand in mine.

  Elena looked up at me and smiled sweetly.

  “I know that, Mom, and I know he loves you too. He loves all of us.”

  My heart expanded at that, and my eyes burned at her open acceptance of Cade and our relationship.

  I leaned down to kiss her on the crown of her head and said, “I love you, Elena.”

  “Love you too, Mom.”

  I went back inside to start prepping dinner, but first, I dropped fifty cents in the swear jar.

  “Cade’s here,” Elin called about fifteen minutes later. “And he brought Rufus!”

  I went to the sink to wash my hands, then walked into the living room just as Cade entered, Rufus barreling in behind him. The big black lab bee lined straight for me, his nose going right to my crotch.

  “Hello to you too, Rufus,” I said as I tried to push his big head back.

  “Rufus,” Cade said sternly, and the dog plopped down and looked up at me happily.

  I patted him on the head, then looked at Cade when he said, “I hope it’s okay that I brought him. Didn’t want to leave him home alone again.”

  “Of course,” I said with a smile. “What do you think he’s going to make of CB?”

  “Let’s find out,” Cade said, and when he raised an eyebrow, I said, “Out back with Elena.”

  Cade and Rufus headed to the back, with Elin and I close on their heels.

  I was sure that Rufus would be fine with the puppy, but the sheer difference in size was enough to make me nervous.

  When we all walked out back, Elena stood and cradled CB in her arms. Once the puppy caught sight of Rufus, she started wiggling with excitement. Rufus walked over and began sniffing CB’s butt, and Elena looked at me, her face filled with worry.

  “It’s okay, put her down so they can get to know each other.”

  “But…”

  “Rufus won’t hurt her, Lena,” Cade assured her, his hand going to her hair to soothe her. “He’ll be gentle, I promise.”

  Elena looked up at Cade, the trust in her eyes causing my eyes to well up again. She kissed CB’s furry face, then bent to place her gently on the ground.

  CB was so excited, she leapt out of Elena’s arms and fell unceremoniously onto the grass. Rufus sniffed at her and nudged her with his snout, then stood up and stilled as CB began to prance around him, sniffing and yapping as she tried to get him to play.

  We spent the next few minutes laughing as Rufus barely tolerated the excited puppy. Every time he tried to walk away, she followed, nipping at his legs and tripping over her own. When he laid down on the grass and tried to go to sleep, even as CB jumped all over him, Elena and I both seemed satisfied that there was nothing to fear from Rufus. If anything, he was the one in need of rescue.

  “Want to fire up the grill?” I asked Cade once we were done with the dog introduction. “I have the patties made, I just need to cut up the toppings and put the beans on.”

  “On it,” Cade replied, then turned and asked, “Did you tell the kids about Hawaii yet?”

  I’m sure my eyes bugged out, since I thought we were going to make it a big deal and tell them over dinner. I even had brochures and stuff that I’d been planning to whip out.

  “What?” Elena asked.

  Just as Elin screamed, “Hawaii?”

  “Yeah,” Cade said with a chuckle. “We’re going at the end of the month.”

  Elena stood still, shocked and repeated, “What?”

  But Elin started jumping up and down and dancing around.

  “No,” I said when Cade’s amused eyes found mine. “I hadn’t told them yet.”

  Then, Elena rushed forward and flung herself at Cade, her arms wrapping around his waist as she exclaimed, “I love you, Cade!”

  Cade was momentarily stunned, then his expression turned tender as his arms held Elena tighter to him, and he replied, “I love you too, Lena.”

  I stood there, weeping soundlessly, as my man held my daughter, and my son danced happily around them.

  A couple of days later, I was going over my notes, trying to figure out what I was missing and if there were any leads I’d neglected to follow, when it hit me.

  I’d never talked to Samantha’s coworkers at The Coffee Bean.

  I’d gone to The Coffee Bean with the intention of doing so, but I’d run into Carmen, then Bran, and gotten caught up in all of that, and I’d never actually spoken with anyone.

  Hoping that this would lead to something and not just be another dead end, I grabbed my bag, slipped on a pair of flip-flops, and hopped in the van to
head toward The Coffee Bean.

  I had to look at my watch to make sure it was open, since when I arrived it looked like a ghost town. Just like at Starbucks, the place empty, with only a few bored-looking staff members playing on their phones behind the counter. The seating area, desolate.

  “Hey,” I said as I walked up to the counter. “You guys are open, right?”

  “Yeah,” the older woman who was cleaning the machine behind the counter answered. The younger girl didn’t bother looking up from her cell phone. “That new bookstore has been taking all of our business.”

  “Really?” I asked, wondering what in the hell they were putting in the coffee over there. It was not only affecting business in Greenswood, but in The Heights too? I was really going to have to check it out.

  “Yup, it’s been like this for about a week now. Ever since they opened.”

  She put the rag down and stepped over so that she was in front of me, then looked me over and asked, “What can I get for you?”

  Her nametag said Jaclyn, and she looked to be a little older than Samantha had been. Thinking maybe she was the manager, or had at least known Samantha, and since there was no one in the joint to overhear, I decided to just try my luck with her.

  “Actually, I’m here about Samantha Stacker,” I said, and watched as her face closed off.

  “You a cop? ‘Cause I already talked to the cops.”

  “No, actually, I’m a private investigator. The name’s Delilah, Delilah Horton, and I’m just trying to find out what happened to her.”

  Jaclyn looked like she was trying to decide whether or not I was telling the truth. She must have decided to trust me, because she tilted her head toward the back and said, “Come with me.”

  I waited for her to meet me at the door to the employee entrance, then followed her back down the hallway and into the back office.

  “Have a seat,” Jaclyn said, picking up a stack of paperwork to clear a seat for me, before moving to the chair in front of the computer desk and turning it to face me.

  I took the notebook out of my bag and sat, then waited for her to say what she wanted to say.