by Natalie Ann
Already starting in. He wondered if his mother would have made a comment about seeing Justin and Taryn together to his father but didn’t bother to bring it up.
“Nothing on my mind other than breakfast. What are you in the mood for?”
“Bacon and eggs,” his father said. “I can cook it myself.”
He wanted to argue but then said, “Go ahead. While you’re at it, you can make some for me too.”
His father walked past him and into the kitchen but not before Justin caught the smirk.
18
Evading The Question
“Did you break my bedframe last night?”
“What?” Taryn asked when she turned to see Kennedy standing in the doorway. She’d been paying more attention to the text with Justin.
“I asked if the bedframe had been broken. I heard it hitting the wall last night.”
Her face filled with red matching the melting chocolate on her cake. “No, you didn’t.”
Kennedy burst out laughing. “But you didn’t deny that it might be hitting the wall.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Why bother when you probably saw Justin’s car here when you closed last night.”
Her sister laughed at her. “I did. But that doesn’t mean anything. He was here last week too.”
“Very true.”
“So you did get a physical exam from him last night?” Kennedy asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
“That’s crude.”
“That’s not crude. Maybe cheesy but not crude. And you’re evading the question.”
“Fine. He had a rough day with his father and sought me out. Then he changed his mind but when I was leaving the building I’d seen his car next to mine and found him on the pier.”
“Doesn’t sound like just fun to me.”
“No. I mean yes. I don’t know what the hell it is. I’m telling myself that again and again. I even asked why he didn’t come see me and he said because we were supposed to be about fun and he wasn’t in a fun mood so he changed his mind.”
“Yet you ended upstairs?” Kennedy asked.
“Yeah. Well, he didn’t look good. He doesn’t say much and keeps a lot inside, but he’d said it was a bad day with his father. I didn’t ask specifics, but I could tell he needed to take his mind off of it.”
“What better way than with sex?”
“I was thinking that. I’ve been itching to get my hands on him anyway. Hell, even when we were done having sex he’d brought up little comments about missing the view from the balcony when he was back in Rochester.”
“That’s a little cold,” Kennedy said.
“I get it though. At first I took it that way but then reminded myself I knew going in what we had. I even suggested it. I sought him out with the cake as a thank you.”
“Hmm. Are you falling for him?”
“Not like you think. I’m not letting myself go there.”
There was no way she was telling her sister about the broken condom and then the sleepless night she’d had with Justin lying next to her.
Yep, they made use of the box of condoms he’d bought when he left to pick up the pizza and they didn’t break.
He’d been somewhat calm when he realized it’d broken. That was after he swore, but then he was.
They were two responsible adults. If something resulted from that they’d work it out. Or figure it out.
But the chances were slim and she was holding onto that thought.
“We all say that. I didn’t think I’d end up married to Logan.”
“Please,” Taryn said. “You’ve had a thing for Logan for years and you know it. We all kind of knew it. You even admitted that you almost had sex with him at Trevor and Riley’s wedding and he’d stopped it from happening.”
“Don’t remind me. I was so mad at him.”
Taryn laughed at her sister. “And it all ended up well. I’m not even thinking that with Justin. He’s here for his father. For his family more than his father.”
No reason to tell her sister more than she knew. It was no one’s business.
“But he’s spending time with you too.”
“To kill time,” she said. “Trust me, I know what it’s like to live somewhere and not know a lot of people and be on my own. It’s not much fun.”
“Was it that bad in Florida? Why move there then?”
“At the time I thought it was the greatest thing. It didn’t seem like there was much for me here and I couldn’t find a job. I’d had a great time on vacation and figured it’d be awesome to live there. And it was at first. Trust me, no snow is a great thing and I’m not looking forward to it again.”
“I know. But it’s not like you’d have to go into work if it was snowing. Logan isn’t going to make you. He won’t even be open all that much over the winter either.”
“I know. I hope to have more business to make up for the time.”
“There will be plenty to do. Logan is flexible.”
“Don’t be talking kinky about your husband. I don’t need to know those things,” she said hoping to get Kennedy’s mind to switch gears.
It didn’t happen. “Very cute. So if it was only good for a short period of time, why stay there for six years?”
She shrugged and moved the cake she’d just finished when Kennedy came up, then went to the fridge where the cupcakes were cooling and took that tray out to decorate for Kennedy to bring downstairs after she photographed them.
“I just kept telling myself to give it more time. Another chance or so. I had a decent job. That wasn’t the problem. I had friends and Mom and Dad weren’t that far away either.”
“But you were still lonely, weren’t you?”
“Yeah. I guess so. I dated. You know that. But nothing was sticking on that end. It just seemed like I had such horrible taste in men.”
“Like the guy who thought you were a virgin?” Kennedy asked, grinning.
“That’s one.”
“Tell me another.”
“Why? So you can bust on me some more?”
“Just sisterly talk. I’m trying to kill time and I know if I ask if that cake over there is for me you’re going to say no so I’m hoping the cupcakes are for downstairs.”
“The cake is going to Trevor at the police station. I already took pictures before you came up. These are for downstairs and I’ll photograph them too and add them to my site and all my social media accounts today. Hopefully someone will want some July Fourth goodies for parties.”
“You should be selling some of these things in the cafe at the adventure park.”
“What?” she asked. There was a cafe there with food and snacks. Fries, hot dogs, drinks, pretzels. Things like that.
“Why not put some cookies and cupcakes in the cafe daily or a few times a week. Not only will you make money and so will Logan, but you can also get your name out there. I’m positive Logan will gladly make it known where the sweets are from.”
“I couldn’t ask him to do that,” she said. Even if it had crossed her mind. Her brother-in-law was doing enough for her as it was. She wasn’t going to take advantage of things.
“You don’t have to ask. I’m doing it.”
“I work for him, not you,” she pointed out. She had some red and blue marshmallow fondant rolled out and was cutting them in little disks to fit on the cupcakes. She had chocolate and vanilla. Just simple flavors. Then she was going to add some hand-piped flags and fireworks. She was fast with a piping bag.
“Whatever,” Kennedy said. “Why do you think I’m here this early?”
“To ask about my personal life,” she said.
“Well, that too. But Logan wanted me to broach this with you. Some of the staff have been eating your stuff and they brought it up. He felt bad that it didn’t occur to him and wasn’t sure how to talk to you about it.”
“Honestly or are you making that up?”
“I’m serious.”
“That’s sweet of the staff.” They did eat eve
rything she brought in and often asked her when more was coming.
“If it’s something you are interested in, go talk to Logan. I think he is worried it’d be too much for you. He knows you have orders to fill and you are always making things for me even though you don’t need to. I appreciate it.”
“And I’ll continue,” she said. “You aren’t charging me what you should. It’s the least I can do and this is like anything else. You have to keep doing it and practicing. I enjoy it.”
“I figured as much and we enjoy eating everything. Anyway, when you get to work, talk to Logan about it. He’s worried it’d stress you and that isn’t what he wants, but if it’s something you are interested in, I’m sure you can work it out.”
She knew they could and it was another way to get her name out there. Not only that, she’d make some money on it. Not a lot. She wouldn’t charge Logan much for them.
And two hours later she was dropping the cake off at the police station and walking past Trevor’s secretary with it. “Is that chocolate? Tell me it’s chocolate.”
“Of course it is,” she said. “But I’ve got to hand it to Trevor first or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
She moved past the secretary and into her brother’s office where he was sitting at his desk grinning, having heard her conversation.
“I’m surprised you weren’t tackled out there before you got it back here to me.” She opened the lid on the box for him to see. “That’s nice. Are those pretzels?”
“They are. Two of your favorite things. Chocolate cake and pretzels.”
“Oh man. I’m cutting into this now and getting a piece.”
She wanted to ask if he could at least let people look at it in the kitchen but stopped herself. Taste was just as important and the pictures were already posted on her sites for others to see.
“Enjoy it.”
“What’s your hurry?” Trevor asked.
“I’ve got cupcakes in my car for work,” she said. “I don’t want them melting.”
“It’s not that hot out yet and I know you’ve got them packaged well.”
“Always,” she said.
“So, what’s this I hear you’re dating someone?”
She sighed. There was no hiding anything from anyone in this town. At least Trevor didn’t mention knowing that Justin spent the night.
“I’m not sure we are dating. Justin is here helping his family out and caring for his father. I know you know that and that he is filling in at the hospital, which you probably know too.”
“I do,” Trevor said. “Yet you ended up going out with him a few times. How is that?”
“You also know he is the one that stitched me up. I brought him a cake as a thank you.”
“And he asked you out?” Trevor asked. “Knowing that he wasn’t staying long?”
“I appreciate you wanting to protect me, but get over it. The same with Logan. You’re late to the game as he already tried to intimidate Justin at the park and it didn’t work.”
Trevor laughed. “I want to say that’s saying a lot, but Logan always has a smile on his face.”
“Logan is every bit as intimidating as you and you know it.”
“I do. There’s not another man on the face of this earth I would want watching my back. But it’s my job to look out for my baby sisters.”
“Did you look out for Kennedy when she was dating Logan?”
“No. That’s different. I stayed out of that. But I watched out for her with the others. When she wasn’t trying to hide her exes from me.”
She grinned at her brother. “I’m not hiding anything. All my exes are in Florida. Well, there are a few here and those are wusses. Like Bryan Reynolds.”
“He was a dick and he was handsy,” Trevor said.
“You weren’t here to even know that.”
“I didn’t have to be here to know how he was. And Dad told me.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, well, that made it hard for me to have any boyfriends because Dad was scaring them all away. I don’t need that here.”
“So Justin is a boyfriend?”
“No,” she said. “We are friends. Neither one of us is looking for anything long term.”
“You’re not?” Trevor asked.
“Is there wax in your ears? Of course not. I’m not a child. I know what I’m doing. Now enjoy your cake.”
She turned and left, happy she got the final word. Only something told her it probably wasn’t going to be.
When she got to her office after having dropped off the cupcakes in the break room, Logan walked in a minute later with one in his hand. “Kennedy talk to you?” he asked.
“Yes. You could have if it’s truly something you want.”
“I could have but didn’t want to put you on the spot.”
“I’m sure she told you I’m fine with it. I think it’s a great idea.”
“Good,” Logan said, popping part of the cupcake in his mouth. “You won’t make tiny ones like this will you?”
She laughed. “No. Those are just a few bites worth. I was thinking big jumbo ones. Not even ones I do for parties that are more averaged sized.”
“Even better. Why don’t we just split the sale of it. Or isn’t that enough?”
That was better than she was going to say. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. What does something like that sell for?”
She pulled her phone out and showed him the different sizes of cupcakes. “The one on the right is what I was thinking. I’d say they could sell for about five dollars each. The average-sized one I sell for two-fifty if someone is ordering them. These are twice the size easily.”
“That works. I just don’t want you losing money on them.”
“Nope. I’m making money and it’s great advertising for me too.”
“Why don’t you try to find some stand or something to put on the counter. Like a flier with your business cards. This way whoever buys them knows they can order them too. And don’t feel like you need to do it daily. Especially as we get busier.”
Again, with Logan being flexible. “Are you kidding me? That is the best time to do it. But since I don’t work on the weekends, I can still make sure to drop stuff off. As long as you are fine with not always having cupcakes and changing it up it will be easier.”
“You’re in control with that. If there isn’t anything that day, don’t worry either. Do what works for you. If you need to come in later and do work from home, you can do that too. You know that.”
“Kennedy struck gold with you. Have you always been this laid back about things in life?”
He laughed. “Yes. I’ve seen a lot of things in the world, as your brother has, stuff like this isn’t worth getting worked up over. It’s a win for both of us. As long as you still bring some in for me,” he said, smiling at her.
“Always. Thanks, Logan.”
“Any time.” He popped the last of the cupcake in his mouth and chewed. “And tell your siblings to mind their own business about your personal life.”
“I knew there was another reason I loved you.”
19
Head In The Sand
It was one thing after another today.
He was glad his father was fine by the time he left yesterday and wouldn’t need to go babysit him again until his next treatment.
He wasn’t used to being grilled about his personal life and tried to push that off from his mother.
Then to have Ashley come knocking on his door this morning before work to see how he was doing and talk about their father and get updates was something he was shocked about.
His sister tried to put her head in the sand about things and he was used to it. But it was obvious their mother filled her in.
“I’m sorry this is all falling on your shoulders. I should help out more.”
“I’m the best equipped for it and you know that.”
“You sound like a broken record saying that. And it doesn’t mean I shouldn�
�t help out more,” she said again.
“You’re helping out here. You’re working a lot more than you normally do. You’re doing what needs to be done and taking that stress off of Mom and Dad.”
“Yeah.”
“You look like you aren’t sleeping well yourself.” She had dark circles under her eyes and might have lost a few pounds.
“A lot on my mind. I think I had a rough night after Mom called me. We are both just letting it all fall on you and assuming everything is going to be fine because Dad has always been so strong. I think yesterday was an eye-opener.”
“Then I’m here to tell you to stop closing your eyes. Things hopefully won’t get as bad as yesterday as long as Dad listens to me.”
“But they can get worse?” she asked.
“Anything can happen with a cancer patient. His body has a lot of chemicals pumped into it and his immune system is weak. He just has to not push it. And that means you and Mom have to make sure of that while he’s here. He needs to stay away from sick people and use good hygiene on top of it.”
“We will.”
His sister had left and he finished getting ready and had stopped to get gas when the police SUV pulled in next to him. He knew right away it was Trevor Miles. He hadn’t seen him once since he’d been back and there was no doubt the guy pulled in to specifically talk to Justin.
“Chief Miles,” Justin said with a grin. Might as well act like it was a friendly visit as opposed to being interrogated by the older brother of the woman he was seeing.
“Dr. Cambridge. How’s it going?”
He laughed. “Just Justin will do.”
“Trevor,” Trevor said. “We’ve known each other too long to be formal.”
They’d gone to school together for most of their lives. Just because Trevor was a year behind him didn’t mean they didn’t know of each other. Everyone knew each other and they’d been to the same parties together from time to time.
Justin’s father owned and operated a successful business in Lake Placid. Trevor’s father was the chief of police back then. There was a community relationship.