Tart (The Fluffy Cupcake Book 2)

by Katie Mettner

  I sat again and rolled my eyes, remembering in the nick of time not to cross my legs. “I don’t have much else to say.”

  She leaned over and folded her hands on the desk. “I think you do, but you don’t want to say it. You think you’ll just add to my already full plate.”

  I pointed at her. “I will, which is why I haven’t said anything. It’s the same boring story.”

  “Hasn’t seemed like the same story to me since at least February. What happened in February that made your leg so much worse?”

  I rubbed my temple and bit my lip to keep from speaking while I thought my answer through.

  “I’m not going to give you time to think of a workable lie, Amber.”

  I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. “Fine, okay. I hurt it in February. It’s not healing the way it should.”

  “How did you hurt it in February? I don’t remember it being here at work. Did you fall at home?”

  How was I going to tell her the truth now without making her mad? I wasn’t. She was going to be angry, but I didn’t have much choice. She’d see through every lie I came up with and make me sit here until I was left with nothing but the truth.

  “I got into an altercation one night. I thought the leg was okay, but I’m starting to think I probably did more damage to it than I originally thought.” That was such a lie. I already knew how much damage I did to it. I simply didn’t want to tell her the truth.

  “You think? You can barely walk by the end of the day. What kind of altercation are we talking about here? You aren’t the argumentative type.”

  “This was more of a self-defense type situation. See, I was dating this guy,” I started, and she stood, walking around the desk to squat next to me.

  “And you needed to defend yourself against him? Who is he, and where do I find him?”

  “I love you for always trying to protect me, Hay-Hay, but I didn’t tell you about this for a reason. You don’t need anything else to worry about.”

  Her hard eye roll right in front of my face spoke volumes. “Listen, the Darla thing is over.”

  “No, it’s not,” I said, shaking my head. “Not by a long shot. You have plenty to deal with when it comes to her nonsense. You don’t need to add mine to the mix.”

  She growled at me in the way only she can. “Out with it. Now.”

  I tossed up my hand. “Fine. I started dating this guy after the new year. I didn’t mention it because it wasn’t serious. He was from St. Paul, and we’d been on a few dates in January. I invited him to my apartment for dinner, right before Valentine’s Day.” Her mouth opened, but I held up my hand to quiet her. “My parents were at home. I wasn’t reckless or stupid about it, but it felt like the next step. He was a great guy when we first started dating.”

  “Until he wasn’t.”

  I pointed at her and grimaced. “Until he wasn’t. That night after dinner, he decided he wanted a few stolen kisses in the dark. When he was kissing me, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had to do the next day, the answer was obvious. We weren’t a match. I politely told him it was time for the evening to end since I had an early morning, but he refused to get off me. I couldn’t get away from him, so I hit him in the balls with my knee, which was still in the brace.”

  She sucked in air while she held my eyes. “Bet he didn’t like that.”

  “Not even a little bit. I got away from him and demanded that he leave. That’s when he attacked me.”

  “He attacked you,” she repeated, and I nodded. “He hurt your leg?”

  “He knew my weakness and used it against me. He kicked me in the knee, and since I was wearing the brace, my knee just snapped—,” I stopped to swallow around the surge of pain and anxiety the memory gave me. “I fell to the ground screaming and writhing in pain. My dad heard me in the main house, but by the time he got to the apartment, Rex was gone.”

  “Where is this asshole now? Brady and I are going to go have a chat with him.”

  I snorted with laughter but grabbed her hand tightly. “I love you for always coming to my defense, but it was months ago. I haven’t seen Rex since.”

  “You should have pressed charges,” she said, disapproval in her voice.

  “He said, she said,” I insisted, holding out my palms.

  “Except you have an injured leg that says otherwise.”

  I rubbed my knee and swallowed back the bile that always rose in my throat when I thought about that night. “Honestly, I sent the cops to look for him, but he was gone. Good riddance.”

  “But the leg keeps getting worse instead of better,” she said, her eyes taking in the mangled limb.

  I shrugged casually as though what she said was wrong. “It’s been slow to heal, but the x-rays didn’t show any fracture of the bone. You know they can’t do an MRI with all the metal in there, so there’s little they can do with it anymore. The problem now seems to be more about sensation and pain. The doctors think I need a different kind of brace.”

  “Why haven’t you gotten it yet?” she asked, one brow going down. “Show me the leg.”

  I sighed heavily and shook my head. I love her, but she worries too much. “I can’t whip my pants down in the middle of the bakery, Hay-Hay. It just needs more time to heal.”

  She stood up and closed the door to the office, then gave me a pointed stare. I sighed again and stood up, pulling my pants down and unstrapping the top half of the brace. Her eyes roved over it, and she inhaled, her hand to her lips.

  “Honestly, Amber. How are you even walking on that?” she asked, falling to her knees to inspect the hip and knee. She ran her finger over the hot, red, mottled skin of my leg and glanced up at me. “I’ve seen this leg at its best and its worst, and this is worse than I’ve ever seen it. It looks like it might be infected.”

  “It’s not,” I assured her. I yanked my pants up before she could freak out about it even more. “It just needs more time to heal. You know how that leg is.”

  She nodded and leaned her butt against the desk. “I do know, and that’s why I’m worried. Does Phyllis know how bad it is?”

  I made the so-so hand. “Mom can see I’ve been limping around, but let’s face it, that isn’t new. Also, you know—” I shrugged rather than finishing the thought.

  “You know what?”

  I folded my hands on my lap on a sigh. “I don’t bother them with my leg issues. I’m an adult now. They took care of me long enough. They deserve to enjoy their retirement without always worrying about the adult child they’re still forced to house.”

  It was painful how accurate that statement was. I was injured when I was thirteen, and I’d been dealing with this ever since. When it came to my leg, nothing was unexpected because the damage to it was so unexpected. All the doctors could do was keep treating the problems as they arose. Granted, the setback in February didn’t help things, but regardless, I knew it was only going to get worse with age.

  The face of Bishop Halla loomed in my vision for the thousandth time since last night. I held in a sigh as I thought about the way his strong arms wrapped around me and carried me to safety. The way he so lovingly cared for my hands when he didn’t have to. He was genuinely concerned for me, and on the surface, he was one of those genuinely nice guys. That didn’t mean he was a genuinely nice guy, but it was a shame I’d never find out. He’d be a friend and nothing more. Considering he’s a physical education teacher, dating someone like me was out of the question for someone like him.

  Her hand was on my right leg, and her sigh brought me back to the conversation we were having. “I know things have been difficult for the last few years with your parents.”

  “Difficult?” I asked, and she nodded. “That’s true, but it’s unfair to put any of the blame on them at this point.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far, Amber. They want to pretend as if none of it happened, but it did, and you’re the one dealing with the consequences. They let you live at the house, but they’d rather you moved
out. They mention it in one way or another practically every time we’re together.”

  I shrugged my shoulder, still staring at my hands. “I’m looking for a place, but there are very few places to rent that have a basement, and the ones that do, I can’t afford. I will find one. Hopefully, by fall. I just might have to move to a different community and commute to work.”

  She squeezed my hand tightly. “No, that’s not going to happen. Brady and I will help any way we can, okay?”

  I smiled at the woman I loved more than my biological sisters. They were both so much older than I was, but Hay-Hay and I had been joined at the hip since we were four.

  She was speaking again, and I forced myself to listen and not cry on her shoulder. “You were status quo and completely functional with the leg up until February, and now you’re not. You have to do something. What kind of brace do the docs want for it?”

  “Something expensive,” I said immediately and then grimaced when she glanced up sharply. “I’m giving it time.”

  “You’ve given it since February. This is June. Get the brace.”

  “That’s easier said than done, Haylee. It’s a microprocessor brace and well over seventy thousand dollars. I don’t have that kind of money.”

  Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head at my statement. “What on earth? They’re going from low tech straps and dials to microprocessors?”

  “It’s the wave of the future,” I said on an eye roll. “I understand why they want me to wear it, but I have to figure out how to pay for it first.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” she said immediately, hugging me tightly. “You shouldn’t be in pain all the time. I know our insurance isn’t good about paying for this stuff, so we’ll come up with another plan.”

  I nodded over her shoulder and let out a sigh. I’d been so afraid to tell her the truth, and now that she knew, I was relieved. “They won’t cover any of it, I already checked. That’s why I’m giving it time. Anyway, thanks for picking up my slack lately. I know I haven’t been as helpful to you and Brady as I usually am. I should have told you sooner, but admitting what happened makes me look weak. You know how I hate that.”

  She shook her head and held my shoulders lovingly. “An asshole who thinks he can take advantage of a woman, any woman, doesn’t make you look weak. I watch you walk around here on that leg and wonder how the hell you stay so damn strong all the time. You deserve better than you’ve gotten, and through all of it, you’re still here doing your job every day.”

  “I’m always here, but I’m hardly out front at all now. I’ve had to delegate a lot of the customer service work to the other girls.”

  She shrugged and motioned at her desk. “You have, but that has less to do with your leg and more to do with the fact that we’re nearly drowning in orders. I’m so busy baking that I can’t keep up with everything else. If Taylor weren’t doing the kitchen manager job, it would be even worse. You haven’t had a choice but to delegate the customer service work, or nothing would get done in the office.”

  I nodded with my lips in a grim line. “You’re right, and I meant to talk to you about that. Do you want to make some brownies and have a meeting just you, me, and Brady?”

  She shook her head and winked at me. “Not later today, no. You have a fence removal date with one hella sexy teacher. We’ll do it tomorrow afternoon.”

  “It’s not a date!” I exclaimed, frustration with her matchmaking filling me to the max. Ever since she’d gotten together with Brady, she insisted I needed to find someone to do the same. I had already sworn off men! The last one didn’t work out so well, and I wasn’t in the mood for a repeat performance. “Bishop’s my neighbor, that’s all. He’s helping me out by getting rid of the fence. And actually, removing that eyesore benefits his property, too. That’s all it is.”

  She nodded and tried to hide her grin by pursing her lips. “Okay, sure. Well, whatever it is, you’ve already committed to it. Let’s have the meeting tomorrow afternoon after the bakery closes. For now, go home. We’ve got this covered. Put that leg up with some ice on it for a few hours before you have to help Halla Hottie with the fence.”

  “Halla Hottie?” I asked on a snort of laughter.

  “Like what I did there?” she asked, grinning like a fool.

  “Not even a little bit,” I said, standing up and hugging her again. “Thanks for understanding. You’ve always been my best sister.”

  She chuckled and wrapped her arms around me. “You better not say that too loudly. One of your real sisters might hear you.”

  I leaned back and patted her face, a smile on mine. “They already know, and they don’t have a problem with it.”

  I limped to the door and grasped the handle. “I’ll let you know how dinner with Halla Hottie goes.”

  She pointed at me and winked as I swung out the door to the sound of her laughter.

  Four

  I pounded a post marker into the ground at the front of the driveway. I had done the same at the back of the property before I started pulling the wooden planks out of the packed soil. I was shocked when most of them came out with little effort from me. Only two or three planks were anchoring it in the ground, and the rest were rotted beyond help. I was honestly surprised it hadn’t fallen over in a strong breeze.

  I rolled the fence up and dropped it in my backyard, before heading back to Amber’s yard to fill in the holes. I wanted to have most of the work done before dinner, so I could focus on her. If I were lucky, I’d have time for a shower before she started dinner. I knew she was home since her car was in the driveway, and I noticed her moving around inside her apartment, but I decided not to be pushy. She’d come out when she was ready to face me after what happened the other night. I could see how embarrassed she was, and she was going to struggle to keep her promise to cook dinner tonight. She had nothing to be ashamed of, but for some reason, she was.

  I love a woman with spark, sass, and pizazz. Amber has all three in spades. Okay, so maybe the sass was on the high end of the spectrum, but something told me she used it as a defense mechanism. There was no doubt it had everything to do with that left leg of hers. I didn’t need her to tell me that she had a problem bigger than she was letting on. Holding her in my arms made that obvious. She wore a brace on her left leg, but the limb itself was nothing but skin and bones. She was a slight woman to begin with, but that leg was something else entirely. Hopefully, she’ll tell me what happened at some point, but until she does, I’ll continue to treat her with respect. I would always be here to listen when and if she decided to talk.

  “You’re hard at work,” her sweet voice said as if I had conjured her from just my thoughts. “You were supposed to wait for me.”

  I leaned on the shovel I was using to fill the small holes left by the fence. “I figured after the other night that your hands would appreciate not having to deal with the old wood again.”

  She held up her palms, and the red marks were still apparent. It wasn’t the splinters that left them red and abraded, but the gravel she landed in when she fell.

  “They thank you, and so do I,” she said with a smile. She lowered her hands to her hips and pointed at the small holes along the length of the yard. “Did it come out okay?”

  I stomped down on a dirt-filled hole as I answered. “I don’t know how the fence was still standing. I barely had to pull on it before it went down like dominos. I’m going to fill all these holes, and then tomorrow I’ll plant some grass seed.”

  “I appreciate all your help,” she said, biting her lip as she stared at the ground instead of making eye contact.

  “It’s no problem. Taking down the fence improves my property, too.”

  She searched around the area where I was working. “Where did you put the fence? Did you haul it away already?”

  I leaned on the shovel again and pointed at the fence in my yard. “I was going to pull the boards out of the wire and burn them. Then all I have to do is take the wire to the metal recycl
er on Monday.”

  Her head nodded as I spoke. “I’ll get a pair of gloves and help you cut the wires apart. I’d offer to help you fill the holes, but you look like you’ve got it covered.”

  She was putting all her weight on her right leg, and I could tell it took effort for her to keep from falling over.

  “I only have a few holes left to fill. Why don’t you grab a chair and talk to me while I finish?”

  “I don’t need a chair,” she said defensively.

  That was a kneejerk reaction. I sensed it was something she often repeated whenever someone even suggested she might need to sit down.

  I held up my hand. “Whatever you’d like,” I said, going back to packing dirt in the holes. “How was work today?”

  Air blew from her lips in exasperation. “Exhausting. We’re so busy this time of year we can barely keep up.”

  “That doesn’t sound fun.”

  I noticed her shrug out of the corner of my eye as I stomped on another pile of dirt. “We’ve grown so much over the last couple of years that we need to reevaluate our plan. We’re going to have a meeting tomorrow to figure out how to make the workday easier on everyone.”

  “You and Haylee are partners in the business, right?” I asked, starting on the last hole.

  “Yup, we started The Fluffy Cupcake nine years ago. It was just the two of us running this little bakery that no one even knew existed. Word of mouth spread about Haylee’s cupcakes, and soon, we had customers lined up out the door. Eventually, we hired Brady so we could offer bread and buns besides our cakes and pastries. He’s such an amazing bread artist that now we have so many standing orders with restaurants around the area it’s hard to keep up. We even do the buns and bread for the school. Though, at least during our busiest season, we don’t have that order to worry about.”

  “Wow, I’ve had the buns and bread at the school and wondered how the cook had time to make such crusty, yeasty perfection. Now I know where I can get more of those buns. They were seriously New York quality.”

  She chuckled and pointed at me. “Now you see why we’re busier than we’ve ever been. We have to start planning for our tenth-anniversary extravaganza in August, but we don’t even have time to do that.”