Tart (The Fluffy Cupcake Book 2)

by Katie Mettner

  “I’m—I’m fine,” I stuttered, clearing my throat. I stood up off the couch and inspected all the pictures he had hung on the wall. “Is this Athena?” I asked as another crack of thunder made me jump. I grimaced and bit my lip to keep from whimpering, but instinctively covered my ears at the same time. I was glad I had my back to him.

  “It is,” he said, standing behind me now with his hand to my back. I couldn’t tell if it was a protective gesture or a steadying gesture, but either way, I liked it way too much for it to be smart. “She was an adorable little girl who grew up to be a beautiful young lady.”

  “You’re not kidding,” I said as I stared at the girl in a senior photo. “I see all of you in her.” I jumped again when thunder rumbled through the room, and his hands grasped my upper arms tightly, as though he knew I needed that comfort.

  “All of me in her?” he asked. “I don’t know if her mother would like to hear that.”

  “She would,” I said on a nod. “Athena is beautiful, and she is her daughter. Regardless of what’s happened since she was conceived, a mother’s love accepts every feature of their child. At least it should,” I added. “Besides, you were a standup guy when you were nothing more than a kid yourself. She could have had to raise Athena alone with no help from her birth father. I’m sure she’s grateful you’re here to help, even though she has a husband now.”

  He was silent for several moments while his fingers rubbed up and down my back like they had a right to do that. I suppose as long as I didn’t tell him to stop, then they did. “You have an interesting way of looking at life, Amber Larson.”

  “You make that sound like a bad thing,” I said, a tremble rumbling through me.

  “Not at all. It’s more like something tells me that you have experience with it in a painful way.”

  I didn’t—couldn’t—answer him. I didn’t know how to answer him. I did have real-life experience with it, and it was painful, but not in the way he was thinking. My hand trailed across a frame sitting on the stand next to the couch. I picked it up to look at it closer. “This is you and Athena. What a wonderful picture.”

  “It is. That was when Athena liked having her picture taken with her old dad. I think she was about ten there and we were going to a school event. She was so happy that I took the morning off to go to the Donuts and Dads event. Usually, her step-dad went because I was teaching. She was in fourth grade that year, and I just wanted her to know that she was always more important to me than work or anything else I was doing. It became a tradition after that. I invited Ken, and all three of us sat together, ate donuts, and got to know her and her friends. I thought that was important, even if I didn’t live in the same town. I wanted to know who she was hanging out with, and I wanted to know their dads. It was also important that Ken was there, too. He was raising her for the most part, and he saw her friends more than I did. We found ways to make it work.”

  “Sounds like you more than made it work, Bishop. You are the very definition of co-parenting. I can promise you that Athena now understands how rare that is after spending a year at college. I’m glad she had both of you in her life. Strong male role models for a girl always help them make good decisions.”

  I lowered myself to the couch again on a sigh and kept hold of the picture, just to have something to do with my hands. “It sounds like the storm is easing.”

  He nodded and walked to a mini-fridge next to the small table. “It is. I wouldn’t be surprised if there aren’t a few more here and there tonight. It was hot and muggy all day.” He walked back and handed me a cold can of Sprite, which I accepted with a smile. I cracked it open and took a gulp, lowering the can to my leg. “Thanks. I don’t like storms.”

  “Some people don’t. Nothing to worry about.”

  “No, I mean, I really don’t like storms. I don’t—I have,” I stuttered about, looking for words that wouldn’t come. Finally, I just shook my head. “I can’t.”

  “Storms are the reason you live in the downstairs apartment, right?” he asked, motioning at the side of the house that faced mine.

  “It’s hard to find a rental with a basement,” I agreed.

  “Especially in a resort town like this one.”

  “How did you know that’s why I live in my parent’s basement?” I asked, my head tilted. “I bet Brady told you, didn’t he?”

  He shrugged and leaned back, sipping on his can of Diet Coke. “He said you’d never tell me the truth, so he did.”

  “What an asshole,” I moaned, dropping my head back to the couch. “Way to make a girl look like a head case, Brady!”

  “I don’t think being afraid of storms after what you went through makes you a head case, Amber. On the contrary, I think you’ve earned the right to feel that way about the power of Mother Nature.”

  “You might be the only one that thinks that besides Hay-Hay then. Even my parents want me to get over it and be normal,” I said, using air quotes.

  “If only it were that easy, eh?” he asked, shoulder bumping me lightly.

  “Trust me. It’s not. I’ve tried everything, but I still work my plans around the weather all these years later. That bothers them. No, it’s more like it drives them batshit crazy.”

  “Brady didn’t tell me everything. He just said you were injured in a storm as a kid, and that’s why you walk with a limp.”

  “Ha!” I said, sarcastic laughter filling my voice. “That’s an understatement.” I was getting angry and defensive now. “Brady had no right to tell you that and then to underplay the truth!”

  “What’s the truth then, Amber?” he asked, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his thighs.

  I pulled up my dress to show him the scars on my calf. “Intramedullary rod and nails in my tibia and,” I said, turning my arm outward so he could see the underside. “My left humerus. We aren’t even going to talk about my knee and thigh. A tornado hit the campground where we were camping when I was thirteen. They found me in a tree yards away from where the RV had been. It took everyone by surprise that night. Every bone on the left side of my body was broken, but I was lucky and survived, some people didn’t. The tornado split our RV right in half. I was unlucky enough to be sleeping on the bed in the middle of it.”

  His hand came up to rest on my back, and his eyes closed. “I’m so sorry, Amber. I can’t even imagine. The idea of how scary that had to have been just made my stomach tremble. I understand why you don’t want to mess with Mother Nature now.”

  “You mean, why I freak out about storms?” I asked sarcastically. “For your information, I have diagnosed PTSD.” My shoulders deflated, and I sighed. “Sorry, my heart is still pounding wildly. I need to run and hide, but I can’t.”

  He rubbed my leg soothingly through the brace and all. “Don’t apologize. I didn’t know that,” he said with understanding. “I wish I had. I wouldn’t have played tonight’s weather off as no big deal. I would have respected your request to go inside the first time you asked. It won’t happen again. I stick by my earlier statement, though. I understand why you don’t want to mess with Mother Nature now. Why don’t you want to talk about your knee and thigh?” He had his head turned to gaze into my eyes, and I hated that it felt like he could see all my secrets so easily.

  I shook my head and gazed up at the ceiling to keep the tears at bay. “I’m sure you noticed I wear a brace on that leg.”

  “I felt it the other day when I picked you up,” he answered. “I didn’t know why at the time.”

  “I’m just going to show you. Normally, I hide it, but whatever you think is happening here between us will eventually end. This is the quickest way to the finish line.” I grasped my dress, but he grabbed my hand to stop me.

  “I don’t know what’s happening between us, Amber. I had hoped we’d be friends, but it feels like something more. Something on a deeper level than I’ve ever experienced with any other woman before, my daughter’s mother included. Regardless, the fact that you wear a brace isn’t
going to make it end. I think you’ve earned the right to hold your head high after what you’ve been through, brace or no brace.”

  My eyes closed, and I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “Why is it that the one guy who could make you entertain the idea of dating always comes along at the wrong time? It’s like the universe is conspiring against me.”

  “It’s only the wrong time if you continue to let it be the wrong time,” he said, one brow going down to his nose.

  “It is the wrong time, and you’ll understand once I show you this,” I answered, tears filling my voice as much as they filled my eyes. One tipped over my lashes and ran down my cheek when I glanced down at my dress. His hand left mine to wipe away the tear while I pulled the material out of the way. I removed the Velcro off the top of the brace and let it fall open, leaving it wide open for his inspection. When his gaze swept across my skin, and I swear to God, if I believed such a thing was possible, it healed me just a little bit more. His face was stoic. He didn’t grimace or look away from it the way most people do. He remained engaged even as he asked his first question.

  “Is it painful?” he asked, his hand hovering over the red, mottled skin.

  “This part is,” I said, making a circle over the top of my knee. “I don’t know why it’s so red other than it might be infected.”

  “The skin?”

  My eyes closed and the tears I’d been holding back dripped down my face. “I, um, I was injured back in February. The doctors think the nerves in the knee were damaged,” I said, clearing my voice to rid it of the tears. “They asked me to come back for more tests, but I haven’t.”

  “This is June,” he said, not disapprovingly, just clarifying. “Could the nerve issue be causing your pain?”

  “Some of it,” I agreed, nodding. “I haven’t had time to deal with it. The bigger issue is—”

  “The muscle atrophy,” he said instantly. “More like there is no muscle.” His finger went to trace a divot in the leg, but he pulled it back. “I don’t want to hurt you. It looks like it hurts. The muscle is why you wear the brace?”

  “It hurts a lot,” I said, my head nodding. I captured his hand in mine instead of letting him touch it. “The brace is even hard to wear some days, but it’s the only way I can stay upright.”

  “Amber, I’m not trying to sound pushy, but I think you need to see the doctor. At least address the skin issue if nothing else.”

  I rubbed my temple and leaned back on the couch, my frustrations spilling over onto my cheeks. “Haylee told me tonight I can’t go back to work until I do,” I said, swiping at a tear angrily. “She doesn’t have that right—”

  “No, but she’s concerned about you. Brady is beside himself. He says he hasn’t known you as long as Haylee has, but even he can see the drastic change in how you walk. From what he tells me, Haylee is out of her mind with worry.”

  “Tonight has been,” I paused, looking for a word that encompassed everything, but there wasn’t one. “Hard. I’m sure that’s a lame word to use in front of an English teacher, but I can’t come up with anything else. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t ever think you need to apologize about something just because I’m a teacher. You can’t walk around using words like arduous and toilsome all the time. It just doesn’t work.”

  Laughter spilled from my lips, and I shook my head on the back of the couch. “You always know how to make me laugh. Thank you.”

  “Anytime,” he said, laughter filling his voice, too. “Besides, I think hard was the perfect choice to use. I felt it here.” He pointed to his stomach. “Because I understand hard.”

  “I wish my mom were here for a hug, but at the same time, I’m glad she’s not. She’s been bugging me for months about this, and she’ll just say I told you so.”

  “Moms can be like that. I am happy to offer a hug without the I told you so.”

  He shifted just enough to pull me over onto his shoulder, where he wrapped his arms around me. “All the little kids at school say I give pretty good hugs.”

  I rested my hand on his chest. I liked the way I fit into him perfectly, almost like he was made for hugging me. “They’re right. You give pretty great hugs.” We sat in silence for a few minutes, and then I sat up, his arms dropping from around me instantly. “I suppose I should go home and wallow in my self-pity over there so you can get some sleep. It sounds like the storm is over.”

  “I’m not in a rush to go to bed. I’d rather help you sort out what to do about the bakery. What does Haylee want you to do?”

  I shrugged and rolled my eyes to the ceiling. “So much more than I expected. To begin with, she wants me to get the leg treated. She says I can’t continue with it the way it is.”

  “I would argue that she’s correct there,” he added, just to rub it in.

  “I know, but it costs money, Bishop. Lots of it.”

  “You don’t have insurance?”

  I made the so-so hand in the air. “We do, but it’s a high deductible. You pay everything up to the first ten thousand. Since we’re young, that’s a pretty safe bet, but as we learned with Haylee last year, when you get hurt, it gets expensive. We carry special insurance, so if we get hurt on bakery property, they cover it. I didn’t get hurt on bakery property this time.”

  “This time?” he asked with a brow in the air.

  My head barely nodded in response to his question. “I was in a situation in February.”

  His hands rubbed up in down on his thighs with frustration. “Let me translate that. Some asshole tried to take things too far in February.”

  I tipped my head in acknowledgment. “I got away from him and asked him to leave, but he kicked me in the leg before he did. I suppose it was payback for me kneeing him in the nads.”

  “Good for you,” he said vehemently, “I just wish he hadn’t decided to pay you back. Did you have him arrested?”

  “I tried, but they can’t find him.”

  “They can’t find him?” he repeated, and I nodded.

  “I guess he moved on immediately upon leaving my place since I sent the cops the next day. It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing I can do about it now. I tried to give it time to heal, but it doesn’t appear to be happening.”

  “Well, it can’t heal by magic,” he said, shoulder bumping me again.

  “I know, but the cost of fixing the entire situation is out of my league, Bishop.” He opened his mouth to speak, and I held up my hand. “Let me explain. This kind of brace isn’t working anymore. I used to be able to walk almost normally when I wore it. Now, I just drag the leg around behind me. If I don’t wear the brace, I can’t stand on the leg at all. It won’t hold me up.”

  “Do the doctors have a solution?”

  “Oh, they do,” I said on a chuckle. “A seventy-thousand-dollar solution.”

  “Come again? I didn’t pay much more than that for this house.”

  “You just made my point,” I said, shaking my head in frustration. “My insurance won’t pay for the kind of brace I’m wearing, much less one that expensive.”

  “Why is it so expensive if I may ask?”

  “The brace is computerized, from what I understand. The doctor likened it to one of those prosthetic knees that runs on a computer. The microprocessor adjusts your gait for what kind of terrain you’re walking on and that kind of thing. I have a very rudimentary understanding of it because I will never have one, so it doesn’t matter.”

  “Okay, that explains the expense. Why do the doctors think you’ll benefit from it?”

  “Honestly, I tuned out after he told me how much it cost. It wasn’t going to happen, so I didn’t worry about the explanation. I do remember him saying if I got the new brace, the leg would be functional again.”

  “And if you don’t?”

  I gave him the palms out. “Probably end up on crutches, then eventually a wheelchair. I won’t be able to work at the bakery anymore, and my life will be over.”

  “A lot of peopl
e live very productive lives from a wheelchair, Amber,” he said logically.

  “Well, it looks like I’m going to be one of them, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be doing it in the bakery. Haylee already doesn’t want me there. Imagine if I’m rolling around in a wheelchair. The office isn’t even big enough for a desk chair.”

  “Then you do the office work at home.”

  I tossed my arms up and huffed. “That’s exactly what she wants me to do!”

  “Something tells me a lot is going on below the surface with the bakery that has nothing to do with your leg.”

  “Let me guess, Brady told you,” I said sarcastically.

  “Not in so many words. He just said that you were having a business meeting. I’m a relatively smart guy and figured out the rest all by myself.”

  “I’m really tired,” I said, “tired of talking. Tired of being in pain. Tired of thinking. Just tired.”

  He nodded and motioned at my leg. “Why don’t you put the brace back on and I’ll walk you home. Tomorrow is a new day. When the sun comes up, it might be easier to sort out what you’re going to do.”

  I strapped the Velcro down and let my dress fall again before I stood. “I hope that’s true, but I sincerely doubt it. Thanks for listening, Bishop, and for the hug.”

  “Anytime,” he promised, putting his arm around my waist and walking me to the stairs. “I’m always here to listen, even if I don’t have the answers.”

  I eyed the stairs, and frustration mounted. “I don’t suppose you have an outside entrance to this basement.”

  He shook his head. “Sorry, I didn’t even think about it when I suggested we come down here.”

  “You didn’t know how bad my leg was. I can go down, but going up is impossible now. The leg won’t hold me up long enough to step up with the other leg. Mind if I go up on my butt?”

  “I don’t mind at all,” he said with a smile, waiting while I worked my way up the stairs one at a time. He followed me up so I didn’t slip and, at the top, helped me stand again. “See, no problem, but we’ll stay on the first floor from here out.”