Chapter 20
“Hi, Arabella. Everything all right? You look tired.”
“So do you,” she said dryly as Jake stood and gestured to a chair in front of his desk.
But she couldn’t sit. She was too full of nerves.
Jake let out a huff of laughter. “Touché.”
She felt a stab of guilt. Was it a good idea to come to him with a complaint like this? It was clear that he had a lot on his plate and it wasn’t like she’d been harmed.
You still get a bad vibe off this guy.
Yeah, but she got a bad vibe off most people.
Except Eli and Kellan . . . shit. She had to stop thinking about them. Nothing was going to happen between them. She’d pushed them away.
They wouldn’t want anything to do with her after that. And she should be glad about that.
Although it seemed like they hadn’t wanted to leave just now.
“Hey, it’s all right. Tell me what you came in here to say. It must be important and I’m here to help you.”
“You look like you’ve got a lot on your plate, though. And what happened . . . it’s not that big of a deal—”
“Arabella, sit down,” Jake told her firmly.
Sheesh.
She sat before she even realized what she planned to do.
“How did you do that?” she asked. “I didn’t want to sit.”
“Comes with the territory,” he replied dryly. “What’s going on?”
She took a deep breath in.
Remember, he might be doing this to more people than just you.
“It’s about one of your deputies,” she told him.
Jake nodded encouragingly and she told him about last night. About how Deputy Doofus had basically dismissed her worries and been condescending and rude. As she spoke, Jake’s face grew darker and angrier.
“All right,” he said as she finished. “First of all, you were completely right to bring this to me. Not just because he’s my deputy but because it upset you and I’m here to help you.”
She nodded, feeling relieved. Part of her had been worried that he might dismiss her concerns. That he might tell her that she was being stupid or sensitive or something.
“You won’t need to worry about Deputy Dunn anymore. He’ll be leaving today.”
“Oh. You’re going to fire him?”
“Yes. Well, actually, I’ll be sending him back to where he came from. He’s just on loan to me for a while.”
“If he’s only here for a short while, I can put up with that. I don’t want you to be short-staffed,” she told him.
Jake shook his head. “Better to be short-staffed than have someone like that working for me. And don’t worry, I was getting near the end of my patience with him anyway. You’re not the only person to complain. But yours has been the most serious.”
“That makes me feel better.”
“Is everything else all right? What about these noises you heard last night? Did they come back after Deputy Dunn left?”
“No, there was nothing else. I was wondering if it was some sort of animal? I’m not sure what the lights were, though.”
“It’s odd. Do you feel unsafe? I could have someone do some drive-bys for the next few nights.”
“I don’t think you’ve got time for that.”
“I will make time,” he said firmly. “Even if I have to do it myself.”
She felt guilty but nodded. “I’m sure it’s nothing. It was just a bit weird. Oh, there is one other thing.”
“Yes?”
“This isn’t the first time that Deputy Dunn has been at my house. Apparently, someone made a complaint about Horse making a lot of noise while I was out of the house. But my only neighbor is Abe and I’m just wondering who made the complaint.”
“I can’t tell you who it was but I’ll take a look at our records.”
“Thank you.”
Leaving the police station, she felt a lot better about everything. Until she saw them leaning against a car along the street.
And wouldn’t luck have it that her car was three cars down from theirs.
Shit.
What to do? It didn’t look like they’d seen her yet. She glanced around.
The bakery!
She still hadn’t been in to check it out. It always looked busy with lots of people sitting inside drinking coffee and eating.
Maybe it would give her some inspiration. She had done some content creation yesterday, but today her brain just wasn’t in the right space.
Turning, she walked as fast as she dared down the street toward the bakery. She managed to trip up once, but thankfully she caught herself before she could land on her butt.
Haven was basically one big, long main street. It was bustling with people, though. People pushing strollers and children running around laughing. It made her smile despite the stress racing through her.
She ducked into the bakery which had a dog-friendly sign in the window. The atmosphere inside was fun and busy. She stared down at the goodies in the case. They all looked amazing . . .
Except for the cakes.
Yikes. There were three large cakes which were probably delicious, but the icing was dripping down the sides of the cakes. On one cake the icing was a strange black-purple color.
That looked revolting.
“They’re terrible, aren’t they?” a woman with a Scottish accent asked. “They taste delicious, but they look like shit.”
Arabella couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter. “They do look, um, interesting. Do you own this place?”
“It’s all right, you don’t have to sugar coat it. I know they look like something that your dog would have left on the sidewalk. After he’d been eating blueberries. And grapes.”
“I don’t think dogs can eat grapes,” she said. She knew they couldn’t because she’d been doing some research. But she didn’t want to seem like she was a know-it-all.
“Shoot. They can’t? There goes my idea for a doggy wine.”
Doggy wine?
“Hey, there, gorgeous,” she said as she crouched down and got into Horse’s face.
Arabella tensed, wondering how Horse would react considering he wasn’t that fond of men at times.
But Horse sat with his tongue lolling out as the woman patted and cooed to him.
Finally, she stood and looked up at Arabella.
She was a lot shorter than Arabella with luscious hips and curves.
Her smile lit up her face, she had freckles over her face and red-brown hair.
And Arabella immediately knew she wanted to be friends with this woman.
If she would have her.
“Hello, there, I’m Iona McCabe. And yeah, I own this fine bakery. I don’t think I’ve met you before, have I?”
“I’m Arabella Bridges. And no, I’ve only been here a week.”
“Oh, well, you’re totally new. Welcome to Haven. I haven’t lived here long myself. I came to visit my cousin who lives in Freestown, we visited Haven for the day and I fell in love. That was six months ago. And now I own this business, and I’ve got my eye on someone.”
“You do?” Arabella asked, startled.
“Sorry, sorry, my ma always said that I overshare.”
“Oh no, that’s okay. I don’t mind,” Arabella told her. “Can I try a slice of the blueberry cake?”
“You sure?”
“I am. I’m certain it’s delicious. I’m actually a baker as well.”
“You are? What do you like to bake?” Iona asked as she moved around the counter to get a slice of cake. There was someone else serving at the register.
“Cakes. But mostly I enjoy decorating them.”
“Oh, you must think mine are awful.”
“No, no, you’re probably just going wrong with the icing.”
“I’m going wrong with something, all right.” Someone called her from the back and Iona turned. “I best go. Let me know what you think I can improve.”
Arabella smiled and nodded. She took the slice of cake and walked to the register to pay for it. “Before I pay for this, do you have a list of ingredients?”
The girl behind the counter gave her a strange look. “Um, maybe?”
“Arabella?”
She turned as someone called out her name, surprise filling her as she saw who it was.
Although she shouldn’t be surprised. It had been bound to happen at some stage. Unfortunately, he wasn’t alone. Keira stood next to him, her hand held firmly in his.
They must have just walked in the door. Arabella took the slice of cake, paying for it with a forced smile before turning back to Cole.
He was a handsome guy.
Although not as gorgeous as Eli or Kellan.
Okay, where did that thought come from? She shouldn’t be comparing him to them. It wasn’t like she’d ever been interested in Cole that way.
And she’d been a means to an end for him. She knew that and it didn’t even really hurt. But it did hurt to learn that he could be caring . . . that he had actually always been in love with the woman beside him. And the man who just stepped into the bakery behind them.
Julian’s face filled with surprise as he saw her. Arabella pulled her true thoughts and feelings deep inside her and forced a bland smile onto her face that she knew didn’t reach her eyes.
“Hello, Cole, Keira, Julian. How are you all?”
“What are you doing here, Arabella?” Cole asked bluntly.
Horse growled at him and Cole stared down at him in surprise. As though he’d only just noticed that there was an oversized dog standing next to her.
“Cole!” Keira scolded, looking up at him aghast.
“What?” he asked. “We’re all wondering why she’s here. In Haven?”
“You’re being a bit blunt, though.” Keira gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”
Arabella waved her free hand through the air. “That’s quite all right. I actually live here now.”
“You live here?” Cole repeated. “Why?”
“Why not?” She moved quickly through the tables, tripping over a chair leg.
Urgh! Embarrassing. Why did she have to get all clumsy now?
She quickly sat down before she landed on her butt.
Hopefully that would be it.
“Sit, Horse,” she ordered. Horse sat but he continued to glare at Cole . . . who was following her.
Awesome.
She picked up the cake fork off her plate.
“Why are you living here? Why would you follow me?” Cole demanded.
“Cole, it’s been years,” Julian said. “I’m pretty sure that she didn’t follow you here.”
“I didn’t,” she said, giving Julian a grateful nod.
“Then why is she here?” Cole asked. He leaned over her with a frown. “What’s going on?”
Horse growled and she tightened her hold on his lead.
She had to remind herself that while Cole could be intimidating, he wasn’t going to hurt her.