Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
VIOLET
I turn around at the sound of the door opening. “Hi,” I say and walk around the counter and wrap my arms around my parents.
“Hi sweetie,” my mom says.
“Smells good in here. What have you been baking?” Dad asks.
“Pumpkin everything. It’s so popular with the colder days and fall coming. What do you two want?” I ask, and head back behind the counter.
“I’ll take a pumpkin cupcake.”
“Me too.”
“Any coffee?” I ask while pulling the cupcakes out of the display cases.
“Do you have regular brewed coffee?” Dad asks.
I nod.
“I’ll have the same.”
I place both cupcakes on top of the display case and then pour three cups of coffee for us. I walk out to a table and pull a chair out for everyone. We all sit down, and I watch as my parents’ eyes light up biting into their cupcakes.
“I miss your baking,” Mom says, wiping the small amount of cream cheese frosting from the corner of her mouth.
“I miss you two.”
“We miss you too. How are you doing? Be honest with us. If we need to cancel our trips, we will,” Dad says.
Even though it would be wonderful to have my parents here, I can’t let them do that. Those fuckers have already uprooted two lives already. I can’t have them do it to two more. They’ve been saving up for this for as long as I can remember. It wouldn’t be fair to them.
“You don’t have to do that. You two have been dreaming about this forever.”
“You’re more important than the trips we had planned. The trips will always be there,” Mom says.
I shake my head. “I promise I’m fine. Opening this bakery has kept my mind busy, and Ezra has been a big help too.”
I haven’t told them everything that has happened because I didn’t want them to worry. They think the only thing Zayn has done is cheat and call them about Ezra and me supposedly sleeping together. I know I’ll tell them everything eventually, just not right now while everything is still fresh.
“How’s Ezra doing with everything?” Mom asks after taking a sip of her coffee.
I want to tell them he’s been having problems with his marriage and friendship before all this and kept it to himself. But it’s not my place to talk about it. “He’s been doing fine. We’ve been there for each other through it all, and it’s been helpful.”
My mom’s head tilts with a smile. “I’m glad you two have each other.”
“I’ve always liked Ezra. He’s a good guy,” Dad adds.
“He is.”
“What are you going to do with your house?”
I look to my mom. “I want to sell it. But with everything going on right now, I just haven’t had the time, and I haven’t even had time to look at other places.”
“Well, take your time. You don’t need to rush things if it’s going to cause you more stress.”
“Do you think Zayn will fight you over the house?” Dad asks.
“I don’t know. He’s not on the mortgage or the deed. Maybe he’ll try to fight for equity.”
Dad shakes his head in disappointment. “Yeah, that never sat right with me.”
“What didn’t?”
“Him not being on the mortgage.”
I shrug my shoulders because, in all honesty, I never saw a problem with it.
But now I can see more clearly when it comes to him.
It shows a red flag that I never saw. It almost makes me think he did this on purpose in case something happened between us and he wouldn’t be stuck with it.
A lot of our stuff is separate. It worked for us, and it works for some marriages, but what he did makes me think he was always a step ahead in case he needed to get out quickly.
And maybe he wasn’t, but because of everything, those are the thoughts that run through my head about him.
“Do you and Ezra want to stay at our house? I’m sure it’s hard for you two to stay in that house,” Mom asks.
“Thanks, but I think we’re fine for now.”
“It’s always open if you need it.”
That’s probably where I should have stayed when all this happened. It crossed my mind a couple of times, but it was already hard enough for me to get out of bed. I couldn’t find the willpower to move my stuff over there.
“Where are you two headed next?” I ask.
“We’re going to the United Kingdom. We’re going to travel around there for a bit.”
“Fun. Send me pictures.”
“We will,” they both say.