Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kids were outside in the alleyway screaming with delight. Ghosts and goblins, skeletons and skulls hung from the roof and filled the alleyway, along with eerie Halloween music from the craft store.
Titus was decked out in his pirate costume, feeling as silly as he looked. Occasionally, he’d go outside where Vanessa was manning the candy table.
He would thrust the sword upwards and yell “Argh” or “ahoy maties” or “I’ll make you walk the plank” and the kids would go wild. Unfortunately, he scared one little girl who ran back crying to her mother, who tsked him. Titus shrugged.
Tough love. He was a pirate, after all.
Truth be told, Titus felt bad. He wasn’t trying to scare the kids, just have fun with them. And he was having fun. Not that he’d ever tell Vanessa, who kept laughing at him. Sean would intermittently emerge, brandishing handcuffs, in pursuit of criminals. One of the other personal trainers dressed in stripes like a criminal and would play hide-and-seek with Sean. It was all in good fun.
The alleyway teemed with adults and kids dressed up as princesses, ghosts, vampires, dinosaurs, and so many other characters. Who knew there were so many costumes available?
He sure didn’t know now, nor did he when he was young. Not only didn’t he and his brothers have costumes, but they had to stand in the window shouting, “Go away! We don’t have any candy!” as their friends approached. That wasn’t embarrassing. Nope, not at all.
Titus could tell when the kids hit up the bakery because they came away with a little baggie filled with cookies in the shape of ghosts or witches.
Emelia had a line of customers coming out of her shop.
He’d seen her decorating the bakery earlier. At least he thought it was her. She had on a green layered skirt with sparkles and pink thread through it and wings. She looked like she was dressed as that fairy in the Peter Pan books. What was her name? Ah! Tinker Bell. Emelia looked darn adorable, too.
Gah. What was he thinking?
Titus didn’t care how adorable Emelia looked. She’d been rude.
They had seen each other several times since then and exchanged nods, but that was all.
Will, Colt, and the women in the group were all enamored of her. That’s all he heard—Emelia this, Emelia that. Emelia is so clever. Emelia is so nice. Emelia, Emelia, Emelia.
Titus sighed. He just didn’t see it.
Despite never returning to the bakery himself, Vanessa and the other employees would bring back goodies to share. Emelia was a fabulous baker. He had to give her that.
He jumped when he felt a poke in his back.
Titus had been so focused thinking about Emelia that he didn’t see the little boy, also dressed as a pirate, poke him with a fake sword.
“Shiver me timbers. Avast, ye scurvy dog, or I’ll send you to Davy Jones’s locker!” Titus hollered. The mom laughed. The little kid didn’t. Guess the kid didn’t know pirate jargon. He looked at him with wide eyes underneath his tricorn hat and took a step back.
Great. Another little one he scared. Titus scooched down. “Have you had your pick of pirate’s treasure?” The kid shook his head.
“Why don’t you go over to the table and grab a sweet?”
Leading the kid by the hand, the mom walked over to where Vanessa was manning the treat table.
As the air cooled, the crowd thinned. The gym closed.
With the remnants of streamers and spider webs, the brightly lit main street made the alleyway look eerie. He wasn’t an extrovert, but he enjoyed the evening. Walking over to help Vanessa pack up, Titus let out a sigh of relief.
“That was fun,” he said to Vanessa. “Thank you for putting it together.”
She laughed. “I can’t believe you actually got into character. The kids loved it, and they loved Sean chasing the criminal.” She filled a box with the leftover candy and opened the door to the gym.
Titus folded the legs to the table and glanced around the alleyway.
All the shopkeepers had turned off their lights. Titus let out a sigh of relief.
He could hear raucous laughter from the Thirsty Cock Ale House a couple of blocks away.
The kids had gone home, and now the adults were partying. It was still early. Maybe he’d stop for a drink before going home.
Titus folded the table and returned it to the supply closet, said good night to Vanessa and Sean, and locked the door.
He joined the crowd in the packed bar, where many people, including him, were in costume.
Titus found a stool at the counter and ordered a beer.
The music was loud, voices even louder, but it was quieter in his little corner of the bar.
He’d been here before and admired the gold tin patterned ceiling and the long wooden bar top and leather stools. One wall prominently displayed an array of liquor, while booths lined the opposite wall. Titus loved the old-time speakeasy feel.
The bartender slid his beer in front of him, and Titus took a big gulp. God, that’s good. The remaining beer went down in two-point-five seconds. He ordered another and closed his eyes for a minute.
A person slipped into the seat next to him. A woman’s voice ordered a French 75. The voice sounded familiar. Too familiar. Familiar as in… He opened his eyes and turned his head. Tinker Bell. Crap.
Emelia looked back at him. Her face flushed, and she shook her head. “What did Rick say about Ilsa? Oh yeah, ‘Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.’” Emelia laughed. “How appropriate. So how are you, Titus?”
“I’m good.” Titus took a large swallow of beer. He started to get up. No way was he sitting here with her. The way she dismissed him still rankled him. “Well, I’ve got to get going.”
“Stay.” She reached over and touched his arm. “Please. I want to apologize to you for being rude the other day.”
He sat down.
Emelia opened, then closed her mouth. Thought for a minute before finally saying, “I think we got off on the wrong foot. You tried to apologize for yelling at me on a day when everything was going wrong in my life, and I took it out on you. I’m sorry.”
It was hard to stay mad at a woman wearing wings and a corseted green costume. Her face shimmered in the light. She tilted her head and said again, “I’m sorry.”
Titus rubbed his neck. Torn between his anger at being dismissed and his curiosity about Emelia, Titus wanted to continue talking to her to discover what made her tick and why his friends liked her.
The bartender placed a flute glass in front of her, filled with bubbles and a lemon twist, and Emelia licked her lips before taking a sip and moaning. “That’s so good.”
Titus’s eyes followed every move her tongue made. It was incredibly sexy. What the hell was wrong with him?
The bartender returned and asked if they wanted to order food.
Titus cocked his head at Emelia, then heard his stomach growl. When had he eaten last besides pieces of candy? Breakfast?
He’d been too wound up thinking about dressing as a pirate to eat.
“Oh golly, I could eat a horse right about now,” said Emelia. She glanced at him. “I’m going to get a burger. Do you want to share some wings?”
“Sounds good,” he replied. “Two burgers and an order of wings,” he said to the bartender, who nodded. Emelia frowned.
Crap. He ordered for both of them. Big faux pas. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have ordered for both of us.”
Emelia’s face relaxed. “We keep saying sorry to each other. That needs to stop.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s fine, but we’re splitting the bill.”
“Deal.” It wasn’t, but Titus wasn’t arguing, especially since they were getting along so well. Next time, if there was a next time, he would pay. He always paid when he was with a woman.
He leaned towards Emelia. “What happened to the dog you were feeding?”
“Hmm.” Emelia sighed. “I haven’t seen him in a few days. I’m hoping he isn’t hurt. The next time I see him, I’m going to see if he’ll come with me. Having a little security in my apartment, especially on a busy street, wouldn’t be bad, and he’d be company.”
“Probably. But what would you do with him during the day when you work?”
“Most dog owners who work train their dogs to use a crate.”
“That would work.”
As they chatted, Titus found himself enjoying talking to Emelia.
The tension that had lingered between them seemed to dissipate the longer they talked.
Titus discovered she was teaching a baking class at the high school on Monday nights and that she knew a lot about some of his employees who bought pastries and coffee from the bakery. In fact, she knew more about Sean and Vanessa than he did. The thought that he should bond more with his employees passed through Titus’s mind.
Two enormous burgers with fries and wings were placed in front of them. Emelia’s stomach growled. “Just in time,” she said with a laugh, then took a bite of the burger and moaned. “Delicious.”
They ate in comfortable silence. Titus found it impressive that she finished her burger, a few wings, and most of her fries.
When he was with Darcy, she’d always order a salad with dressing on the side. “I have to watch my figure. No one wants you when you’re heavy,” she claimed.
The burger didn’t hurt Emelia’s figure. She was slender but not skinny. Perfect.
Perfect? He was in trouble.
They laughed about some of the costumes they saw, and Emelia said how she loved how cute the little ones were. She told him about the ghoulish cupcakes she made each Halloween. They talked about her friends and how helpful Will and Colt were in helping her move. He mentioned a little about some of the aboveboard security jobs he worked.
As the evening wore on, the bar gradually emptied, the noise faded, and only a few people remained. Emelia looked at her watch. “Oh my, I didn’t realize it was so late. I have to get up early.” She stood and called the bartender for the bill.
Titus wanted to protest, but splitting it seemed important to her.
“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow?” She gave him a shy smile.
Oh, hell no. She was mistaken if she thought she was walking back alone at night.
“Wait.” He handed the bartender his card, and Emelia placed her card on top. “I’ll walk you home.”
She cocked her head. “You know I only live a couple of blocks away, right?”
“Yeah. But it’s late. It’s dark. Only a few people are on the street. I’d feel more comfortable knowing you got home all right.”
“Humph,” she huffed. “Fine. If you feel more comfortable doing that.”
He picked up their credit cards, handed Emelia hers, and walked out to a darkened street.
Emelia was chatting away, but as he looked ahead, something wasn’t right. The front of her bakery looked different. Emelia was still talking and hadn’t noticed.
“Emelia. Stop.”
She frowned. “Why?”
“The front of your bakery…”
Emelia turned, stared at her bakery, and gasped.
As they got closer, he realized graffiti and ugly words covered the windows. Go home was prominent, as was bitch . Titus clenched his fists. Who would do such a thing?
He looked over at Emelia. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears.
Titus glanced around the street. No other business had been targeted.
“We need to call the police,” he said. “Although unless they can find something on camera, there’s nothing they can do.”
Emelia’s voice trembled as she asked, “Who would do this?”
Who indeed?
Titus wondered if somebody had a grudge against Emelia, something in her past that would warrant this.
It didn’t matter.
They’d call the police, and he would stay with her until daylight and then try to figure it out.