Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Missy
It had been a few days since the bakery had been torn apart, but you wouldn’t know it by looking around now.
Sweet Expectations was alive.
Alive in a way that felt louder than usual, busier, warmer, and fuller. The bell over the door had barely stopped ringing since that first morning after the mess.
Not only had all the townspeople come out to support the shop after rumors of what had happened spread, but graduation season had hit Silver Cove like a tidal wave.
Somehow my little bakery had become the unofficial headquarters for every proud parent, aunt, uncle, and grandparent within twenty miles.
Cakes.
Cupcakes.
Cookie platters.
Sheet cakes with school colors.
Tiered desserts with gold accents and school mascots and “Class of 2025” piped in perfect cursive.
Meredith and I had barely come up for air.
As always, she moved through the kitchen on a mission, clipboard in hand, oven timers memorized down to the second. Watching her work reminded me why I’d hired her in the first place. She was steady, capable, and utterly unflappable.
Still, even Meredith and I had limits.
That was how Evan Price came into the picture.
Evan was a culinary student home for the summer and the son of one of Meredith’s best friends.
He was in his mid-twenties, tall and lanky with sandy-blond hair that constantly fell into his eyes and a shy smile that appeared whenever he concentrated too hard.
He specialized in bread and pastries, had hands dusted in flour more often than not, and worked with a quiet efficiency that balanced Meredith’s intensity perfectly.
“Best decision you’ve made all week,” Meredith muttered as Evan slid three perfect trays of cupcakes onto the cooling rack.
Despite the exhaustion, despite the long hours and aching feet, I felt… proud. Grounded. Happy. Like this chaos, this work, was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Levi, thankfully, seemed to have vanished.
The quiet from that direction was a relief but also unsettling, like the calm after a storm when you aren’t quite sure if it is truly over. Cade had installed cameras everywhere—inside, outside, angles I wouldn’t have even thought of—and knowing they were there helped me breathe easier.
He installed an app on his phone and mine so we could watch all the properties, even the house now. At any time during the day, I knew exactly who was coming and going.
We had been woken up by a few alley cats going through our trash one night, so I had set out water, food, and a shelter for them.
Somehow, videos of the cats were all anyone wanted to see, so Ashley was posting the best of them on the bakery’s social media.
She’d even held a contest for naming them.
The three regulars were now named Flour, Sugar, and Muffin.
Flour was the ringleader and was solid gray with a torn ear and a stare that said he’d seen things.
Sugar was white with faint orange patches and the sweetest temperament, rubbing against anyone’s ankles like she belonged to them.
Muffin was smaller, darker, and skittish, always hanging back until she was sure it was safe.
I pretended not to love them, but I absolutely did.
I checked on them every night before locking up, making sure their little shelter was dry and the food bowls were full.
I had even had the local vet catch them and update them on shots, spay and neuter them, and give them each a full checkup. They all passed with flying colors. I was surprised when customers started to donate to help pay for their vet bills.
This town really did come out and support one another. I was going to have to make sure that I started being more involved and donate to worthy causes around town when I could.
Life had found a strange rhythm again. My father, though, hadn’t gotten the message to leave well enough alone.
He had taken to calling me at least once every day. At first, I would answer and listen to him complain about the divorce and hear about how I had done Levi wrong. Now I had started ignoring his calls.
As my phone buzzed for the third time that afternoon, I looked down at the screen, which lit up with an image of my dad on the golf course the last time we’d gone together when I’d been sixteen.
I flipped it face down on the counter without answering or listening to the voicemail.
I didn’t need to. I already knew the script.
Talk to your mother.
Be reasonable.
Levi is a good match.
This bakery phase will pass.
It made my jaw tighten every single time.
I was happy when Max stopped by just before closing. He leaned against the counter with a coffee in hand while he waited to pick up the box of cinnamon cookies that Cora loved, and we chatted about the calls.
“He’s been calling me too,” he said with a slight groan. “He does seem to be getting… pushier.”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “I’m avoiding him for now.”
“I’ll handle it,” he said firmly. “I’m serious, Missy. I’ll tell him to back off. You have enough going on. You could just block his calls?”
I met his gaze, gratitude swelling in my chest. “You don’t have to handle him and, no, I won’t block Dad’s calls.” I frowned. “That would be… rude.”
“I know,” he cut in gently. “But at least let me try to get him to lighten up.”
That was Max. Protective without being suffocating. Strong without trying to control. A sharp contrast to too many men in my past.
I loved him for it.
When I locked up later that night, it was still raining.
Summer was moments away from starting, if the rain ever stopped.
Even though the air was warmer, I was thankful I’d provided shelter for the cats.
I spent a few minutes enjoying Sugar as she rubbed up against my leg under my umbrella.
When exhaustion settled deep into my bones, I headed to my car.
It was the good kind of exhaustion. One that I’d earned.
Even with graduation orders stacked sky-high and family drama buzzing unanswered in my pocket, I knew one thing with absolute certainty.
I was happier than I had ever been.
When I got home, I kicked my shoes off at the door and set my bag down on the hall table.
The house was quieter than it should have been.
Normally, if Cade hadn’t stopped off at the bakery in the evening, I came home to him banging or fixing something around the house.
Tonight, however, Cade’s work boots weren’t by the door.
There wasn’t any music drifting from the back rooms. No low hum of a saw or drill while he worked on something he’d promised himself he’d finish “tonight.”
Which was… odd.
I checked my phone. Usually, after work he would text or call me with his plans. I’d been so busy tonight that I hadn’t noticed the lack of a message. There was still nothing from him at this point.
He’d installed the security app on both our phones so we could keep an eye on the bakery, the job sites, the house. At first, it had been about safety. About Levi. About peace of mind. Now it was habit. Reassurance.
I pulled up the app and scanned the feeds without really thinking, my thumb moving automatically. The bakery’s cameras were all quiet. The parking lot and alley were empty except for the cats enjoying the dinner I’d set out for them. Then I moved to the job site and froze.
The time stamp of the last saved image told me everything before my brain could catch up. There was Cade’s truck pulling away, his headlights sweeping across the unfinished road as he left. Almost an hour ago.
My heart gave a sharp, painful lurch. If he’d left, then where was he? I glanced around the house and called his name a few times, then walked to the side window to confirm that his truck wasn’t in its usual spot by the detached garage. It wasn’t.
I texted him.
Where are you?
I waited for the three dots signaling his response, but they did not appear.
After thirty seconds, I sent another. Still no response. Then I called.
My call went straight to voicemail.
My hands started to shake and my heart spiked.
“Okay,” I whispered to the empty house. “Okay. Don’t panic.”
I called Max.
He answered on the second ring. “Hey, sis, we were just enjoying these cookies—”
“Cade’s not home,” I blurted out, the words tumbling from my lips too fast. “He’s not answering my texts or calls. I checked the cameras and he left the job site almost an hour ago.”
There was a pause on the other end, not long, but long enough to terrify me.
“Hey,” Max said calmly. Too calmly. “It’s probably nothing. I’ll head out and check things out, all right?”
“I’m worried,” I admitted.
“I know. I’ve got this. Sit tight.”
I hung up and immediately started pacing from the kitchen to the living room. Back again. My chest felt tight, like I couldn’t quite get a full breath.
I sent Cade another text message.
Please call me.
Nothing.
Minutes dragged by like hours.
I leaned against the counter, pressing my palm to the cool surface, and my thoughts betrayed me, slipping backward instead of staying where they belonged.
All the moments in our past.
All the times he’d looked at me like I was the best thing in his world and he’d said I love you, like it was so easy. Like it didn’t scare him at all.
And me? All I’d done was smile or kiss him to avoid saying it back.
I hadn’t said it back.
Not because it wasn’t true.
Because it was.
I’d loved him for years. Quietly. Safely. I’d kept those words tucked away where they couldn’t hurt me if things went wrong. Saying it out loud felt like crossing a line I couldn’t uncross. Like tempting fate somehow.
What if something happened before I said it?
My phone rang, startling me so badly I nearly dropped it.
“Max?”
“I checked the job site,” he said. His voice was still calm, but now there was something under it. “No one’s there.”
My stomach dropped. I already knew that. I had been staring at the video for a few moments, hoping, praying...