Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
I knocked on the glass door, balancing binders in the crook of my elbow. The sun glinted off the glass just right to prevent me from seeing inside. Still, I didn’t sense any movement,. I knocked again. Where was this asshole? Was he not expecting me? More importantly, why was a knot of anxiety growing in my stomach? I bounced on my heels as the sun warmed my back. I tried taking deep breaths of ocean air, but it didn’t do much to help. Why was I like this? I was just dropping off stupid binders. Admittedly, it had occurred to me that this might be the perfect opportunity for some sabotage, but even if I had some raw eggs with me, they would be discovered during construction.
My mom made it sound like it was an emergency that I get here. Like Jared was waiting impatiently to start making urgent phone calls to order fresh fish from Frankie’s By The Bay (our go-to guy for the best priced catch of the day).
But now, I just stood here like an idiot. The longer I waited, the more a war waged between my need for revenge and my familiar anxiety. Maybe I couldn’t start the sabotage just yet, but I could at least get a peek at what he had been up to inside my bakery. I was doing him a favor after all. A little look-see wouldn’t do any harm. I knew if Cat was there, she would mock my colloquialism, but I didn’t care.
I tried the door. It pulled open easily, letting out a burst of artificially cooled air. I let it swing closed again as I looked around. The boardwalk held its usual cast of characters. The guy running with three dog leashes attached to his belt. The older ladies speed-walking with swishing track suits. The tourists meandering slowly without purpose. The kids running in bathing suits, unable to wait for their parents. Nothing out of the ordinary. No one watching me, and no sign of Jared.
I pulled the door open again, shifted my gaze around one more time, and slipped into the cool, relative darkness. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust as I lifted my sunglasses. I dropped the binders quietly onto a table by the door and took in the place. It looked much the same as I remembered it. The floors, tables and vinyl booths were covered in a layer of dirt, but still had the same 1950s kind of vibe that the previous owners had either done purposefully or had been an outdated remnant from earlier times when everyone was big on Back-to-the-Future -style nostalgia. Now with the place shut down, it just looked like a relic that belonged in a post-apocalyptic movie. Clearly, Jared hadn’t started the renovations he had talked about.
I wouldn’t be sad to see the old bakery go. There was a reason it went out of business. The family that had owned it were sweet people, but they hadn’t been able to keep up with changing times. Still, I didn’t want to see anyone else in the place beside me. I knew every change he made would be a little hit to my heart.
I walked carefully through the seating area and moved back behind the counter. I didn’t have to worry about my shoes leaving footprints in the dust because it was clear someone had traipsed through here more than enough to stir up the dirt. Still, I was careful not to leave any hint of my presence. Was I breaking and entering? I wondered. Presumably Jared knew I was stopping by, and the door had been open. I wondered if any of that would stand up in court.
“Hello?” My whisper sounded like a shout in the silence.
No answer came, so I moved further behind the counter. I skulked through the place, not thinking about what I was doing. The building had a strange layout with a long counter along the left side, seating along the right so that you could come in off the boardwalk but still have seating overlooking the ocean view. That meant that the kitchen was out a door to the left behind the counter.
The kitchen looked like someone had either left in a hurry or simply didn’t care about cleaning up before they vacated. Pots and pans were still in the sink. Cooktops looked grimy with grease. It had the chilling effect of making me question my choices of ever eating there when it was open. I didn’t know what I was doing as I skulked through the place. In all my morning admiration, I hadn’t been inside.
Now that I stood there, I felt the pain of lost opportunity and my failure to act sooner even more acutely. This could have been mine had I not let my worry and hesitation drive my decision-making. I was angry at Jared, but even angrier at myself, when I was being honest—which wasn’t often lately.
The office was in the corner of the kitchen, almost straddling the front and back of the bakery. I had walked past it as I toured the kitchen, but now I stood in the doorway, biting my lip and wondering if I should take a quick peek. The answer was an obvious and resounding no, but of course, I did it anyway.