Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
The door clicked shut behind Hunter, and Brie sat frozen at her desk. Her office still smelled like him, and the small space felt suffocated by his phantom presence.
Brie grabbed her phone, fingers shaking as she dialed her father. It rang once, twice, three times before their cheerful vacation message kicked in: “Hi! You’ve reached Zach! We’re currently exploring the world and might be out of cell range. Leave a message and we’ll call you back when we can!”
Her mother’s laugh in the background of the recording made Brie’s throat tight.
“Dad, it’s me. I’m okay but...” She paused. She hadn’t been able to get ahold of them since the incident. She didn’t want to worry them, so she hadn’t told them what happened. “I really need to talk to you. Please call when you get this.”
She ended the call and immediately felt vulnerable. With a cartel potentially hunting her, she wanted nothing more than her mother’s calm wisdom and her father’s protective presence. Maybe they’d posted something on social media recently. She pulled up her app and opened her mom’s profile.
“Day 77 - Tango lessons in Buenos Aires!” The post was only three hours old. The photo showed them in a dramatic dance pose, her mother’s head thrown back in laughter while her father dipped her. They looked radiant, young, completely in love after all these years.
The comments overflowed with heart emojis and envious responses from friends. “Couple goals!” “Living your best lives!” “So jealous!”
Brie added her own heart emoji, not trusting herself to write words that wouldn’t reveal her current state. They deserved this trip, this adventure they’d saved for and planned for years. She wouldn’t be the reason they cut it short.
She was on her own.
Taking a deep breath, Brie stood and smoothed her apron. The bakery needed her functional, not falling apart in her office. Her staff needed to see her in control. Her customers needed their orders filled.
She could fall apart later. In private. Like a professional.
The kitchen felt normal when she walked through. Maggie piping frosting, Jake pulling bread from the oven, the familiar dance of afternoon baking. They glanced at her with curiosity but didn’t ask questions. Yet.
The dining room was quiet, just two customers at tables and Sophie wiping the counter. The afternoon rain had started, droplets streaking the windows.
Sophie’s head snapped up the moment Brie appeared. “So,” she said with barely contained excitement. “Who’s the silver fox?”
“Silver fox?” Brie moved to check the display case.
“Tall, dark, dangerous-looking? Shoulders like a linebacker?” Sophie’s eyes sparkled with interest. “New detective?”
“No, he’s... he works for Steel Protection.”
“The security firm?” Sophie’s voice pitched higher. “Oh my god, I’ve seen them around town on their motorcycles. They’re all so...” She fanned herself dramatically.
“He’s my mate.”
The squeal that erupted from Sophie made the two customers look up from their coffee.
“Your mate?! Brie, oh my god!” Sophie grabbed Brie’s hands. “This is amazing! When did you find out? How did he… wait, is that why he was here?”
Brie gently extracted her hands, picking up the cloth to continue wiping the already spotless counter. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated? What do you mean?”
The rain was coming down harder now, turning the world outside into a gray blur. “I messaged him on right after... after I filed the police report. He never responded. Never even read it.”
“But he was just here…”
“About the incident,” she whispered. “He says I’m in danger. Wants me to go into hiding. He only came because I’m a witness in his case.”
“Oh, honey.” Sophie moved closer, lowering her voice as one of the customers approached the counter for a refill.
Brie handled the transaction on autopilot, medium roast, room for cream, have a nice day, while Sophie waited. When they were alone again, Sophie touched her arm gently.
“Why didn’t he respond?”
“He said he was on surveillance and got distracted by the app. Lost his target. So, he deleted it.” She laughed, but it came out bitter. “I spent two weeks wondering what was wrong with me. Turns out he just... never bothered to look.”
Sophie was quiet. Outside, someone ran past the window, newspaper held over their head against the rain.
“That’s really shitty,” Sophie finally said.
“Yeah.”
Brie didn’t want to think about Hunter. “I have to focus on the Winter Festival,” she said, moving to grab the inventory clipboard. “Three weeks to prepare, and I’m already behind. After the botched Harvest Moon delivery, I cannot afford another mistake.”
“Brie, if you’re really in danger…”
“I can’t think about that right now.” She flipped through order forms without really seeing them. “I have forty dozen specialty pastries, three gingerbread houses to construct, and the centerpiece mountain for the main display.”
“Okay, but promise you’ll be careful?”
“I’m always careful.”
Except when I drive into cartel territory and witness a murder.
Sophie didn’t look convinced but let it drop. “Want me to stay after closing tonight? Help with prep?”
“No, go home at the regular time. No point in both of us being exhausted.”
The bell chimed as the door opened, and Brie’s heart jumped. It was just Mrs. Chase with her umbrella, coming for her weekly order of dinner rolls.
Get it together, she told herself. You can’t jump every time the door opens.
But as she packaged Mrs. Chase’s order, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching. Through the rain-streaked windows, every shadow could be a threat. Every car that drove slowly past could be the cartel.
She forced a smile and got back to work, ignoring the way her bear kept sniffing the air for pine and leather, searching for a mate who’d only come to her when she became relevant to his mission.
Three weeks until Winter Festival. She could hold it together that long. She had to.