Chapter 14
GEMMA
Despite the promise I made Emily, showing up at Sloane and River’s hen party with half of a stolen humming bird cake was not on my Monday night bingo card, and yet here I am, walking across the Mill’s parking lot, with my pilfered cake—and I wouldn’t be if not for the fact that she texted me about twenty minutes ago to browbeat me into compliance.
Em: I expect a picture of you, clucking like a hen, in thirty minutes.
Me: I washed my forks. IN THE KITCHEN SINK. Isn’t that enough?!?!
Em: No.
Me: Em, I’ve had the worst possible day.
I don’t tell her why. I don’t tell her I got fired for defending Sera Montgomery’s daughter against a bully in the bathroom at June’s or that Reese showed up, unannounced, and told me that Riggs is not only back in Barrett, she wants me to let him live with me.
I don’t tell her because telling her would require me to talk about it and talking about it is the last thing I want to do right now.
Right now, all I want to do is soak in my tub and eat cake for dinner while my cat judges my questionable life choices.
Em: Which is exactly why you need this.
Me: Like a hole in the head.
Em: You promised me!
Resigning myself to a night of torture, I threw a sweatshirt on over my leggings and smoothed out the lumps in my ponytail.
Already exuding far more effort than I cared to, I gave Janet a squeeze tube full of cat crack while begging her not to leave any dead mice in my bed.
Afterward, I grabbed what was left of my severance package from June’s and piled into my wheezing rattle trap of a car and chugged my way here.
When I see Cade’s car in the parking lot, I almost turn around and leave, but then I remember that he lives here, in Jensen’s old apartment, rdfesxzaweacross the upstairs hallway from where Jensen now lives with Sloane.
Wishing I’d remembered so I could’ve brought the money he left on the table for me at June’s so I could shove it under his door, I mount the Mill’s porch steps to the sound of the jukebox—Heart’s Barracuda—and clacking pool balls.
Balancing the boxed cake in one hand, I reach out to pull the door handle with the other, only to have it fly open in my face.
“Is it true?” Cade’s son, Gunner, is suddenly in front of me, jaw set, blue eyes narrowed down to slits. “Did June fire you because of what you did for Scar today?”
Stunned, I feel my mouth work for a moment before I shake my head.
“No.” Dropping my hand away from the door, I look over the top of his head to see his father behind the bar, pulling what looks like a pitcher of beer.
Refocusing on him, I give him a flat smile.
“Technically, she fired me because I refused to apologize for it.”
Gunner glares up at me like he doesn’t understand the difference. To be honest, neither do I. “Should’ve just gone in there and pissed on her shoes like a wanted to,” he mutters hotly while shoving the door open wide enough to let me through.
“Well, then we’d both be in trouble,” I reason with him while beating back the laughter bubbling in my throat. It isn’t funny. It really isn’t.
But it is.
“Would’ve been worth it,” he shoots back while I pass through the open door before slamming it closed behind me.
“My thoughts exactly,” I tell him, letting him know that even though losing my job sucks, sticking up for his cousin was worth the loss. Looking around the bar, all I see are roosters—Jensen and Colt shooting pool. Cade wrangling some pint glasses out of the cooler—no hens. “Are Sloane and Riv?—”
“They’re upstairs with Aunt Sera,” Gunner says before peering through the cellophane lid of the cake box I’m carrying, trying to get a look inside. “Is that humming bird cake?”
“Sure is. I stole it from June’s before I left.” Flashing him a grin, I tilt the box in his direction. “Want a piece?”
“Shit yeah.”
“Gun.” Cade’s warning tone sounds off from the bar behind me.
“Sorry,” Gunner calls out before giving me a crooked grin that tells me that, a few years from now, he’s going to be the source of a whole lot of heartache—just like his father. “I mean, yes, please.”
Shaking my head on a laugh that ends on a sigh, I roll my eyes. “Go get a plate and something to cut it with from the kitchen—I’ll meet you at the bar.”
Taking off with his marching orders, Gunner leaves me in the dust to slowly make my way to the bar, hoping my moseying will give Cade ample time to finish what he’s doing and get back to the pool game happening behind me.
No such luck.
When I set the cake box on the bar, Cade’s still behind it like he’s waiting for me.
“Gun told me what happened,” he says quietly, barely sparing me a glance while he nests a trio of frosted glasses, one inside of the other.
When I don’t answer him, his brow furrows.
“June fired you for it.” It’s not a question.
Either he got the lowdown from someone in town or he overheard my conversation with his son.
“She offered to keep me on as her baker but I said no, so if you ask her, she’ll probably tell you I quit.
” I tell him, struggling more than I like to keep my voice steady.
I’ve worked at June’s for nearly half my life.
The fact that I won’t be there tomorrow, tying on my apron is hard to think about.
“For Scarlett,” he says quietly, his expression guarded and unreadable.
“No—” I shake my head while Gunner slams his way around the bar’s kitchen, looking for the plate and knife I requested. “I quit because I’d rather make out with the no-account, lowdown likes of you than apologize to some creeker who can’t see what a horrible child she’s raising.”
“Jesus Christ…” Barking it out on a laugh, Cade lifts one of his tattooed hands to swipe it across his mouth. “Why would you do that?”
“Because she isn’t her mother,” I answer him honestly. “Not any more than Gunner is you.”
Rocking back on his heels, jaw clenched, like I just took a swing at him, Cade drops his hand and looks away from me. “Gemm?—”
Before his father can finish saying whatever it is he was going to say, Gunner comes careening around the corner with a paper plate and a plastic knife, and saves us both.
Em: So… how’s it going?
Above her message is the selfie I took in front of Sloane and Jensen’s door a few hours ago with the caption, cluck, cluck, bitch.
Looking up from my phone, I sweep a quick look around the room.
Sloane and River are talking about bridesmaid dresses for Sloane and Jensen’s upcoming wedding and Sera is texting on her phone.
Like she can sense me looking at her, Sera glances up from her phone screen to flick me a quick look that’s almost as unreadable as her brother’s before she goes back to typing on her phone.
Looking back down at my own phone, I tap out my reply.
Me: Good—but it’s hard to fuck up pizza, wine, and BTVS.
Even though I arrived late, River and Sera got here only a few minutes before I did, with what Riv called provisions—two large, heavenly smelling boxes from Barrett St. Pizza—the pizza place across the street from June’s—and a bottle of wine.
We decimated the pizza and what was left of the humming bird cake, after which we polished off the wine while watching rerun episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hours later, Sera and I have retreated into our phones while River and Sloane started discussing the upcoming wedding.
Em: Well, put your phone down and have fun. I’ll call you tomorrow when you get off work.
Me: About that… June fired me.
Em: WHAT!?!? Why??
Me: It’s a long story—one best told via FaceTime. But suffice to say, I have the entire day off tomorrow so feel free to call me whenever you want.
Em: Okay. I’ll call you on my free period.
Em: And I love you so I don’t care what the long story is. If June really fired you, she can eat a bag of big, moldy dicks.
Laughing out loud, I feel Sera look at me again.
Me: Not the bag of moldy dicks You are a true wordsmith, Emily Ackerman. I love you too. Call me tomorrow.
Tucking my phone back into my bag, I stand to walk my still half-full wine glass to the sink while working out my exit strategy.
I kept my promise to Emily and surprisingly had a good time, but it’s been a long, emotional day.
To top it off, Reese showed up and interrupted my scheduled nap time so, not only am I emotionally exhausted, I’m also punch drunk from lack of sleep.
Right now, all I want is to go home and dive headfirst into my bed—provided Janet hasn’t filled it with mice. If she has, I’ll sleep in the tub.
Looking up from the color swatches, she and River are hunched over, Sloane gives me a knowing smile that makes my hastily formulated excuse for leaving first, unnecessary. “You’re leaving.”
“I…” Even though none of them have mentioned it, they have to know that June fired me and why. “I’m usually sleeping right now so I can get up at 3AM to head into June’s but…”
“But she fired you,” River finishes for me, her generous mouth twists in a grimace immediately after she says it.
“Sorry—” Shooting a quick look at Sera over her shoulder, River turns back to me with an apologetic sigh.
“We all decided we weren’t going to talk about it but…
” Shaking her head, River takes a nervous sip of her water.
“I was raised in captivity, so I never learned how to people properly.”
“It’s okay, Riv.” Even though I have no idea what she’s talking about, I decide that her childhood is a topic too broad to broach at 11:45 on a Monday night. “But I am going to head home.” Looking at Sloane, I give her smile. “Thank you for inviting me—I had a good time.”
“Good—that means you’ll be back next Monday,” Sloane answers me while returning my smile.
“Oh… well…” Shaking my head, I start to panic a little, but before I can cobble together another hasty excuse as to why this was a solo venture, I’m interrupted.