Chapter 28
Saturday, December 22
As I walked down the street toward Dessert Dudes, I tried to prepare myself for what I’d say to Marco, when another thought hit me. Vince would be at the kitchen, meaning I somehow had to get Marco alone so I could share my discoveries with him in private. I stopped, took a breath before pulling out my phone and typing a message.
Me: Got time for a coffee?
Marco: Give me an hour? Vince is getting supplies and I need to prep a million pie shells before he gets back
Me: See you soon
After stashing my phone, and because I didn’t know how long it would take Vince to return, I raced the rest of the way to Central Kitchen, where I climbed the stairs to Dessert Dudes two at a time.
As I approached the door, I slowed my pace and peered inside. There was only one person in the kitchen, Marco, standing behind an island with his back to me. Pushing down the nerves darting around my stomach, I called out his name and he turned around.
“Callie,” he said, his face breaking into a smile as he put down a piping bag and walked over. “What an awesome surprise you’re here already.”
“I know we agreed to meet in an hour,” I said, “but this couldn’t wait.”
“By this do you mean a kiss?” Marco asked, taking my hands in his, but when I didn’t reply, his grin turned into a concerned frown. “Has something happened?”
“Yes,” I whispered, my resolve waning. I didn’t want to be the one to hurt him, but I reminded myself I couldn’t keep these secrets from him. “I’ve discovered some…things.”
“What kind of things? Callie, what’s wrong? Are you sick, or—”
“No, it’s nothing like that.” I sped up, my heart racing a mile a minute. “First of all, I…I think I found some bookkeeping irregularities I have to tell you about.”
“What do you mean? What kind of irregularities?”
I put both palms on the prep table, staring at the different sugary ingredients, trying to buy myself some time as I grappled with my next words. “Did you know Vince has taken money from the company bank account on a regular basis?” I asked quietly.
Marco shook his head. “No, that’s unlikely. They automatically text when—”
“Those alerts only trigger when the withdrawal is over two thousand dollars,” I said. “He’s transferred just under that to himself each time. Almost thirty grand in total.”
“That can’t be right,” Marco said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand and looking uncertain. “Are you sure they’re not the dividends we take?”
“Yes, I’m positive. They’re separate payments.”
“This isn’t making any sense,” he said. “Vince would never do—”
Before either of us could say anything more, a man walked in carrying a wooden box full of lemons, oranges, and cartons of eggs. He was a little shorter than Marco and dressed in jeans, sneakers, a white T-shirt, and a leather jacket. His brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and as he got closer, there seemed to be something vaguely familiar about him.
“I’d never do what?” he asked, looking at us.
“Vince, this is Callie,” Marco said. “We were just talking about some bookkeeping issues.”
“Oh?” Vince replied without looking at me. “I thought I asked you to get the paperwork back so I could handle it.”
Marco ignored him. “Callie says thirty grand worth of installments have been paid to you. Do you know anything about that? It’s got to be a mistake, right?”
When Vince didn’t answer, I said, “They happen every few weeks. One thousand nine hundred and ninety dollars. I saw the bank statements, and—”
“Let me get this straight.” Vince finally met my eyes. “You’ve never met me, and you’re accusing me of taking cash from Dessert Dudes, a company you’ve got nothing to do with. You’ve got some nerve.”
“Hey,” Marco warned, taking a step toward him. “Calm down, Vince. She’s trying to help.”
“It’s not an accusation,” I added. “I worked through the bank statements, and—”
“Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it?” Vince said. “You went through our stuff without my knowledge or consent.”
“She had mine,” Marco said slowly.
“Yes, and I told you how I feel about it,” Vince fired back before looking at me, his eyes colder than Sixteen Mile Creek. “Not that it’s any of your business, Callie, but those withdrawals were for investments. The funds went into a high-interest savings account to make us a bit of money.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Marco said.
“Because we agreed I’d handle the finances,” Vince said. “Yeah, I know I haven’t kept up my end of the bargain with the paperwork, but she’s making me out to be some kind of criminal.”
I wondered if what Vince was saying could be true. There was no documentation to support the investment claim, but Marco had told me from the beginning their admin was a mess. I’d seen small business owners not adequately record decisions on countless occasions. What if this one was no different?
Still, my intuition screamed at me that Vince was a liar, and Marco was in danger of falling for it, so I took a gamble and decided to try a different angle in case I could throw Vince off his game.
“Can you tell me about the flowers from Floral Reef?” I asked Vince, keeping my voice calm while I looked him directly in the eyes. “The ones you sent to Ruby in September.”
Marco looked as if he’d been slapped across the face. “What did you say?”
“It’s not true, man,” Vince said, his voice steady. If I hadn’t seen the florist’s invoice myself, I’d have believed him. “I never sent Ruby flowers. What the hell would I do that for?”
“There was a charge I couldn’t find the details for,” I said, trying to ignore Vince’s steely glare as I pulled the receipt from my bag. “I stopped by the store on my way here.”
Before Marco could move, Vince snatched the receipt out of my hands. He unfolded the paper, his expression remaining eerily calm as he shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint you again, Callie, but you’re looking for drama where there’s none.”
I shook my head. “A card was included, and the message—”
“Marco, she’s got it all wrong,” Vince said, ignoring me. “Remember the girl I was seeing in the fall? Naomi. Long dark hair and an obsession with The Cure?”
“Yeah,” Marco said. “She came here a couple of times.”
“Exactly,” Vince replied. “ She’s the one I sent flowers to, or at least I tried, but Floral Reef mixed up the address and they went to Ruby instead. Classic mistake.”
Marco stared at him. “You never mentioned this before, Vince. Neither did she.”
“Of course not, it would’ve been weird, seeing as you thought she was cheating.” Vince paused. “You’re not buying any of this bullshit, I hope. You and I have been best friends for years. You’ve known Callie for what, a few weeks?”
“I’m not lying,” I whispered. “I’m telling the truth. Marco, I—”
“It’s all right, I guess.” Vince waved a hand as he gave me a condescending smile. “You’ve made mistakes, Callie, that’s all. Good thing I came back when I did.”
The triumphant expression on his face made my doubts grow. Had I really misread things so completely? Had he intended on sending flowers to a woman named Naomi, and Floral Reef had innocently mixed up the address?
No. I quickly brushed my fears away. Vince was too slick, too smooth. He had answers for everything, and each one was setting off louder and louder alarm bells in my brain.
“It’s pretty simple to clarify everything,” I said to Marco. “If the money has been invested, Vince can show you the account, and as for the flowers—”
“Wait a minute,” Vince jumped in as he pointed at me. “Now, I remember you. You were at Game On last Wednesday night. That’s where I recognize you from.”
“Maybe.” My voice quivered because I didn’t like where this was heading or how Vince was changing the subject and manipulating the conversation again. “I was there with work colleagues, but—”
“Work colleagues? Really?” Vince’s face turned almost snakelike. “From the way you were kissing that guy when I walked outside, I’d say you two were a lot more than that.”
I froze as Marco stared at me. “You were with someone else last week?”
“Yes, no, I mean…” I shook my head. “It was Joe.”
“The firefighter?” Marco asked. “The one from the toy drive? That Joe?”
My stomach lurched as I remembered the pony-tailed man who’d interrupted Joe’s and my kiss as we’d stood outside Game On. The guy who’d worn a distressed red leather jacket with black and white stripes on the shoulders, the exact same one Vince had on now. He’d seen me with Joe and was deliberately twisting the situation, bending it to his advantage and turning Marco against me.
Left with no choice but to address it in front of Vince, I looked at Marco and said, “I swear, nothing happened between Joe and me. We—”
“What a classic excuse,” Vince scoffed. “Unbelievable.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about you and him?” Marco asked, his voice incredulous.
“There was nothing to tell,” I said. “You and I weren’t even together.”
“Maybe not,” Marco said slowly. “But we saw each other at the Odd Duck late that night.”
“Yes, but—”
“You came there to see me, right after you’d been with him?” he said.
“I was never with him,” I said, willing him to understand. “It was only a kiss, a surprise one at that, and it didn’t mean anything.”
“Maybe so,” Marco said, “but I can’t believe you didn’t tell me, especially after I confided in you about my trust issues with Ruby.”
“I—”
“I thought we already liked each other,” Marco went on. “And I’m pretty sure if I’d kissed another woman a few minutes before seeing you, someone you then met at an event a few days later, you’d have appreciated the heads-up.”
“Yes, I would’ve,” I said, the hurt in his eyes making me feel ill. “I’m sorry, and we can talk about all of it, I promise, but first I want to make sure Dessert Dudes isn’t in trouble. Can I please show you the pictures I took of the bank statements and—”
“You have photos of our confidential information?” Vince said. “Are you for real? I already told you, I invested the cash. And I didn’t send flowers to his ex, so drop it, all right?”
“Callie,” Marco said. “If Vince says he invested the company’s money, then I’m sure it’s what he did. Same with Floral Reef. It was a mix-up.”
“But—”
“He’s my best friend,” he continued. “We’ve known each other for years. I trust him.”
“Meaning you don’t trust me? I wouldn’t deliberately hurt you. Come on, Marco, you know that. You know me .”
He glanced at me for a second before looking away. “I thought I did. Then again, I also thought we’d agreed on honesty and open communication. Maybe I don’t know you that well after all.”
—
After I’d turned and fled from Dessert Dudes, tears stinging my cheeks, there was no way I wanted to go to the food drive. When Anita came home and I explained what had happened, she immediately threw her arms around me, not moving an inch as my tears dampened her sweater.
“Vince is a lying, manipulative toad,” she said. “Ask Floral Reef if there was a mix-up because I bet you the answer’s no.”
I shook my head, pulling away from her. “It’s too late, Anita. It all happened so quickly. I shouldn’t have rushed to tell him. I should’ve waited.”
“Marco deserved to know the truth. Go back to the store and—”
“Stop!” I threw my hands in the air. “Stop telling me what to do.”
“Why are you angry with me? Vince is the asshole.”
“Yes, I know,” I said. “But I wish I’d waited. Taken my time to work out what I was going to say before barging into Dessert Dudes.”
“You mean leave things be and stick your head in the sand?”
“No, Anita, that’s not what I meant.” I glared at her. “Although sometimes that can be a better approach, but you wouldn’t understand.”
“Are we still talking about Marco?” Anita said. “Or are you pointing a finger at me for something?”
“Oh my gosh, this isn’t about you .”
“Whoa.” My sister held up a hand. “I get you’re frustrated, and things didn’t go to plan, but what I don’t understand is how you’re still scared to put your emotions on the line and fight for what you really want. It was the same with Oliver, and—”
“Now you wanted me to fight for Oliver?” I asked. “You didn’t even like him that much.”
“You’re missing the point,” Anita said, exasperated. “You rolled over and gave up. You lost your voice, and you’re doing it again with Marco. Why do you insist on retreating into the shell you pretended you were so happy to leave?”
“Because it’s comfortable!” I shouted, my frustration finally spilling over. “It’s safe.”
“ Safe ? You’re afraid Callie, plain and simple. You need to stop—”
“No. You need to. You pushed me so much this month, and yes, I’m grateful, but right now I’m asking you to leave me alone.”
“Everything I did was for your own good,” Anita said. “If you took action more and stopped overthinking so much—”
“You want me to take action? How’s this? I’m going to Pineville.”
Anita’s jaw dropped. “Really? You said you didn’t want to because of—”
“I don’t care about Oliver and Sarah being next door anymore,” I said, manifesting these next words into existence. “I don’t care about people in town feeling sorry for me because I got dumped, either. None of that holds any power over me anymore.”
“That’s great, truly,” Anita said. “Although I still feel you’re running away from Marco.”
“I’m not running away,” I insisted. “I need space. From you, this place, and everything else. I should never have let the whole Oliver situation stop me from wanting to celebrate Christmas or from being with my family for the holidays.” I shook my head. “I should’ve been looking forward to baking cookies with Dad, having the guts to sing carols, and being happy about us opening our gifts together.”
“We can do all those things,” Anita said. “That’s all I ever wanted. Let’s leave first thing Monday.”
I shook my head. “No. You’re getting your wish because yes, I’ll be in Pineville, but I’m not driving there with you. I’m going to pack. I’m leaving today.”