To Junie’s delight, several people laughed, and a few even clapped.
A short time later, Poppy walked up to Junie, waving the orderbook. “I hope you have a clear calendar. Look at all these orders. You know, we really ought to thank Cherry. All that commotion drew a lot of people over to see what was happening. Most of them placed orders.”
“You want me to thank her for insulting Tanner and me in front of everybody?” Junie asked, eyebrows raised.
“Well, no, probably not,” Poppy said with a sheepish grin. “It might just be salt in the wound, though.”
Junie had to admit Poppy might be right. “That might be brilliant, and deliciously diabolical.”
“What might be diabolical?” Tildi said as she, Joy, and Kip walked up. Tildi’s eyes were wide. “We were over at the strawberry tent when we overheard some people talking about you and Cherry. What on earth happened?”
“Cherry happened,” Junie said. That should be all the explanation anyone needed. “What were the people saying? Did they say anything bad about the bakery?”
“Are you kidding?” Kip asked. “They said some blonde was making an ass of herself in front of your booth. They were laughing about something having to do with tea. We didn’t want to eavesdrop… well, too noticeably anyway… so we didn’t hear everything. But they didn’t say anything bad about the bakery. They seemed to be more shocked at what Cherry was saying.”
“Notatwhat she was saying,” Tildi said. “They were pissedbywhat Cherry was saying.”
“And what about the tea?” Joy asked. “I didn’t understand that bit at all.”
“Kenzie,” Junie called, doing her best to keep from laughing, “tell them about the tea.” Kenzie would relish the opportunity to relive her clever exploits.
“Well, since Cherry was so determined to spill the tea on the private things Junie did, I just thought I’d literally spill the tea on Cherry. Right on that snow-white Alo Yoga loungewear she had on. Idid her a favor, really. With her pale complexion, that white made her look pasty.”
“You didn’t!” Kip put her hand to her lips to hide her smirk.
“I did.”
“She deserved it, too,” Poppy added.
“Damn straight she did. She needed to cool it.” The vision of Cherry’s face when that tea drenched her would live rent-free in Junie’s head forever. “By the way, thank you for handling that, Kenzie. It was brilliant.”
Kenzie’s eyes lit up with fire, “What I wanted to do was claw her eyes out, but I just got a manicure. I think the tea worked out even better.” She scanned the crowd in the direction Cherry had run. “Of course, I might still go for option one.”
Junie fought to hold back her laughter. “Option one will have to wait. We’ve still got to get everything packed up and back to the bakery.”
“We can help,” Tildi offered. Joy and Kip nodded in agreement.
“Besides,” Joy said as she lifted a box from below the booth counter, “you haven’t finished telling us everything.”
“You know, that’s a great idea,” Kenzie said. “And after we get everything put away, we can all have a little talk.”
Uh-oh. Kenzie’s eyes had that familiar spark, the one that always meant her mind was spinning fast behind that innocent smile. Trouble was definitely coming.
Junie shouldn’t ask, but she couldn’t stop herself. “A little talk about what?”
Kenzie wiggled her brows. “I’m not sure yet. Let’s just say I have some ideas.”
Junie sighed. Why was it that when Kenzie got ideas, the rest of them got sore bottoms?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The girls had all gathered back at the bakery after the chaos at the farmers’ market, crowding around one of the small tables in the corner with fresh cups of sweet tea and half-eaten pastries. The familiar scents of vanilla and sugar should have soothed her, but right now they only made Junie’s stomach twist tighter.
The hot rush of anger burned up her throat so fiercely she had to swallow hard just to get the words out. Her voice came out small at first, trembling with the effort to hold it together, but indignation sharpened it quickly as the ugly memory spilled free.
“She told everyone there that my stuff is mediocre,” she said. After all these years, the audacity of that pit viper still shocked her. “And the only reason the bakery survives is because I’m… well, basically I’m Tanner’s whore.”
The words burned bitter in her mouth. Anger and shock rippled across her friends’ faces. If Kenzie’s eyes got any narrower, she would run into walls.
