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I just gave her a watery smile, then gave her dir
ections to Amy May’s bakery.
“You want to come in for a cupcake?” I asked when she pulled up at the curb.
“I gotta get back, but I’ll take a rain check.”
“Thanks, Peaches,” I said again, but she just nodded kindly, waited for me to get out, then pulled off and turned back toward the compound.
Noticing that Amy May had a few customers, I opted to go around back and sneak into her office, so as not to alert the whole town to my current, blotchy state.
Once inside, I belly flopped onto the couch and tucked my face into the crook of my arm, wondering how things had gone from wonderfully perfect to total fucking shit in the span of a second.
The answer was, Sledge. That motherfucker just kept turning up like a bad penny.
I smelled the frosting before I heard her steps, and knew that my best friend had seen me get dropped off, and as best friends do, understood that I’d need her ear and a cupcake.
See what I meant? Amy May was a freaking saint.
Amy May nodded, her face full of sympathy as I told her what happened in between bites of gloriously fluffy cake.
“I’m sure once you guys talk, you’ll work it all out,” Amy May assured me.
See, the thing is, Amy May loves Cade. I mean l-o-v-e loves … She loves him almost as much as her husband, Jason, does.
Jason absolutely worships Cade. I mean, I get it, Cade is one thousand percent man, and there’s a lot to look up to, but sometimes it got a little embarrassing.
Like when Jason tried to grow his beard out like Cade’s, but it came out all patchy. Or when he tried to let his hair get longer, and it ended up looking like a mullet.
I should have known that Amy May wouldn’t join me in a Cade bash fest, but would do her best to keep the peace.
“I don’t know, he was pretty much an asshole,” I replied sulkily, wishing my friend would take my side.
“Lila,” Amy May said softly, urging me to look at her. “You’ve never been happier than you are with Cade. He’s great with the kids, and he fills you up with happiness. Give him a chance to sort things out with his club, then hear him out. I’m sure you guys will be able to talk and get back on track.”
I knew she was right, and I knew that was what I wanted, to talk things out with Cade and make up, but right now, all I wanted to do was sulk and have my best friend take my side.
Rather than answering, I shrugged and licked the frosting off my fingers.
Amy May was about to say something, when the door opened and Carmen came rushing in.
She was in high-waisted slacks, with a silky shirt tucked in and sweet high heels. Her hair was down in loose, caramel-colored waves. She looked fabulous, but her face was totally frazzled.
“Are you okay?” I asked, standing up and promptly forgetting my woes.
“She’s dead,” Carmen stated, and my blood ran cold.
“Who?” Amy May and I asked in unison, our hands reaching out to clasp the others.
“The girl from the other night. The one we helped in the bar bathroom,” Carmen replied, and we both sagged a bit with relief.
Not that we didn’t feel bad for the woman who lost her life, but we’d both drawn the same first conclusion … Bea.
We knew our friend’s job could be a dangerous one, and it was a fear that always rested in the back of our minds.
“What happened?” I asked, stepping closer to Carmen, who still looked shaken.
“She was found floating in the pool at the Greenswood Motel. I heard it over the blotter and went to the scene. I saw Bea and she told me to let you guys know, since we may be asked in for questioning. It looks like she was murdered.”
