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Chapter 19
On the second week after Thanksgiving, the decrease in special orders wasn’t just her imagination. It was especially noticeable because it was close to Christmas. She had imagined all kinds of scenarios where her family would be hurt by her and Finn, but she had never considered this sort of impact. Luckily, they were able to absorb it, and they all silently expected this to blow off soon.
“Hey, Anne, something going on?” Amy Locke from The Mean Bean wiped a hand to remove the strands of bleach-blonde hair that fell into her eyes as they placed the packed food boxes in the back of her car.
“What do you mean?” she asked, her stomach plummeting because that question these days only brought bad news for her.
“I had three people call to ask if I decorate cakes for Christmas.”
“Let me guess, Lucile Hays is one of them?”
“And her bridge friends. Told them I don’t offer those. I buy them per need from you.” Amy’s hoarse chuckle ended in a cough.
“Well, you know what’s going on, Amy.” Anne straightened up after depositing the last box inside.
Amy Locke was nice in the chatty sort of way, and a good customer of their baked goods, but as a café owner on Ocean Avenue, she heard everything worth repeating in town, and therefore, she probably had the answer to her own question.
“Yeah, that’s not true, though, right?” Amy said, verifying Anne’s assumption.
“Right.” She slammed the trunk shut and turned around.
“I’ve always wanted to put something in her salad,” Amy said, chuckling. “Did you notice that the prunes and prudes of this town are the same people?”
She laughed, too. Chatting with Amy was refreshing. These days, the bakery was mostly silent. Her father and Connie concentrated on work and looking for bakers. Since she didn’t have as much work at the back, Anne helped out front more. Her mother, who was usually talkative, was quiet even while they hung the Christmas decorations and dressed the display windows in greens and reds. It was the first time that Linda and Darian didn’t speak. It wasn’t an official thing, but they couldn’t talk much around the humongous elephant in the room, and any conversation on that topic could lead to an argument that they both weren’t interested in. So, silence it was. No joint plans for Christmas, no excitement like her parents usually showed during this time of year.
Bella was busy packing and up to her nose in moving-related stuff, and Anne seriously considered Roni’s offer, which Hope had repeated. It could be better than driving along the coast and imagining movie-montages-like what Finn was doing. Maybe if she met with people, like in a movie montage, time would condense and pass quickly.
She was surprised to find him waiting on her porch just two days after he had stopped by the bakery. Their calls since then had been brief, and he only said he was handling things and that he’d tell her. He must have come to update her. It was Thursday and, despite her warnings, she did hope they’d get to see each other over the weekend.
As soon as she was on the porch, he gathered her into his arms and pressed her to him. She kissed his lips.
“Is everything okay?” she asked when she saw the look in his eyes.
“Let’s get inside.”
Her heart hammered in her chest as she opened the lock and let them both in.
“Let’s sit over here,” he said, pulling her by the hand toward the couch. Just like all those years ago, he had her sit on it while he settled on the coffee table, facing her, holding both her hands.
“Finn, you’re scaring me.”
“I didn’t want to tell you this over the phone. She has a restraining order against me.”
“Oh my fucking God!” She squeezed his hands. “What? Why?”
“She submitted a custody order change and lied through her ass there. I went to talk to her, she refused to listen, and it turned into an argument. Next thing I know, I have two cops serving me a restraining order in my house.”
“Oh, Finn. Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she expelled. “I knew she’d stoop low but I didn’t realize just how low.”
“That’s not all.”
“There’s more?”
“I’m not allowed to take him out of the state, so no Florida, and probably no Christmas at all because she’s contesting our entire arrangement and, with the restraining order, I don’t have much leverage.”
“Finn, no,” she called, tears making their way from her throat to her eyes. How anyone could hurt him at his softest point, she couldn’t even imagine. This shouldn’t be happening. She knew the cost might be too much to bear. She had known it from the beginning, from the day that mirrored this one all those years ago.
“Max wants to live with me, so I hope that will count. My mother will fly in to spend the rest of the school break with us, so there’s that, too. But that’s not all, Jane.”
