AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Suddenly, I spot a motion in the backyard that has me squinting. What was that?? It looked like a human being. Is Mia back? Why are all her lights still off?
Instinctively, I know something is off.
"Hey Mikey, I'll be right back. I need to check something."
My son doesn't respond to my call as I step out of the house and head to Mia's. She keeps her spare key in the second flowerpot and I fish it out immediately, slipping it into the lock and turning it.
I open the door and meet chaos.
7
MIA
Bone-tired doesn’t even beginto describe how I’m feeling. I feel like the day was both too long and too short at the same time, and I was in constant motion through all of it. My muscle ache and I could probably do with a good massage, but that’s out of the question. I couldn’t afford massages before, and I especially can’t afford them now that I’m saving up for new skates for Chase.
So, I guess I’ll just have to settle for stretching my muscles with a nice walk home.
Luckily, the weather is just perfect for a walk. A cool breeze rustles the trees and the sunset casts a romantic haze over everything, including a few couples walking their dogs. At least, Luke and his boys had the decency to clean up after their commotion and all seems right with the neighborhood.
That is until Luke plans another disruptive activity.
And naturally, with the thought, my mind rests on thinking about Luke again. It’s irritating how much brain space that man has taken up in the past few weeks, but I can’t help it. It seems no matter what I do, my life is intertwined with his and I can’t escape from him.
And it seems like too much for it all to just be a coincidence. He’s my brother’s best friend. Our children go to the same school and are both in Pee Wee Hockey. We live next to each other. Heck, we practically work next to each other too since the hockey rink is just around the corner from my bakery.
It’s like someone designed our lives to make Luke Hardy a perpetual thorn in my side.
Some would probably call that fate.
But I’m not one of those people. I don’t believe in fate, especially not cursed ones like this.
I sigh and stretch my neck. Right now, I don’t need to be thinking about Luke. I need to be thinking about two things: my son and my business. I started the cupcake shop five years ago, and while it’s been successful so far, we’re just about starting to turn a significant profit. I do little advertising at this point, as we’ve become a staple in the area.
But the issue is that a new cupcake shop just opened right near downtown, and it might pose a problem for me in the future. I visited the place once, and it has Kreamy in the name, beat me with a prime location, price, and overall ambiance of the space. It looks a little more upscale than my shack and there are a lot more employees. Plus, to my surprise, the cupcakes tasted pretty good. They could probably serve as significant competition for me in the future, if I’m not careful. So, I need to figure out how to set myself and my offerings apart.
You banned me from one of the best damn bakeries in the state.
I blush at the memory of Luke’s words. Did he mean that? He couldn’t have because that would mean that he was complimenting me. And Luke doesn’t give me compliments, at least not without significant strings attached.
So, what does he want now? What game is he playing this time?
Or did he mean what he said?
I release a breath as exhaustion rolls through me. My house is a short distance away and I trudge tiredly till I get there.
I pause in my driveway, noting that my door seems to be unlocked, left slightly ajar.
Did I somehow manage not to fully close it today? Let alone lock it? How could that’ve happened?
Oh God, I hope no one saw it open. That would be embarrassing.
It’s a pretty safe neighborhood, so I’m not particularly scared of a break-in. Heck, you could practically leave your door wide open with a sign that says, 'I have money in the safe!' and still, no one would come in. That’s how safe the neighborhood is. And with Chase at a sleepover tonight, I’m not necessarily concerned anything has happened to him either.
I’m more concerned that Luke’s seen my open door. This is the exact type of thing that he would take advantage of by…I don’t know, making a mess in my home or jumping out at me when I get to the door or something.
But when I push open the door, I gape at what I find, stomach dropping.
'Mess' is too mild a word for it. So is 'ransacked'. The entire house has been turned upside down.
