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“I can help.” I eagerly interject myself into the situation, trying to tap down on my excitement at possibly being useful to her.
She does not look happy, but since Michaels doesn’t look like he’s willing to budge, Molly concedes and shows me exactly what she wants me to do if the timer should go off before she returns.
What she doesn’t know is that I’m actually good in the kitchen. Mom worked her butt off, which meant she was usually exhausted when she got home. My sister would keep me out of trouble by having me help her prepare all of our meals.
It’s not until I see her follow Michaels back toward the yoga studio, that I start to feel a knot in the pit of my stomach. The sheriff removes his hat as he speaks to the two women, and I doubt he realizes that he’s close to destroying the shape of it, twisting the rim in his hands like he is.
The woman I’ve been laying siege to these past few weeks looks fit to kill and, unfortunately, Molly is her target.
Maybe renting out the bench facing the yoga studio wasn’t the best idea. I had really been on a roll. I still send food from time to time, but then I got creative and signed her up for the sausage and cheese of the month club.
Last week, when I saw that the town was looking for advertisers for the park benches to help offset their cost, I was instantly inspired. I set up a fake email address to inquire about it, a little surprised there were zero questions asked.
I sent in a money order for the fee, emailed the art I wanted and the location. From my quick glance, I was really pleased with the way the seat was painted to look like bacon and the front of it read: Bacon Makes Everything Better.
But now that I see Molly getting yelled at for it, I’m starting to rethink my strategy of tormenting her nemesis. The timer rings and I turn to handle the cakes, moving as slowly as possible so I don’t mess anything up.
When I hear the bell attached to the door jingle, I flinch, and a cake pan nearly slides off the rack. I make sure it’s safe before I look over my shoulder to see Flint standing there in the doorway. His arms are folded across his chest and his expression is nearly a mirror image of the one Michaels was wearing.
“Imagine my surprise when I rode by and sawyou.In. Here.” He waves his hand at me in continuation of his sentence. “What the fuck are you doing? Because I’d be pretty surprised to find out she hired you.”
“Um. Michaels needed Molly for something, but she didn’t want the cakes to burn so I was her only option,” I tell him, carefully putting the last one down on the cooling rack and removing the mitts she had laid out for me. “Oh, it looks like she’s coming back if you want anything.”
“Any idea what’s going on between Molly and California?” he asks me, narrowing his eyes and obviously referring to the other woman by her state of origin.
“Michaels didn’t say, but he seemed annoyed.” My answer sounds ridiculous as soon as it’s out of my mouth—of course, Michaels is frustrated, what with dealing with this on top of Shade’s arrest.
I don’t know what to make from near-growl that escapes him, so I try to pry a little. “Is that one of your buildings? Where she has her studio, I mean?”
“No, it’s one of Eileen’s,” he responds, the corner of his mouth twitching. Eileen Riley is Flint’s main competitor when it comes to owning properties around town. “The woman looked at a couple of my empty spots and was a pain in the ass, so I stopped taking her calls.”
Flint stands aside to allow Molly to enter, and I wait to the side as she inspects the cakes she left in my charge.
“Thank you,” she says, a soft smile on her face as she seems satisfied with the care I took. “Flint, is there anything you’d like today?”
He places his order, before frowning in my direction. I’m not ready to head out yet, so I sit down to finish my lukewarm coffee.
“What is going on with that Lachman woman?” he asks Molly.
She waves her hand in the air, in an attempt to blow off the question and rings up the loaves of bread he had requested. Taking his money, I don’t miss the envelope that she slides him along with his change.
I’ve seen enough of those to know she just gave him a good amount of cash. Considering neither of them acknowledge it, I file that information away for later.
“What is going on with that Lachman woman?” Flint repeats his question in a tone that demands compliance.
“She feels that someone is—harassing her and has decided it’s me because she left a negative review for the bakery online.”
“You don’t seem like a petty person to me,” Flint says, looking at her in such a way to get her to continue telling the story.
“It’s just frustrating because she keeps calling the police every time something happens, and I think she’s badmouthing me to the people in her class,” Molly says with a frown that causes a crease between her eyebrows. “We both offer discounts to people who are staying at the resorts, to help drive business. People used to stream across the square after her class, now they don’t. I mean, my local business is strong at least, so I can’t complain.”
The knot in my stomach that first made itself known when Michaels came to get Molly, feels like it has enlarged and hardened, so I stand and mumble my goodbyes.
Once outside, I toss a look over my shoulder to see Molly wringing her hands and her lips moving. It’s the look that Flint is giving me that encourages me to move faster.
Chapter 5
Molly
