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“That’s not true.” Finishing with the second and final cupcake box, I set it down beside the first and close the pastry case. “The dress was hot,” I admit. “But the rest is exaggeration. And certainly not reason to set fire to a man’s home or truck.” I grab four separate paper bags, since the girls will want their own cake in hand. “Especially notthatman.”
“Why especially not him?” She raises a challenging brow and cocks her hip. “He was with you Saturday night. You were having a nice time. Everyone saw you dance.”
“Because we’re friends! That’s it. If we could set reality aside for a moment and accept there’s a psycho out there who thinks I’m beautiful enough to set fires for, then Jase is not who would be targeted. We’re friendly. He got an hour. Not even,” I amend. “Then he was gone. That’s the end of it.”
“So you’re saying they would more likely target someone else?”
“Yes.”
“Someone more important to you?”
“Yes!”
“Someone like Axel Feeney?”
“Y—no.” I set my hands on my hips and hate how, at the threshold between the front of the store and the back, I feel Nicole’s heated stare. “Okay, yes. If someone would be targeted, I imagine that person would be Axel. Or even Raul, since they’re who I spend most of my time with. The fact Jase is the victim here, I’d say none of this has anything to do with me or my dress.”
“What’s happening between you and my brother now?” Nicole slowly wanders forward with fear in her eyes and a frown marring her brow. “I thought you and he could barely be in the same room for thirty seconds?”
“Yeah.” With a smug grin and pursed lips, Soph gloats. “What’s going on with you and her brother,Sully? We all wanna know.”
“You need to mind your own business.”
I spin to Nic and know I can’t say the same to her. “He and I are… cordial. We hung out Saturday at your party, and it didn’t go completely to hell. We saw each other again Sunday at the hospital after the truck fire, and same. No one was mean to each other.”
“And Saturday night?” Soph coughs into her hand. “All night.”
I swivel back around with a feral sneer. “Do you mind?”
“Nope.” She steals a cupcake from the box and peels the paper wrapping off with a smile. “My men are getting cake today purely because I wanted to be here for this discussion.”
“What happened Saturday night?” Nicole grabs my sleeve when I don’t turn, and tugs me around until our eyes meet. “A-all night?”
“He slept at my place,” I exhale, nerves ricocheting in my blood as her eyes widen. “It wasn’t like…” I swallow my words when Sophia’s oldest daughter skips back our way. “Not like that. Just sleep.”
“Don’t make me saybroom closet,” Sophia coughs. Only to follow it up with a laugh. “Oops.”
“You slept with my brother?” Nicole shouts. “Again! What the hell is wrong with you two? I thought you hated each other?”
“Er…” Raul and Jenson stop at the doorway, their expressions a mix of embarrassment and shock. “We, uh…” Jenson clears his throat, but he can’t hide the warmth coloring his cheeks. “We’re here for the Daxton cake. But it seems we’ve interrupted something.”
“Hannah?” Raul’s kind eyes scour my face, his concern written in the lines of his brows. “Wanna help me load up the van?”
Want to come to the loading dock and cry?
That’s what he means.
But I have neither the time nor the inclination to discuss something I’m not even sure about right now. So I turn back to Sophia and snatch up a pair of tongs. “What cakes do the kids want? I have work to do.”
Unafraid of my wrath, even when Isnap-snap-snapthe utensil a foot from her face, she snickers. “Rainbows, please. They always want rainbows.”
* * *
Between Sophia, Raul, and an entire throng of sugar-craving townspeople, I’m kept in the front of the shop for a full two hours before the rush thins out and I find more than ten seconds to formulate a coherent thought.
The moment I do, I dart into the back of the shop. “Nicole? Where are you?”
“Fridge.” But instead of making me follow her in, she steps out, her arms weighed down with supplies. “What do I need to replace out front? That was a lot of people.”
