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“Did the alarm company say who broke the window?”
She shakes her head, “No. They had no information. They were just relaying a message from the police that they were there.”
I notice Kate’s hand shaking, so I take her hand. “Hey. It’s okay. I’m sure it was just a bunch of kids. Don’t worry.” I notice she says nothing, and my gut tells me to dig more. “What aren’t you telling me, Kate?”
She hesitates. “Kate? Tell me, please.”
Kate takes a deep breath and watches out the window as I steer us towards her shop across town. “This isn’t the first time something has happened at my shop recently.”
Instantly, I go on alert, looking at who and what we’re driving past as my hand grips hers harder than necessary. “Tell me about it.”
CHAPTER 23
KATE
“Tell me about it.” Hudson says as he holds onto my hand tighter but still expertly navigates this giant truck through the streets of Hibiscus Harbor easily.
When he said that he was going with me to the shop, I was taken aback. I’ve been on my own for so long, it never occurred to me he would come and help. But he didn’t hesitate a second, and he brought his giant dog, too.
My heart dropped when I heard that ringtone interrupt our date. It was going so well, too. I was getting excited talking and hanging out with him. When we were sitting on the couch, he turned and faced me, never letting me go more than a few minutes without touching me in some way. We were building a connection. And the man can cook. What is sexier than a man that can cook? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
But then the phone rang and all my stress from Jose and his stupid pizza place has returned. I never expected him to stoop this low, though. We’re both small businesses and money is always tight, no matter how much business you get on a daily basis. I feel my hand pulled. “Kate? Tell me about what’s been happening.”
“Well, it started a few months ago when I attempted to expand the Bean and Bagel and rent the adjoining space. See, eventually I want to design and make wedding cakes and that extra space would be perfect. The landlord was all ready to lease it to me, but on the day that I was supposed to sign the lease, the landlord’s cousin stepped in and leased it out from under me and set up his pizza shop.”
“What he sells should never be called pizza. I’ve tasted cardboard that tasted better.” Hudson turns down Main Street towards my shop.
I ignore his statement. Not because he is wrong, but because I understand that it sometimes takes a few years to get the right formula for a successful business to get off the ground. I always try to give the benefit of the doubt. So, I continue. “My neighbor has been complaining about every little thing to his cousin, who is our landlord, about the Bean and Bagel, and when that was unsuccessful, he called the health department and the Fire Marshal.”
“What? For what? Your shop has always been immaculate every time I’ve been in there.”
“I know. It was just his ploy to get me shut down for a few days. Jose thinks that if I’m closed, my customers will spill over to his shop. I don’t know why because if they are looking for bagels, they probably don’t want pizza, but whatever.”
As if I just solved a puzzle for Hudson, he says, “Ah. That’s why you were closed for two days. The guys at the station were talking about it and wondering what was going on.”
“Yep. You can thank Pizza Pizazz for that. I mean, the health inspector and the Fire Marshal found nothing wrong. Actually, Jose was also inspected by the Fire Marshal and was cited for having dirty ovens, and was told to get them professionally cleaned; that it could turn into a fire hazard. I’m sure that irked him to no end.” I smirk at the thought, but then Hudson pulls the truck up to my shop and the damage is worse than I thought. It’s not just a window that was broken. All the windows are out and from where I’m sitting, I can see that there’s spray paint all over the interior walls.
“Oh, my god.” I whisper.
“We’ll deal with it together, Kate. You hear me? We’ve got this.” He tugs my hand before he puts the truck in park. “Look at me.” He waits for me to look at him. “Together, okay?”
I nod and he lets my hand go so that I can climb out of the car, but I hear him say under his breath, “I’m gonna get this fucker.”
It’s been hours since we got here. The police took at least a few thousand pictures. At least that’s what it seemed like.
Hudson called his best friend, Kane, when we first got here, and they went to the hardware store and got a lot of wood to board up my shop. Some guys from the fire station came over after a late-night call and helped them get it all boarded up while I dealt with getting the police report and contacted my insurance company.
Since we live in a relatively small town, word got out fast and Grace, Chloe, and Josh showed up and started trying to help me clean up the mess, but it’s a lost cause. Not only were the windows all broken, but there is spray paint all over my walls and equipment, many of the interior walls have holes smashed into them, all the tabletops are broken, and even some tiles on the floor have been destroyed. This will easily cost tens of thousands of dollars to fix.
Grace told Hudson to get some spray paint while he was at the hardware store so she could start her own vengeance on my neighbor, but, of course, Hudson didn’t oblige.
Actually, we have no proof it was my neighbor. My security company says that someone blocked the cameras before they took them all down and destroyed them in the middle of my kitchen. So, there’s no evidence of the crime, although the police have taken fingerprints from all around the outside of my building as well as all the interior surfaces.
Finally, Jose shows up from the Pizza Pizazz. I watch him saunter over to where I’m standing, watching some firefighters sweep up the broken glass on the sidewalk. I tried to send them back to their station to sleep since it’s almost dawn, but they all insisted on cleaning up, saying they had better brooms than I did.
“Oh, Chica. What happened?” He asks with is heavy Hispanic accent. “What a terrible accident.” Jose is wearing a red bandana around his head like a street gang member.
“Not an accident, Jose. This was vandalism.” I say as my stomach turns sour, knowing full well he either did this himself or orchestrated it. My skin is crawling, just talking to him.
