Page 42 of Bittersweet

“You know how your mom is in jail, right?”

Kayla bobbed her head up and down.

“Well, the people in charge of the jail have decided she had good behavior, and they’re going to let her out early.”

“My mom’s getting out of jail?” Her little eyes grew wide with surprise and excitement. “Is she coming to live with us?”

“No, sweetie.”

Kayla scrunched her lips to one side and tilted her head. “Did she forget about me?”

“Of course not. Nobody could forget you, baby girl. I’m sure your mom will want to visit you very soon, okay?”

Kayla nodded slowly. “Will she have coffee with me and my friends?” She pointed to her little circle of toys, cups, and plates.

“I bet she will.” He could only hope she would.

“Good.” She hugged Logan, then wiggled out of his arms to return to her coffee party.

Logan wished things were actually as simple as his four-year-old believed them to be.

Logan jolted awake. Disoriented, he reached for his phone to check the time. It was after three o’clock in the morning, and he realized it was the ringtone that had woken him.

“This better be good,” he mumbled as he answered the call.

“Hey, Logan, man, it’s Sal from the barbecue truck.” There was an edge of urgency to his voice.

“What’s up, Sal?”

“One of my buddies called. He lives near the lot where our trucks are stored. You better get over there, Logan. Something bad’s going down.”

“What do you mean?”

“He said police are there now, and he can hear more sirens getting closer.”

“Why? Sal, tell me what’s wrong.”

There was a pause. “Your truck’s on fire.”

“What?” He jumped up from his makeshift bed—the fold-out couch in the middle of their tiny living room. “I’m on my way!”

Being the middle of the night, he knew he wouldn’t be able to find anyone to watch Kayla, so he carefully bundled her up in blankets and put her in the car seat. She woke a little, but drifted right back off, and he put on a lullaby CD to help keep her asleep.

As he drove, the adrenaline coursed through his veins. My truck? On fire? How could that happen? He didn’t cook anything that would cause a grease fire, like some of the other trucks. He’d turned everything off last time he’d parked it. He was sure of it. Had there been a short circuit of some kind? He was at a complete loss.

When he pulled into the lot, he was careful to keep the car parked at a safe distance before he got out. The flames from his burning truck lit the whole area.

Sal arrived minutes after he did, and they were soon joined by another man, who walked over to them from a house down the street.

Logan’s hands were shaking from the adrenaline rush, and he could not speak. All he could do was watch as his beloved truck was engulfed in flames.

This can’t be happening.

The fire truck arrived and got to work putting it out. Logan glanced through the window of his car to check on Kayla. With all the sirens, he didn’t know how she could still be sleeping, but she was. Maybe the lullaby CD was doing the trick.

Logan continued staring at the fire, completely in shock. Dark smoke billowed out through broken windows. Broken windows? He looked closer and noticed the tires were flat. And were the headlights busted out?

Vandals. I should’ve known.

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