Page 1 of Sweet Spot

Chapter One

Macy

I carefully placedthe last pastry into the box and closed the lid. The sun was just coming up, but I still needed to hurry to get my bakery kiosk open so the aroma of coffee and strawberry pastry could waft along the sidewalks before people headed to work.

My phone rang before I could pick up the boxes. Mom. It was early even by her standards, a woman who never slept late.

A spark of worry struck me as I answered it. "Mom, is Dad all right?"

"Why wouldn't he be all right? Although, he did have terrible heartburn last night. I warned him to go easy on the salsa."

"Mom." I stopped her before she went through an entire narration of their evening and Dad's upset stomach. "I've got to get going. Why are you calling so early?"

"I wanted to catch you before you left for your little bakery stand," she said it in a way that made me feel like a little girl starting a lemonade stand on the front lawn. Which I had, and I'd made a fortune because I also sold chocolate chip cookies that I made myself. That was how my knack and love for baking got started.

"My little stand," I repeated in the same Mommy sing song tone she'd used, "has already earned me enough to pay half my bills, and it's only the first week. Of course, that's gross," I added quickly, as if net would be similar. Which it wouldn't, since overhead costs were high.

"That's nice, Macy. Your dad and I are very proud of how quickly you bounced back from—well, from the disappointment you suffered." Her voice wavered again.

"Mom, please don't. Do you need something? If I don't hit the road right now, I'll run into traffic."

"Oh, I hate how much you have to work and drive and do everything on your own. If only Trevor hadn't made such a silly mistake."

"Mom, a silly mistake is forgetting to put the milk back in the refrigerator. The groom-to-be sleeping with one of the bride-to-be's bridesmaids is a major fuck up."

She feigned shock at my language, but she'd said far worse about Trevor after the silly mistake. "Macy, you know I hate it when you talk like that."

"I was hoping it might bring a quick end to this conversation. If the only goal of this call was to remind me that I got jilted by my fiancé, mission accomplished. I've got to go."

"Wait, that wasn't the reason for my call. I'll be brief. I was at the store, and I ran into your future mother-in-law."

"Ex-mother-in-law," I said sharply. I was regretting answering the phone.

"Right, of course. She really is a lovely woman. Oh, and she had a new Cartier diamond watch. Must have cost a fortune." Next came the disappointed sigh as my mom thought about how nice it would have been for her daughter to marry a rich man. "She says Trevor is still very broken up about the whole thing."

"Trevor is broken up about it? Holy shit, Mom. Next time, just walk past the woman and her diamond watch."

"Macy, lots of men do regrettable things at their bachelor parties." My mom never purposefully lied, but she did have a genuine knack for changing past events to make them fit more to her liking.

"Mom, it was the rehearsal dinner. And Rebecca wasn't some stripper hopping out of a cake at a stag party. She was my best friend in high school." In the midst of the rehearsal dinner my ex future in laws had arranged at an embarrassingly high end restaurant, both the groom and my bridesmaid had disappeared for what seemed an inordinate amount of time for a restroom visit. My sister, Teresa, and I decided to go look for them. We found them together, screwing away in one of the posh bathroom stalls in the ladies' restroom. The truly ironic thing about it, other than the obvious, was that Trevor and I had dated for four years and during that long stretch of time, he had insisted that we save ourselves for marriage. We had never gone farther than kissing and heavy petting. It should have been a red flag for me, but I'd gone along with it, figuring it was nice not to have to worry about birth control. And so, I'd saved myself for marriage, like a dutiful girlfriend, thinking there would be some grand explosion of passion once we tied the knot. Only, in the meantime, it turned out Trevor was dealing with a terrible sex addiction. In his dramatic attempt at apologizing, he'd spilled his heart out to me, insisting that he was getting help for his problem. He claimed that he had insisted we remain celibate because he wanted to be cured. He didn't want to scare me away. That was his excuse. Now he had scared me away for good, and I was relieved to be rid of him.

"Macy, maybe you should talk to him. I mean, think of everything you've given up."

"I haven't given up anything, Mom. I've gained. I've gained freedom, independence and if I think about it, a good dose of happiness. I was so young when I started dating Trevor, and I got caught up in his world. Yes, it would have been nice to open my own bakery, like the one he was buying for me, but the kiosk is working just fine. So, Mom, try and be happy for me. And please don't bring up Trevor again. Now, if I don't get on the road, I will miss the morning rush."

"All right, Macy. Drive safely and have a good day."

"Thanks, Mom. Love you. And tell Dad to go easy on the salsa." I hung up, grabbed my keys and the pastries and headed out the door.

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