Page 29 of Caged

“No.”

“What’s your favorite?” I asked. It never hurt to extend a tasty olive branch.

“Cinnamon,” she answered, lifting her hand to look at her phone.

Her right hand was swollen, and she had small cuts on her knuckles. Courtesy of my teeth.

“Morning, Beth. Can I have dozen muffins, at least four blueberry and three cinnamon.”

“Coming right up.”

Mom handed Maxwell her coffees. “See you at the office,” Maxwell said as she headed for the door.

I nodded and paid Beth.

When my mother handed me the bag, she said, “Remember what I said; let go of yesterday and start fresh.”

“Thanks, Ma. Bye, Beth.”

Before the masses could ransack the bag, I made sure Meg and Maxwell got their choice of muffin.

Luckily, no one mentioned the previous day’s fight.Luck has nothing to do with it.I could imagine the carefully crafted email my father sent, warning everyone to let it go. Otherwise, my split lip and Maxwell’s swollen hand, would have sparked good-natured ribbing.

Nothing like the black sheep of the family spinning out of control and living up to his team nickname, the Tasmanian Devil, and fucking shit up in the family business.

Back in our office, before we got down to business, Maxwell walked up to me and stuck out her hand. “Truce?”

I grasped her hand in mine, keeping the pressure light so I didn’t hurt her swollen hand. But not so light she could accuse me of going easy on her. “Truce.”

She nodded and turned, mumbling, “I won’t lose another job because of another asshole.”

What the hell does that mean “another job”?Had this happened before? And who was the other asshole? Did I have to go kill someone? What? No. Why would I even think that?

I was dying to know if Maxwell had hit a previous co-worker. Before this moment, I would have put all my money on no.

Remembering our truce, I bit my tongue and filed the information away for later.

Chapter 13

Cate

Of course Jaden stopped by Grannie’s to get coffee. At first it pissed me off, which was completely irrational, but it wasn’t the first time he’d pissed me off without trying.

Then I remembered he was the new guy so it was his job to get the coffee. Getting coffee for everyone at the office was the SSI version of new guy hazing. When they’d first told me, I was pissed, thinking they were giving me shit for being a female, but I was quickly corrected. AJ was the first person hazed, and everyone hired after him had gone through it. When Meg told me about the SSI discount, and the office coffee fund she’d started, so newbies didn’t go broke, I’d apologized for over-reacting and paid for the first round.

Plus,it shouldn’t surprise me he wants to apologize the same way I do.

Seeing Jaden with Mary was interesting; he seemed calmer. Not in a superficial way, his whole demeanor changed as they talked.

Mrs. Sheppard had some mad mama bear skills. She’d dress you down for being stupid while confessing how worried she was. She’d tend your wounds while threatening to kill you if you ever got hurt again.

She loved her family with a fierceness that shocked me. Scared me a little too, because one of her cubs had it out for me. I didn’t think she’d judge me based on Jaden’s dislike of me, but if push came to shove, she’d kick me to the curb in a heartbeat. So would his father and brothers.

It didn’t matter that Jaden wasn’t as close to them as they were to each other.I’d bet my next paycheck that bothers him. They’d always have his back.

As they should.

Who’ll have mine?Not for the first time, I felt lonely despite being part of a team. The only person truly on my side was Charlie, but she’d have a husband soon. And probably little ones soon after the got married. Eventually, she’d be too busy with her own family to keep up our Sunday morning video chats.

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