Page 19 of Tart
Bishop grimaced and shook his head. “Darla sounds like a prime example of a bully.”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, nodding with exaggeration. “Darla has been a thorn in our side for our entire lives. You could never prove that she was a bully, though. She had all of the adults snowed. They believed she was wonderful, and everyone else was the problem.”
“As is typical with bullies.”
“I suppose you have plenty of experience with them as a teacher.”
He laughed, but it was mirthless. “And as a father. More than I care to admit. Anyway, continue.”
“Every time you mention being a father, I do a doubletake. I have to remind myself that you’re not old, and you’re extremely hot to boot.” This time his laughter was filled with humor. I buried my head in my hand out of embarrassment. “Cripes, you can’t trust me with alcohol.”
“No, I think the exact opposite is true. You hold too much back when you’re sober. A little bit of alcohol helps you loosen up and stop being so afraid of saying something you think the other person doesn’t want to hear.”
“That’s not untrue. I’ve always been that way. I tend only to speak when I know what I’m going to say. I’m sure the reasons are obvious to you now.”
He shrugged with a grin on his face. “I don’t mind that you think I’m hot and not the least bit old. You’re way ahead of the curve with most women.”
“But you aren’t old. You’re only a few years older than I am. You just had kids when you were young. We can look at it that way.”
“It was more like a once and done kind of thing.”
“Wait, you don’t want more kids?”
He waved his hand in the air. “I do. What I meant was, I made a mistake once, and I wasn’t going to make it again. The next time I have a baby, if I ever do, it will be planned and what we both want. I will never put another woman in the position of having to decide between their future or a child’s future ever again.”
I sat there, nodding as I thought about what he said. “You’re right. I’m sure Athena’s mom felt that way to a degree.”
“Her name is Sam. She’s one of the strongest women I know. She grew up to be a social worker and is married to a super nice guy named Ken. He had as much to do with Athena being the kind of woman she is as I did.”
“Sam got her happily ever after, but you’re still waiting.”
“I guess you could say that. What happened with Darla and Haylee?”
I threw my hands up excitedly. “Oh, right, sorry! Anyway, no one knew that Haylee had left the recording app open on her phone after the judge got done announcing the winner, so every cruel and disgusting thing Darla said to Haylee was recorded. When Haylee found the recording the next day, she took it to the festival committee to let them listen. She wasn’t doing it to be vindictive, though.”
“What did it matter? If Darla didn’t win the cupcake bake-off?”
“She didn’t win that, but she did win Strawberry Fest Princess and was going to represent the city for a year.”
“Oh, crap,” he said, his laughter evident. “I bet she wasn’t happy that Haylee had audio of their interaction.”
My head shook back and forth with all seriousness. “Not even a little bit. Especially after they removed Darla as the princess and took her crown before she could even get on the float. She went on an all-day bender and then waited for Haylee outside her apartment. She pushed my best friend down the stairs and then stabbed her.”
He reared back with his eyes wide. “I hadn’t heard that part of the story.”
I nodded and tipped my head to the side. “Darla will be going to trial for attempted murder sometime next month.”
“You have had a lot to deal with the last year. Not only is Haylee your best friend, but she’s your business partner. That must have been hard running the business with her injured.”
“It was harder knowing that she was in pain for no fault of her own. Worse, knowing that she could have died before anyone found her. Thankfully, Brady had figured out that Haylee was upset with him and went into work early to talk to her that night. If he hadn’t, Haylee might not be with us. The police think Brady pulled up and scared Darla away before she could stab Haylee more than once. It was also good she was completely wasted and had a bad aim. Darla isn’t talking, of course, but they have the knife with Haylee’s blood on it, so it will be tough for her attorney to prove she’s innocent.”
“That’s heavy, Amber. I’m sorry,” he said, leaning forward and taking my hand. He held it in his warm one, and I liked it way too much for where I was in my life. He was a professional. He was in charge of educating young minds. Hell, he’d already raised one. Here I was, still afraid of my own shadow.
“I’m just glad that she’s okay and healed quickly. Brady has been a rock for both her and the business. Now that they’re married, it puts how we work together at the bakery in a weird place. We’re supposed to have dinner and talk about everything tomorrow night, and I’m nervous about it. I have to remind myself that we’ve navigated the changes thus far, so I know we can do it again.”
“I know you can, too,” he said, squeezing my hand before he let it go. “Everything in life is about change. Every day brings about some kind of change. We either have to bend to it or break to it. I learned that very early on in life. My parents were killed by a drunk driver when I was six, which is why my grandparents raised me.”
My hand went to my mouth as I gasped. “How awful, Bishop! I had no idea it was that type of situation. That’s tragic.”
