Page 63 of Savage in the Sweets
“Fine. Just let me get ready.”
Lacy
I never thought driving to Savage Sweets would ever cause my heart to ache, but as I sit in the passenger seat of my sister’s SUV, sorrow needles me, and all I can do is fight back the tears because I don’t want April to remember me like this.
“You need to breathe,” Stephanie warns.
“You’re the reason I’m like this,” I snap.
“You’ll thank me later.”
God, I hate it when people think they know how people should mourn. I’d be just fine sitting my ass on the couch all day, surfing the web, eating bon-bons. I’d face fuck a pizza if it would help me climb out of the pool of misery I’m stuck in.
We pull into the cluster of shops that’s held Savage Sweets for decades and I look over to Might and Mind Gym, owned by the best boyfriend I’ve ever had.
And yes, I fully acknowledge that although things ended terribly between us, and he is the very reason I’m losing Savage Sweets, he was absolutely the best boyfriend I could have asked for. I honestly don’t know which was worse: losing my family business or losing him.
And that’s terrifying.
Stephanie is giddy with excitement, which makes me want to punch the smile off her face. Her pregnancy hormones must be making her crazy. Either that or she’s a sadist because she is absolutely relishing this very traumatic experience I’m going through.
Over the next minute, she parks, hops from the car, gets April out, pulls me from my seat, and drags me to the door.
“This better be good because I’m seriously thinking of disowning you,” I say venomously.
She opens the shop door and pushes me inside to a room full of people and a huge sign that says:
Savage Sweets
under new ownership
I look around, recognizing Irene, Stephanie’s husband Eric, Carolyn, a few PTA moms, and Colin.
“What the hell is all this?” I gasp.
“You know how I was in charge of closing up shop?” Stephanie says. “Well, I found a new owner.”
“You sold Savage Sweets?” I shout, my stomach threatening to overturn its contents onto the clean, linoleum floor. “How could you? Who bought it?”
Colin steps forward. “I did.”
It’s then that I notice a large opening from Savage Sweets into his gym.
“How fucking dare you!” I take a threatening step forward, glaring him down. “Was this whole thing a con so you could take over my store space?”
Stephanie steps between Colin and me. “Oh my God—I need to explain!”
“You have half a second before I am gone!”
“I sold Colin my half, but your half still belongs to you.”
I blink back at her, trying to figure out just how angry I am. Enough to disown her, surely. But am I about to commit murder?
“I thought Lacy would be happy,” Michael says, and I look over to see tears glistening in his eyes.
Fuck…
“I know you want to be mad, sis, but the shop needs a facelift. Because Colin took it over, he was able to negotiate a huge discount on rent…”
