“What?” I demanded.
“Mama, the cookies are ready.”
I turned my attention back out the window to hide my annoyance at April from Maya.
“Can you put them on a plate and bring them to us?” April asked her.
“Yep.” Maya trotted off to the kitchen again.
April stood and came to stand next to me. “Cy isn’t a man to sleep with a woman he doesn’t care about.”
“I didn’t—”
“I know you said he cared but didn’t love you. But Jude doesn’t agree.”
I looked at her. “Jude knew about us?”
“No. Not until I accidently spilled the beans about the baby. But he did say he noticed changes in him.”
“He was worried about his mom.”
“Petal, every day since Jude and I got married, Cy has been to your cupcake shop. Do you really think it’s for the food? As good as your cupcakes are, do you really think, he wasn’t there to see you?”
I wanted her to be right, but I had other customers that came frequently.
“Or how about the fact that he nearly took Lyle and Jacob’s heads off at the Halloween party. The party where afterwards you two apparently made a baby. Come on Petal. You know Cy. He’s a guarded man who controls his feelings and urges, and yet, he couldn’t stay away from you. Surely that’s more than just lust or caring. He flew back here just to see you.”
“He was angry.” The memory of it still woke me up at night.
“He could have done it over the phone.”
“Cookies!” Maya came into the living room and set a plate of cookies on the coffee table.
“Oh, don’t they look good.” April gave my back a pat and then went to sit with Maya.
I took a couple of moments to gather my emotional control, plastered a smile on my face and joined them.
“This is the best one, Petal,” Maya said, handing me a snickerdoodle.
“Oh?”
She nodded. “It will make you feel better.” Maya’s eyes shone with sympathy. Had April told her about me and Cy and the baby? I didn’t think so. She was only eight. But she could probably tell I wasn’t my usual bubbl
y self.
“Thank you, sweetie.” I gave her a hug.
The topic of Cyrus was tabled until Maya’s eyes started to droop. We put her in my guest room, where she and April had lived for a short time when April made a stand against her brother’s controlling behavior and before she and Jude finally reconciled.
As she put Maya to bed, I cleaned up our spa items and put the cookies away. I made some tea and poured April another glass of wine.
“She had a blast. I feel bad we haven’t done this sooner. Then again, maybe you don’t like us invading your space,” April said as she came back into my living area.
“You know I enjoy having you both here.” I held up a glass of wine.
“Oh, such service!” She took the wine and sat on the couch next to me. “So, what are your plans?”
“I don’t have any. Bake, sell, bake, raise a baby, bake some more.”