“You need help. I can get you into treatment, but you have to want it.” I don’t have any love for Marissa, but she is Thea’s mother. I’ll help her any way that I can, but she has to do the work to get better. I don’t want my kid growing up without a mother, but shit isn’t looking good.
A loud knock sounds at the front door. “You got my money?” I hear a male voice call out then bang harder.
“Who the fuck is that, Marissa?” I shake her as rage boils under my skin.
“Some guy I owe money.” Her eyes roll back in her head and she slumps over.
“Goddamn,” I roar and bang my fist down on the kitchen table as the guy knocks on the door again.
“I know you’re in there. I need my money, cunt.”
I stomp toward the front door and the guy shrinks back when I throw it open. I toss a wad of cash at him. “Get lost. Don’t ever fucking come back or I’ll gut you,” I warn.
He scrambles to grab the money and nearly falls as he runs off the porch.
I grab the cordless phone off the counter, but it’s already been shut off. Goddamn bitch. I pull out my cell and dial 911. Then I walk into the bedroom and grab Thea and put her in the car seat in my truck.
I’m done with Marissa.
Unless she gets the help that she desperately needs she’ll never see Thea again.
Chapter 7
~Camreigh~
It’s been two weeks since I moved to Drag Creek over my Aunt Char’s bakery. Two weeks since I last laid eyes on Sawyer. I told him that I didn’t want to see him again so why am I annoyed that he hasn’t came around? He gave me what I wanted. A night of mind-blowing sex followed by more the next morning. I shouldn’t feel perturbed and rejected but I do. I don’t know what I expected. After I found out I was pregnant I resigned myself to the fact that he wouldn’t be in the picture. I didn’t even know his name, but now I do. Am I crazy for wanting to see him again? For expecting to see him.
I move through my morning routine and take my vitamins after I have breakfast. Working downstairs at the bakery is going to have me gaining fifty pounds and having gestational diabetes. I don’t know if that’s how it works but it is so hard to resist taste testing all the cakes, cookies, brownies, and pies. I suck at decorating cakes, so I am glad that Char only wants me working the register. She says I will learn how to do the cakes in time. I don’t have the coordination or patience.
I get to the store first since I live upstairs and go through the motions getting everything ready. I uncover the displays and check the dates, making sure nothing needs thrown out. Char and her helper will get here in an hour to start on their new orders. I go over the sheet and make sure they have all the ingredients and supplies they will need. Getting all the prep work out of the way. I never thought I would be working in a bakery, but I do enjoy getting to spend time with Char and it is convenient living upstairs for now.
Char arrives first and I smile at the tubby little woman. She’s short and round and always happy. The woman sees the best in every situation and refuses to let me feel sorry for myself. She doesn’t know all the details of my pregnancy exactly. I left out that the guy was a biker, but she knows it was a one-night stand. She doesn’t judge me for it. When I told her she said, “Cami girl, that’s life. These things happen, but all babies no matter how they come to be are a blessing. Motherhood is the greatest gift outside of the love of a good man you will ever get. Not that women need a baby to be happy, but this is a good thing. Don’t be sad about it. Life has a way of working out.”
“How’s my baby this morning.” She places a hand on my belly even though it’s not that big and you can’t feel the baby moving yet. I appreciate how excited she is for my baby. It’s the closest
she will ever get to a grandchild. Uncle Cooter hasn’t said much but he is a man of little words. He says Char talks enough for both of them. I tend to agree the woman does love to talk.
She stays in the back and I am in the front waiting for customers to come in to pick up their orders or place new ones. I take a few orders over the phone and when the door opens and Tina walks in, I nearly scream. I wasn’t expecting her to be here.
“What are you doing here?” I step from behind the register and hug her neck.
“I missed my bestie. Now that you live an hour away, I don’t get to see you every day.”
“Want a cupcake?”
“Duh.” She smiles and I am happy she is here. I love being around my Aunt Char, but I don’t have anyone else outside of her and Cooter in this town. Sure my baby daddy lives around here but he doesn’t exactly count. Him not being around again this week further proves that I did the right thing in not telling him. I mean he doesn’t owe me anything, but it still bothers me.
I go to the display case and get two cupcakes one for Tina and one for myself.
“Char, I’m taking a break,” I call to the back and she doesn’t reply.
Tina and I go over to one of the tables for cake tasting and she fills me in on the latest with her and Matt. I suspect that is why she is really here. There is trouble in paradise. “So, I did it. I told Matt that I wanted more. He never touches me, and you were right, I want to be with someone who wants to be with me. I want a man who can’t keep his hands off me.”
“Aw, babe. You deserve so much better than that.”
“I do. I gave him an ultimatum,” she says, quietly. My best friend looks so sad, and I hate it for her but she’s doing the best thing here. Matt is a nice guy but he’s not the one for her.
“What did he say?” I peel the wrapper from my treat and take a big bite.