Spark

I would probably tell my sister who Bailey is if I wasn’t already feeling guilty over having her past dug up for myself. It isn’t that there is anything to hide. It is just more sadness than she should have ever had to feel. She’s lost so much in her life. No wonder she’s such a fighter. Her past has things in it that I should have heard from her own lips. I shouldn’t have read them over an email that Brent sent me.

I watch as her hand reaches down to pet Bear gently, making me envy him more. My phone vibrates in my pocket. I reluctantly take it out. I want to keep watching her but I need a distraction. I see it’s Jason and I wonder if my sister did in fact press him into telling her something. She was probably using all the sweetness she could muster up to wiggle the information of my whereabouts from Jason. I know he’s smart enough to see right through her tactics.

“Hey,” I say as I answer.

“You still in Smithville?”

“You know I am.” I’m sure Jason’s crew would have told him that. If not they should be fired. They work for him, not me, technically.

“Just say I can tell her.”

I fight a small laugh. “You and my sister eh?” I don’t know why I didn’t see that coming. They are both so work driven. What do I know though? If you had told me a week ago what I’d be doing right now I would have laughed in your face.

“She asked me not to say anything. I would have talked to you about it but she asked me not to.”

Again, a week ago I would have told him that didn’t fucking matter but I get it. If Bailey asked me to go get her the moon I’d be on the phone with NASA trying to figure out how to make it happen.

“I respect you’ll do right by her. She should come first.” That is the truth at the end of the day if they are really going to be something. For all I know it’s a fling but I don’t think Jason is a temporary kind of man. Everything is always serious.

“Thanks, man.” He lets out a long breath, clearly relieved. “I wanted to mention something. Charlie called and said someone is messing with their equipment. Nothing has been taken but someone is going in there when they aren’t there.” I smirk, knowing exactly who our culprit is. I’m actually a bit surprised that my little protestor is breaking and entering. She looks so sweet and innocent that one would never suspect her.

“Understood. I’ll take care of it. Tell the men to leave everything as usual when they leave tonight.” Jason agrees and says he’ll pass the word down to the others. I, on the other hand, begin to form a plan to catch my little protestor red-handed.

After I hang up with Jason, I have a renewed sense of purpose. I smile when I look across at her handing out flyers. She looks beautiful as she basically tries to run my shop out of town. I should be mad that she’s breaking into my place at night but the only emotion I feel is happy. I’m excited to catch her tonight in more ways than one.

The only question left is: How far will she go for me not to call the sheriff?

7

Bailey

I finish putting away the last of the treats I’ve made for the morning before wiping everything down. I am worn out. I lean up against the counter knowing my night isn’t anywhere near being over. I still need to sneak next door and unplug everything. It really isn’t slowing them down over there. I know I need to somehow steal the paint too. What I don’t know is how the heck I’m going to get it out of there without anyone seeing me do it.

I don’t know why stealing it feels so much worse than having ruined it by dumping all the glitter inside of the cans. I sealed them all back up nice and tight so no one would suspect anything. At least this way there will be less of a mess for them. Either way the paint needs to be replaced. I’m going to leave a small envelope of cash in hopes that it’s enough to cover the cost of new paint. I did some research online looking up what gallons of paint cost and this is going to hurt my bank account. I made a rash decision at the time and I know it’s my responsibility to try to fix it. I sigh, knowing that I’ll need every penny in that account if I’m going to be out of a job soon.

I pull my apron off, hanging it on the hook before fishing out the keys to the place next door. My mind drifts to Jax. I don’t know what he’s doing. He stands outside every day and watches me. Doesn’t he have a whole coffee empire to be running? I Googled him. The man is richer than God. Not only that but I had no idea that Jax was a Roberts. I’ve recently starting putting all the pieces together and now I understand that they are all connected. Why is he here in Smithville watching me protest one of thousands of coffee shops he owns? He shouldn’t care. I am a gnat in his world but he’s acting as if this is the most important thing he has going on. He doesn’t even care that I’m protesting. He continues to let me do it every day no matter how ridiculous I get.