Cupcake Explosion (Cupcakes 4)

I needed to talk to Amy May and fix things with my girls.

I STOPPED BY Amy May’s Bakery, and her new right hand, Jordan, said she’d left to go check out the progress of the storefront at the mall.

I went to the mall, stopped by the storefront, which was still under construction but would be ready in a couple weeks, and the guys on site were packing up. They said Amy May had already been there and left.

It was time to head to Applebee's, so I went there, gave Misty's mom her report and headed back out to continue my Amy May search.

I tried to call her, but my calls went to voicemail. So, I sent her a text asking her to contact me, and was about to go to her house when Cade messaged me to say he was on his way home with food.

It was obvious to me that Amy May hadn’t cooled down and wasn’t ready to listen to my reasoning, so I decided to give her the space she wanted and headed home.

Amy May and I had been friends for over a decade. She’d left town for a while after she married Jason, but eventually came back, and we’d been inseparable. Our kids were friends, and although Jason and Eric hadn’t been buddies, they’d tolerated each other for our sake. Now, Jason was enamored with Cade and wanted to be him when he grew up, so we still hung out all the time.

I knew when she got mad, she wanted to be alone to stew, and then she’d calm down and things would work out.

I’d hoped she would have already gone through her process and been ready to talk, but her sending me to voicemail told me that was not the case. So, I’d find my patience and let her deal with things until she was ready for me to step up to the plate.

That was part of being friends, right, learning how we deal with things and giving each other room to do so.

I pulled my van in the driveway and took a moment to appreciate my house.

After Eric and I had divorced, Elin, Lena, and I had moved from our cushy neighborhood to an apartment in The Heights. It wasn’t a bad place to live, but I’d never been so grateful to have space enough for all of us, a yard for the kids and the dogs to play in, and to not share walls with neighbors.

Especially since Cade and I could get pretty loud when the kids were at their dad’s. The last thing I needed in my life was more noise complaints.

I let myself in and put my stuff on the table by the door, then braced myself for Rufus’s greeting. Sure enough, he came bounding toward me, CB close on his heels, and shoved his nose right in my crotch.

“I missed you too, Rufus,” I said wryly as I pushed his head gently and gave him a pat. “Hi, CB,” I added, rubbing behind CB’s ears.

Rufus was Cade’s black lab; they’d been together for years, and Rufus had quickly become a part of our family. He barely tolerated CB, who thought he was the best dog ever.

“Mom!” Elin yelled. “Lena’s being a butthead again.”

“Shut it, loser!” Lena shouted back.

I thought about quietly opening the door and going back out, then I heard Cade say evenly, “Quit being assholes and set the table.”

I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle the laughter that was threatening to bubble up.

“Real nice,” Lena grumbled.

“Swear jar,” Elin added.

I walked into the kitchen, looked at my twins, and asked, “Can you guys please be nice to each other? At least through dinner?” Then I crossed to Cade and put my arms around his waist, tipping my head back for a kiss.

After he kissed me, I whispered, “Maybe you shouldn’t call the kids assholes.”

“If they stop acting like assholes, I won’t call them out on it,” he countered.

“Swear jar,” Elin said, and I turned to him with a sigh.

“Yeah, Elin, we got it.”

“Let’s eat,” Cade said and we all went to the table, where the kids had put out paper plates and plastic silverware, and the takeout containers of kabobs, shawarma, and falafel.

Classy, maybe not, but at least we were sitting down to eat as a family. Even Rufus and CB assumed their positions under the table, hoping Elin and Lena took pity on them and threw them some scraps.

Dinner was always a loud event, with Cade telling stories and the kids laughing manically. Tonight was no different when he shared stories of growing up in Hawaii. His parents were characters, and the twins loved them to pieces, so they always got the best reactions.