Cupcake Overload (Cupcakes 2)

“Phone call?”

“Yeah, I had a guy call here a couple times looking for Samantha.”

“Do you remember his name?” I asked, praying that he did.

“No,” Carlton shook his face in the pillow and my hope died. Then he added, “But his number’s still in my phone,” and my pulse started pounding.

“Can I see it?”

Carlton’s hand darted out and he pointed toward the TV stand, so I picked up the smart phone and brought it to him, placing it in his outstretched hand.

He flopped over and brought the phone close to his face, then started pressing buttons.

I got out my own phone and opened up the memo app on my phone, then waited, poised and ready to jot down the number.

After he called it out and I saved it, I said, “Thanks, Carlton. I’ll be sure to pass it on.”

Carlton nodded, then his face turned fierce and he ordered, “Find the fucker who did this to Sammy. He needs to pay.”

“Will do,” I replied, then got the hell out of there.

Moving was not my favorite thing, unless it meant I was moving my kids out of our beat-up apartment into our newly renovated house.

I woke up ecstatic. Eager to get going and get settled into our new home. The kids were with their dad, again, but hopefully they’d be back to their normal visitation schedule after this weekend. I needed snuggle time with my babies.

I’d hired movers, plus Carmen, Amy May, and Jason were helping as well.

The movers had come early and got everything packed and loaded, then had dropped the boxes in the rooms I’d directed them to, and taken off after being fed massive amounts of pizza.

Now, I was in my house, surrounded by boxes, and no longer feeling quite so ecstatic.

“Ugh, I don’t even know where to start,” I complained as I looked around at all of the boxes. “Why do we have so much stuff?”

“It’s not so bad,” Amy May assured me. “Once we get going we’ll have it done in a jiffy.”

“Uh, Lila?” Carmen called tentatively, causing me to turn my pouty gaze to her. “I absolutely love to unpack. I mean, l-o-v-e, love it. It makes my OCD heart sing with joy. If you don’t mind, I’d love to tackle your kitchen.”

“Are you kidding?” I asked as I rushed forward to pull her into a hug. “You can unpack, put away, feng shui … Whatever your heart desires.”

“Yay!” Carmen said with a laugh, jumping up and down in my arms.

I pulled back and said, “I love you.” And I was totally serious. Carmen was the shit.

“See,” Amy May said with a grin. “We’ll leave Carmen with the hard stuff, and go tackle the twins’ rooms. Jason is out in the backyard going through that tool shed. He’ll be happy for a while.”

I’m not going to lie, I’d avoided going into Moose’s tool shed like the plague. There was no telling what was back in that thing, and I hadn’t been brave enough to even open the door. What if he had some weird fetish stuff back there, or a pack of wild mice, or a dead body?

I shuddered just thinking about it. God bless Jason.

We were about to break apart and move to our respective rooms when we heard the front door open and I thought, I really need to start locking that thing.

I watched the entryway expectantly, hoping, even as the thought of confrontation scared me, that it would be Cade…

My heart hammered in my chest when Bea rounded the corner, a bottle of wine in one hand and a basket of assorted cupcakes in the other.

She stopped when she saw me, her face full of trepidation.

I hated to think that I’d put that look on her face. That she was now uneasy around me, and unsure of our relationship.