by Harper Lin
Amelia let out a burst of laughter then quickly composed herself.
“She told me that her brother took out their dad’s car on a Friday and didn’t have it back in the garage until Monday morning, just in time for their father to go to work, and when he opened the door, a hundred beer cans fell out,” Adam added.
Both of Amelia’s children were laughing hysterically. Unfortunately, it was contagious. Amelia laughed herself.
“I’m going to have to have a talk with that woman.” She shook her head. “What kind of an influence is she?”
Both kids continued to laugh as they repeated more of Lila’s stories. It was music to Amelia’s ears.
Chapter Three
Lila looked at Amelia with the most angelic face, folding her hands neatly in front of her.
“I don’t know what stories you’re talking about,” she muttered, nearly choking on the laughter she was trying to hold back.
“Lila Bergman, don’t play innocent with me,” Amelia said scoldingly with her own bursts of laughter tripping up her words. “Here, stir this batter.”
“Do you mean to tell me you never entertained your children with stories about crazy things you did as a teenager?” Lila took up her station at the mixer and helped prepare the batter for the day’s special, which was chocolate cherry truffle.
“I didn’t do anything worth bragging about. Plus, anything I did do that might have been the slightest bit scandalous, I certainly don’t want them to know about.” She chuckled, shaking her head.
“Well”—Lila pushed her bright-red hair back from her face with the palm of her hand—“truthfully, I think you should take a hide to both of them for laughing at me. You have no idea how difficult it was to keep my social life afloat. It was quite draining.”
Lila stopped the blender as she had been taught, removed the bowl, and finished stirring with a plastic spoon.
“Do you realize how many toads I had to kiss before I found a prince? Some of them I had to kiss more than once just to be sure.”
Amelia’s eyes were watering as she laughed.
“I’m sorry if you find my past so…indecent.” Lila looked at Amelia and batted her long, false eyelashes then tugged the top of her shirt close at the collar.
“It’s your indecency that makes you so alluring.” Amelia broke loose laughing.
Not only did Lila crack up as well, but several of the owners of the neighboring trucks were peeking in the direction of The Pink Cupcake, trying to see who was having so much fun so early in the morning.
“Hey!” came a male voice from the side of the Philly Cheese Steak truck. “Keep it down in there! Some of us are trying to work!”
Amelia and Lila instantly fell silent like two schoolgirls and looked out from the order window to see the very handsome salt-and-pepper-haired man who owned the Philly Cheese Steak truck smiling up at them, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Are you talking to us?” Lila barked over Amelia’s shoulder.
“I am.” He took a sip from the Styrofoam cup he was holding. “What kind of people have that much fun at this hour?”
Amelia, blushing, just shook her head. She tried to ignore Lila, who was jabbing her in the back with the clean end of her spoon.
“I’m Amelia,” she said, leaning out the window and extending her hand. “This is Lila.” She jerked her thumb, pointing behind her. Lila smiled and waved, still tapping Amelia in the back.
“Name’s Gavin.” He reached up and shook Amelia’s hand. She could feel the muscles in his wrist and calluses on his palm. “Took you long enough.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, I’ve just been trying to get your attention since you moved in next door to me.”
“Is that so?” Amelia withdrew her hand and watched Gavin’s face. He was looking at her intently. “Well, a girl like me is busy with the business and kids and…”
“Husband?”
Amelia tilted her head to the left and clicked her tongue.
“Subtle.” She smirked. “No. I’m divorced.”
“Oh.” Gavin smiled broadly. “Well, Amelia. It was very nice meeting you.” He peeked behind her. “You too, Lila.” His eyes met Amelia’s. “I hope you don’t mind if I stop by to borrow a cup of sugar some time.”
“She’s got more than enough to share,” Lila piped up, bumping Amelia with her hip.
Gavin chuckled and gave Amelia a quick wave before heading back to his own truck, looking over his shoulder once more before he disappeared inside the vehicle.
Once he was safely out of earshot, Lila began her questioning.
“What do you mean you’re not interested?” Lila asked. “No one says you’ve got to marry him, but maybe go catch a movie or grab something to eat that isn’t cupcakes or Philly cheese steaks.”
“I know, but I’ve seen that kind of guy before. He’s probably used those same lines on half the ladies in half the food trucks just on this block alone. Besides, I can find myself a date if I wanted one.”
“Yes.” Lila nodded. “There is a certain detective I’ve noticed can’t seem to go an entire week without stopping by to buy cupcakes for the entire police station.”
“Dan is just a friend.” Amelia felt as if her antiperspirant had given out.
“It isn’t written anywhere that you can’t have more than one friend.”
“Yeah, Mr. Philly Cheese Steak probably has lots of friends.” Amelia used her fingers to quote the word friends.
“I don’t know,” Lila insisted. “I’ve been keeping an eye on him, and well, he doesn’t seem to flirt with many people. In fact, once the grill is sizzling, he’s pretty focused.”
“What is your interest in all this?” Amelia asked.
Lila stopped what she was doing and looked at Amelia lovingly.
“When my ex-husband left me, I felt very alone. But not as alone as I felt when he was around.”
Amelia frowned and gave Lila a puzzled but sympathetic look.
“He had said he loved everything about me.” Lila took a deep breath. “Until he realized they were things he lacked in himself. Then my strengths became weaknesses, my theme song became just uncoordinated, messy noise. I became an embarrassment to him.”
She shook her head and studied her bright-red nails.
“You? An embarrassment? You’re the life of the party, Lila.”
Chuckling, Lila smiled.
“To you I am. To Jacob, I was a roommate, not a wife, who was ignorant about everything and shamed by nothing.” Amelia watched as Lila’s eyes seemed to harden into icy-blue diamonds. “According to him, I should have worn a bag over my head to hide my face from the world. How could I stand for people to know my beliefs, my lineage, my utter stupidity?”
Swallowing hard, Amelia remembered her own feelings of inadequacy, of failure when her ex-husband had begun his campaign to criticize her every move.
“Surprisingly, when he told me he was leaving me for another woman, I felt relief. Sure, I had a grieving period, thinking I should have changed my ways or had the reconstructive surgery or gone back to school. A million things I should have done differently so he’d have loved me more.”
Amelia held her breath. Did she hear Lila right? Reconstructive surgery?
“After he left, I stayed close to home, didn’t return calls, and rarely spoke when I went out anywhere. But then I thought better of it. There was nothing I could have done that would have made Jacob change.”
“Lila, did you say reconstructive surgery?” Amelia gulped.
As if a light had suddenly been shone in her eyes, Lila blinked, shook her head, and waved her hand in front of her face, as if those two words, “reconstructive surgery,” meant nothing.
“My point is that friends surface in unlikely places. And sometimes we have to force ourselves to smile first in order to find them.”
It was obvious Lila had slipped. And in her typical carefree style, she waved it away like a pesky gnat. Amelia si
lently agreed to let her off the hook…this time.
“Did Jacob ever apologize to you?” she asked.
“Not in words. But, like most men who realize when they have made a mistake, he opened his wallet.” Lila winked. “The first thing I did when I decided to start living again was I ditched the jet-black hair for red. He hated redheads.”
“You had black hair?” Amelia squinted. “I just can’t see it. You look like…you with red hair. I like your choice.”
Lila smiled.
“The next thing I did was send letters—yes, letters not emails, but elegant, handwritten letters to all the people who had known Jacob and I together. I just sent them letters to say hello and hoping they were well. Out of thirty-five letters, I received thirty-two responses, all kind and loving and funny. I had many more friends than I had thought. A few of them were quite handsome and quite single.”
“Did you ever speak to Jacob again?”
Lila shook her head.
“No. He’s with his mistress in Australia, probably doing to her what he did to me.” She shook her head sadly.
“Do you miss him?”
“I miss the him I knew when we were younger. But not that much. Just because I’ve become comfortable with myself doesn’t mean I don’t still wish an army of fire ants wouldn’t find his groin area.”
Amelia knew that feeling all too well. She looked at Lila closely, knowing her friend had gone to the doctor’s several weeks ago. Those two words, reconstructive surgery, echoed behind her conscious thoughts. Just as she was about to ask, Lila spoke again.
“What I’m trying to say in my own long-winded kind of way is that life is a banquet and most people are starving.”
Amelia laughed.
“I can’t take credit for that line. It’s from Auntie Mame. Rosalind Russell had it right. In that movie, her billionaire husband fell off the side of a mountain. If only we could all be so lucky.”
Both of them laughed.
“You are my hero, Lila.” Amelia sighed, touching her friend’s hand. “I won’t say I’ll go out with Mr. Philly Cheese Steak today. But I’ll consider it. I’m just not as bold as you are.”
Lila nodded and smiled. “No, perhaps not. But you did make that radical change to your hair, cutting off about eight inches a few months ago.” Lila smirked. “Isn’t it funny how change starts so small?”
Without thinking, Amelia lifted her hand to her shorn neck. She had just gotten a trim and loved the low maintenance of her hairstyle. But her thoughts went to her own ex-husband. If only John would move to an entirely different continent. Not that that would ease the feeling of anger and rejection she still felt over his infidelity, but it would be comforting to know she’d never have to see him again.
As it was, both Adam and Meg wanted their father to stop by the Gary Food Fest to check out the festivities and show his support. Amelia, on the other hand, knew the critical, judgmental jerk that was John O’Malley would find all kinds of reasons to roll his eyes or shrug at her accomplishments. Their last conversation on the phone had been quick but loaded with unvoiced anger.
“Jennifer and I want to pick up the kids early. Can you have them ready?”
“Sure, John. How early is early?”
“Well, Jennifer asked if Friday right after school was okay. She’s leaving for a visit to her parents’ house early Saturday morning and wanted to see the kids before she left.”
Amelia felt her gut twisting with jealousy she never knew she had. Why was this girl her ex-husband was dating taking such an interest in her children? Was this normal?
“No problem, John. That’s fine. I know the kids will be fine with that. They are also expecting you to be at the food fest in two weeks. You’ll take them, right?”
“I’ll be there for sure. Jennifer doesn’t like all that fried stuff, and you know we are both trying to watch what we eat.”
Amelia rolled her eyes just as Meg came down the steps.
“Are you talking to Dad?” she asked with wide eyes. Amelia nodded, and before she could stop her she snagged the phone from her mother’s hand.
“You better make it to the food fest, Dad. Mom’s truck is one of the most popular ones out there.”
Amelia could hear John laugh in his condescending way but said nothing.
After a few giggles and a nod, Meg handed the phone back to her mother.
“Okay, so, you’re all good, John. We’ll see you.”
Without another word, the phone went dead, and Amelia shook her head. Why did he have to make it so hard? Why couldn’t he just be a normal person?
It was because of John that the idea of going out with Mr. Philly Cheese Steak—Gavin—was so scary. Sure, he was really handsome and charming and quick with the double meanings in his words. Yup, he had all the trappings of a brute in disguise.
She didn’t need all that fluff. To be honest, she didn’t know what she wanted.
Snapping her out of her thoughts was the sound of wind chimes coming from her pocket. She pulled out her phone and looked at the number.
It was Detective Dan Walishovsky from the Gary Police Department calling with his weekly order of cupcakes for the station and to chitchat for a few minutes. Amelia couldn’t help but smile. The negative thoughts about her ex-husband quickly melted away as she answered the phone.
After spending time with the detective on a real stakeout, Amelia had found that the detective, Dan, was not only interesting, but very funny, although a smile for him consisted of his lips bending only slightly at the corners.
“Hi,” she answered happily, breaking out into a wide smile.
Chapter Four
“I can’t believe how many people are here already,” Meg exclaimed as she and her best friend, Katherine, leaned out the serving window of The Pink Cupcake truck. “I thought we’d be the only ones out of school early.”
Gary Food Fest took place from Friday at three o’clock thru Sunday at nine o’clock in the evening. The trucks were locked up tight from about midnight until six in the morning each day.
“Why don’t you guys go check out the competition for us?” Amelia suggested. “Lila and I have to get baking, so we won’t need you until the customers start showing up.”
Meg and Katherine nodded with excitement and hopped off the truck. Amelia had gotten permission to pull Meg and Katherine out of school an hour early to help. She thought working would be at least as valuable as learning what the main export of Guam was in her last period of social studies.
“Be back in about an hour,” Amelia called. “And don’t eat from any of the other bakery trucks!”
“Okay, Mom!” Meg called over her shoulder.
It wasn’t long before the truck was filled with the sweet smell of cake. The night before, Amelia and Lila had put in some overtime. Together, they had made several dozen of the peanut butter and jelly cupcakes that had become an instant favorite plus their staple, chocolate truffle raspberry cupcakes. But, on the truck, they were now baking apple crumble cupcakes that were loaded with finely chopped apples, tons of cinnamon, and a hint of caramel.
The inside became very hot very quickly as all three ovens were baking at the same time and would be for at least half the day. Grabbing two ice waters from their cooler, Amelia looked to Lila.
“I’ll buy you a cold one,” she joked.
Lila nodded, grabbed the bottle, and ran the cool condensation over her forehead as they climbed off the back of the truck.
Surveying the area, they saw many of their usual neighbors were not in their usual spots. Instead of the Philly Cheese Steak truck to their left, there was a gyro truck called Pegasus. To their right was a truck boasting Chicago-style pizza. Next to them was the Tofu Express.
“Who in their right mind would pay to eat tofu out of a truck?” Lila puzzled.
“Now, come on, Lila. We don’t like to criticize other food trucks, do we?”
Lila looked at Amelia as if she suddenly smelled something bad.
“Have you ever tasted tofu?”
“It’s bean curd, right?”
Lila shivered. “Just the sound of that makes me lose my appetite. They should be chased out of here with clubs and torches.”
Amelia laughed.
Next to Tofu Express was a tiny cart attached to a bicycle. The words Hot Dogs, Polish Sausages, Brats were painted on the sides of the white box at the front of the bike. Attached to the seat was a large American flag.
“I wonder if that guy paid the whole fee for that spot just to have his little hot dog cart there,” Amelia mused, feeling pity for the man. He looked wild, with long hair in a ponytail, cut-off jean shorts, and red Converse high-top gym shoes.
“He’s an entrepreneur. In its rawest form.” Lila smiled and waved to the man, who seemed to be mumbling to himself as he gave her a quick salute.
It wasn’t long before the grounds were filled with people. Included with the Gary Food Fest was a carnival just off the pond where Amelia had wanted to anchor The Pink Cupcake for the weekend but couldn’t afford.
“We’ve still got a good spot, don’t you think?” she asked Lila, who was sprinkling the final topping of cinnamon-caramel crunch over the tops of the latest batch of cupcakes. “I mean we’re actually just off the main drag. It isn’t like we are in a corner or anything.”
“This is perfect for us. We are in the shade, and they didn’t move the picnic tables. People will be drawn this way to take a load off.”
The distinct sound of the carnival attractions was now a steady thump-thump-thump in the background as heavy metal music blared from rides called The Barn Burner or The Octopus. Screams of wild teenagers and young couples could be heard as they left their stomachs behind on wildly unstable-looking contraptions that dropped from two hundred feet in the air only to slowly climb back up to their perch and plummet again.
“I’m just not sure it was smart to have the food fest with those kinds of carnival rides. You know some kid is going to insist on a couple cupcakes plus slices of pizza, washing it all down with a root beer and then begging his parents to take him on The Whizzer or whatever. All that stuff will come right back up,” Lila stated with her hand on her hip.
