by Jinty James
Zoe sucked in a huge breath. Lauren waited for the explosion but before her cousin could open her mouth, two twenty-something women strolled up to the truck.
“Look! Isn’t he cute?” One of the women pointed at Sweet Boy. After a moment, she said in a baby voice to the dog, after reading his sign, “Yes, you are a cutesy wootsy doggy dog dog.”
Somehow Sweet Boy contrived to look modest.
In a normal voice to her friend, she said, “We must buy some cupcakes!”
“Def,” her friend replied.
Zoe didn’t budge from her position at the truck window as the two women bought six cupcakes.
Lauren tried not to roll her eyes as Jason flirted with the pair as he filled the cupcake bag. She hadn’t seen these women before. Maybe his social media campaign was working. She’d have to talk to Zoe about doing something like that to drum up business.
The two women giggled as they finally sauntered away, looking into the cupcake bag at the same time.
“See you soon,” Jason called after them.
“You definitely will.” The baby talk woman turned around and winked at him.
“That’s it!” Zoe planted her hands on her hips. “You’re deliberately taking our business away. You can’t trade here!”
Jason narrowed his eyes. “Who says?”
A screech of tires caught Lauren’s attention. A flashy red car screamed to a stop in front of the pink truck.
“Jason!” A slim girl in her early twenties with long, layered strawberry blonde hair rushed over to the truck, nearly pushing Zoe out of the way.
“What are you doing here, Jessica?” Jason scowled.
“I need to talk to you,” Jessica replied. “Pleeease?” She looked at the dog and frowned. “What are you doing with Butch?”
“Butch?” Lauren queried. “I thought his name was Sweet Boy.”
“That’s his working name,” Jason told her. “His real name is Butch.”
“Huh?” Zoe looked puzzled.
“Don’t you have work nicknames?” Jason sounded exasperated.
“No.” Lauren and Zoe spoke at once.
“Brrt.” No.
“You’ll do anything to get the girls, won’t you, Jason?” Jessica demanded, flicking a glance at Sweet Boy’s sign. “Well, it won’t work.” She ignored Lauren, Zoe, and Annie. “If I can’t have you, nobody can!”
“How did you know I was here?” Jason demanded.
“Scott told me.”
Jason glowered at her.
“Look, babe, we broke up, okay? It’s over. I can see anyone I want and you can see anyone you want. That’s what it means when you break up with someone. I don’t know how to make it any clearer. We’re over and I never want to see you again.”
Lauren’s eyes widened at the brutal reply.
Zoe sucked in her breath.
“You don’t mean that. You can’t!” A tear rolled down Jessica’s cheek.
“How many times do I have to tell you it’s over?” He shook his head. “If you come near me again, I’ll call the cops.”
Lauren shifted uncomfortably and caught Zoe’s eye. They should go back to the café so Jessica wouldn’t have an audience to her humiliation.
Zoe nodded and backed away from the truck.
“But you said you loved me!” Jessica wailed.
“And now I don’t,” Jason replied. “Look, you’re bad for business. No one’s going to come over and buy a cupcake while you’re making a scene. Go home. And stay away from me.”
“But ... but ...”
“Grrrr.” Sweet Boy bared his teeth in a snarl.
“Oh!” Jessica fled from the truck, running toward the café.
“Come inside.” Lauren hurried to open the door for the girl.
“I can’t believe he’s so cruel,” Jessica sobbed as she entered the shop. She sank down at the nearest table and cradled her head. The cloying scent of her rose perfume filled the air.
“Hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows,” Zoe whispered to Lauren and Annie.
“Brrt!” Annie agreed as Lauren set her down. The feline hopped onto a chair at Jessica’s table and peered at her.
A loud sniff. “Why is your cat looking at me?” Black streaks of mascara ran down Jessica’s face.
“She’s wondering why you’re so upset,” Lauren said gently. She glanced over at Ms. Tobin’s table. The older woman’s eyes were wide as she took in the scene, then she studied her coffee mug.
“I’ve always liked cats better than dogs,” Jessica said in a watery voice. She peeked through her hands at Annie. “She’s got lots of fur.”
“She’s a Norwegian Forest Cat,” Lauren told her.
“That sounds cool.” A tremulous smile. “She’s very pretty.”
“Her name is Annie,” Lauren replied. “I’m Lauren, and this is Zoe.”
“Hi, Annie.” Jessica lowered her hands from her face.
“Brrp.” Hi.
“Here’s a hot chocolate for you.” Zoe appeared with a steaming mug crammed full of pink and white marshmallows. “On the house.”
“Thanks, Zoe.” Jessica stirred the concoction, watching the marshmallows whirl around. “I try not to eat much sugar, though. Jason says – said – I have to watch it so I don’t get fat.”
Lauren and Zoe sucked in a breath at the same time. Jessica was on the thin side of slim.
“I don’t think Jason knows what he’s talking about,” Lauren finally said.
“Yeah.” Zoe nodded vigorously. “Plus you’ve broken up with him, so now you can do whatever you want.”
That turned out to be the wrong thing to say.
“Why did he dump me?” Jessica wailed. Her shoulders shook and more tears leaked down her eyes. “I was so good to him! I did whatever he wanted. I even babysat Butch when his grandpa went to Vegas because Jason said he was too busy to do it!”
Lauren and Zoe exchanged a glance but it was Ms. Tobin who spoke.
“I don’t mean to eavesdrop, dear, but it sounds like you’re much better off without him.”
“Oh - oh – ohhhh!” Jessica sank her head in her hands once more.
“Brrt.” Annie hopped from the chair opposite Jessica to the one next to her. “Brrt.” She tentatively placed a paw on the girl’s arm.
“What’s she doing?” Jessica sniffed.
“I think Annie’s trying to comfort you,” Lauren replied.
“Brrt!”
“You’re such a nice girl.” Jessica gave Annie a watery smile.
Annie patted the girl’s arm once more.
“I think you need a cupcake,” Zoe told her.
Jessica shuddered. “No, thanks. Jason made me try one of his and it wasn’t very good. But I couldn’t tell him that.”
“Lauren’s cupcakes are way better,” Zoe assured her.
“You don’t have to eat one if you don’t want to,” Lauren told Jessica. “We have Danish pastries that are really good.”
“Really good? They’re totally awesome,” Zoe enthused.
“A Danish might cheer me up,” Jessica replied slowly.
“Attagirl.” Zoe rushed to the counter.
“I’m going to give you Ed’s new creation – honeyed walnut.” Zoe paused. “You can eat nuts, can’t you?”
“Yes,” Jessica replied.
“Good.” Zoe brought over the tender, flaky pastry, baked to a golden perfection. Honey encrusted walnuts dotted the surface. “Wait until you taste this!”
Jessica broke up the pastry into small pieces and then popped one into her mouth. A moment later, she smiled.
“Did you make these?” She looked at Lauren and Zoe.
“No, Ed did,” Lauren replied. “He’s my pastry chef.”
“But Lauren’s cupcakes are just as good,” Zoe said loyally. “Wait until you taste one.”
“Zoe,” Lauren said in a warning tone, but Zoe didn’t seem to notice, bringing over a vanilla cupcake, the frosting swirled to perfection on top.
“Here.” Zoe placed the cupcake in front of Jessica. “Try it.”
“You don’t have to,” Lauren said gently.
“Maybe just a little taste.” Jessica used the fork Zoe provided and scooped up a little of the frosting. “Oh, wow.” She closed her eyes as she swallowed. “Mmm.”
“Thanks.” Lauren smiled.
Jessica dug into the cupcake, until soon there were only a few crumbs on the plate.
“I don’t even feel guilty about eating sugar,” she marveled.
“You shouldn’t,” Zoe told her. “And you won’t get a sugar hangover from eating Lauren’s cupcakes, either. Or Ed’s pastries.”
“I’d better drink my hot chocolate before it gets cold.” Jessica took a large swallow. “Oh, yum!”
“Would you like to have some time by yourself with Annie?” Lauren asked tactfully. She didn’t want Jessica to think they were standing over her, watching her eat.
“No, it’s okay,” Jessica replied. “You two – three—” she glanced at Annie “—have been so kind. You don’t even know me.”
“We could see you were upset,” Zoe told her.
“It’s totally understandable,” Lauren added, not wanting to say anything that would upset Jessica.
“We were together for six months,” Jessica explained before she popped another piece of Danish into her mouth. “I believed him when he said he loved me. But lately he seemed distant, and didn’t call me as much. And then my friend said she’d seen him at a club with another girl.”
Lauren and Zoe exchanged a glance. Uh-oh.
“And then – and then—” she drew in a big breath “—he dumped me a few days ago – by text!”
“What a jerk,” Zoe muttered.
“Who does that?” Jessica asked. “So I went over to his place, at first thinking it was a joke, but he said no, it was for real. I asked him if he’d found someone else, and he said no, and totally denied he’d been at the club that night with another girl, but I couldn’t help thinking he was lying. Because there’s no way my friend would have said that to me if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.”
“So you came to talk to him today?” Zoe asked.
“Yeah. I couldn’t let it go. I kept thinking, what if he’d been cheating on me the whole time we were together?” Jessica swiped her eyes. “But surely I’d know, right? So then I thought, why did he dump me? I went looking for him, and couldn’t find him, so I called his friend Scott. And he told me he was working the cupcake truck over here.”
“That’s the guy who was here yesterday working with Jason?” Lauren queried.
“I guess.” Jessica shrugged. “They’ve been friends since kindergarten.”
“So why are they selling cupcakes?” Zoe asked curiously.
“Beats me,” Jessica replied. “They were both working construction, then Jason hurt his hand. It’s totally better now,” she added, “but I think he wanted an easier job. And then he told me he came up with this idea for a cupcake truck and how simple it would all be.”
“But why is he selling them here?” Lauren asked. “Are you guys from around here?”
“Nope.” Jessica shook her head. “We’re all from Sacramento.”
“Maybe he thought it would be easier to do it here without the proper permits,” Zoe pondered. “I mean, Mitch told him to move on, but he’s come back, hasn’t he? And he hasn’t been arrested yet.” She turned to Lauren. “You should try calling Mitch again. Right now.”
“Okay.” Lauren fetched her phone. She knew Mitch would have called her the moment he’d gotten her message, if he was able to.
Lauren listened to Mitch’s voice directing her to leave a message. Ordinarily, it would give her a little thrill to hear her boyfriend’s deep, masculine voice, but at this moment she felt a frisson of frustration instead.
She was tempted to just hang up again, but decided to leave another message in case her first one hadn’t gotten through.
“He’s still not picking up?” Zoe frowned. “Maybe he’s pursuing a criminal right now and is about to slap the cuffs on him.”
“Maybe you’re watching too many crime shows,” Lauren said mildly. She didn’t want to think about Mitch being in danger. Gold Leaf Valley was usually a quiet, peaceful town, apart from the occasional murder – and burglary.
“Maybe we should march down to the town council and demand they do something about the cupcake truck,” Zoe said, determination in her voice. “We don’t want people to copy him and have this place turned into urban central.”
“You’ve got a point.” Lauren shoved the phone in her jeans pocket. “We could close early and go over there while the office is still open.”
“Deal.” Zoe grinned.
They talked to Jessica for a while longer, Zoe walking her to her car. Lauren watched the two girls totally ignore Jason, who leaned out of the serving window of the truck, seeming to take a great interest in his ex-girlfriend leaving.
“I must be off, Lauren.” Ms. Tobin approached the counter, and paid for her coffee. She clinked a few coins into the tip jar.
“Thanks, Ms. Tobin.” Lauren smiled goodbye.
“Brrt!” Annie added.
Zoe returned to the café after Ms. Tobin left.
“Phew!” She flopped down onto a stool behind the counter. “I had a hard time not saying anything to Smirky Jason as we walked past him.”
“I think it’s good that you didn’t,” Lauren replied.
“I just hope her next boyfriend is a whole lot better than him.” Zoe jerked her thumb in the direction of the cupcake truck.
A few more people trickled in for the lunch “rush”, but it was quiet around three o’clock.
“I hope Mrs. Finch is okay,” Zoe said. “She hasn’t been in the last few days and tonight is craft club.”
“I know,” Lauren replied. She’d been so caught up with the drama outside that she’d temporarily forgotten that one of their favorite customers hadn’t popped in.
“Why don’t we check on her on the way back from the town council?” Zoe asked.
“Good idea.” Lauren nodded.
“In fact, I think we should close right now – for the rest of the day.”
Lauren looked at her cousin, a trifle shocked. But then she nodded. “Why not? I can’t imagine we’ll get many customers in the next two hours. And Ed went home at lunch time – he asked for the afternoon off since it was so quiet.”
“Let’s go!” Zoe slid off the stool.
“Annie, we’re closing early today,” Lauren said to the cat sitting in her basket, ears pricked and green eyes alert.
“Brrt!” She scampered to the private hallway that led to the cottage, shimmied through the cat flap in the door, then wriggled through the flap at the other end.
“We’ll be home soon,” Lauren added.
“We’re going to take care of that cupcake truck,” Zoe called after her.
“Brrt!” sounded in the distance. Good.
Lauren and Zoe locked up and stepped out onto the sidewalk.
“Leaving early?” Jason smirked at them from the truck window.
“We’re going to the town council,” Zoe told him. “What you’re doing is illegal and we’re going to put a stop to it!” She marched down the street, away from the truck.
Lauren hurried to keep up, wondering if the look of chagrin on his face would last long.
At the town council, they were informed that the matter would be looked into – in fact, an officer would go down right now and inform Jason that he couldn’t trade without a permit.
“Good!” Zoe nodded in satisfaction.
The officer drove to the café, while Lauren and Zoe walked the couple of blocks. When they arrived, the pink truck was gone. The officer got out of his car and shook his head.
“There’s no truck here.”
“Pooh.” Zoe sounded disappointed.
“Call us if he comes back and we’ll get here as quickly as we can,”
the officer told them, before getting back in his vehicle.
“Next stop, Mrs. Finch,” Zoe declared.
“I hope she’s okay,” Lauren fretted as they walked around the block to the sweet, cream Victorian house the elderly lady called home. The small town dated from the Gold Rush era, and some of the houses were living proof.
A neat front lawn greeted them, bordered with orange and yellow poppies. They walked up the path and knocked on the door.
“Hello, girls.” Mrs. Finch smiled at them. Her gray hair was piled on top of her head in a bun, and she wore a beige skirt with a dusty rose cardigan which seemed just right for the April weather.
She peered down, then looked disappointed. “Where’s Annie? Is she all right?”
“She’s fine, Mrs. Finch,” Lauren replied. “We were just checking you were okay.”
“That’s kind of you, dear,” the senior replied. “I’m sorry I haven’t visited the café, but I’ve had a few appointments this week. You’re still coming over tonight, aren’t you?”
“Of course,” Zoe assured her.
“Annie too,” Lauren added.
“That’s lovely.” Mrs. Finch beamed.
They said goodbye, and walked home.
“I can’t wait to show Mrs. Finch my ashtray,” Zoe said. “I wonder what she’ll think.”
CHAPTER 4
Lauren, Zoe, and Annie enjoyed themselves that night at Mrs. Finch’s house, although Lauren felt guilty she wasn’t doing any actual crafting. Now that she’d finished Mitch’s hat and scarf, as well as her own, she wasn’t sure what to knit next.
Zoe showed Mrs. Finch her ashtray, which was duly admired – brown clay in a vaguely rectangular shape with a couple of lumpy bits.
“The instructor says I’m getting better,” Zoe told them all. “I haven’t shown any of you the first ashtray I made.” She shuddered.
“Not even Chris?” Lauren teased gently.
“Nope.” Zoe shook her head.
They told Mrs. Finch all about the cupcake truck and smirking Jason, Mrs. Finch seeming shocked at his audacity.
“I’m sorry I haven’t heard anything about this, girls.” She tsked. “I can’t believe all your regulars have deserted you.”
“Apart from Ms. Tobin,” Lauren replied.
