Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 113272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113272 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Jake shook his head. “Better to be short-staffed than have someone like that working for me. And don’t worry, I was getting near the end of my patience with him anyway. You’re not the only person to complain. But yours has been the most serious.”
“That makes me feel better.”
“Is everything else all right? What about these noises you heard last night? Did they come back after Deputy Dunn left?”
“No, there was nothing else. I was wondering if it was some sort of animal? I’m not sure what the lights were, though.”
“It’s odd. Do you feel unsafe? I could have someone do some drive-bys for the next few nights.”
“I don’t think you’ve got time for that.”
“I will make time,” he said firmly. “Even if I have to do it myself.”
She felt guilty but nodded. “I’m sure it’s nothing. It was just a bit weird. Oh, there is one other thing.”
“Yes?”
“This isn’t the first time that Deputy Dunn has been at my house. Apparently, someone made a complaint about Horse making a lot of noise while I was out of the house. But my only neighbor is Abe and I’m just wondering who made the complaint.”
“I can’t tell you who it was but I’ll take a look at our records.”
“Thank you.”
Leaving the police station, she felt a lot better about everything. Until she saw them leaning against a car along the street.
And wouldn’t luck have it that her car was three cars down from theirs.
Shit.
What to do? It didn’t look like they’d seen her yet. She glanced around.
The bakery!
She still hadn’t been in to check it out. It always looked busy with lots of people sitting inside drinking coffee and eating.
Maybe it would give her some inspiration. She had done some content creation yesterday, but today her brain just wasn’t in the right space.
Turning, she walked as fast as she dared down the street toward the bakery. She managed to trip up once, but thankfully she caught herself before she could land on her butt.
Haven was basically one big, long main street. It was bustling with people, though. People pushing strollers and children running around laughing. It made her smile despite the stress racing through her.
She ducked into the bakery which had a dog-friendly sign in the window. The atmosphere inside was fun and busy. She stared down at the goodies in the case. They all looked amazing . . .
Except for the cakes.
Yikes. There were three large cakes which were probably delicious, but the icing was dripping down the sides of the cakes. On one cake the icing was a strange black-purple color.
That looked revolting.
“They’re terrible, aren’t they?” a woman with a Scottish accent asked. “They taste delicious, but they look like shit.”
Arabella couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter. “They do look, um, interesting. Do you own this place?”
“It’s all right, you don’t have to sugar coat it. I know they look like something that your dog would have left on the sidewalk. After he’d been eating blueberries. And grapes.”
“I don’t think dogs can eat grapes,” she said. She knew they couldn’t because she’d been doing some research. But she didn’t want to seem like she was a know-it-all.
“Shoot. They can’t? There goes my idea for a doggy wine.”
Doggy wine?
“Hey, there, gorgeous,” she said as she crouched down and got into Horse’s face.
Arabella tensed, wondering how Horse would react considering he wasn’t that fond of men at times. But Horse sat with his tongue lolling out as the woman patted and cooed to him. Finally, she stood and looked up at Arabella. She was a lot shorter than Arabella with luscious hips and curves. Her smile lit up her face, she had freckles over her face and red-brown hair.
And Arabella immediately knew she wanted to be friends with this woman.
If she would have her.
“Hello, there, I’m Iona McCabe. And yeah, I own this fine bakery. I don’t think I’ve met you before, have I?”
“I’m Arabella Bridges. And no, I’ve only been here a week.”
“Oh, well, you’re totally new. Welcome to Haven. I haven’t lived here long myself. I came to visit my cousin who lives in Freestown, we visited Haven for the day and I fell in love. That was six months ago. And now I own this business, and I’ve got my eye on someone.”
“You do?” Arabella asked, startled.
“Sorry, sorry, my ma always said that I overshare.”
“Oh no, that’s okay. I don’t mind,” Arabella told her. “Can I try a slice of the blueberry cake?”
“You sure?”
“I am. I’m certain it’s delicious. I’m actually a baker as well.”
“You are? What do you like to bake?” Iona asked as she moved around the counter to get a slice of cake. There was someone else serving at the register.
“Cakes. But mostly I enjoy decorating them.”
“Oh, you must think mine are awful.”