Page 41 of Returning to Everton

“I was thinking about just going back to work after she was gone, but knowing her she’ll come back later just to check and see if I really left. Looks like I’m leaving early today. I’ll send Mikey a text asking him to come in early, then we can go back out front to pick out Rowen some goodies,” he tells me.

Logan and I inspect the display case while Hudson texts Mikey. Logan is eyeballing some cookies so I tell him to pick out an assortment for him and Violet to share at the park. I’m about to give up on getting Rowen to fall in love with me by bringing her coffee cake, when I spot one that was buried behind a bunch of muffins. Score!

“Okay, what have we got? As much as I love that woman, she can’t have half my display case again,” Hudson tells me.

I laugh at that. “You gave her half of your display case this morning?! How do you have anything left?” I question him.

“I always have emergency batches ready to throw in the oven in case I start running out of things. I cooked enough muffins and cinnamon rolls to replace everything she took and then some, after the first wave of customers was taken care of,” he explains.

“Well, we’ve got a coffee cake, since you said that’s her favorite. I’m sure that’ll get me out of the dog house,” I chuckle. “Then we got the kids some cookies. I’m not sure what kind, Logan picked them out so I’m sure Violet will like them,” I tell him.

“Sounds good. Once Mikey gets here, we can head out. Did you drive or walk?” he asks me.

“We drove. Wasn’t sure how much food we’d be leaving with. Didn’t want to have to carry too much,” I chuckle.

He laughs. “Good idea. That’s what happened with Rowen. She walked here, then I loaded her down with so many baked goods she couldn’t carry them all. So, I got to drive her home,” he smirks.

“Yeah, you just wanted an excuse to have to drive her home,” I tease him.

“True,” he laughs.

Just then the door opens and in walks Mikey, followed by Britney. Damn, why is she back already? Seriously, that's three times in one day. Can’t a guy catch a break?

“Hey Mikey, thanks for covering for Hudson. I couldn’t find anyone else to watch Logan for me. I appreciate it,” I express my gratitude. Even though we both know there’s no emergency.

“No problem, Declan. I needed the extra hours anyway. Hope everything’s okay,” he says.

“Yeah, just some personal shit,” I say then turn to Hudson, “You ready?”

“Yup, all set. Thanks, Mikey,” he says.

We turn and walk to the door, trying to ignore Britney on our way. Just hoping and praying she doesn’t stop us to talk. She reaches out and grabs my arm when I pass her.Damn it.

“I hope everything is okay Declan,” she attempts to comfort me with her fake sincerity and wide eyes. “What happened?” she questions me.

I step back out of her reach and her hand slips off my arm, thank god. “Just some personal stuff, Britney. Everything will be fine, I’m sure. I just need Hudson’s help right now,” I tell her.

She eyes the bags in my hand and looks up at me. “Your personal stuff needs baked goods?” she snipes.

I raise my eyebrows at her question and nasty tone. What the hell is her problem today? “I’m sorry, am I not allowed to get my son some cookies now? Last I checked this was a bakery after all. Is there a problem with me getting baked goods from a bakery, Britney?” I sneer. She looks like she’s going to say something else so I cut her off. “We really need to go Britney. I’m sorry, I’ve got somewhere to be. Come on Logan, let’s go.”

I steer Logan around the crazy lady and we finally make our way out of the bakery. We all hop in the car and as I wait for Logan to get buckled up, I shoot off a quick text to Rowen, letting her know we’re on our way and I have the goods, before backing out. Once I'm out of the parking lot and on the road heading towards the park, I look at Logan in the rearview mirror.

“Logan, cover your ears.” Once I’m sure he’s not listening I glance at Hudson. “Dude, what the fuck is her problem today? I’m not normally that quick to anger, but what the hell? I can’t get some damn cookies from your bakery? Like just because I got some cookies that means everything’s fine and there’s not really an emergency? It’s none of her damn business either way,” I rant.

“Yeah, I don’t know what the hell that was about. That was the third time she’s been in the bakery today! I think she might know Rowen’s back,” he tells me.

“Okay, and what does Rowen being back have to do with Britney?” I ask him, confused.

“Absolutely nothing if you ask anyone but Britney. Though if you ask her, she’ll deny ever giving Rowen a second thought,” he tells me. “Britney has hated Rowen since we were little. She was always a bit of a mean girl, and liked to pick on other kids. Rowen wouldn’t stand for that. She was always sticking up for anyone Britney picked on. That started with Quinn. That’s why they’re so close,” he explains.

“Oh okay. Y’all told me about the cat incident. I didn’t realize it was more than that,” I say.

“Oh yeah, it waswaymore than that. They were pretty much nemeses from the time they started school. Britney would pick on someone, namely Quinn, and Rowe would retaliate. The problem was, Rowe has always been the better magic user, so Britney was always jealous of her. Not to mention Britney had a crush on each of us guys, and Rowen was our best friend. She was mad that Rowen was always around us.

“As we got older, in our teens, Britney would constantly flirt with us every time she saw any of us alone. Most of the time when we were with Rowe, she would leave us alone. She’d just stare at us from afar and give Rowe the nastiest looks. She tried to separate us from Rowe whenever she could. We told her time after time that we didn’t like her like that, but she wouldn’t give up.

“I think when Rowe went off to college, she thought she’d finally get her chance, that surely one of us would fall for her without Rowe around to distract us. Obviously, that didn’t work. After a few years of Rowen being gone and us still not giving in to her advances, she finally gave up and found someone else. She married and had Emma. We thought we were finally safe, that she’d moved on for good and leave us all alone. You can see that is not the case,” he lets out a deep breath, like talking about Britney takes a lot out of him. I can tell it does. It’s completely understandable, that woman gives me migraines. I can only imagine having to deal with her crazy for as long as the guys have.

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