Page 21 of Sassy Bennett Doesn't Do Romance

Sassy scoffs at me but doesn’t answer. The front door swings open and a young girl not older than ten runs toward us. That was the last thing I expected to see come out of this house.

Sassy gets out of the car and gives the girl a big hug. I climb out too.

“Here you go, squirt.” Sassy starts pulling the baking ingredients out of her tote and hands them over to the girl.

“Thank you, Sassy!” Her eyes light up and she hugs the items to her chest. “You’re the best.”

“Happy to help.” Sassy smiles in such a genuine way that I do a double take. I didn’t realise until now how guarded her smiles usually are.

“Brittany, this is Colt. Colt, this is my little friend Brittany.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say, and Brittany smiles shyly at me.

“Is he due home soon?” Sassy asks her.

“Not for another two hours.” Brittany answers and I wonder who they’re talking about.

“Need help to make those, then?” Sassy points at the baking ingredients and Brittany is visibly relieved.

“Yes! I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Sassy turns to me. “Can you make cupcakes?”

“As a matter of fact, cupcakes are my specialty.” I lie. How hard can it be?

I make sure my car is locked up tight before following the girls into the house. It’s small and dark inside, but mostly neat. Sassy moves around the place like she’s been here before, but there’s tension in her shoulders. I wonder again who ‘he’ is, and if he’s any relation to her. Could it be her dad? Or an ex-lover? Maybe Brittany was a stepchild to Sassy once upon a time?

As we gather bowls and whisks, eggs and milk, Sassy glances out of the kitchen window, which looks over the front yard. She leans close to me.

“If I tell you to run, don’t question me, just do it.” She whispers.

I whip my head to face her in alarm. I grab Sassy’s arm as she goes to move away and pull her back close to me. Brittany is busy looking for a cupcake tin in the cupboard and isn’t taking notice of us.

“Who the hell might turn up that you’re so afraid of?” I hiss under my breath.

“I’m not afraid,” Sassy glares at me, her eyes flashing. “But her dad is a lunatic, and I don’t feel like getting my arm broken today.”

“What the fuck?” I whisper furiously. “He’ll break your arm?”

“Who knows?” Sassy shrugs. “I’m not allowed near her, and it sends him crazy when I break his rules.” She looks me up and down, a thought dawning on her face. “I can’t even imagine what he might do if he finds you here.”

Jesus Christ. I swallow and glance back through the kitchen window. I won’t take my eyes off that damn driveway until we leave.

Somehow, I relax into baking with Sassy and Brittany. It’s hard not to, when we keep screwing things up on such a catastrophic level, and end up in hysterics over how wrong we keep getting it. With a lot of help from Google, we nail it on our third batch. We all stand around the kitchen bench, taking in our masterpiece.

“Thank you so much,” Brittany says, looking at her cupcakes in delight. “I thought I’d be the only one with nothing for the bake sale tomorrow. Again.”

“You’re welcome, squirt.” Sassy squeezes Britt around the shoulders in a hug. “Just remember to tell your dad you did them all by yourself.”

“I will. I’ll hide the container in my room. He doesn’t even have to know about them.”

As Sassy nods her agreement, we hear a car pull up outside. All our eyes fly to the window.

“Oh no, he’s early.” Brittany looks at the clock in the kitchen, a frown etched onto her young face.

“Go time,” Sassy grabs my hand.

“I’ll stall him.” Brittany runs towards the front door while Sassy drags me to the back of the house. She opens a door that leads into the laundry and pushes me inside, closing it quietly behind her. Panic rises as I imagine what this man might do if he finds us.

---