Page 15 of Candy Hearts, Vol. 2

CHAPTER 15

KENNETH

Cody leaves my heart emoji on read.

I don’t know what I expected, but I feel simultaneously relieved and heartbroken on my lonely drive back to my apartment. I worked late again, as I had anticipated, but the sales reports that came in from our stores around the country mostly met our national targets. I’ve highlighted a few locations which have underperformed over the past two holiday periods, and I’ve made a note to focus on ways to improve our profitability in those areas.

At least I’m feeling good about one thing in my life. Two, actually, if you count my cat.

Basil greets me with unexpected affection when I finally enter my apartment, winding around my ankles and purring loudly.

“Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too,” I tell him, before I check that his water bowl and automatic food dispenser don’t need replenishing.

I reheat a meal of yesterday’s takeout and drop onto my couch to watch something mindless on Netflix. I studiously avoid rewatching old episodes of Eldertide , not needing any reminders of Cody tonight.

Midway through my attempt to catch up on the latest season of Is It Cake? , my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and try to smother my disappointment at seeing Mike’s text.

Mike: Are we still ok to swing by?

I glance around at my pristine apartment, empty of life and excitement, and I sigh. ‘Sure,’ I type back. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you.’

Even if there’s a part of me that would prefer to see the other Barratt man in my life instead.

Seeing my best friend is exactly what the doctor ordered. Despite being a little jealous at how happy and loved-up he and Becca appear, even after almost three decades together, their buoyant mood is contagious.

We catch up over coffees, with neither of them being big drinkers, especially after having imbibed over dinner and Mike driving, and I ask Becca whether my restaurant recommendation lived up to expectations.

She gushes about the tasting menu they’d ordered, while Mike playfully complains that he’s still hungry and might go through a drive-through on the way back to their hotel. They banter for a while, and I try not to think about similar conversations I’ve shared with Cody.

It’s particularly difficult to do when I can see Cody in each of them.

Is that creepy?

It feels a little creepy.

Just as I’m trying to get over that delightful new twist to my relationship with my oldest friends, my phone vibrates in my pocket again.

I frown as I read the text from ‘Cody Barratt,’ feeling my heart rate pick up.

‘ SOS’ is all it says.

“Is everything okay?” Mike asks me.

“I don’t know,” I answer distractedly. I’m transported back to the night I got a similar drunken message from a then-unknown number. Just how bad is my young friend’s luck that he has to send out another SOS message during the very first date he’s gone on since the disaster at The Fruitbowl?

Before I can respond to the text, another one appears on my screen, followed rapidly by another, and then another.

The spelling in all three is correct and clear, which settles my racing heart a little. At least, until I process the words properly.

Cody Barratt: I’m in the elevator.

Cody Barratt: Your elevator.

Cody Barratt: I’m coming up. We need to talk.

My panicked gaze flits from the phone to Mike and Becca, then back to my phone.

Oh, I am so fucked.