Page 15 of Shine: Sins of the Father (Evil Dead MC: Second Generation #8)

Fiona—

It’s been six weeks, and I still think about Shine all the time. I’ve even thought about finding out from one of my brothers the location of the Nevada clubhouse and driving out there to find him. I know it’s crazy, but I can’t help it.

I’m in the passenger seat of my mother’s Corvette, the one my father gave her for their anniversary. It was sweet the way he searched for this car that used to belong to her years before any of us kids were born. My father really does love her. She’s a lucky woman.

We’re in Saratoga, an adorable town not far from San Jose. Twenty minutes west, to be exact.

Mom follows the directions I give her, and we roll up Big Basin Way into the historical section.

“I’ve never been here before,” my mom says. “It’s so cute. I love this place.”

A smile breaks across my face. I need her to love this place because of what I’m going to ask her.

We near the address that I’m leading her to, but I want her to walk a bit of the town to really get a feel for the place, so I point to a spot.

“Park here.”

She pulls in, and we climb from the car.

Stepping on the walk, she looks around. “It’s so quant. I love all these cute little shops.”

“Me too.” I loop my arm with hers. “Come on. This way.” I lead her up the street to my destination and pull her to a stop in front of the building. There’s a for-rent sign in the window.

“What’s this? It looks closed.” She eyes the building.

“I want to open a bakery; you know, cupcakes and cake pops and such. I think I can afford this place, and before you say anything, I know it needs work, like a lot of work, but I figure maybe my brothers can help me.”

“What about school?”

“This is in place of school.” I wring my hands and finally say what I’ve been dreading all summer. “School’s not for me, Mom. I want to do this.” I gesture at the building.

She doesn’t say anything, just scans the place again.

I turn and look at it, imagining it through her eyes.

It’s a two-story frame structure with torn and sad-looking red awnings across the ground floor facing the street, and small awnings over each upstairs window, which also have green shutters.

The pale-yellow paint on the clapboard building is peeling.

It sits on the corner with a small cobblestone street with parking on one side, and another store on the other.

It used to be a floral shop. There’s a pretty door with large plate-glass windows on either side.

“I know it doesn’t look like much, Mom, but I think I can make it work. I know I can.”

She glances across the small cobblestone street to the right. “What about that place? It’s for rent.”

The sleek stucco building she points at is clean beige with a modern black awning. It’s years newer and has no charm.

“I can’t afford that one.”

She looks at the sad yellow building again. “Have you been inside?”

“Janey and I came yesterday. The landlord said he would hold it for me for twenty-four hours.”

“Fiona, he probably has no other interested parties. Look at the place.”

“I have. It’s even got an apartment upstairs that comes with it.”

“Did you look at the upstairs?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“Okay, it’s kind of a dump, but I can fix it up.”

“With what money?”

“It needs paint and some love. Mom, please. I really want to do this.”

She puts her arm around my shoulders and looks at the building again. “We’ll definitely have to get new awnings.”

And in that moment, I know she is all in.

I hug her tight. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you more, baby girl. Now we just have to get your father on board. You’re absolutely sure, Fiona? This is really what you want? More than college? More than being a nurse?”

“More than anything.”

She sighs. “We’re going to have to stop at the grocery store on the way home.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because if I’m going to talk your father into this, I need to feed him a good steak dinner first.”

“There’s one other thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Can you co-sign the lease with me? I need to stop at the man’s office by 5pm.”

“What’s his number?”

“The landlord?”

“Yes.”

I give it to her, and she calls him. Then I watch my mother not only talk him out of the 5pm deadline, but also talk him down another hundred dollars a month, and agree to paint the outside.

When she hangs up, my mouth is open.

“We’re meeting him at noon tomorrow. Don’t be surprised if your father doesn’t get him to come down another hundred.” She slips her sunglasses on. “Now let’s go get lunch. That café we passed looked cute.”

Over lunch I tell her all my ideas. They spill out of me in a rush, my excitement bubbling over.

“I thought I’d paint it all pink with cream wide stripes. I saw these really pretty awnings online. They were my inspiration. I want people to drive by and notice the place and want to stop and come in. Maybe someday I’ll have a line out the door for my cupcakes.

“There’s a back room I thought I could turn into a place for kids’ parties…

well, little girls, anyway. I want to make it look like an Alice in Wonderland Bakery.

I want to serve tea and cupcakes, maybe lemonade, juice, and smoothies.

I want to make a dress-up area for princess photos.

And maybe offer hair and makeup or facepainting. I have so many ideas, Mom.”

***

A month later, I’m standing outside my newly painted building, watching my pretty awnings being installed. They cost a mint, but Dad thinks I can write them off as a marketing cost.

Janey helped me design a logo with a drawing of a cute little building and my name in cursive. Fiona’s Bakery . I thought about making it something easier to remember, like The Pink Bakery, but Dad put his foot down and said I needed to have my name on it.

My phone rings, and I pull it from my pocket. It’s Dad.

“Hey, baby girl. How’s it going? Did the awning people show up?”

“Yes, they’re here now.”

“Good. I’m sending a couple of prospects over tomorrow to help you with painting the interior. Do you have the paint, or do they need to stop and get it?”

“I have it.”

“Did you get brushes and rollers and paint trays?”

“Yes, I even got drop cloths.”

“Okay. They’ll be over around 9am. Hopefully, they can knock it out by noon.”

“I think so. The primer coat Janey and I put on last week is dry.”

Once I disconnect, I stare at my awnings. I’m so excited I want to jump up and down, but I’m too exhausted. Janey and I have been working our butts off to fix the place up. Yesterday, she painted my pretty logo in the storefront windows.

Within the week, my actual sign should be delivered.

As Janey and I stood outside and admired her work, a woman stopped and asked when we were opening. Which reminded me, I need to start marketing the opening day.

There’s so much to do. If I didn’t have the help of my BFF, my family, and the club, I’d never get it all done.

Last weekend, Mom, Dad, and my two brothers helped me move into the little apartment upstairs. I spent my first night there last night.

It was weird being on my own. It’s the first time I’ve had a place all to myself.

It’s exciting, but a little scary as well. I think I lay awake forever, listening to every strange creak and groan the building made. Mom says I’ll soon get used to it, and it will begin to feel like home.

Soon, the awning company finishes and packs up their truck. I lock everything and climb the stairs to the apartment. My stomach rumbles, but not with hunger. I feel like I’m going to be sick.

I run to the bathroom, but the feeling subsides.

Staring in the mirror, I’m suddenly counting back to my last period.

I can’t remember when it was, but I’m pretty sure I’m late. Like really late.

How did I not notice? Because I’ve been so busy and so excited about this place.

Now I count back the weeks to when I was with Shine.

Pulling up my phone, I check the dates. It’s been two and a half months.

How did I let this happen?

Don’t panic. Maybe I’m just coming down with something.

I’m so nervous, I need someone for emotional support. In a normal world, I’d be calling the possible father to take the test with me, but I don’t have that luxury. So, I call the next best person.

“Don’t tell me you want to start painting. I just left there thirty minutes ago,” Janey grumbles into the phone.

“No, I need you to buy a pregnancy test and talk me off the cliff.”

The squeal of her tires carries through the phone. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Nervously, I pace back and forth by the front windows of the shop until I see her Miata speed up the road and swerve into a spot.

She jumps from the car, a drug store bag swinging from her hand.

I quickly unlock the door and usher her over the threshold. She’s barely inside before she pulls me into a hug and I burst into tears.

“It’s going to be okay,” she whispers.

I step away, nod, and wipe my eyes.

“Here,” she passes me the bag, and I retreat to take the test.

“Are you almost done in there?” She yells from the other side of the door.

I set the test on the counter and then quickly cover it with toilet paper, not wanting to face whatever truth it’s about to be revealed just yet.

“Done.”

She’s through the door in a microsecond. She glances from me to where the test lies hidden under the toilet paper. “Have you looked?”

“No.” I shake my head. “It said to wait five minutes.”

“That’s for the birds,” she scoffs, pulling the toilet paper off and leaning to inspect the test. After a moment, she straightens.

“Well?” I grimace.

“There are two lines.”

“What?” I grab the test from the counter and inspect it. “I barely see the second line, though.”

“First off…” She snatches the test out of my hand. “The line is getting darker as we speak. Second, it doesn’t matter if the line is barely there. Two lines means pregnant.”

She hands the test back to me, and I just stare at it. Finally, looking up, I mutter, “What am I going to do?”

“You’re going to be a kickass business woman, who is pregnant and adorable and gets to eat all her delicious creations because now she has an excuse. And when the baby comes, you’re going to be a kickass mom, too.”

I smile at her weakly. Leave it to her to have more faith in me than I have in myself.