AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Fat and grumpy. What will you be having this morning, Mrs. Oleander?”
“Two blueberry scones and a bear claw.”
“Good choices. The scones are fresh from the oven,” Lacey chimed in, giving me a look. “Do we have any bear claws back there? I think Mr. Norris took the last two.”
Yeah, yeah. I said I was grumpy. Why was she giving me those judgy eyes? It’s not my fault everyone was annoying this morning.
“I have some. They’re still warm. I was letting the icing melt. Be right back.”
“Thank you, dear.”
Waddling, ‘cause that’s what you do at five months’ pregnant, I huffed out a frustrated breath and winced as a foot pushed against my ribs.
“Hey! Stop that, you little turkey. Don’t make me call your daddy!”
This little one was up all night and active all damn day. He’s played gymnastics with my bladder, my ribs, and at some point I’m pretty sure my entire stomach was shoved to Mars. When Nich was home, he was calm and acted right. When Nich worked nights, not so much. It was funny, frustrating, and kinda sweet. But being a Sheriff’s Deputy meant Nich had to work the night shifts too. That meant I got almost no sleep and turned into a mix of Cruella and Maleficent.
I didn’t kill puppies for coats, that was just gross to even think about, but I was all for yelling and snarling at people who asked me dumb questions.
An hour later, I was well past grumpy. The sun was finally up, my temper was a burning forest fire in my mind, and I needed to pee, again. How I’d not murdered anyone yet, I’d never figure out. I couldn’t have coffee, or a Dr Pepper, couldn’t eat my weight in buttery croissants or candy… Life was so unfair sometimes.
Meh. I pulled a donut hole from the tray before me and shoved it in my mouth. One wouldn’t hurt. I turned to wash the now empty tray when a scuffle out front caught my attention.
“Give it to me! Now! Hurry up, bitch.”
Without thinking about it, I went around the wall and behind the counter. Lacey stood frozen. A man held onto her wrist, a snarl pulling at his lips as he held out a knife. A sad excuse for a knife at that. Where was Mick Dundee when you needed a real knife?
“What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I stalked closer. The rage in me kind of took over.
“Stay back or I’ll cut her.”
“And I’ll beat the ugliness out of you if you even try.”
Lacey snatched her hand back, stumbling. I moved to the counter, grabbed the piece of wood Uncle Charles had engraved as “the peacekeeper”, and slammed it down on the counter.
“You wanna tango, mofo, let’s go. I’m sick and tired of men thinking they can just swing a dick or a knife and get what they want.”
Lacey grabbed for my hand as I walked around and pushed my way through the door that led to the back. I let it slam behind me, locking.
“It’s people like you that give good men bad names. You waltz in here like you are owed something. I think not. My name’s on this place, not yours.”
He dropped his knife, his clumsiness showing me he wasn’t a hardened criminal. Then again, I was sure I looked far from sane right now, so the devil himself might know better than to mess with a pissed off, hormonal, pregnant woman.
“I called the police,” Lacey called out.
“Good. Someone’s gonna need a ride to the hospital.”
“I’m sorry, lady, I just need—”
“Help? A fucking clue? Guess what? I don’t care. You come in here and draw a knife on a child. You best be glad I’m not as fast as I usually am or you’d be needing an operation to remove this stick from your ass.”
“I’m sorry, just need a few dollars.”
“Then you get off your ass and get a fucking job like the rest of us!”
He slammed back against the wall as I advanced, his aim for the door missing by a mile. Glaring, I pointed the stick at him.
“Dana, sweets, what are you doing!” Cindy called out from behind me.
