Denise McDonald - Baker's Law

Jax was dog tired as he crossed through the kitchen to set down the cupcakes Marissa gave him, but the tantalizing smell made him hold off on bedtime just yet. He popped open the box and planned to sample only one treat. A few minutes later, he’d eaten two of them and was eyeing a third, but the twenty-hour day was creeping up on him. He shut the box to save the rest for breakfast.

A few hours of sleep and Jax would be good. He didn’t even bother to undress, just laid on top of the comforter his sister had given him when he moved in. As soon as he woke, he was going to head back to Flower Tree, look around a little more and check in on Marissa. Maybe buy a few more of those cupcakes. He’d seen strawberry ones in the case. It would give him another excuse to see her again—unofficially.

“That’s your fourth cup.” Kya set a batch of red velvet cupcakes into the display.

Marissa’s hands shook slightly from the caffeine. “It’s the only thing keeping me awake.”

“Go home.”

“Soon.” She’d gotten a little sleep after Jax Carlisle left. But not nearly enough. Inappropriate, yet delicious thoughts about the new chief of police had plagued her sleep. Just after daybreak, she’d given up and started baking.

When Kya had come in around noon, Marissa hurried home and got a couple more hours of sleep. She’d finally banished her wayward thoughts of Jax but she couldn’t stop thinking about the boy. Who snuck into a business to do homework? And like Jax said, the boy could have robbed her several times, but he hadn’t.

When she woke, she headed back to the shop just before the high school let out. Several kids usually came in and she wanted to try and spot the one from earlier that morning. Plus she had to meet her oldest brother. She’d called Duff to come look at the door and see if he could fix it. He’d promised to be by after he got off work.

Twenty minutes later, several girls came in giggling and whispering. Marissa recognized one of them from down the street. She was about to wave her over when a lanky frame across the street caught her eye. “It’s him.” She bolted from her perch behind the counter and raced out the front door, flour on her face and apron. “Hey. You!”

The teen turned. She saw the moment he realized who was yelling at him—his eyes widened and he darted between the dry cleaners and the animal hospital.

Traffic up Flower Tree was too heavy for her to run across on foot. She needed her SUV if she wanted to see where he ended up. Back in the shop, the girls looked up from the counter. One turned up her nose like Marissa had just walked out of the bathroom with her skirt tucked into her undies. The one from her neighborhood kept her back to her—like she’d never met Marissa before. Teenagers. They were a good portion of her patrons so she tried to ignore their lovely mood swings. And now she had to deal with them breaking into her shop.

Marissa snagged her purse and keys and was coming out to tell Kya she’d be back as the girls all received their orders. The lot of them headed back out the store. At the door, the one from Marissa’s neighborhood paused—they’d met at block parties several times over the past couple of years. “I forgot my book. I’ll catch up.” She waved her friends away and walked back toward the counter. She checked over her shoulder a couple of times until the other girls were out of eyeshot. “You live up the street, right?”

“Yeah.” Marissa leaned her hip against the display case, then waved her hand at herself. “Marissa.”

The teen’s eyes widened for a moment, then she glanced at the cup in her hand with the store logo on it. “Cool.” She gave a quick nod of approval. “I’m Lexi. Why were you running after that boy?”

“You know him?”

Lexi nodded, then took a long sip of her drink. “He goes by Hill. He’s a senior at my school. Why were you yelling at him?”

“He forgot his change,” Marissa lied easily. “Do you know where he lives?”

Lexi’s cheeks flushed. “He, um, I don’t know. I should go. My friends are waiting.” She hurried to the door.

“You forgot your book.” Marissa scanned the counter and the table they’d stopped at momentarily, but there was no book. By the time she turned back to Lexi, the girl was already out the door.

Marissa shook her head as she removed her apron. “Kya, I need to run out for a bit. I promise I’ll be back in time to meet with my brother for the door.”

“Okay, boss.” Kya came out of the back with the broom.

Marissa headed out to her SUV. Was she being silly to chase after a teenage boy—one she’d unsuccessfully tried to turn in to the police chief?

“Maybe it’s sleep deprivation,” she muttered as she slid behind the wheel. Lack of sleep or no, it didn’t stop her from driving the direction she’d seen the boy—Hill—go. She was being stupid. There were any number of places a boy could hide, not to mention he might have just gone home. She was crossing the bridge into one of the main neighborhoods in Oak Hollow as she shook her head.

“Might as well go back.” Her brother was due at her shop any minute. Marissa made a U-turn as soon as there was a break in traffic. As she was pulling into her lane, a flash of color caught her attention. Bright green and blue. Whatever it was, it hung from a tree branch next to the small creek that bisected the business end of town from the soccer fields. It caught her attention more when she remembered where she’d seen something similar before, on Hill—his backpack.

What in the world would the boy be doing next to the creek?

She gnawed her lip. Stop or not, she wasn’t sure, but since she’d been going on foolish impulse since grabbing her keys, she went ahead and pulled over to the side of the road and got out. The small area off to the side of the bridge was more cluttered than she might have expected for a town that boasted its civic pride on every posted sign.

“I must have lost my mind.” Marissa turned to head back to the SUV and the dirt under her foot gave way. She slid down the short embankment on her butt, squealing the entire way down until she hit the bottom. The air jerked out of her lungs. It took a moment to catch her breath, then she stood and scanned the area. Her heart hammered as much from her quick ride as it did from the realization of how isolated she was. So far off the road, no one would be able to see her unless they came down the embankment as she had. Nor would anyone know if she needed help.

Luckily, no one was lurking about.

She twisted and checked the back of her pants. No holes, but dirty. She shook her head and dusted off her butt.

For some reason she tiptoed as she crossed over to the small tree that held the backpack. She checked around her, feeling a little guilty and slightly exposed while snooping. When she was sure she was alone, she unzipped the largest of the compartments of the backpack. There were several schoolbooks and a notebook. She slid out the notebook. Paul Hillman was written across the front in small, precise black letters.

It was the boy’s backpack. But what did that mean?

Under the bridge overhang, Marissa found a clean sleeping bag. She studied it until a car horn honked. She looked at her watch. Time to get back to the shop to meet Duff.

She breathed a little easier once she was back in her car and headed back to work. All the while her mind tried to process a young man breaking into her shop, taking only a few day-old cupcakes and…doing homework. It made too much sense when she considered the backpack and the sleeping bag. She got a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.

When she arrived at the shop, she headed straight to the restroom to clean herself up before Duff got there. She didn’t want to explain what she’d been doing since she wasn’t entirely sure she could explain it. Just as she finished cleaning the last of the grit from her palms, Duff walked in.