Page 56 of Heartbreak & Cupcakes
SADIE
I watchedas Mr. Smolder walked over and spoke to one of the twelve firefighters that were still at the scene. The hottest one, of course.
Did all hot people know each other?I’d have to ask Charli.
I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Alex was here. One second I’d been trying to think of the next steps I needed to take, and the next I looked up and Alex was standing in front of me.
My mind was still trying to catch up with everything that had happened. I went to bed last night thinking that the biggest problem I had was coming up with new recipes for my Sadie’s Special, and woke up to my entire business being gone. My dreams had just gone up in smoke. Literally.
Obviously, the most important thing was that no one had been hurt, thanks to my furry hero. I rubbed Eeyore on the head and put my fingers through the grate of the cat carrier to scratch Achoo beneath her chin. My babies were okay. That was the important thing.
An alert dinged on my phone. I leaned down and kissed Eeyore’s head, tearing up slightly at how grateful I was that he and Achoo were okay. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw that there was a citizen app alert.
The alert read that there was a building fire on my street. That wasn’t all. Someone had also uploaded video of the fire. If I was getting the alert that meant that...
Before I could finish my thought my screen lit up with a Facetime call from my dad.
Oh boy.
I stood up and turned around, facing my burnt down building so he couldn’t see the damage and made sure I had a big smile on my face before I answered.
“Hey Dad!”
“Sadie! Are you okay? What happened?”
“I’m fine. No one was hurt. Eeyore and Achoo woke me up and I got Mrs. Flores out of the building. And Yana wasn’t in yet.”
“Where are you? Are you at the hospital?” His eyes scanned the background as if he could see what was going on. Thankfully, it was just the darkened street behind me. I was glad I’d turned around so that was the only thing he was able to see.
“No. I’m fine. The paramedics checked me out. They gave me some oxygen. I don’t need to go to the hospital.”
Using his thumb and forefinger he wiped away tears from beneath his eyes. He was clearly upset. “I’m getting the next flight out. I’ll be there by tonight.”
“No. Dad, don’t!” I blurted out, then took a deep breath, hoping to project a calm assertive energy. “I’m fine really. I don’t need you to come out here.”
He shook his head back and forth. “I’m coming Sadie. This isn’t up for discussion.”
“Dad, I’mfine. I promise.”
“Where are you going to live? What are you going to do? I’m coming out there.”
Panic rose in me like the tide. I knew that my dad was only saying all this because he was worried about me, he had been since the day that I packed up my Ford Escort and drove across the country following Frankie, the musician, to California. But I knew what would happen if he came out here. He’d insist on packing up whatever belongings I still had and taking me back home. And the scariest part of that scenario was in my current emotional state, I was afraid I’d let him.
Things had not been easy, and this was definitely a setback, but there was no way that I was going to give up on my dream. Not when I knew, in my bones, that I could do this. I had done this.
“Dad. I have insurance and—”
“Insurance?” He shook his head. “No. You’re coming home. That’s it! You have no business, no job, no place to live—”
“Dad! I have a place to stay and a job while I figure out what to do about the bakery once I hear from the insurance company.”
“What? What place to stay? What job? As what?”
I swallowed and forged ahead. “A nanny.”
“Nanny? Again?”
“Yes.” Technically, it was going backwards, but this was a very unique situation. And desperate times do call for desperate measures. “Do you remember the little girl I told you about, and the woman that collapsed in the bakery, Lexi and Mrs. Garrett? Well, it turns out that Mrs. Garrett was Lexi’s nanny. Obviously, she’s not able to look after her and her father, Mr. Smol…um…Mr. Vaughn offered me the job.”
