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“You know exactly what the problem is!” Cherry hissed, storming up to the counter with her three friends right behind her. “You’re trying to ruin my reputation with your childish, slutty little games.”
Junie’s hands found their way to her hips as she lifted her chin in defiance. The humiliation from the farmers’ market was still burning, but now it was mixing with something hotter—real anger.
Before she could find her voice, Kenzie stepped forward, arms crossed, mock sympathy coating her voice. “Oh, honey, that ship has sailed. Let’s be honest, your reputation’s been circling the drain for years.”
Martha, the tall brunette with too much eyeliner who had come in with Cherry, sneered. “At least Cherry doesn’t have to bake her way into anyone’s bed.”
Poppy’s eyes flashed. “I totally agree. Cherry doesn’t have what it takes to getanyoneinto her bed. Well, voluntarily that is. Of course, there are all rumors…”
Cherry’s face turned an ugly shade of red. Not taking her eyes off Junie, she said, “You pathetic little cow. You think being with Tanner makes you special? You’re just a sad, desperate bakery bitch who’ll never be enough for him. So enjoy him while you can because you won’t keep him long.”
The words stung, but this time Junie didn’t shrink.
“At least I built something real,” Junie said, voice shaking but clear. “Unlike those tits of yours.”
Rena, who had used about four too many bottles of peroxide on the straw she called hair, spoke up. “You only wish.”
Junie rolled her eyes. Why would she wish for fake tits? Cherry obviously picked her friends from the dull side of the crayon box.
Starla, the third in the trio of girls with Cherry, leaned in. “Nobody wants to buy you or any of the disgusting things you sell at this sad little shop.”
And Junie had had enough. “You can insult me, call my shop sad, and hate every display I put up, but when you insult my baked goods….” Junie snatched a cupcake from the display and hurled it straight at Starla. It exploded against her shoulder in a burst of frosting and cake.
Tildi threw her hands up and screamed with pure delight. “Food fight!”
And just like that, the bakery descended into delicious chaos.
Cupcakes sailed through the air like sugary missiles. Frosting splattered across the walls and floor. Kenzie grabbed a handful of whipped cream and smashed it into Cherry’s face. Poppy pelted Martha with a shower of sprinkles while laughing maniacally.
Joy and Kip teamed up, launching cookies like they were in a food war. Junie, heart racing with a wild mix of fear and exhilaration, grabbed a tray of chokecherry turnovers and flung one right at Cherry. Junie wanted to squeal in triumph as the dark red juices splattered all over Cherry’s chest.
Maybe next time, Cherry would think twice before she tried to bully her. The bell over the door jingled, and, out of pure reflex, Junie threw a tart toward the sound.
She froze in horror as the sheriff and one of his deputies stepped inside and came to an abrupt halt at the sight of the absolute disaster zone that used to be her bakery.
A chokecherry drifted down the front of the sheriff’s neatly pressed shirt, leaving a trail of blood red juice in its wake.
Junie gasped. “Oh god, Sam! I’m so sorry. It was a case of mistaken identity.”
Heaving a deep sigh, Sam reached for the nearest table, took a bunch of napkins from the dispenser, and tried to wipe the tart juice from his shirt. But the more he wiped at the stain on his shirt, the bigger it grew.
“Apology accepted.”
Junie wanted to crawl into one of her cakeboxes and disappear.
But Sam was far from done. “I got a disturbing the peace complaint on this address. I thought for sure there was some mistake, but from the frosting dripping down the walls, and the sprinkles crunching under my boots, and the general disarray of the bakery… I’d have to say the report was valid.”
Junie looked around her shop for the first time since the food fight had started. Cherry and her friends looked like Junie had been preparing them to be part of a pie. Not that her friends looked any better.
Sam stood there, hands on his hips, staring at the mess like he couldn’t quite believe his eyes.
Junie and Cherry pointed at each other at the same time, both yelling, “She started it!”
The muscles of Sam’s jaw clenched before he let out another long, heavy sigh, the kind that said now he’d seen it all.
Mitch, on the other hand, took one look at Cherry with whipped cream sliding down her face and barked out a laugh. Sam shot him a sharp glare, which had Mitch clearing his throat and studying his boots. But his lips were still twitching.
“All right, ladies,” Sam said, voice booming with that familiar mix of authority and pure exasperation. “You’re all gonna need to come with us. We’ll get this all sorted out at the sheriff’s office.”
