When my parents left me alone when I was fifteen and walked away because they were tired of being parents and hadn’t wanted to deal with a so-called wayward teen.
The time that I’d had my first drink at sixteen.
And the time I smoked my first bowl with Adam—my first and my last. I hadn’t liked the loss of control, but I had been seventeen and thought that’s what my boyfriend wanted.
I hadn’t realized that by giving up my control, I had given up a part of myself until it was nearly too late.
I remembered the time that I had decided to do something for myself and had earned my associate’s degree, right after I got my GED.
And the time I took the job as a barista in the place that was now the Boulder Bean when the former owners had been so sweet to me and had been nearly like grandparents to Joshua. They had been better than my parents ever were or tried to be. I could remember them vividly, holding my hand when Joshua got his first cold, or making sure I had adequate daycare. They always put his care above all else.
And then there was the time they had left me alone, retiring when Mr. Barker had his heart attack, and we’d nearly lost him.
They moved to Florida to be near their kids and their real grandkids, and I had lost a part of myself when they went. But they had allowed me to start the Boulder Bean.
And that was another moment flashing in my mind.
I had been saving for it, putting away my nickels and dimes, but because of the goodness of their hearts, their business savvy, the loan I had qualified for, and hard work, now this place was mine.
And I was smart with it. Most businesses around here didn’t last two years, and we were going on three. We might’ve had an established base, but in this iteration, we were on three years.
All while Joshua had grown, I had grown, and I had found some of my favorite people in the world.
I had met the girls because of my shop. Had formed a pact to begin my future.
I had met the Bradys.
Everything came together, coalescing into vividly splashed memories across my mind as I worked on cleaning up for the evening.
All of those moments in time were fragments of who I was. When I stood back and wondered how on earth any of it had happened. How could I be here when it felt like fate had been pushing me in another direction, yet somehow, a choice or a mistake or a decision had brought me here.
And now…this was another moment.
Where my past mistakes were coming back to haunt me.
Adam had given me my most precious gift, and yet he was threatening to take it away.
To take Joshua.
To take me?
Maybe to take my business.
I didn’t know.
He wanted to take something. Needed to let me know that he thought he still owned me. I didn’t know what the answer was. What would be the safest recourse? For now, I had to learn to lean on my friends. And I wasn’t doing a very good job of that.
“Hey, there. I need to head home soon,” Pop said. “Jason headed out already. Got himself a date with Sam.”
I grinned. “Sam is adorable. And I’m so glad that they got up the nerve to ask Jason out.”
“It took a lot of time, but I think if they have enough courage to handle the world as it is, they can probably handle Jason.”
I snorted at that. “We’re all closed up here. I have a few more things to work out in the back, but you can head out if you want.”
Pop shook her head, folded her arms over her chest, and leaned against the doorway. “Nope. I don’t think so. You know the rules. No one’s allowed to be here alone.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I grumbled.
“You’re only saying that because you feel like you’re inconveniencing me. I know you’re worried about my safety just as much as you’re worried about everyone else’s—other than yours.”
Feeling ashamed, my cheeks reddened. “I just hate the idea that he could come after you because of me.”
“You hold on right there. The only reason he would come after me is because of his issues. You have nothing to do with it, other than him fixating on you. Don’t worry about me. We are going to stay here together. The place is locked, and when you’re ready to go, we will head out.”
“Actually, if you need to head home, Pop, I can walk you to your car, then stay with Dakota while she finishes up.”
Pop and I froze before we spun around on our heels to look at Macon standing in the doorway, his hands up, the keys that I had given him dangling from his fingers.
“Shit, I didn’t mean to scare you. I could have sworn you guys heard me. Or even saw me on the cameras.”
I looked down at the monitors and did indeed see him. I probably should have noticed him walking closer.
“I’ve been so stuck in my head that I’m acting like an idiot. I’m one of those people that the viewers scream at in a horror movie to look behind them or to not go down the stairs or lock themselves in the basement. The dumb blonde that gets murdered like in the first scene before they even show the title credits.”
Pop burst out laughing, and Macon just gave me a look.
“What?” I asked.
“That was very specific. I feel like you have had this dissertation on horror movies and the way that we portray women in them before.”
“It’s true,” Pop said. “Don’t even get me started.”
“One day, I’d like to hear it,” Macon added. “However, the place is locked, and I’ll get you to your car safely, Pop. You can stay right here, Dakota.”
“I
