“So fix it, then. Don’t leave the island. You’re better than that. Suck it up and go grovel if you have to but stop moping around here like your life has ended.”
Chapter 22
Aggie pulled another tray of bread rolls from the oven and slid them into the cooling shelf. Almost done. One more round of loaves to bake and she was done for the morning. Sweat rolled down the back of her neck as she slammed the oven door shut.
It’d been an uneventful evening if she didn’t count the banging on the back door. Poor Liam. He didn’t know when to give up. How she wished she could just forget what he’d said, but it was burned into her brain. She didn’t need him to look after her. She didn’t need anyone. Damned if she was going to be a delicate female, dependent on a man for her safety. She’d rather remain single no matter how much her heart screamed out for him. Having him think her incapable of making a decent decision was what did it for her. He thought she lacked a decent brain in her head—at least, that was how she was reading it. As though she wasnt capable of looking after herself and was dependent on him. Shame she had to take such a harsh stand to prove her point but there it was. If she was making the wrong choice now, she had to live with it.
It was a pity he didn’t understand her way of thinking. Sure, he meant well, she’d give him that. But that was one step away from him blaming her for what happened. In her mind, saying she’d made the wrong decision was as damning as saying she deserved the assault. Until she proved she could make it on her own, Aggie wasn’t prepared to hand over her well-being to a man, even one she loved so much. It was the only thing she had left: her sense of self that she’d almost lost that night. She could work all day, every day, but it didn’t lessen the need she had to be able to stand on her own two feet. Being independent was the one thing she needed to define more than anything else in her life.
She’d been so close to finding it when Liam had dashed it down. With one misplaced sentence, he’d almost sent her back to the depths of darkness she’d tried for so long to climb out of. Oh, she knew he didn’t really mean it the way she’d taken it. But still, it hurt that he didn’t think she was capable. He was hurt by the way she was ignoring him, but he wasn’t as broken as she was.
It didn’t make it any easier to hear from Drew that Liam was struggling now that she wouldn’t talk to him. Her brother begged her to take pity on his friend, but Aggie was determined to stick to her decision. Drew acted like she was to blame, but she refused to take that on board and accept it as her fault.
Liam had made the decision to say those words and she wasn’t in a position to save him from his pain when she hadn’t managed to save herself. If she tried to talk him out of going away, that would be her taking away his choice.
Aggie grabbed a cloth and began her early morning ritual of cleaning the bakery before the sales staff arrived for the day. She wiped down all the work tops, stacked the bread pans, and slid the empty trays into the shelves ready for tomorrow’s effort to start all over again.
When the surfaces were clean, she picked up her broom and swept from the front of the store to the back of the kitchen. She gathered the garbage from the office and under the counter, then tipped it all into her big trash can by the back door. Mindlessly, she tied the top of the bag and swung it over her shoulder to take out to the dumpster.
The chill in the dawn air made her shudder after the warmth of the ovens. She lifted the lid and threw in the bag, letting the top bang down. Aggie wiped her hands on her apron and turned to go back into the shop.
A movement from the shadows stopped her. Panic set in as an unknown person ambled toward her.
In the light of her back porch, she could see him. He looked unkempt and sinister, a stranger to the island. He took deliberate steps toward her, and her stomach plummeted.
Think, just think. Don’t lose it. You got this. Oh shit!
He stared at her with cold eyes. “I want your money.” He pulled a knife from behind his back and held it up. “Pay up or I’ll cut you.”
Fear crawled up her throat and Aggie felt faint. Focus, girl. Just focus.
He waved the knife in her face and grinned, showing off rotted teeth. “I’m not playing here, girlie. I know you have money in there and I want it.” His sleeve slid up his arm as he poked the knife at her, inches from her cheek. Track marks dotted the inside of his elbow. The guy was a junkie. Erratic, desperate, and determined to get what he wanted.
She swallowed. There was no way this creep was getting her hard-earned money. “I put it in the bank yesterday. There’s no cash here.” Aggie had to find a way to distract him so she didn’t have to go back in the shop with him. If she did, she didn’t think she would be safe. Better off lashing out at him and taking off. Making the most of her chances in the open seemed preferable to being stuck in the shop where she had limited chances to escape.
She leaned back from the knife and took a small step, hoping he wouldn’t notice. “Help yourself. It’s in the cash register.”
He took a step closer. “Do you think I’m
