You Belong With Me (2 page)

              Kit laughed. “Well, someone needs to believe in happy endings in this family. Heaven knows, that’s not you or me.”

              Layla closed her eyes in pain and breathed in deeply. “I used to. I used to think I could give every abused child the happy ending they deserved. After I realized no matter how hard I tried, I would end up failing most of the time, part of me just died. I don’t even know if I’m alive anymore,” she said, being brutally honest to the one person who wouldn’t judge her or expect more than she could give.

              Kit sighed, “Sorry sis. That came out wrong. Look, you need a break from real life. I need a break from
my
life. Why don’t we hop on Jane’s little fairy tale for a while? We could give it a try, hang out together and then when it fails, we can sell the sucker, have a vacation in Hawaii and then get back to the big bad world, because heaven knows, it’s always there waiting for us,” she said dryly.

              Layla frowned and walked over to a bench overlooking the water. It sounded so good. The last year had been so brutal on her soul that hanging out with her sisters even for a little while sounded like heaven. She had wanted to work with adoptive families and babies in the hopes of getting her head on straight but maybe being around her sisters and baking cakes and cookies would give her the solace she was searching for.

              “I guess we could try,” she said softly as the wind whipped off the Puget Sound and ran its cool fingers through Layla’s long, straight, blond hair.

              Kit laughed bitterly. “Why not, right? It’s not like I have anything else to do.”

              Layla frowned and blinked as what Kit was saying sank in. “
Wait,
what do you mean you don’t have anything to do? You were going to have a showing next month. You told me Jake was getting ready to propose. He’s not going to like you ditching him for a little bakery in Fircrest,” she said suspiciously.

              Kit sighed unhappily. “Layla, there isn’t going to be a showing anymore and the engagement was never going to happen. I guess it was kind of all in my imagination. Jake decided to schedule a showing for a beautiful sculptor named Jasmine instead. They’re really cute together. At least they were two nights ago when I walked into Ralph’s and saw them at the bar making out in front of the whole world. It’s like he wanted to get caught,” she said tightly.

              Layla covered her mouth in shock. “Oh Kit, what did you do?” she whispered already wincing at what she might be getting ready to hear.

              Kit snorted. “What do you think I did? I walked up to the bar and threw his drink in his face and then I threw her drink in her face and walked out. I’m packing up my stuff as we speak. This letter came at a pretty good time for me Layla. It’s like it was meant to be. I honestly, have nowhere else to go,” she said quietly.

              Layla sighed and closed her eyes. Her sisters needed this.
She
needed this. “Okay then. Let’s do it Kit. Looks like you, me and Jane are going into business,” she said hesitantly.

              The loud whooping sound over the phone had Layla holding her cell away from her ear as she smiled. She hung up a moment later and started walking back to her apartment. She looked up at the blue sky and grinned. “What do you think Mom? Are we going to get a happily ever after or is this going to be a Stephen King Horror story?” she asked out loud.

              Layla had fallen into the habit of talking to the clouds whenever she needed to talk to her mom. Lori Kendall had died two years ago in a car accident driving down a slick canyon road. She’d lived for three days before succumbing to her injuries. Because of her mom’s head injuries, she never got the chance to say goodbye. Her sisters were the only family she had now.

              She smiled as a warm breeze caressed her cheek and walked up the stairs to her apartment. Looked like her mom was all for it. She locked up behind her and unhooked Bubba’s leash walking automatically to the kitchen to grab him a treat. She needed to make a call to California. She was moving to Fircrest tomorrow.

Chapter 2 – Possibilities

              Layla made the drive in the U-Haul in just over an hour and a half. Fircrest was on the outskirts of Tacoma and close to the Puget Sound.
At least she wouldn’t be too far from the water
, she thought trying to be positive. Living in Seattle meant that there was always a good restaurant within walking distance, at least three decent bands playing on any given night and interesting people and conversation any time she craved the company of people. Fircrest on the other hand . . .
Hmmm
, quieter for sure. Not that she’d been craving company or conversation lately.

              Layla pulled up to the 1915 Georgian Revival Brick Home and smiled at the simplicity of the lines along with the attention to detail. The porches and decks surrounding the home gave it an understated elegance. Surrounding the bakery were countless flower beds filled with gladiolas and hostas and of course the mandatory fir trees. The first thing that caught her eye was the large sign in front,
Belinda’s Bakery
. She felt a lightening of her heart and so she took a moment to sit and look. The bakery took up the entire bottom floor and the second story would be their home. She and her sisters had grown up in apartments her whole life. She’d never actually lived in a house. This would be new.

              Grandma Belinda had turned the house into a bakery after her husband Daniel had died. It had been her life’s dream and from snippets of conversations she’d overheard from her mother, she’d enjoyed every second of it. Their mother had resented Belinda’s success. Layla assumed it was because their grandmother had spent so much time and effort on the bakery that there hadn’t been any time to develop relationships with her granddaughters. Layla could only remember meeting Belinda a few times. Her business had been her passion. People?
Not so much
.

              Layla couldn’t fault her. It was the lucky ones in life who found their passion. It was the people who endured life doing and being things they hated that brought so much misery to the world. Layla gave up and opened the door to the U-Haul and helped Bubba down so he didn’t do a nose-dive into the pavement. He howled appreciatively before he walked over to the nearest tree and relieved himself. She glanced at her silver Nissan Maxima she had hitched behind the truck and wondered what it would be like to have had a husband, boyfriend, brother or even father to help her pack up and drive.

              She ran a hand through her hair and smiled wryly before running lightly up the steps to the front door of the bakery. Their father had run out on them shortly before Jane was born and she’d given up on finding prince charming a couple years ago after a painful break up. She was still young at 27 but too old in other ways. What she had seen of men in her years as a social worker hadn’t convinced her that she was missing out on anything. There had been too many battered women and children. Too many heavy fists and not enough kindness.

              Layla paused before opening the bright brass door knob and felt like she was on the edge of a cliff. She knew if she opened that door and walked through, her life was going to change irrevocably. She stared for a moment at the bright red painted door with the clear window and grinned as a slice of hope snuck up on her. She wanted and needed a change in her life. It was time to go through the door.

              She pushed through the door and walked in, pulling Bubba along with her. She smiled as she saw Jane must have been busy all morning cleaning. The counters were spotless, the floor was swept and there was a distinct smell of chocolate and vanilla in the air. It was the best smell she’d ever been surrounded by. Aroma therapy at its finest, she thought with a grin, knowing if anyone was in need of therapy, it was her.

              “
Jane?
” she called out, turning around in a circle to take in all the details of her grandmother’s one true love. The area she was in was the store part. There were glass cases with empty metal shelves and large windows with beautiful lace curtains. And on the wall, a picture of Belinda in a white apron, standing in front of the bakery, with a wide happy grin on her face. She looked to be about in her forties, so it was probably taken right after she’d started the bakery. Layla studied the face of her grandmother, hoping for some connection or similarity. She frowned in disappointment a moment later and turned away. Maybe working and living here she’d be able to find out more about Belinda.

              Jane hurried through the doorway and jumped up and down excitedly when she saw her. “
Layla!”
she screamed and launched herself at her big sister.

              Layla grinned and felt another weight lift off her heart. Unconditional love. It felt pretty good sometimes. “It looks like you’ve been working hard,” she said, hugging her sister one more time before letting go.

              Jane laughed happily and leaned down to kiss Bubba on the head before petting his belly. Jane’s wide generous smile was the perfect setting for the two deep dimples on either side of her face. But it was her warm chocolate brown eyes that made people stop and stare. Layla grinned at the beautiful woman her little sister was becoming. Jane was now 22, but in the last couple years, she’d gone from girl to woman. Layla always thought of Jane as a young girl with her nose stuck in a book but Jane was changing, blossoming and become a dynamic, happy and kind-hearted woman. She was the one person who gave Layla hope for the human race.

              “Actually
no
. I just got here an hour ago myself. It took me longer to pack than I thought it would and then my roommates insisted on taking me out to dinner one last time. But it looks good, huh?” she said turning around to gesture at the immaculate store.

              Layla’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “
Wow
. I wonder who’s been keeping the place up. Grandma died last month. This place should be dusty at the very least,” she murmured softly.

              Jane shrugged and walked around the counter to glance through the empty cases that had once been filled with cakes, cookies, donuts and everything else in between. “Good question. Maybe we have a haunted bakery?” she asked, her eyes widening as she grinned hopefully. “How cool would that be? Grandma Belinda coming back from the grave to dust and keep an eye on things.”

              Layla shook her head and laughed at her sister’s fanciful imagination. “I’m pretty sure that only happens in the realm of Harry Potter,” she said and then turned around as she heard the bell above the door and then watched as it opened.

              Layla and Jane stared as a short, round woman roughly around the age of sixty walk through the door wearing a faded KISS t-shirt and looking at them suspiciously. The large Rosie the Riveter tattoo on her arm had Jane blinking nervously and Layla grinning appreciatively. The woman had maybe twelve small silver hoops in each ear and black spiky hair. Bubba stared at her pensively before flopping down on his stomach. He wasn’t the best guard dog.

              “Well, well, well. You must be the prodigal granddaughters
hmm
?” she said and shut the door behind her as she put her hands on her hips and looked them up and down with a frown. “You look a little prissy. No offense, but you girls up for running a business? Belinda was a force of nature. You two look like pampered princesses who need their nails done every three days.”

              Layla’s grin faded and she stepped forward so she could stand eye to eye with the woman. “We’re not pampered or princesses and we don’t need anyone’s approval to take over our grandmother’s bakery. Who exactly are you?” she asked using her court room voice.

              The woman’s left eyebrow raised and she tilted her head to the side as she smiled slightly. “That’s more like it. I’m Max and I’m the baker here. Belinda’s lawyer told me you’d be showing up today so I came in last night to get things looking proper for you. I promised Belinda I’d get you girls started and show you what’s what. But after that, I’m retiring and heading to San Antonio to live near my grandkids. Unless of course you’re here just to put a for sale sign in the window,” she said frowning darkly at the two women.

              Jane stepped forward, shaking her head firmly back and forth. “
Oh no
. We’re here to run the bakery. There’s no way we’d sell it,” she said, making Layla wince and look at her feet.

              Max took in Layla’s reaction and Jane’s enthusiasm and sighed. “And where’s the other one. Belinda said there were three of you,” she said frowning at Bubba in disapproval as she bypassed the sisters to walk around the counter. She picked up a long white apron and tied it deftly around her large hips as she looked at them expectantly.

              Layla stayed silent as Jane followed Max behind the counter and grabbed her own white apron. “Kit will be here soon,” she said, before throwing an apron at Layla.

              Layla grimaced as she caught the apron one handed but obediently put it on, wrapping the long ties around her waist and then tying them in the front. “By the way, I’m Layla Kendall, this is my sister Jane and Kit is our other sister who will be joining us soon. Thanks for being willing to stick around and show us the ropes,” she said, smiling cautiously.