Sweet Tooth (Little Cakes, #11)(26)

Taking only her purse and Hortense with her, she finally got out of the car and headed for the back door.

She felt like an intruder in his home. Like she didn’t belong. As soon as she was inside, she set her purse on the kitchen table, hugged Hortense to her chest, and wandered from room to room. Keeping her arms crossed around her hippo, she didn’t touch a thing. She had no right to touch his things.

She didn’t even sit on his furniture. She simply paced the living room and kitchen for a while until she was magnetically drawn toward the nursery.

Maybe she was punishing herself by going into the room. She had to swallow back her sobs as she stepped inside. A nightlight illuminated the room enough that she didn’t need to turn the lights on to see. A nightlight Daddy had bought her. A purple hippo nightlight that gave a lavender hue to everything in the room.

The nursery was filled with all the added accents her Daddy had purchased for her. Not some other Little girl. Her.

Her fingers were trembling when she finally lowered her arms and let herself touch the soft purple comforter he’d carefully tucked into the daybed/crib. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. Her Daddy was so thoughtful. So sweet and fun and sexy and playful. He was hardworking and dedicated and loving. Everyone liked him. How could they not?

And she’d blown it.

More tears fell down her face. Where was he? Why hadn’t he come home yet?

She was so drawn to the bed. So tired. Drained from crying and worrying. She couldn’t resist pulling the soft comforter back, kicking off her shoes, and climbing under the covers.

Elizabeth had no intention of letting herself get too comfortable. She just wanted to snuggle one more time in this oasis. She would easily hear the car pull up and jump back out of the bed with her tail between her legs.

Her paci was on the pillow, and she popped it in her mouth as she curled up on her side, hugging Hortense to her chest.

I’ll just close my eyes for a rest and pretend I haven’t fucked up my life.





Chapter Twelve





“Elizabeth? Elizabeth? Honey, are you here?”

At the sound of her name, Elizabeth blinked her eyes open, the fog slowly lifting. It took her about two seconds to realize where she was. She’d fallen asleep. A woman was calling her name.

Oh, God. Susan. It was Susan.

Elizabeth shoved the covers to the side and jumped to her feet. Holy shit, she could see the play of colors against the wall. The sun was coming up. When she gasped, the pacifier in her mouth fell out and landed on the floor.

Heart pounding, she spun in a quick circle before rushing out of the room. The last thing she wanted was for Susan to come into this room. That would compound her horror to a level she wouldn’t survive.

Racing from the room, she yanked the door shut behind her and hurried toward the living room.

Susan was heading toward her and they nearly collided. If Susan hadn’t reached out to steady Elizabeth by grabbing her shoulders, she might have fallen on her butt.

“Oh, goodness, honey. I’m so glad I found you. Are you okay?”

Elizabeth took a step back, breaking the connection. Dumbfounded. Scared out of her mind. Speechless. What was Susan doing here?

Susan reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind Elizabeth’s ear, the gesture so kind Elizabeth didn’t know how to process it. “Tom’s been looking for you all night, honey. He’s worried sick.”

Looking for me? Why would he be looking for me?

Elizabeth blinked several times, speechless.

Susan pulled her phone out of her pocket, but she did so while guiding Elizabeth toward the couch with a hand on the small of her back. After tapping the screen, she spoke. “Thomas, dear. I’m at your house. Elizabeth is here… Yes… Okay.” She hung up as she sat on the couch.

Elizabeth stood rooted to the floor. Her feet were bare. She had on the sundress from yesterday. Her hair had to be a mess that extended out in every direction. There was probably a ring around her lips from the pacifier.

At that last thought, she covered her mouth and took a step back.

“Oh, honey, come sit with me.” Susan patted the cushion next to her. “Let’s talk.”

Elizabeth shook her head. She was about to burst into tears. She spun around and fled the room, running toward the hall bathroom. As soon as she shut the door, she looked in the mirror.

Yep, she’d sucked that pacifier so hard there was an indentation around her lips that would be there for a while. “Shit,” she muttered. This couldn’t be happening.

She used the toilet, washed her hands, and splashed water on her face several times. When she opened a drawer, she found a brush. Thank goodness Margaret and Mary kept a number of things in this hall bathroom.

Five minutes later, Elizabeth felt slightly more human, but how long could she hide out in the bathroom?

“Honey? Please open the door. I want to talk to you.”

There was no way for Elizabeth to continue being rude to Tom’s mother. She’d already done a lot of damage. At least she could also apologize to Susan before Tom arrived. Then she could tell him how sorry she was and get out of here.

She needed to call Stacy and…what? She never called in sick. She was sure Stacy could open for her and maybe Tina could come in too. Tina had said she wanted more hours. Elizabeth could surely get out of here, go home, clean up, and get to work before the lunch crowd.