12. Tara

12

TARA

By mid-afternoon, I'm already missing Jason. I don't know why I keep doing this to myself, but he has to wonder why I'm running hot and then cold. Fear is a shitty thing. Today, I'm working the bakery with Emery.

We've stayed busy catching up. Since she remarried Nash, she's cut back on her hours quite a bit. I keep waiting to hear the sounds of a motorcycle coming down Main Street, but I haven't yet.

"Hi, can I help you?" Emery says to a newcomer.

The pretty blonde shakes her head but smiles. "Would it be okay if Tara helped me?"

I look up in surprise and instantly recognize a woman from last night at the Guardians' clubhouse. I wipe my hands on my apron and walk toward her. "Hi, I remember seeing you last night, but I don't think we got to meet. I’m Tara."

The woman seems friendly enough and holds her hand out. "I'm Ashley." We shake hands, and I point to the display case. "What would you like?"

“Um—" She brings her long, red-tipped fingernail to her lip like she’s thinking hard about it. “Probably the strawberry pie. I've heard really good things about it."

I’m a little surprised that she's ordering Jason's favorite dessert, but I shrug my shoulders. Maybe he's just bragged about it to her or in front of her. I grab a plate and dish her up a big helping of the dessert and hand it to her with a fork. "Can I get you anything else?"

She says, "No," and then hands me her money and says, "Keep the change" before walking over to a table and sitting down.

Emery looks at me with surprise on her face. It's weird. Ashley seems nice enough, but there's something weird going on here. And the longer I stand behind the counter and feel Ashley staring at me, the more off-kilter I get.

I help a few more customers before finding my way over to where Ashley's sitting. "How's the pie?"

She nods and smiles. "It's good. Do you think you can join me for a minute?"

I look over at Emery, and Emery nods her head. Obviously, she's eavesdropping. I sit down across from Ashley. I'm not really the best at small talk, but I try to smile at her and at least appear friendly. "I don't think I've seen you around town before."

She shakes her head. "No. Most of my time is spent at the clubhouse. Jason and I spend a lot of time together."

She says it plainly with a smirk on her face, and that's when I realize that maybe Ashley isn't as friendly as I think she is. I lean back in my chair. "Excuse me?"

She leans forward. "Yes, excuse you. Jason is mine and has been for a while."

I take my time and look at her. She might as well be my complete opposite. She's skinny with blond hair and big boobs. "I don't believe you," I tell her as I get up from my chair.

She grabs on to my wrist and holds me in place. "I don't care if you believe me or not. It's true. And even though he may be having fun with you right now, he'll be coming back to me."

"Are we done here?" I ask her.

She releases my hand and stands up. She’s a bit taller than me, and I lean my head back to look up at her. She's determined to get the last word in. It's obvious. She leans toward me and whispers in a low voice, "You may not want to believe it, but it's true. How else would I know about the piercing on his dick? It makes sex so much better, don't you think?"

She pats me on the back, and I stand there frozen. "I'll see you around, Tara."

Ashley barely gets out the door and my tears start to fall down my face. I look at Emery. “I need a minute."

She looks at me sadly. "Take as long as you need."

I walk out the front doors of the bakery across the street into the small park area. There are children playing in the fountain, and I sit down on a park bench, and my shoulders heave as I sob. I'm not sure how long I sit there.

I don't even realize someone has sat next to me until I hear Mark's voice. "Are you okay?"

I inhale deeply. I definitely don't need to deal with him right now. I wipe at my tears. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"I'm sorry that you're sad. I knew he would hurt you."

I pull my apron up and wipe my face. "What do you care, Mark? You hurt me too."

He turns and faces me. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I love you."

I can't help but laugh. "You cheated on me. You lied to me. You stole from me."

He doesn't even try to deny it. "I fucked up. I know I did, but I want you to give me another chance."

He's crazy if he thinks that I would ever give him another chance. "I can't. I don't feel that way about you."

His face hardens. "You don't get it. I can't let you go."

I shrug my shoulders and stand up. "You're going to have to."

He grabs on to my hand and holds me in place. "I'm telling you, Tara, if I can't have you, no one will."

I jerk my hand back and shake my head. "Forget it. You and I are over. There's no chance for us. I don't like you. I definitely don't love you. We're done."

His whole body goes rigid, and he stares at me. For just a second, fear fills me. I've never seen this look on Mark’s face before, but it scares me. I turn away from Mark to walk away and walk straight into Jason's chest. Mark’s voice is loud and clear behind me. “Remember what I said, Tara.”

Jason’s hands go to my shoulder, and he pushes me behind him. "Go back to the bakery. I'll be right there.”

I throw my hands up in the air. All we need is for him to go to jail again. But at this point, I really don't care what happens. "Don't even bother," I tell him and stalk back over toward the bakery. I'm done with men... all of them.