HICKEY by Cora Brent

Author:Cora Brent [Brent, Cora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-03T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Branson

It wasn’t too hard to track her down once Cecily mentioned she was in the valley but at first I hesitated over what to do with that information.

Antha Patel might not have fond memories of me. Plus, since she and Cess were still as close as peas in a pod she had surely heard an earful about what a prick I was and still am. Best friends don’t tend to be real tolerant of heartbreakers.

My reasons to finally go bite the bullet and go see Antha had almost as much to do with her as with Cess. She deserved an apology.

The bakery Antha owned with her husband was smack in the middle of the old section of Scottsdale, among a quaint strip of storefronts with deliberate, rustic charm that still managed to look moneyed. I decided to blow off my morning philosophy class and make an unannounced visit.

Antha might very well sternly order me right out of her place but I didn’t think so. She’d never struck me as the dramatic type and I wasn’t there to cause trouble. I just wanted to talk.

When I first walked through the door of Sweet Sun Bakery I was slapped with the warm perfume of cinnamon and sugar. The display counter up front was stocked with a variety of sweet breads and Antha herself was standing behind the counter, laughing as she handed over a paper bag to an old man with a cane.

“See you tomorrow, Mr. Orosco,” she called as the old guy shuffled away. He squinted up at me when I held the door open for him.

“Thank you, sir,” he rasped and I noticed he was wearing a black baseball cap with the US Army emblem.

“You’re welcome, soldier,” I said and offered a friendly salute.

When the old man was gone I slipped back through the doorway and saw Antha staring at me. She didn’t look angry or even surprised. As I approached the counter I thought it might be possible she didn’t recognize me but when she sighed and said, “Well, as I live and breathe, here comes Branson Hickey,” I put that idea to rest.

“Nice to see you, Antha,” I answered, sounding stiff and overly formal. We’d gone to school together for years but how many times had I had an actual conversation with Cecily’s best friend? Two or three? Hell, it might not have been that many.

Antha’s black hair was pulled back and her wide brown eyes watched me curiously. She looked pretty much the same as she did in high school, only now she had an air of confidence that had been missing when she was the constant recipient of her classmates’ cruelty. There was nothing about her that should have singled her out for such treatment, but small minds rarely needed a reason to let their terrible sides surface. They picked easy targets and they kept aiming.

Cess had never faltered in her loyalties though. I think now that I started to really notice Cecily Barnett when she stuck by her friend with her head up and ignored all the garbage swirling in their midst.

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