“I’m Officer Petri,” he told me.

“Tess O’Hara,” I told him. “I, um…” I swung an arm toward the big sign confirming my next statement, “own this place.”

He nodded, his lips twitching then he said, “I know. I know Slim so I know who you are.

What I gotta know now is what you want us to do here, Ms. O’Hara.”

I opened my mouth to tell him I just wanted Olivia gone but suddenly Laura was there, arm extended, phone in hand.

I looked to her and she said, “Slim.”

Great.

I nodded, smiled a “give me a minute” smile at the officer, took the phone, pulled in a calming breath, put it to my ear and greeted with a soft, “Hey.”

“Make a complaint,” he growled at the same time he managed a new feat and that was filling the atmosphere with abrasive anger and he wasn’t even there.

“Honey,” I said quietly.

“Make a complaint, Tess. I want this shit on record.”

Oh. Right. That would probably be good for the cause.

“Okay,” I agreed.

“Too pissed right now to discuss this, we’ll talk about it later.”

Goodie. Something not to look forward to.

“Okay,” I repeated.

“Later, babe,” then he was gone which meant he was pissed, very pissed but I didn’t need that confirmed. I was pretty sure a layer of skin had been sanded off my ear from just having a twenty second conversation with him on the phone.

I snapped the phone shut, handed it to Laura and said to Officer Petri. “I’d like to make a complaint.”

“Dig it,” Laura muttered happily under her breath.

“It okay I talk to some of your customers?” Officer Petri asked and it wasn’t, I didn’t like that at all but they’d witnessed Olivia being Olivia, they showed they didn’t mind speaking up and their statements might help Brock get his sons with him and safe from anymore of these nightmares.

Therefore I said, “Yes.”

He nodded then told me, “I’ll come to you last, gotta get to ‘em before I lose ‘em.”

I nodded.

He moved.

I looked to Laura.

“Happy days,” she whispered gleefully. “That bitch is finally gonna get what’s coming to her.”

Indeed.

“I need to go see Joey and Rex,” I told her and her eyes slid to the swinging doors and they weren’t dancing anymore when they slid back to me.

“Yeah,” she replied. “Send Kalie or Kellie out to look after the girls and I’ll help.”

I nodded, whispered, “Thanks,” then moved.

I hit the back room and found with the boys that there were no tears but there was fear.

Luckily, we were in a bakery and surrounded by baked goods.

And baked goods soothed a lot of ragged emotions.

It was a Band-Aid.

But it worked in a pinch.

* * * * *

The cops were gone, Laura and the girls were gone and the boys were back to KP duties, albeit doing it with far less enthusiasm and this was because their minds were filled with their mother’s antics but also because wiping down tables and cleaning dishes had lost its luster (as it had a tendency to do, no matter what age you were) and I was in the back, icing sugar cookies when my phone on the stainless steel table rang.

The display said “Slim Calling”.

I pulled in breath, my eyes moving to the swinging doors to see if I could spot Joel or Rex and do a visual check on their state of mind as I reached for the phone. I took the call and didn’t see either before I put it to my ear.

“Hey,” I answered.

“Boys okay?” he asked as greeting.

“The bloom has gone off the rose of KP duty.”

“Right,” he muttered and I knew he got what I was saying. Then he told me, “Levi was at the gym when I called earlier. I finally got him and he and Lenore are gonna be around in the next half an hour. They’re gonna take them to a movie and then to get somethin’ to eat. I should be done by then so I can get ‘em and then they’ll be good.”

There it was. Lenore again. Hmm.

“Lenore?” I asked curiously.

“Babe,” Brock answered, not going to go there.

“All right,” I murmured, giving up.

“Laura called me and filled me in,” he informed me, I held my breath and he went on. “I called my lawyer at home and filled him in. She put her hand on Joel. He’s gonna go with that and see if he can find a judge who’ll hurry this shit along. She f**ked up today. She f**ked up two weeks ago when she cried wolf about intruders and the cops got involved. This is not the behavior of a stable woman who can look out for two boys.”

After today’s scene, I was thinking the same thing. Today’s behavior was beyond just being bitchy and manipulative; it was way out of line to the point of being scary.

I didn’t share this.

Instead, quietly, I told him, “Baby, you should have seen Joey. He stood up for me, for himself and he took care of his brother. It took a lot of courage but you would have been proud.”

There was a moment of silence then, “Yeah, Laura told me.”

“He was great.”

“I’m glad he was great, darlin’, just wish he wasn’t in the position to have to be great.”

This was, unfortunately, true.

“That sucks but silver lining, Brock, he was in that position and he was great. He didn’t back down and he looked after his brother. You should hold onto that because that means, like his Dad and his Dad’s family, you’ve got a strong, smart, loyal son.”

This was met with another moment of silence.

Then a soft, “Yeah.”

Then I assured him, “She put her hand on him, baby, and it wasn’t nice but she didn’t hurt him.”

“Your mother ever put her hand on you when she’s pissed or throwin’ a tantrum?” he asked.

“No,” I whispered.

“Mine either so I don’t know but I ‘spect that doesn’t feel too good.”

This was also unfortunately true.

“Right.” I was still whispering.

“Right.” Now Brock was whispering.

We both held those unhappy thoughts for awhile then Brock broke into them.

“No matter how drunk you get or how late you call, I want you in my bed tonight.”

“Brock, I –”

He cut me off. “I want you in my bed because I want you in my bed but I also want you in my kitchen makin’ my boys breakfast tomorrow. They need a good breakfast and they need to be around a woman who makes ‘em laugh and feel safe. Tomorrow is their last day with me, it’s a short one and then they gotta go back to her. I wanna make it as good as it can get.