in the world would the boy be doing next to the creek?
She gnawed her lip. Stop or not, she wasn’t sure, but since she’d been going on foolish impulse since grabbing her keys, she went ahead and pulled over to the side of the road and got out. The small area off to the side of the bridge was more cluttered than she might have expected for a town that boasted its civic pride on every posted sign.
“I must have lost my mind.” Marissa turned to head back to the SUV and the dirt under her foot gave way. She slid down the short embankment on her butt, squealing the entire way down until she hit the bottom. The air jerked out of her lungs. It took a moment to catch her breath, then she stood and scanned the area. Her heart hammered as much from her quick ride as it did from the realization of how isolated she was. So far off the road, no one would be able to see her unless they came down the embankment as she had. Nor would anyone know if she needed help.
Luckily, no one was lurking about.
She twisted and checked the back of her pants. No holes, but dirty. She shook her head and dusted off her butt.
For some reason she tiptoed as she crossed over to the small tree that held the backpack. She checked around her, feeling a little guilty and slightly exposed while snooping. When she was sure she was alone, she unzipped the largest of the compartments of the backpack. There were several schoolbooks and a notebook. She slid out the notebook. Paul Hillman was written across the front in small, precise black letters.
It was the boy’s backpack. But what did that mean?
Under the bridge overhang, Marissa found a clean sleeping bag. She studied it until a car horn honked. She looked at her watch. Time to get back to the shop to meet Duff.
She breathed a little easier once she was back in her car and headed back to work. All the while her mind tried to process a young man breaking into her shop, taking only a few day-old cupcakes and…doing homework. It made too much sense when she considered the backpack and the sleeping bag. She got a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.
When she arrived at the shop, she headed straight to the restroom to clean herself up before Duff got there. She didn’t want to explain what she’d been doing since she wasn’t entirely sure she could explain it. Just as she finished cleaning the last of the grit from her palms, Duff walked in.
“Hey, little sis.” He gave her a quick hug, then pushed her to arm’s length and frowned down at her. “You look like hell.” One of his blond eyebrows cocked upward as he grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a good onceover.
She elbowed her oldest brother in the ribs. “Well, you’re just a ray of sunshine, aren’t ya.”
“You love me anyway.” He gave her a quick noogie as she tried to swat him. “What do you need fixed?”
Marissa showed him the hole in the back door, then skirted the issue when he asked how she’d found it. He told her it had rust around the edges, so it was probably pretty old.
“I need to run up to the hardware store to get some supplies. Shouldn’t take me too long to get it done once I get back.”
“Thank you, big brother.” She reared up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek quickly.
Duff snorted. “None of that brother-sister kissy stuff. I want cupcakes.”
She chuckled. “Okay.” She hurried over to her desk and snagged a notepad. “Give me a list of flavors and I’ll have them ready for you when you’re done.” Duff’s sweet tooth was only surpassed by his wife’s. He and Libby were often two of her first tasters when she was working out new flavors for the shop.
After he finished the order, he left for the hardware store.
Marissa grabbed two Black Forest cupcakes, two of the vanilla bombs and four of the new orange crèmes. And for good measure she added in two of the new maple bacon and nestled them into the pink-and-white bakery box with a note atop for Duff to let her know what he and Libby thought of the new flavor. Then she took the rest of the quiet time in the back to get to work on the paperwork she’d fallen asleep over the night before. Her eyelids were again growing heavy as she scanned her employees’ time sheets. It shouldn’t be that difficult with one part-time employee and Kya working full-time, but the numbers kept swimming around the page.
Maybe if she took a quick break. She crossed her arms over the sheets and laid her head down.
The next moment, someone was tapping on her forehead. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”
Marissa lifted her head to find Duff standing over her.
“You’re lucky the only markers on your desk were permanent.” He tapped her forehead again. “You’d be sporting some wicked eyebrows and a ’stache.”
“Small favors, I guess, that you do have your standards for your sibling torture.” She leaned back in the chair and massaged a kink in her neck. “So how long do you think it will take you?”
Duff gave a quick snort. “Mar, I’ve already finished.”
Marissa’s eyes widened.
“You were sleeping like a rock.” Her brother gave her a long look. “What’s up with that? Are you having troubles?”
She debated telling him about the break-in, but what could he do about it other than worry? “No trouble. Just a lot of paperwork that seems to be interfering with my sleep.” She lifted the time sheets in front of her.
He looked like he didn’t believe her but didn’t comment further on the subject. “Come, let me show you what I did.” He motioned for her to follow him to the back door. “The patch will hold, but I would suggest you think about getting a new door altogether. And an alarm. This door’s not even wired for anything.”
She opened her mouth to complain about funds being low, but he raised his hand.
“I know they’re expensive. I’m just throwing that out there as an overprotective big brother.” They stopped at the door and he showed her the small panels he’d fastened on both sides of the door with some superglue. “And just in case someone gets the bright idea of prying the panel off, I filled the hole with caulk.”
“Thanks, Duff.” When he straightened he merely held out his hand and batted his eyelashes at her expectantly.
Marissa rolled her eyes. “Let me get your cupcakes. I’d tell you to go easy on them, but I think Libby will be lucky if there are any left by the time you get home.” She patted his belly. “And I threw in two of a new one I’m working on.”
He clapped his hands together. “What is it this time?
“Maple bacon.”
“Hmm.”
That was a noncommittal response if she ever heard one. “Trust me. You’ll love it.” She handed him the box. “You’ll be calling me begging for more. Just you wait and see.”
Once Duff left, Marissa finished the rest of the time sheets. Paying her employees was much more important than leaving a little early if she wanted to keep said employees.
Kya popped back into her office about an hour before close. “Boss, there’s a group of teens loitering outside the shop.”
Teenagers on their own weren’t that big a deal—their orders made up probably a third of her business—but for Kya to come back and bring it to her attention… The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood but she shook it off. It was probably nothing. Or it could be someone returning to the scene of the crime. Marissa sat up straighter in her chair. Would Hill be brazen enough to come back to the shop when she was open? She pushed back in her chair and followed Kya out to the front of the shop. “Where?”
“Right now they’re across the street but they’ve walked past the front of the shop at least three times.”
“Did they come in?”
The