I studied her, my heart beating hard.

Then I realized she was going to have her scene no matter what, she wanted it and she was going to have it especially considering now that scene earned her Brock’s attention which was what she wanted most of all.

So I shrugged.

My customers were just going to have to deal and I’d barricade myself, the boys, Ellie and her little mermaids and my staff in my office if it was going to be a blowout.

Then I said, “Suit yourself.”

Then I turned to Joel and ordered gently, “Sort out Ellie and her friends, yeah? Then go in the back with your brother and wait for your Dad. You cool with that?”

He looked up at me, nodded, his eyes moved through his mother then he dashed into the back to get the orders from Rex.

I looked to Laura, ignoring Olivia who had dropped her bags at her feet, crossed her arms on her chest, hitched her hip with a foot out and had a face like thunder.

I was right. She was in for the long haul.

Whatever. Her funeral.

So I told Laura, “I’ll get you a coffee. How do you take it and do you want a cake?”

Laura fell into the ignoring Olivia tactic, placed her order then went to her daughter and her girlfriends.

I made her coffee and got her a humongous chocolate cookie with peanut butter chips. Joel took care of the girls and disappeared in the back. Through all this, Olivia stood in her bitch stance, glowering at us.

I was delivering Laura’s stuff at her table when two uniformed officers walked in.

Olivia tensed. Laura grinned. I stared.

“We’ve had a report of a disturbance?” one of the officers asked the room at large then his eyes honed in on Olivia. “A blonde woman. Late forties?”

“Late forties, hysterical,” Laura mumbled gleefully.

“Her,” a random customer pointed at Olivia before I could say a word. “She came in being loud and nasty, used foul language and wouldn’t leave when she was asked, like seven thousand times.”

“Yeah, it was her,” another random customer unnecessarily confirmed. “And she did all this in front of little kids.” Then she added further unnecessary detail, “Kids in mermaid outfits.”

“And she put her hand on one and not in a nice way,” another random customer added.

“From what I could tell, he was her son but still. That ain’t right.” Then he went on to mutter,

“Though, he wasn’t in a mermaid outfit.”

“You come into a bakery thinkin’ to get a good cookie or a purple cupcake with sprinkles,” another random customer piped up. “Then, all of a sudden, some uppity chick storms in droppin’ the f-bomb and the b-bomb. I mean, what is up with that? ”

Clearly this was enough evidence for them for, after receiving these reports, one of the officers opened the front door and, eyes on Olivia, he requested, “Ma’am can you come with me?”

Her jaw set, her chin lifted and her eyes narrowed but otherwise she didn’t move. This was surprising evidence that she was stubborn and stupid as well as manipulative and a screaming bitch.

I had not been in trouble with the law, as in ever, except, of course, when Damian dragged me into his business but I was an innocent swept up in that, so I didn’t really have any experience with dealing with police officers. But still, I was smart enough to know when a cop asked you to do something, he did it politely or even if he didn’t, you should probably do it.

I found in short order I was not in error and I knew this when the officer explained things further. “If you’re waitin’ for Detective Lucas, he’s tied up and we can’t have you disturbin’

this establishment so you got two choices. You can come outside and talk to us or we can take you to our squad car, take you to the Station and you can explain things there. But you should know, the second option, you’ll be cuffed mostly because you’ll be arrested. Which way we gonna go?”

Olivia sucked in an audible breath.

Then she bent, snatched up her abundance of glossy Cherry Creek North shopping bags, stomped to and through the door.

The minute her feet moved over the threshold, the entire bakery erupted into loud cheers.

I bit my lip to bite back my smile and looked at a smiling like a madwoman Laura. Then her phone rang as one of the officers followed Olivia and the other one came to me.

“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.”