“That’s too bad, I miss my mother’s cakes.” My mother never baked. And neither of us had much of a sweet tooth.

She stilled. “Oh. Of course, you know what, maybe just this once, I could…”

Worked like a charm.

“Do you mind?” I crossed to them and lifted the sleeves of my ivory shirt. “I could help you finish them.”

She seemed worried, then reached into the cupboard and started handing me a jar and a spatula. “They just need some icing.”

“White?”

“Well, Troy likes chocolate and strawberry frosting, while August prefers Vanilla because he hates food coloring. I wasn’t going to make two batches of everything my whole life, so I switch off.”

“Vanilla, huh?”

“He’s never any fun.”

“Was he ever?”

She considered it for a moment. “I mean not compared to Troy. Or compared to anyone I know, really. He just always preferred his schoolwork and then eventually his job over anything else.”

I frowned just as the front door burst open. A bellowing, that was unfortunately familiar in a weird way came bursting.

“Mom, we’re back,” Troy announced from the door.

She huffed and turned.

What sounded like a duffle bag dropped on the wooden floor seconds before Troy walked the small distance into the kitchen. “Hey, Harp, glad you could make it.” He winked at me and I wondered if he knew anything about what happened between August and me.

“Where’s your brother?” Grace asked.

“Outside on a call.”

She sighed and shook her head.

Troy walked over to the counter where I stood and grabbed a cupcake. He winked at me and seemed like he was going to say something flirtatious until his father walked into the room. “Troy what are you doing?”

“I was just going to the living room to watch game recaps.”

“Good idea, bring a notepad,” he snapped. “I’ll join you.”

The Hartman parents exchanged looks and the two men left the room.

Yep, tension was thick in here tonight.

I heard the front door close in the distance and footsteps sounded in a distant room of the house. Probably one of the small rooms I passed on the way to the kitchen.

I knew it was him and he must have known I was here from my car being in the driveway.

I tried to focus on the task at hand. I heard his voice in the distance and he didn’t sound happy.

“Sounds like a problem at work?” Grace asked her husband when he stepped back into the room to grab something from the fridge.

“Gee I wonder why,” he muttered.

I had a feeling I knew what the elephant in the room was now.