Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Rose was scared out of her mind. Not just for herself but for the boys who’d come to her rescue.
The sound of screeching tires pierced the air, followed by a car door and then a deep voice she could never mistake.
Daddy.
She had no idea what he said because she was too scared to process words, but the men who’d attacked her released her and took off running. The teenagers parted for Adam to get to Rose, but they didn’t give her much space.
A glance at their faces told her all of them were concerned.
“We got to her as fast as we could,” the boy she’d seen talking to Adam the other night informed him. “Those thugs must have been waiting for her to come out.”
Daddy grabbed Rose and hauled her into his arms, hugging her so tightly she could hardly breathe. When he finally let her go, he held her shoulders with both hands and looked down at her. “Are you okay, Rosebud?”
She nodded. She wasn’t though. She was shaking. She was in shock. Scared out of her mind. Tears started to fall and then a flood of words. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have come out alone. I knew better. I thought it would be okay. I couldn’t find Johnny and I didn’t want to bother you and I saw the guys out here and assumed no one would try anything with them nearby and I just wanted to get home and…” She sobbed, sucking in breaths, close to hyperventilating.
“You’re okay, Rose. Look at all the protectors you have gathered around you. Those bad guys didn’t have a chance,” Adam assured her.
With something else to focus on, Rose pulled herself back together. She slid from Adam’s arms to hug every single teenager who had come to rescue her. “Thank you all so much—but don’t do that again. They could have had a gun. I’m going to be much smarter from now on,” she promised.
“That’s a good thing, Stuff-It lady. What if we hadn’t been here?” the spokesperson for the teenagers pointed out, making Rose smile faintly. I bet he’s a Daddy in the making?
“I’m going to call the police to report the crime, guys. Would you all stay and talk to them as witnesses?” Adam asked.
“Sure, man. I think we know who they were. We won’t snitch but we can point out where they ran to their cars so the cops can find them on the surveillance camera,” the teenager suggested.
“I’m sure they’ll appreciate any assistance you can give them,” Adam assured them.
“What are your names?” Rose asked and noted them in her phone. “I want every single one of you to come make a stuffie on me.”
When the boys tried to refuse, she insisted, “There has to be someone in your life who needs a squeezable friend. A little brother or sister? A girlfriend? Grandmother? You could even make one and donate it to a charity for a holiday present.”
“My baby cousin would love one,” a teenager shared.
“Come in this week and make one for them. All of you! Not everyone would have come to help me. You all did.” She tried to keep the tears that suddenly welled back into her eyes from falling, but once they started, she couldn’t stop.
“Rosebud,” Adam whispered as he put his phone in his pocket. Tenderly, he wiped the tears from her face and hugged her close.
The teenagers elbowed each other as if trying to get someone to say the right thing. Quickly, their spokesman assured her, “We’ll come in, Stuff-It lady.”
“Rose. My name is Rose.” She smiled through her tears as a police car pulled up next to the assembled group.
By the time the police finished their questions, it was late. Rose felt dead on her feet. Her day had been so filled with emotional turmoil. She didn’t protest as Adam ushered her into his SUV. Her car would be fine in the parking lot overnight. She wasn’t in any shape to drive anywhere.
Cuddling into the soft leather of the passenger seat, Rose felt her Daddy buckle her safely in place. She closed her eyes when he closed her door and blinked them open to make sure it was her Daddy who got in when the driver’s door opened. Relieved, she relaxed again.
Without Rose having to mention a word, her Daddy drove straight to the bank. He even opened her satchel and made the deposit for her before taking off again.
When the car came to a stop the next time, she blearily allowed his guiding hands to coax her out of the car and into the warm house. Within a few minutes, Daddy had changed her into one of his T-shirts and she was curled up on a soft pillow in the large bed with her Daddy wrapped around her. Feeling cherished and protected, Rose tumbled into sleep.