The Lunacy of Tyler Lockhart ✔️

Chapter Thirty Four - Present

Victoria

We were short-staffed at the bakery again. The barista, Ollie was on leave because her grandmother fell down the stairs so she was taking care of her which meant, the café now solely relied on my shoulders. Archer was an added help, but today he had woken up early and gone to a local farmer's market to pick fresh fruits because we'd received a late-night order for deserts that we were supposed to cater for a cocktail party tonight.

Seriously, I had no clue how I was going to handle all of that. The pressure was tremendous.

I was so caught up with decorating a lemon tart that I didn't even realize the bell on the door had chimed.

"Good morning!" I greeted the patron without looking up as I arranged the tarts into the glass display. "There's banana bread fresh out of the oven. Would you like to try? I won't charge for—

"Hi, Vicky,"

That voice.

I glanced up to find myself staring into a friendly face from a few nights ago.

Sarah stood at the other side of the counter looking as exotic as ever, dressed in a cute t-shirt over shorts and knee-length boots. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she legit looked like a very sexy cowgirl. Yeeee-Hawww. The hat was missing.

"Hey," I said.

This couldn't get any more awkward.

"I heard that you have the best bakery in town. Your  éclairs are world-famous. I couldn't resist." She sounded friendly, but I couldn't help but notice her eyes were a little red and puffy like she'd been crying for days.

I laughed, "Let me guess...Tyler told you that."

"Max did." She corrected me. "I'm living in the mansion, in case you weren't aware."

"It's none of my business, Sarah, and I really don't understand why you're telling me this."

"I want to apologize for the last time." I heard the sincerity in her voice. "Tyler used to always talk about someone called Victoria that he couldn't forget and then when you told me your name was Vicky, I never put two and two together."

"It's not your fault," I assured her.

"Tyler is not my boyfriend." She declared and then her eyes were filled with unshed tears. "I lied to you and I feel so stupid. It was just my wishful thinking that maybe someday he would forget his first love and give me a chance but I don't see that ever happening. I used to always introduce Tyler as my boyfriend because it was easier to fend off unwanted attention and he never had a problem with it."

I huffed a sigh. "Did Tyler send you here?"

"No, he didn't." She shrugged. "But he was a little mad, and I wanted to make things right. I would still love to be friends with you, Vicky. It doesn't change anything."

I placed a banana cake on a plate. "Would you like some Coffee? I make the best Spanish latte."

She cheered up a little. "Sure."

I brought our plates and coffees to a booth at the back. The patrons still hadn't started coming for their morning breakfast. The clouds had turned gray outside, and it started drizzling. The weather was nice to get cozy under the covers with a book and a hot cup of coffee. Recently, I haven't had the luxury to enjoy either of those things.

"Sarah, just to put it out there. Tyler and I broke up a long time ago when we were seventeen when he moved to the U.K. He visited the country every year for his vacation but I steered clear off him." I explained. "There are a few things that you probably don't know about Tyler. He's a self-serving, manipulative man with narcissistic tendencies. It was one of the reasons we broke up. He fucked up pretty badly."