“Mommy, what’s happening?” Ellie called, her voice shaky, her eyes and all the eyes of her mermaid friends riveted to the activity and not in a good way.

“It’s okay, baby,” Laura called back, “Mommy’s just talking with Olivia.”

“Please, please,” I cut in, sensing the situation was deteriorating and, getting desperate, my eyes moving to Olivia, “can we talk about this in the back?”

Olivia ignored me yet again, her face going stone cold and her voice dripping with ice when she clipped loudly. “Joel! Rex! Now!”

I moved closer to her (though not that close, she had nails and I was afraid she’d use them) and said softly, “I’ll ask again, Olivia, because you’re distressing the boys and Ellie and her friends, can we talk about this in the back? When we get back there, I’ll call Brock and you can discuss this with him.”

“Fuck Brock and f**k you! ” she suddenly shouted, my torso jerked back like she hit me, Laura’s pissed off energy snapped through the air, I sensed movement behind the counter so I knew Kalie and/or Kellie were on the go and I opened my mouth to speak but someone beat me.

And that someone was Joel.

“That’s not nice,” he whispered, his voice trembling and I stepped aside and turned to see his face pale and his hands clenched in fists at his sides. “You shouldn’t talk to Tess that way.

She’s a nice lady, she’s nice to everyone and that’s not nice.”

Taking him in and hearing his words my hatred for his mother achieved new heights.

“Joey, honey, get your brother and go into the back,” I ordered quietly.

But as I was speaking, Olivia moved quickly, closing in on Joel, she wrapped her fingers around his shoulder and gave it a yank, snapping, “When I tell you to do something, you do it!”

More gasps filled the air, including my own, both Laura and I moved in on her and Rex shrunk back but Joel ripped his shoulder from his mother’s hold and stepped back but at the same time stood firm so I stopped and so did Laura.

“It’s Dad’s weekend,” he declared.

“If it’s your father’s weekend, where is he?” Olivia returned.

“He has to work, Mom. He’s got a job. Somethin’ bad happened to someone and he’s gotta find out who did it. With Dad comes Tess and if Dad has to work then we get to be with Tess.

We’re havin’ fun here, we like it here. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’ll see me now and I’ll talk to your father later about who he allows to spend time with his children,” Olivia retorted.

Joel stared at her and I saw him battling, my heart went out to him but I was completely at a loss of what to do. He needed his father but his father was working, my phone was in the back and I didn’t want to leave the boys with Olivia to go get it and call him. And if I did and he knew this was happening, he’d lose his mind.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Laura’s phone was in her purse and she started digging into it.

Joel spoke again, quiet, soft, scared but determined. “We don’t wanna see you now.”

Oh man.

“Well I don’t care, I’m your mother and you mind me,” Olivia shot back.

“We’re havin’ fun,” Joel told her.

“I don’t care about that either,” Olivia returned.

“I know,” Joel whispered, my heart clenched and I’d had enough.

But even so, I couldn’t do what I wanted to do which was, I was ashamed to admit, get in a bitch-slapping fight with her. I didn’t think that would be good although it would feel good.

So instead, I had to try and play it cool, for Joey, for Rex and for Brock.

“Please,” I said softly, “can we talk about this in the back?”

Joel ignored me and told his mother, “You need to go.”

She blinked, her shock apparent, then she asked, “What?”

He didn’t answer his mother. He turned to his brother and ordered, “Go to the back with Kalie and Kellie.”

I noticed then that Rex was watching this with wide eyes and he wasn’t about to move but he wasn’t given a choice. Kalie rushed forward, bent to grab his hand and gently pulled him through the swinging doors, Kellie following them.

Okay, one down, one to go.

“Joel, honey, why don’t you go with them?” I suggested.

Joel turned to me, shook his head then his eyes went back to his tight-lipped mother and he repeated, “You need to go.”

“I’ll say it one more time, Joel, go get your brother, get your coats and come with me.”

“No,” Joel replied instantly.

“Slim?” Laura said and all eyes moved to her. “I’m sorry, I know you’re busy but I have to tell you that Olivia is at Tess’s bakery, she’s making a scene and she put her hands on Joey.”

Oh no.

That was the wrong thing to say. Not that it wasn’t true or that there were any right things to say but that was the wrong thing to say.

Laura kept talking. “He rightly refuses to go, they’re in a showdown and all five hundred of Tess’s customers are bystanders. She won’t leave even though Joey has asked her to and she won’t go to the back to discuss the situation even though Tess has asked her to repeatedly. I’m sorry, Slim, but I think you’re gonna have to deal with this.”

To my shock, Olivia haughtily held out her hand to Laura and demanded, “Let me talk to him.”

But Laura snapped shut her phone and informed Olivia, “Too late, he’s angry, he’s hung up and I’m guessing he’s on his way.”

Oh no!

Time for emergency maneuvering. I didn’t need Brock to show being pissed off and filling my magical, happy bakery with his pissed off vibes or him entering the showdown with Olivia considering he didn’t shy away from the f-word either, or the c-word, m-word, b-word, a-word and a variety of other words. Things were crazy busy but I didn’t need my customers avoiding Tessa’s Cakes for fear of witnessing a tense, combative, foul-mouthed domestic scene. Or, as the case was, a worse one.

“I think,” I said quietly, “it might be a good idea if you aren’t here when Brock shows.”

“And I think it might be a good idea for you not to tell me what to do,” Olivia retorted.