Welcome to Wickedly Sweet, where each bite is sinfully delicious.
Noa Baudet has always longed to open her own specialist cupcake shop. So, when an opportunity arises at her favourite bakery in her hometown, Noa ditches her tailored suits for a flo...
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What my grandfather forgot to warn me about was how the weightlessness could also lull you into a false sense of security. While living in those moments, you could easily lose focus on the tormenting shadows creeping in.
But it was so easy to be misled.
Outside Madeleine's house, the sun covered the brickwork in a warming glow, and the evening air added an invigorating breeze that only amplified our high spirits. Even the cooing from those stupid pigeons left a melody singing through my head, along with Daan's laughter.
We were so foolishly happy walking up those steps.
Daan's arms held me tight against his chest and he buried his face into my neck. His lips grazed the skin below my ear and I had to swat him away so I could open the door with the key he'd slipped into my hand.
"Gran, you in?" He shouted out, his body still wrapped around mine.
The door creaked and a chill ran down my back. I pulled my cardigan tighter around myself and couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
The curtains were drawn and all the lights were out in the hallway and living room as we walked through the house, veiling her floral fabric sofas in darkness. An empty teacup balanced on a side table. Any other day I wouldn't have questioned it but the house felt eerily calm. Not the same calm you'd feel in an empty house, but in one with heartbreak waiting for you around the corner.
Daan felt it too as he tugged on my hand to move me behind him—protecting me from what was to come. I bumped the teacup with my hip as I followed him around to the kitchen and caught it before it clattered to the ground. My mouth instantly filled with saliva and I went hot all over.
I wish I'd walked in first.
Pressing my elbows into my side, I stayed close to Daan. A yellow glow filtered through from the blinds and made it easier to navigate the kitchen. To this day I still had no idea why neither one of us turned on the lights as we walked through the house. It's almost as if we knew what was waiting for us without acknowledging it.
Daan froze before reaching the doors to the conservatory and his face drained of all its colour. Through the partial opening, I could just about make out a pair of slipper covered feet dangling off the recliner armchair Madeleine kept in there.
"Gran?" Daan's voice broke as he weakly called out. His breaths burst in and out rapidly but he stayed rooted to the spot.
That was until I squeezed his hand. After that, everything happened so fast.
Daan rushed to Madeleine's side and fell to his knees. He was careful not to shake her or shout in case the sudden noise startled her.
"Gran, can you hear me?" He gently placed his hand on her wrist and then her neck, checking for a pulse. "Don't just stand there. Do something!"
