Page 14 of Should Have Been Me

She headed for the back of the shop, and I flipped the boot over, nearly swallowing my tongue at the price tag stuck to the sole. I placed the shoe back on the display and slowly backed away as two voices inside my head started arguing with each other.

One voice insisted that I deserved to treat myself every once in a while, that I worked hard and that those boots were my reward. Business was going well, and I’d managed to sock away a pretty decent savings. I could afford one little splurge.

The other voice, however, was arguing that the savings account was supposed to be for emergencies, not something as frivolous as a new pair of shoes. And honestly, did I really need them? It reminded me that, while I loved my cozy little house, it wasn’t meant to be my forever home, that I was supposed to be saving up for something bigger, something I could raise a family in. And even though business was doing well at the moment, things could change in the blink of an eye, and I needed to be prepared.

The voice in favor of the boots sounded like college-aged Jolie, while the voice opposed sounded an awful lot like my reasonable parents.

I was still suffering through the internal struggle when the bell over the door tinkled again, and a voice like nails on a chalkboard spoke behind me, making my teeth clamp together as the little hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

“Oh, those are so pretty! I just have to have them!”

Those two sentences were like a blast of frigid water right to my face as Leighton Cavanagh rounded the corner and rushed past me like I wasn’t even standing there, snatching up the boot I’d been coveting.

She held it up like she was a character from Lion King, introducing the boot to the kingdom before turning her head in my direction. “Oh, Jolie, I didn’t see you there,” she said in a saccharine sweet voice that dripped with insincerity. “What do you think? Wouldn’t these just look so great on me?”

The smile I gave her felt brittle and forced as I let out a non-committal hum. I didn’t dislike Leighton Cavanaugh because she had practically started dating my ex a minute after we broke up—well, it wasn’t only because of that.

It was also because she was a stuck-up, condescending... well, bitch. No point in mincing words. She was a spoiled brat who thought she deserved to have everything handed to her on a silver platter simply because she wanted it. From what I knew of her, she bounced from part-time job to part-time job, never lasting more than a couple months because working for a living just “wasn’t her thing”. Not when she had her parents to bail her out all the time.

I didn’t know the Cavanaughs, only seeing them around town occasionally, but Hershel and Millie seemed like good people. It was like the apple had fallen into the back of a pickup and been driven clear across the country when it came to Leighton.

“You’re in luck,” Grace said, returning from the back with a shoebox in her hand. “There was one pair left in seven and a half.”

“Ooh, that’s my size!”

I darted past Leighton and reached out, snatching the box away from Grace before Leighton could get her grubby hands on my new boots. Because the moment she reached for them, my decision was made. Those shoes were mine. She already took my man. I’d be damned if I let her get my boots too. The woman had to learn she didn’t get everything she wanted some time, right? And I was more than happy to teach her that lesson.

“Oh, sorry.” I pulled my expression into a fake wince, like I felt bad for her. Not my fault she was five minutes behind me.

You snooze, you lose, babe.

“These are mine. I’m afraid you’ll have to come back when Grace gets her next shipment in.”

I couldn’t help but smile snottily when Leighton’s lips pulled into a sneer.

She grabbed hold of the other end of the box and tried tugging it out of my hands, but I tightened my grip. The only way she was getting that box was over my cold, dead body. “But, have you paid for them yet? If you haven’t paid for them, they aren’t yours.”

I yanked the box back. “The only reason I haven’t paid yet is because you won’t get your greedy little hands off my box.”

Grace looked between the two of us nervously, clutching her hands in front of her. “Um, i-if it matters, there’s another shipment coming in next week.”

“There, see?” I exclaimed cheerfully as I continued playing tug-of-war with the boot box. “You can get your pair next week. I’ll be taking mine now, though.”

“But I can’t wait another week for these? I have very important events coming up.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. She didn’t even know the damn boots existed until a few minutes ago. “Looks like you’ll have to find something else to wear.”

She looked beseechingly at the clerk, like they were longtime friends. “Grace, I’m sure you understand. I have my engagement party coming up, and these boots would just look so perfect with my dress.”

Tires squealed inside my brain at her declaration before my gaze cast down to her hands, still clutching my box. All the air inside my lungs wheezed out of me like a balloon being deflated. I could feel my cheeks growing hotter as I stared at the shiny diamond nestled on her ring finger and knew my face had to have been turning the color of cherry pie filling. It took a few seconds to realize it was happening because I was holding my breath.

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” the she-devil asked demurely. God, I wanted to punch her in her stupid pageant-contest-perfect face. “Barrett and I are getting married.” She released the box with her left hand and placed it on her chest. “It was in the paper this morning. I’m surprised you didn’t see it.”

You can’t punch her out. You can’t punch her out, I repeated over and over in my head.

“We’re both just so happy. Over the moon, really.”

I rethought my warning not to punch her out. I was friends with Eliza Prewitt, after all, and her father was the local sheriff. I was sure he wouldn’t lock his daughter’s friend up for assault... for long, at least.

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