Page 28 of Entangled By You
“I’m almost six months,” I say confidently.
She’ll do the math. I know she will. She’ll realize this baby isn’t Evan’s. What I don’t know is whether that will bring her relief or devastation.
If Evan were still around, his family would’ve made damn sure I either married him or got whisked away to some clinic across state lines to make sure his future remained unblemished. But now? Now that he’s gone, I wonder if maybe for a split second she thought she’d have a piece of him back, if the baby were his.
She’s never liked me. Always looked at me like I was something sticky on the bottom of her three-inch pumps. But she’s off-balance now, and I’ve never had the chance to see this side of her.
“It’s not his, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Her head snaps up at that. The softness vanishes, her features hardening like cooling wax.
“No,” she says, her voice clipped and sharp, “I didn’t suspect it would be.”
Of course not.
I inwardly roll my eyes as the woman I recognize solidifies into place. The distraught mother pushes away in the blink of an eye.
“My boy wouldn’t be careless enough to find himself in a predicament like that with a girl like you.”
Don’t take the bait, Lexi.
I inhale slowly, forcing the breath deep into my ribs. I let the anger settle, not letting it speak for me.
“Great,” I say, voice calm. “So, is there something I can help you with today, then?”
A flicker of frustration twitches across her brow. Her regular schedule for Botox is working overtime. My refusal to engage throws her off her little game, and I feel the slightest spark of pride. Women like her are accustomed to people falling in line, especially those in a service position, like myself.
Her nostrils flare. “Well… I…” she begins, then falters. She isn’t used to being denied a victim for her hurled insults. “I know you know where he is,” she hisses suddenly, stepping forward and jabbing a manicured finger toward my chest.
My breath catches.
“Like I told the police a thousand times already,” I say through gritted teeth, “I don’t know what happened to Evan or where he went. We haven’t been together in nearly a year, and I haven’t heard from him since.” Despite the control I’m fighting to keep, a tremor of irritation seeps into my voice.
“You stupid little girl,” she snarls. “You think we don’t know what happened between you two? What you were after?”
Her words slice through the air, leaving a silence so sharp I can hear the hum of the people walking by outside.
A cold spike of panic stabs through my chest. She can’t know. They can’t know. Because if that’s the case… would I still be standing here, free to walk the streets of this town?
Before I can spiral, Bethany May walks in, arms laden with summer window decor.
I forgot she was coming in tonight. I wasn’t lookingforward to it earlier, but she couldn’t have picked a better time to come waltzing in.
“Mrs. Montgomery,” Bethany May gasps once she’s cleared the woman shooting daggers at me.
She hands off the pile of stuff in her arms to me, shooing me away with her eyes, before she turns to welcome her dream customer.
“Welcome to Sable and Sage. I’m Bethany May, the owner. It’s an honor to have you in here today, ma’am. Are you shopping for anything in particular? I’d be happy to help you find whatever it is that you need.”
I scoff at the desperation leaking between every syllable she excitedly utters. I get it, though. With one kind word to her flock of habitually bored, ladies-who-lunch friends, Bethany May would be set for years. Having their golden stamp of approval is a small business’s calling card.
The smirk on her handsomely paid-for face screams annihilation. Unease blooms in my belly, an ivy of dread winding its way upward, wrapping tight around my lungs, choking out the oxygen before it can reach me.
“Well, you have a lovely establishment, such a…uniquestyle. It’s just a shame you employ such useless help. I’ve been here for thirty minutes and not once has she been able to assist me in what I need.”
Fuck me.
“Oh no, that just won’t do. Let me assist you myself.” Bethany May leans in, and I can’t hear what she whispers, but I have a feeling this isn’t going to swing back in my favor.
