Chapter 14 Eat Your Young
EAT YOUR YOUNG
My feet ache and my hips throb. I knew pregnancy would be uncomfortable, but this much pain? It doesn’t seem fair. Every step feels like a punishment. How am I supposed to make it another three months?
Still, I push it to the back of my mind and continue arranging the new summer line we got in this morning. The faster I finish, the sooner I can collapse onto the stool behind the front desk and take the weight off.
Outside the boutique’s expansive front windows, the sky has finally settled into that soft, cheery blue we expect this time of year. The rainy snap from two weeks ago has passed, leaving behind sun-dappled sidewalks and a warm breeze that carries the scent of fresh blooms from the park nearby.
It's a relief not to have to layer up like a guest visiting Niagara Falls just to step outside. I don't miss walking through the door drenched, only to start sweating the second the heaters inside kick in. No one wants fashion advice from a sopping, overheated shop assistant.
The bell on the door jingles, announcing a customer’s arrival. I turn instinctively to greet whoever’s walked in, but the moment my eyes meet hers, I freeze. My soles feel glued to the worn floor, and my throat tightens.
What is she doing here?
Mrs. Montgomery. Everything about her screams old Texas money.
The meticulously pinned hair without a single strand out of place, lacquered with enough hairspray to hold up in a tornado.
Her tailored navy dress clings to her like it was sewn onto her frame this morning.
Her heels, ivory and polished, don’t dare scuff the floor.
She's been in here once or twice before, always with Evan, and always after a posh lunch at the country club, which made this boutique seem quaint to a woman like her.
For someone like Mrs. Montgomery, this store—while upscale for most of our small town—might as well be a booth at the flea market out on Johnson Bend.
She doesn’t comment on my delayed greeting. Whether it’s her southern manners or willful ignorance, I can’t tell. I force myself to blink away the shock and clear my throat.
“Mrs. Montgomery, so lovely to see you. How can I help you today?” My voice is honey-dipped. A sweetness that could quench a hive of bees for a year.
I move around the display table, folding a shirt as I go, keeping my expression composed. But the second I come fully into her view, she stops short. Her eyes widen, and her hand flies to the pearl necklace around her throat.
She’s literally clutching her fucking pearls at the sight of me.
The walking cliche wants to send me into a fit of laughter, but I’m sure that would only escalate the situation.
“Oh, my dear…” she breathes, staggering slightly and gripping the back of the nearby upholstered chair for support. “I didn’t realize you were… expecting.”
My hand instinctively drops to rest protectively over my belly.
It’s still not overly noticeable, unless you know what to look for.
Usually, my oversized sweater hides the swell.
But the afternoon warmth had gotten to me, and I’d peeled it off once the lunch rush subsided.
My thin cotton top clings slightly to my damp skin, making it impossible to miss now.
Her eyes drop to my stomach, and for a flicker of a second, I think I see a tear brimming behind her thick, black lashes.
“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 looking forward 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… unique style. 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.
I leave Beth to her ass kissing and haul the decor into the small office we use as a break room and storage. I’m not going back out there until that woman is gone and I don’t have to see her smug face.
Finally getting to sit and get off my feet, I pull out my phone to check my messages. Things have been awkward between Pierce and me since he declared he expects me to give him a perfect happily ever after.
We might be having a baby, and there’s no denying the sexual tension that runs wild any time we’re in the same room, but the other stuff, I don’t know if that’s in the cards for us.
It doesn’t make sense to me how he can put everything I did behind us.
He hasn’t brought it up and addressed things head-on.
Instead, it’s offhanded comments under his breath.
I don’t think he realizes when he says them.
That doesn’t mean they don’t dig deep between my ribs and poke straight through my heart.
They’re a reminder that no matter what pretty promises he makes, he’s still not entirely over it.
That’s what leaves me unsettled on how to move forward.
Hey. You coming straight home from work? I’m thinking fried chicken, thoughts?
Sounds great. I could use some comfort food after today. A foot rub, too.
His text is from over an hour ago. I don’t expect the little white dots to pop up immediately, but they do.
Why? What happened?
Noted on the foot rub. How about I draw you a bath, and you can soak while I finish dinner?
You’re gonna lose your club cred if you keep up this Mr. Homemaker shtick.
Don’t care what the guys think, Princess. Last time I checked, a man, isn’t worried about what a bunch of guys think, as long as the woman in his life is satisfied.
Satisfied, huh. If only I could tell him, the real way to satisfy me isn’t through a relaxing bath or the delicious home-cooked meals that are probably the real culprit for the twenty pounds I’ve put on.
It’d be for him to finish what he started that night on the couch, before he blew things to pieces with his ultimatum.
I don’t get a chance to skirt the dangerous side of this conversation, because Beth comes barging into the office, eyes wild.
“Lexi Kane, how could you behave in such a way with a customer like Mrs. Montgomery. One negative word from her and I’d have to close this place.”
“Beth, come on. I helped her like any other customer. She came in here ready for a fight with me. She’s certain I had something to do with Evan’s disappearance or that I know where he is. That’s all she was in here to do.”
“Then why did she just run up a twenty-five hundred dollar bill?” she deadpans.
“Uhh.”
“Exactly, I can’t have an employee who can’t put her personal business aside and help customers. I don’t think this is going to work anymore.”
“What!?” I screech. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve been working here for three years, Beth. You’re going to let one bad customer experience cost me my job?”
“It’s nothing personal, Lexi. This business is my everything. I just can’t have you working here anymore. I’m sorry.” She nods as if that’s the end of that.
My eyes begin to burn, but after everything today, the last thing I want to do is cry in front of this woman I used to think of as more than just a boss. I thought she was a friend.
I snatch my purse and sweater from the break table and shove past her for the door, but before I leave, I whip around.
“I hope you know who you’re getting in bed with. That woman is a snake who would eat her young if it got her the results she wanted. You can send my last check to my address on file,” I say, and slam the door on my way out.