Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
SAVVY
“Can you believe she has both of them fighting over her? Her, of all people. She’s not even that pretty, and she’s damn sure not special.”
Why are public restrooms breeding grounds for mean girl shit? Someday women will learn to eradicate this nasty cliché.
Flushing the toilet, I step out of the stall and come face-to-face with Bethany and her crony, Amelie.
Amelie immediately stares at the floor and fidgets with the strap of her purse. “So, um. I’ll see y’all around.” She spins and nearly sprints out of the restroom of Blissful Beans & Leaves.
I just wanted a freaking coffee. Is that too much to ask for?
Without saying a word, I cross the small space to wash my hands while Bethany glares at me.
Today she’s wearing a Gucci shift dress from last summer’s collection.
One thing growing up as the poor girl surrounded by unimaginable wealth taught me was how to spot a deal so I could fit in.
This dress has giant G’s interconnecting across the cornflower-blue fabric, and I’ve seen this particular style on resale threads for almost six months.
“What do they even see in you?” She spits. Actually spits. Spittle flies from her lips, and her eyes are crazed. She reminds me of a less macabre version of a zombie…maybe a vampire…some kind of monster anyway.
I sigh obnoxiously loudly. “You’ll have to be more specific, Bethany. I know a lot of people.”
“Slut.” Her scoff reeks of jealousy.
Waving my hand in front of the machine, I wait patiently for the paper towel to dispense, then do it again before ripping it off and turning to face her.
“I’m a lot of things, Bethy, but a slut is not one of them.
I’m also a girl’s girl. That means I put women before men, always.
” She stares blankly at me. “Let me rephrase that more clearly—I support women. I would never tear someone down because their beliefs don’t align with my own.
That, apparently, is one of our many differences.
Now, is there anything else you’d like to hurl my way, or are you done?
I’m sure Riley’s waiting for you to do his dirty work somewhere, so I wouldn’t want to keep you from your underhanded bullshit.
” I plaster on a saccharine smile that only irritates her more.
“Riley who?” Her left eye twitches.
“Don’t ever play poker, Bethany. You can’t lie for shit.”
“What do they see in you?” Her whine is nearing desperation.
“So you’re not denying that you’re on Riley’s payroll?”
She crosses her arms to hide the tremor in her hands. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Again with the lies.” Another well-timed dramatic sigh from me has her scratching her neck as though she’s having trouble breathing.
“Fine, Bethany. Here’s how I know you’re lying.
That dress you’re wearing cost $3,700 when it released.
Now, you can get it on resale for, I don’t know, maybe $1,000?
You work at the local preschool. You can’t afford a $1,000 dress on your salary.
But you know who would pay good money for information on your neighbor? Riley.”
“You’re delusional.”
“Am I?” I cross the restroom as if I own it and toss my paper towel into the trash can.
Fake it till you make it and all. I open the door and press my foot against the bottom, holding it open.
“I wonder what our town would think if I told them my suspicions. I mean, you do remember what happened with Madi’s ex, right?
How the good people of Happiness took to having a traitor in their midst? ”
“You have no proof.”
“In the court of public opinion, the only thing you need is doubt. And I’m not the only one who has noticed your new wardrobe, Bethy.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“That’s funny.” I laugh. “Considering you’re taking bribes from a convicted criminal who’s only back in town to hurt me, how could I possibly be threatening you?”
“What do you mean, hurt you?” She truly has no idea who she’s working with. “He doesn’t want to hurt you—he’s in love with you. They’re both in love with you. Why? Why you?” She’s so loud, she’s drawing attention in the coffee shop. Madi’s caught on to my current situation and is headed toward us.
“Riley is not in love with me, Bethany.”
“He is. He told me he is.” She slaps a hand over her mouth the second the words hit the air.
Of course he did.
“He’s a pathological liar. Would someone who loves me come here and open old wounds about my brother?
A brother I looked up to my entire childhood.
A brother who chose everyone else in the world but me.
No, Bethany. He came here to hurt me. To make me pay for his crimes because he’s a narcissist who didn’t get his way.
And you played right into his hands. Every comment, every line you fed him, he’ll use to hurt me. ”
Madi pushes past me and attempts to stand guard, but I’m a foot taller than she is, and I can still see Bethany over her head.
“Are you proud of yourself, Bethany?” Madi is a wildfire, waiting for a spark.
“No. That’s not— He said—”
“What?” I ask. “Did he tell you if you help him get me back, he’ll pave the way to Greyson for you?”
She pales, and I know it’s the truth.
“Say that isn’t true, Bethany.” There’s a pleading tone to Madi’s words. She doesn’t want to believe what’s right in front of us.
Honestly, I don’t either. Deep down, I know Bethany isn’t a villain—she’s lonely, and loneliness can make even the kindest soul do despicable things.
Isn’t that why I was with Riley in the first place? Soul-crushing loneliness.
“Are you freaking kidding me? Bethany, what the heck?” Madi’s pregnancy hormones hang onto a fuse these days, and she’s about to light the place up.
Pressing a hand to her shoulder, I gently pull her to my side.
“He said he loved you.” There’s a hollowness to Bethany’s tone and an expression that calls to the broken pieces of me. As she stares from me to Madi, another piece of her breaks before our eyes.
“He’s a master manipulator,” I tell her gently, allowing the door to slowly swing shut.
“I’ve lived it, I know how convincing he can be.
But I promise you, it isn’t love he feels when he looks at me, it’s pure hatred.
He doesn’t want to take accountability for his actions when I was a teenager, and that means he has to place the blame on someone else. I’m the easy target. I always was.”
“I just… I thought… Grey and I had such great conversations during the Cozy Cup, a…connection. I just…”
Oh, Bethany. I get it. I really, really do.
“You just thought what?” Madi’s face is bright red—a newfound mean streak flaring to life. Mama bear instincts must grow with pregnancy too. “That he was going to fall head over heels for you because you talked about the stinking weather?”
“Madi…” I infuse as much warning as I can, but she’s on a roll.
“Newsflash, Bethany. Grey has never loved anyone but his family. He’s never allowed himself to.
He was never going to fall for you simply because he wouldn’t allow it.
Savvy took him by surprise. She challenged him.
Forced him to open up. Made him feel. She’s the only one who could’ve gotten to him because they’re endgame.
They’re meant to be together, so you slithering in and attempting to break them up says so much more about your crappy morals than it would ever say about them.
I gave you the benefit of doubt after you tried to bid on Braxton, but this?
Actively working against happiness is a step too far. I can’t even look at you.”
My best friend stomps out of the restroom.
Two seconds later, she reopens the door.
“Savvy. Let’s go.” She’s still figuring out how to control her protective instincts while her personality screams scared-first-time teacher on the first day of school, and it all comes from a place of pure, unfiltered love.
As bad as I feel for Bethany, she made a decision, and now she’ll have to live with the consequences of her actions.
“There is always a way to right a wrong, Bethany. Admitting you’re wrong and trying to change shows more about your character than an old Gucci dress ever will.”
Tears fill her eyes, but I leave her and her decisions in the bathroom that smells like disinfectant.
“Can you believe the nerve on that girl?” Madi is fired up and ready for a fight. Maybe she’s having a boy—all that extra testosterone would account for her feistiness lately.
All I feel is overwhelming sadness because this is what Riley does—he infiltrates happiness and infects it with his poison. You hit rock bottom before you ever feel his bite.
“It’s not all her fault, Madi. Riley is a snake dressed up like the Easter Bunny. I don’t believe she intended to hurt anyone.”
“You’re a better woman than I am,” she grumbles. Her eyes narrow as she glares over my shoulder, and I know Bethany just exited the restroom.
“Leave her alone, Mads. I know what it’s like to be in her shoes.”
“You’re nothing like her.”
“Maybe not now. But when I was a kid? I was so desperate for love, I was willing to go against every red flag my intuition threw at me. Riley has a way of making you feel safe, loved, and heard. Then he uses it against you the first time you step out of line.”
“So you’re just going to let her get away with it?”
I catch sight of Bethany’s slumped shoulders as she weaves her way out of Blissy’s. “Sometimes the greatest punishment is our own conscience.”
Madi grumbles unintelligibly, so I step in line to order. “Where’s Brax?” We need a change of subject, and Madi can talk about her husband for hours.
“He and Grey are setting up a Discreet Daily Deeds booth at the fairgrounds. They’re going to let everyone submit some wishes, and they’ll grant as many as they can.”
Freaking Braxton could not be a nicer guy. The man spends millions of dollars every year doling out anonymous good deeds.
“That’s really nice of him,” I say.