Chapter 17
Bette's stomach plummeted to the floor when she heard the familiar voice of her ex-wife call out, "Anyone home?"
How in the hell did she find me?
Stepping through the bedroom door, she looked out across the open floor plan and silently cursed to herself. Why was Shelly here? The day had been going so well up until that point. Moving is never fun, but she and the others were in a fairly good mood despite the heat. Not to mention, she and Kerrie were getting to spend time alone together that wasn't at work. This was enough to completely ruin that.
Shelly Cooper stood just inside the door in all of her confident, narcissistic glory. Her purse was clutched under one arm, and she had most of her weight on one high-heeled foot with her hip cocked to the side. A smug smile on her thin, pointed face made Bette want to lash out and smack it right off. She was judging Bette's new little apartment. It was evident on her face. She turned up her nose at the cabinets and the boxes and the little space that would become her home. She was probably mentally checking the boxes of what Bette had left. Their marital home had been beautiful. Stunning. And now she was living in a basement with one bedroom and dated cabinetry. She would probably start laughing if she realized that Bette was sharing the laundry area.
Oh god, the last thing I want her to do is to meet Kerrie. Sweet Kerrie didn't deserve to be scrutinized by her vicious barracuda of an ex-wife.
"What are you doing here, Shelly?" Bette seethed in a low, stern voice.
Shelly raised a light brown manicured eyebrow at her. Amusement sparkled in her brown eyes. "Is that any way to greet me? I haven't seen you in 2 months. "
"And I wish it had been longer. I didn't invite you here. And I don't want you here. How did you even find me?"
"I still have access to your location on your phone, and Zoe had said she was helping you move today, so I thought I would come and find you. I saw Zoe pulling out of the street a few minutes ago with an odd-looking man. She told me where you were. Who was that with her?"
"That is none of your business. And how dare you invade my privacy by looking up my location. That is a clear violation of a personal boundary."
Rolling her eyes, Shelly walked over to the kitchen island and began opening a box halfheartedly. "Boundaries this, boundaries that. You've always been so worried about ethics when sometimes you have to skirt around things in order to get your way. You could never understand that, could you? And besides, I want to know where my daughter is going to be hanging out. I have no doubt she'll be here seeing you, and I want to make sure it's a safe place."
"Our daughter," stressed Bette, digging her nails into her palms. "She is our daughter. I would never put her in harm's way."
"That doesn't change the fact that I want to know where my daughter is. It's not like you're keeping really good company right now working at a rehabilitation center. Do you really think that's the image you want to portray?"
"And now you're belittling my workplace. This is just like you, Shelly. Nothing is ever good enough. I've met some really nice people there, and I think that I'm actually going to be able to help some of them. Like I could make a difference in someone's life instead of just pushing papers around and trying to hide your mistakes."
"Excuse me, but it was you who made the mistakes. Always off doing things that I didn't tell you to do. I—"
Bette held up her hand, shaking her head. She knew where this was going and was going to stop it before it got bad. She had already let her get too far. "Let's just stop now. We both know how this is going to end. I'll start yelling; you'll start yelling. It's just going to be a big mess, and I don't want Zoe walking into that."
Sighing heavily, she rolled her eyes as if she were a teenager about to throw a tantrum. Shelly crossed her arms, oozing drama. "Fine. Well, I wanted to check with you about Zoe's graduation and party. Jen has already got everything set up. It's going to be beautiful. Very classy. We are going to have it at the house. Graduation is at 11:00, so we're thinking the party should be immediately after that. We've got it catered, and the photographer is coming. It's going to be really elegant, so make sure you look good for the pictures. And since you're not dating anyone, you're more than welcome to sit with us at the graduation so you won't be alone."
Fuming with anger, her face aflame, Bette began to speak but was cut off.
"She won't be alone."
The former spouses turned to the back of the apartment, where Kerrie was coming out of the bedroom. Gone was the jovial cut-up, and in her place was a confident leader with a casual feel, like a boss who knew exactly what they brought to the table and how to handle any situation. Bette's heart began to beat faster, thumping against her chest like the tail of an excited dog. Thump, thump, thump.
Walking up to Bette, Kerrie searched Bette's face briefly to see if she would protest. Bette only smiled warmly up at her as she slid her hand around Kerrie's bicep. Bette could see Kerrie was unimpressed by her ex-wife. Not in the least. Her heart swelled as Kerrie held out her hand, dwarfing Shelly's, who shrank back as if it would bite her. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kerrie Matthews."
Frowning with a slight sneer, Shelly's normally attractive face contorted into something ugly. She tentatively took Kerrie's hand in hers, quickly shaking it before glancing at it as if she had just touched the rim of a public toilet. She then looked at Bette's hand wrapped around Kerrie's arm with knitted brows.
Bette knew exactly what was going through her head. Despite the fact that they had been separated for several months and the divorce had been finalized, Shelly still thought of Bette as her property. To see her with someone else, especially somebody so different from Shelly, was like a slap in the face. Bette was an extension of Shelly. Or at least that was how Shelly viewed her.
It had taken a long time for Bette to see the truth. To see how controlling she was. Sometimes, she wondered if it had always been like that, and she just missed the signs, but she didn't think so. Shelly wanted to succeed, and she did succeed, but even on top, she still wanted to climb higher. To reach further and further without a care of how many she had to step on to get to the top.
Once Bette was no longer suiting her needs, she tossed her to the side but still expected certain things from her. Kerrie was not Shelly-approved, and the slight twitch of Shelly's left eye gave her annoyance away. It probably would have twitched harder, but Botox was doing its job .
Even that had been a sore spot between them. Bette wanted to age gracefully, while Shelly wanted to poke her face full of filler, take every vitamin and miracle pill, and slather whatever new serum or cream on her face that was supposed to prevent nature from doing its thing.
Now, standing in front of Bette and Kerrie, Shelly was deciding her next move. Save face and regroup, or begin belittling the giant of a woman. Bette knew the moment she decided to regroup when Shelly plastered on her fake, professional smile and straightened her shoulders. "Kerrie Matthews," she said like she was trying to spit the taste of her name out. "Well, Kerrie, I'm Shelly Cooper. I'm sure you've heard of me."
Tilting her head, Kerrie rubbed her chin, a small smile on her face. "Shelly Cooper. Shelly Cooper. No, sorry, doesn't ring a bell. Wait, Cooper? Are you Bette's aunt?"
The twitch grew, and Bette had to restrain herself from bursting out laughing. She could feel the bubble of laughter rise in her chest. Shelly breathed in through her nose hard, then said, "I'm her wife."
"Ex-wife. You are my ex-wife," Bette corrected quickly.
The smile didn't leave Kerrie's handsome face. "Right, right. The one that let this amazing lady get away." She slid her hand over the one Bette clutched her arm with.
"I don't know about amazing," muttered Shelly.
"I guess that's a difference of opinion, huh?"
Not accustomed to being challenged, especially in such a laid-back way, Shelly opened and closed her mouth, resembling a fish, before finally finding her voice. "I suppose so. Well, I guess I should be going. I'll see you both at the graduation."
"And don't forget the catered lunch!" grinned Kerrie, squeezing Bette's hand.
Bette was overwhelmed with delight and awe. This woman was amazing. She came right in and rescued her without hesitation.
A look of horror graced Shelly's prim face before she nodded curtly. "Right. I—I'll just let myself out."
They watched her turn sharply, purse tucked under her arm, and leave the apartment quickly, pulling the door shut behind her.
A moment of thick silence fell over them before Kerrie quickly reverted back to a big, worried teddy bear. "I'm so sorry if I overstepped. She was just being such an ass to you. I couldn't help it. She clearly wanted to hurt you."
Filled with warmth and admiration, Bette held her arms open for Kerrie to hug her. And she did. The embrace was all-encompassing. Arms, strong and soft at the same time, encircled Bette, hands gently gripping her sides as she pressed against Kerrie. The scent of crisp evergreen and the hint of sweat filled her nostrils. It wasn't unpleasant at all. It was comforting. Real. Almost sensual. She melted into the embrace without hesitation. The urge to wallow in the protectiveness. In the gratefulness of someone looking out for Bette without a hidden agenda, unlike Shelly. Unlike her mother. People who only cared what it would do for their image.
At that moment, Bette understood, possibly for the first time, what unconditional caring truly felt like. Never had she felt like that with Shelly or her mother. Zoe loved her like only a child could love their mother, but Bette was Zoe's caregiver. The backbone and protector. It wasn't the same as what Kerrie had shown her. Kerrie had genuinely wanted to protect her without something in return.
All too fast, they pulled apart, and Bette, flushed, couldn't bring herself to let go of Kerrie just yet as she kept her arms around Kerrie's waist. With Bette not pulling away, Kerrie took it as a sign that it was okay to stay connected and copied Bette.
With searching eyes, Bette stared up at her. There was no hint of deception or manipulation that she would have expected with Shelly. "No, you didn't overstep. Not at all. Thank you. I don't think I've ever had someone take up for me like that."
Licking her lips while staring at Bette's made the shorter woman's heart speed up again. Then it stopped when Kerrie seemed to second guess herself and slowly untangled from Bette, leaving her cold where Kerrie had touched her. "I'm happy to help."
Hugging herself without realizing it, Bette looked to the side. "You don't have to go, you know. The graduation, I mean. I appreciate you coming to my defense, but—”
"No way. I'll be there. I'll ask Mabel to watch Kenny."
"Watch me for what?"
At the apartment's entrance, Kenny stood on wobbly legs, holding a large slushie in one hand. Zoe peeked around him, sipping on her drink with an amused look and raised eyebrow. Had she seen them touching?
Kerrie cleared her throat. "I'm going to go with Bette somewhere."
"On a date?" he asked as if it wouldn't make everything more awkward.
"Uh," stuttered Kerrie. Neither Bette nor Kerrie looked at each other.
The smirk only increased on Zoe's face, and Bette knew instantly by the mischievous glint in her eye that her daughter was about to completely embarrass her once again. Zoe elbowed Kenny in the belly gently. "Yeah, like on a date. What do you think? You want to be my uncle one day? "
Kenny laughed nervously, looking at Kerrie to make sure his reaction was correct.
Like opening an oven door, Bette's face was completely engulfed in heat as her daughter teased them. Utterly mortified, she cleared her throat as she turned to Kerrie. "Do you need help finishing up the bed?"
Before Kerrie could reply, Zoe was already interjecting. "Yeah, y'all are probably going to need that bed."
"Zoe Marie!" Bette screeched.
Zoe held up the drink container in her hand in a defenseless way. "Okay, okay, I give. But just so you know, I don't mind calling her Dad."
Chuckling, Kerrie leaned forward and took the drink container from Zoe. "I think I'm more of a Pops than a Dad. It sounds cooler."
Bette's mouth dropped open. "Don't encourage her."
Beaming up at Kerrie, Zoe said, "This is going to be so much fun."