Chapter Fourteen
Fourteen
For a second there was a hush, like the silence that follows the crack of a rifle.
Then all hell broke loose.
“What the fuck, Dad?” Carter was staring at Kaitlyn like he was only really noticing her for the first time, perhaps thinking—as Baxter was now—how close in age they were.
Damian was out of his chair, slapping Alec on the back and guffawing. “You old goat! Still lead in the old pencil, then?”
“Looks like it.” Alec had the smug look of someone who had achieved something spectacularly challenging, as opposed to the simple act of impregnating his young girlfriend.
No doubt Alec would consider he had done “the important bit,” Baxter thought, and would leave the actual child-rearing to the poor kid’s mother.
He caught the bitterness in his thought and pushed it to one side.
A long time ago, Baxter had thought he might like to be a father one day, but it had never happened, and now he supposed it never would.
“Hey, congratulations!” Jade said to Kaitlyn, whose hands were still clasped over her nonexistent bump. “When are you due?”
“I’m only fourteen weeks, so ages yet.”
Francesca smiled. “You’re certainly glowing!”
The only person not to offer a response was Sylvie. Her face was the color of chalk, her lips pinched so tight they seemed to disappear altogether. Even her perfectly arched brows seemed to be frozen in place. Although that may have been the Botox, Baxter conceded.
“Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?” Jade said.
Kaitlyn turned to Alec. “We don’t mind either way, do we?”
“As long as it’s healthy.” Alec’s response was automatic, and although he was smiling, he lacked his girlfriend’s enthusiasm.
“A girl would be awesome,” Jade said.
“Oh gosh no, girls are terribly complex!” Francesca laughed. “I’ll take a nice easy baby boy, please.”
“I think you’ll find that ship has sailed.
” Alec laughed. He might have intended the gibe to be good-natured, but there was a cruel edge to his laugh, and Francesca looked down at her lap.
Alec reminded Baxter of a boy he’d known at school, whose popularity had been built on the weak spots of others—very often Baxter.
As a lighthearted argument broke out about the merits of girls over boys, Baxter poured a glass of iced water and placed it silently on the table beside Francesca.
“What. The. Fuck?” Sylvie gave the words their own space, as though each were a sentence of its own. They punctuated the conversation like bullets aimed directly at her former husband. An awkward silence fell across the group.
Alec seemed unperturbed. “‘Congratulations’ is the more conventional response, Sylvie, but then you’ve never been conven—”
“Congratulations.” Sylvie gave him a slow hand clap. “Well done on finding a brainless gold digger with big tits.”
“I’ve got brains,” Kaitlyn said defensively.
Damian gave a lecherous laugh. “You’ve certainly got big—”
“For God’s sake, Damian,” snapped Francesca.
“Sure you’ve got brains,” Sylvie sneered. “Getting knocked up by a married man is real clever.”
Kaitlyn stared at her. “Married?” She shook her head. “What is she talking about? You’re divorced.” She turned to Alec for reassurance, but when she saw his face, the color drained from her own.
Damian chortled. “Oh, this’ll be good.”
“They’ve been divorced for years.” Carter looked at Sylvie. “Mum, stop stirring. I’m as shocked as you are, but—”
“Separated,” Sylvie said.
Alec glared at her. “The divorce hasn’t actually been finalized, thanks to your mother dragging it through the courts.”
“Thanks to your father’s attempts to make me live like a pauper,” Sylvie spat back.
“A two-million-dollar brownstone is hardly living like a—” Alec didn’t finish, because the contents of Kaitlyn’s glass hit him square in the face.
“You told me you were divorced!” Kaitlyn’s hands trembled. She set down the glass with a clatter.
“It’s a technicality, sweetheart.” Tomato juice dripped from Alec’s chin onto his white polo shirt. Baxter made a mental note to spot-clean it before it went to the laundry. “It doesn’t change anything between us.” He reached for Kaitlyn, but she pulled away.
She got to her feet, staring at Alec as though he were a stranger. “You lied to me.” Her voice cracked, raw and cold, as she backed slowly away from him. “It changes everything.”