“Fine,” the woman said. “Tell me where he is, and I’ll get out of your hair.”
“If you want to know where he is, give him a call and ask him.” Pixie gathered up the items on the counter and prepared to ring up the customer. “Thank you for your patience. Did you find everything you needed?”
“I did,” she said, after giving the rude stranger the side-eye. “Thank you. Everything is so cute. I was here once before, but now you have so many new items.”
Pixie knew her hands were shaking as she scanned prices and folded each purchase into a bag. For the very first time since she’d started working at the shop, she wished she hadn’t brought Andy along. Alarm bells were going off in her system—her head, her heart. Sheknewthis confrontation was about to escalate, she felt the tension in the air, but she wasn’t sure what to do about it.
Making small talk with a happy customer wasn’t easy—not with the other woman fuming beside her, her nicotine-stained fingernails tapping on the counter. “We change our inventory often, except for the most popular items. Each season, we have new designs.”
“How long’s this going to take?” the intruder asked. “I’m not hanging around here all day.”
Without meaning to, Pixie crumpled the cute hat the customer had chosen. “Good. I have no information for you. There’s no reason for you to stay.” Annoyance deepened her breathing so that she had to dig deep for a calm façade. Again, she turned to the paying customer. “I’m sorry.” Carefully, she smoothed out the hat.
The customer gave her an understanding smile. “It’s fine.” Leaning closer, she asked, “Would you like me to call someone?”
Before Pixie could reply, the obnoxious woman snorted. “What? You think she needs the cavalry?” Eyes narrowing, she asked, “Do I look that threatening?”
Pixie’s calm nature spiraled away. She’d never snapped before, but now she was dangerously close.
With propitious timing, Renee breezed in at that exact moment.
All eyes turned to her. She was halfway across the shop when she realized something was wrong. Taking in the scene in one sweeping glance, Renee rushed forward.
“Hey, girl,” she said, coming around the counter and giving Pixie a hip bump. “Sorry, I’m late. Looks like you’ve got your hands full.”
Relief nearly took out Pixie’s knees. Not that she couldn’t deal with the situation, but at every moment she was aware of Andy’s attention focused on them. He’d never heard such rudeness before, and she knew he’d be unsettled. One glance and she saw his widened, watchful eyes.
This was no time to be divided, and Andy always came first. “It’s fine. While I finish with this customer, would you take Andy to the breakroom?”
“Nope.” Smile firmly pinned on her face, Renee moved to stand directly in front of the troublemaking woman. “I’ll wait while you finish up. Then you can take him to the breakroom while I handle …things.”
The way she enunciated “things” made it clear what she thought of the woman before her.
With alacrity, Pixie gave the shopper her total, and then accepted her credit card. She put the receipt in the bag. “Thank you so much—for shopping with us, and for being so patient.”
Nodding, the shopper cast one last look at the rude woman. “Take care now.”
When Pixie turned, she found Renee and the other woman in a staring contest. Renee appeared amused; the stranger, not so much.
“Now,” Pixie said firmly, hoping to take control of the situation. “It’s time for you to go—”
“Not until you tell me where to find him.”
“No, ma’am, I will not.”
“Him who?” Renee asked.
“Brogan Rafferty, my stepson.”
That bombshell squeezed all the oxygen from Pixie’s lungs, leaving her lightheaded.No.This horrible woman couldn’t possibly be … but, of course, she was. She was the right age and Pixie could certainly picture her treating a young boy so callously.
Then it struck her that this woman had also had Shayna for a time. She’d been guardian to that beautiful, innocent infant.
Thank God Brogan has her now.
“You look like a nice enough girl,” the woman said. “Don’t let the bastard cause you any problems. Just tell me—”
Hearing that word a second time shattered Pixie’s composure. Rage sent her around the counter to growl,“Get out.”She stepped into the woman’s space, her voice low and mean. “Get outright now!”
