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Both of them had perfected the way to look at someone to communicate just how lacking they found them without actually being able to move any of their facial muscles.
Tina had been muttering insults to the coffee machine as the woman approached, but she stopped once she was within eyesight.
Tina turned, putting her hand on her hip and observed my almost mother-in-law with open disdain and hostility.
It delighted me to see her pinched face tighten in something resembling fear. Tina was not impressed or afraid of the power she wielded in this town.
“Claire,” I greeted her, smiling tightly but not warmly. “What can I get you today?”
“I’m not here for any of… this,” Claire gestured to the glass case full of sweets with thinly veiled disgust. Which made sense since I had not seen the woman eat more than a few bites of salad or chicken since I’d known her.
“I’m here to tell you to get my son back in town.” She turned her attention to me.
I frowned at the woman. “Nathan and I are no longer engaged, as you are well aware. I have no control over what he does or doesn’t do.”
Claire clutched her purse tighter. “I know for certain that he was at your home the night he just left without notice. I know his leaving had something to do with you. You’ve always had a power over him I could never understand.” Her sharp gaze ran over my body, communicating she found me sorely lacking.
Or more likely, she found that there was too much of me, since her standards of beauty came from the era where women had to practically be anorexic in order to seem desirable.
Though, unfortunately, that era had not left us completely.
I internally sighed, laying my palms flat on the counter. “I have customers,” I informed her, glancing at the small line behind her. “If you’re not going to order something, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to step to the side.”
Claire may as well have sucked on a lemon. “I’ll have a coffee. Black.”
“Get that, Tina?” I asked.
“Got it,” Tina replied, her gaze fixed on Claire long enough to make the woman shift in her sensible, designer heels.
The coffee machine came back to life as I stared at Claire, no longer willing to let the woman look down on me, make me feel small.
“Nathan made his choice,” I informed her. “I had nothing to do with him leaving town. Thankfully, I have nothing to do with him or you anymore.”
Claire sucked in a sharp breath. “You are a piece of work,” she hissed, abandoning all pretense of civility. “Of all the women who wanted Nathan, all the women who deserved him. Who deserved our family name. Of all the women, he chose you. He was the best thing that ever happened to you, and you threw him away. Broke his heart. Drove him out of the town he was born in.”
I laughed out loud at that. I couldn’t help myself.
This ticked off the woman more. She might’ve scowled, but who knew considering all of the toxins freezing her facial muscles.
“You really are deluded,” I shook my head once I got a hold of myself. “Nathan will never be the best thing that happens to any woman. Because he was raised to think he is God’s gift when really he’s just another rich asshole who doesn’t know where to find the clitoris.”
I really wished I had a camera so I could immortalize the look on Claire’s face. Fiona struggled to contain her giggle beside me, and even Tina choked out a chuckle.
The shock on Claire’s face only lasted for a handful of seconds, unfortunately. Then she regained her bearings and found a toxic glower to direct my way.
“You’re trash,” she snarled. “And you’re going to pay for running my son out of town. Mark my words.”
I let out a laugh. “You sound like a Scooby Doo villain.” Then I leaned slightly forward, narrowing my eyes at her. “Now, I understand the WASP way is to drink or dope yourself into denial about who your husband is sleeping with, where the money comes from, and the truth about the children you raised, but I think you’re intelligent enough to understand that there is no love lost between your son and the residents of this town. Me, on the other hand…” I paused to peer around my packed bakery, a lot of the residents interested in this showdown. “I have a good reputation because trash or not, I try my best to be a good person. I provide jobs, sugar, and good coffee. I’m a genuinely pleasant person. So, I’d like to see you find a way to ‘make me pay’ without blowback from the town that even you wouldn’t be able to weather.”
