he dropped me off. Laughed in my face about it. I guess that should make you feel pretty good.”
None of this makes me feel good. “The tow truck guy? For the love of God, this town gossips too much.”
He slams his palm on the table, and I jump back. “Why didn’t you tell me, Olivia? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
“I just found out. Not even a day before you left.”
“I don’t believe you,” he says, quietly simmering with rage.
I close the notebook, shoving it back in my bag as he watches me. “I am not having this discussion with you!”
“What the hell is your problem with me?”
“Let’s start with the fact that you’re a pathetic man-child that ran to mommy for help, who proceeded to threaten to get me fired.”
A frown creases his forehead. “I can’t control her any more than you can, but you can’t blame her. She’s only trying to protect my interests.”
I grab the edge of the table, goaded past endurance. “Listen to me, Mark. It’s not your baby. Do you understand me? It’s not yours!”
He looks like I’ve just clubbed him over the head. “So you cheated on me?”
“I didn’t cheat, you moron. The night of Sophie’s wedding, I fucked Gage without a condom.”
The chair makes a screech against the tiled floor as Mark backs away from me, and I pause for a moment to enjoy the panic erupting on his face.
“I decided to test myself a few days later, just to make sure. He’s the father, not you.”
“You can’t know that for sure! There’s a good chance that’s my kid.”
The most infuriating thing about it is that he’s right. I can’t claim without a shadow of a doubt that it’s Gage’s baby.
“And if it’s mine, I will be in that baby’s life.”
Bristling, I sit up straighter. “Since when have you ever been interested in having kids, or taking care of them for that matter?”
“It’s not about being interested. It’s about doing the right thing. If this baby is mine, it’ll be raised as a Cranbury.”
I picture a newborn being stuffed into a khaki onesie and an Ivy League beanie pulled over its head. A Cranbury. So my child could grow up to be an entitled dickhead like its father.
No, thank you. There’s no way that’s happening.
“My kid’s not going to be raised by a legion of nannies and ripped away from me to live in boarding schools. They’re going to know what hard work is. They'll earn their way in this world.”
“I can offer this baby way more than you ever could. No judge in their right mind would give you primary custody.”
“Fuck off.”
“Damn it, Olivia. You’ve always been stubborn, but this really takes the cake.” He snaps his fingers, looking impatient. “I’ve tolerated your attitude. I apologized. Now it’s time to come home and let me take care of you.”
Bristling, I stand. “I can take care of myself, thanks.”
Mark chases after me as I walk past the other tables and chairs. The owner of the café shop gives me a sympathetic smile that only makes the heat in my cheeks burn hotter. I haven’t been pregnant for a week, and everything feels as though it’s spiraling out of control. If Mark is the father, they’ll use every weapon in their arsenal to get our child away from me.
“Olivia.”
“Go away!”
“Fine!” he screams, his voice echoing in the strip mall. “You’ve basically given me no choice.”
I whirl around, unnerved by the sinister smile crawling across his face. “What are you talking about?”
Still wearing that maddening smirk, he walks toward his Mercedes Benz. There’s a man in a suit sitting on the passenger side. Who the hell is he? A lawyer? My heart jackknifes into my chest as Mark backs out of the parking spot and peels for the main road.
I jog after the car, but it zips out of sight in seconds. A nasty feeling swirls in my guts as I head in its direction, which is coincidentally the same road to take to Gage’s shop.
I’m being paranoid, right?
My feet hasten their pace, a growing sense of alarm pounding through my blood. I clutch my side in a stitch when the white building finally looms into place, and my heart sinks when I see Mark’s Benz parked in the Employees Only spot.
The lawyer, a slick-looking man dressed in a navy-blue suit, slides out of the car holding a briefcase and a manila folder, which he hands over to Mark. He strides to Gage’s office