this a joke? “Fuck you.”
Suddenly, a drawling voice rings out from the living room. “Mark, don’t be unreasonable.” Evelyn emerges wearing a lavender dress. “You can’t expect a mother to give up her child.”
“I’m not raising someone else’s brat,” he snaps at her.
“What do you think she’ll do if you blackmail her into giving her child for adoption?” Evelyn waits for him to put two and two together, then gives up, rolling her darkened eyes. “She’ll go to the press. Think with your brain, Mark.” Then she turns her attention to me. “If the baby isn’t my son’s, he’ll toss you aside, which I’m sure is what you want anyway.”
“No. She’ll run straight back to that asshole, and then I’m back to square fucking one.”
Evelyn pinches the bridge of her nose. “Who cares? There are hundreds of women more suitable,” she turns to me. “No offense.”
“None taken.” Bitch.
The look Mark gives his mother is the air of a child being denied a treat. “But she’s mine.”
“You want a woman who disrespects you at every turn, sleeps with a garage rat, and wants nothing to do with you. Be smart. I didn’t raise you to be a fool.”
He lets out a frustrated breath that’s so exaggerated that I expect him to pout with, “But Mo-om!”
“We are not becoming Mister and Misses Cranbury. You’re just going to have to accept that.”
Mark opens his mouth, but his mother shushes him. “We can renegotiate the terms once my grandbaby is born.”
“There won’t be any renegotiating. I want this ridiculous assault on this town to stop.”
“Then you’ll do as my son says.”
The pressure I’ve been trying to squeeze out of seizes me like a python wrapped around my ribs. It builds up behind my eyes, and I clench my teeth to keep the scream inside.
“End it with the mechanic and come back here for the test, and we’ll call off the demolition. You have my word.”
There’s nothing to say. Tears won’t have any effect on them. I could get on my knees and beg, but what good would it do? She’s ready to destroy an entire town just to make sure I stay under Mark’s thumb. And I’ll do what they want. I’ll hate myself for the rest of my life, but not as much if I let Fair Oaks become a Cranbury resort.
Evelyn raises her eyebrows, which is a feat on her frozen face. “Do we have a deal?”
My hand hovers over the doorknob for the tenth time. I try to steal myself, knowing that I’ll have to become the thing he hates in order to make sure he stays away. Breathing hard, I think of this town and what it means to me. Imagining it all disappearing into some kind of soulless tourist trap surrounded by chain restaurants bolsters my resolve. There aren’t many beautiful, completely untouched places like this left in California. I can’t let it become another McResort.
What about the baby?
There’s hope. If the baby is his, I’ll come back. Maybe he’ll forgive me.
Just get it over with.
There’s a wonderful smell wafting from the kitchen as I push the door open. Gage sits in the armchair in the living room. Worry melts from his face as he stands. He crosses the room, touching my hands. “There you are. I was starting to get—”
“Don’t touch me!” I smack them away and back up.
“Okay,” he grinds out. “What’s going on?”
My eyes slide over him as I walk past him to flee into our bedroom. I snatch my backpack off the ground and begin stuffing random things inside it. Panties. Bras. An iPhone charger.
The door slamming shut makes me jump. Gage looks annoyed. “I don’t like being ignored.”
I sling the bag on my shoulder. Don’t look at him. And do not cry. “I—I can’t stay here anymore.”
“What are you talking about?” he says in a harsh voice. “We’ve all got our necks on the line for you.”
“I’m not leaving Fair Oaks just yet. I’m leaving you.”
“What?”
Look at him.
The moment I meet his gaze, my chest tightens and releases. It’s a feeling I know I’ll always have. “I can’t be with you. This is insane.”
“Baby, they’re not taking this town away from us. We can fight this!”
“It’s not about the town! You can’t take care of me.”
He flinches as though I’ve slapped him. “Yes, I can. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t have anything but the bones of this place, and soon that’ll be gone too!”
“Olivia.”
The desperation cuts at me. “You’re too poor,