Page 60 of Pure Abandon

My scowling eyes meet hers. “A thousand dollars?”

“If you don’t like it, don’t get it,” Gwen suggests nonchalantly.

I turn to the sales girl. Her lips are set in a hard line and she’s raising an eyebrow. There is no use arguing, with either of them.

“I’ll take the dress,” I mumble beneath my breath.

The sales girl gives me a smug look. “I’ll ring you up.”

As she walks away, Gwen hands me a shoebox. “Here, these will go perfect!”

I look at the expensive high-end label on the box and shake my head. “I think we’ve done enough damage.”

“Try them on, Kathryn. Listen to your mother.” Gwen tries to shove the shoebox in my arms.

“No.” I shove it back.

“Kat…” She admonishes.

“No.” I push the box away again.

“Kat…”

“I said no!” I shout.

Gwen’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Is that Jack?” an excited voice calls from beyond the rack.

Are you fucking kidding me?

The lioness pops up her bubbly head and leans over to give Jackson a kiss.

Gwen looks at her and smiles. “A friend! Hello dear, I’m Kathryn’s mother. Gwendolyn. You can call me Gwen.” She holds out her hand.

“Hi, Gwen.” She shakes my mother’s hand. “I’m Becca.”

Becca!

The lioness who was just on the phone, talking about, who I presume is, MY husband, is kissing MY baby and shaking hands with MY mother, while I’m standing in a thousand-dollar dress I just dragged across the floor.

I grab the shoebox from my mother’s hands.

“Oh, give me the damn shoes!”

“What do you mean you think Gabriel is cheating?”

I’m a chicken shit. I can’t talk to Gabriel about it. Mostly because there has been zero privacy in my house since Gwen is staying for a few days. Lord knows I can’t talk to my mother about this.

Even if I did talk to him – If he’s having an affair, he’s not goanna say, “Oh, since you ask, yes. Yes, I am having an affair with the blonde with big boobs from the park. And yes, she did buy sexy lingerie to wear for me. Thank you for asking.”

Instead, I hold my breath until I see Malory, my sounding board.

“Part of me thinks he is and part of me knows better. I mean, this is Gabriel we’re talking about. It would be so out of character. He’s one of the good guys… right?” I ramble, disgusted that I’m even thinking this. My foot is shaking a mile a minute, and I’ve chewed through two pen caps this morning alone.

“Yes, Gabriel is definitely one of the good guys.” Malory tries to comfort me, her hand leaning across the desk to touch my arm. It’s an odd gesture for Malory. It seems forced.

“But you say it all the time. He is good-looking and successful. I mean, why wouldn’t women be thrusting themselves at him all day long?” My head falls in my hands. There is a mountain of work on my desk to be done, but I can’t concentrate. “There is this girl in the park…”