Kaitlyn’s eyes narrow, and her lips purse. She lowers her voice so no one else can hear. “I know you’re new around here, honey, so let me explain how this works. What I say goes. What I want, I get. You won’t like what happens when you get in my way.”
I finally stand, putting us on the same level. “Katie, was it?”
“Kaitlyn,” she corrects as her nostrils flare.
I don’t lower my voice when I reply. “Right. Well, Katie. I feel sorry for you. Pining after men you know will never want you back. I understand that you're probably lonely because Frank is too busy boning his secretary. But going to their place of business day after day is just sad. I don’t know what you did to make them hate you, and I don’t want to know. So, let’s just not, okay? You can threaten me all you want, but you’ve got nothin’ to intimidate me with. I’ve faced scarier monsters than you.”
Kaitlyn is about ready to explode. Her face is redder than a tomato, and I saw her eye twitch a couple of times. Her minions are so astonished, they look like their eyes are about to pop out of their heads.
“Give me the dunk tank. Give me all the jobs you don’t want. Because,honey...” I place my hand on her upper arm in a caring way that doesn’t match my words. “I don’t flinch.” I give her arm a friendly smack and turn, heading for the exit.
Mean girls don’t change. They grow up mean, and they stay mean. But they all can be shut down the same way. Some might advise to kill them with kindness. But I’d rather just kill them.
Chargingout of the elementary school, I head back to the library. Noah doesn’t have long before school is over, but I needed some air. The air in there makes me want to punch Kaitlyn, and the air outside is too hot. So, the library it is.
Walking on the sidewalk leading to the library, the same red Ferrari that I saw outside Mystic River Psychiatric Hospital speeds through the school zone. The car passes me on the street, but when it’s only twenty feet ahead, the brakes screech as the car stops. The driver shifts the car into reverse and backs up toward me.
The driver in the front seat is the same man I saw with Lewis, but with him so close, I can actually make out his features.
His deep honey hair is swept to the side with extensive amounts of hair gel. His face is clean-shaven, and his eyebrows are pristine, like he just had them waxed. His slate-gray eyes are too calculating as they wander up and down my frame.
He coasts alongside me in his car as I keep walking. “You must be new?”
How original.
“Yep.” I give him my answer without looking at him.
He hangs his arm out of the car window. “Would you like a ride somewhere?”
My voice is clipped. “I’m good.”
“It’s okay. I’m the mayor.” He says that like it means I should trust him based on his title.
That’s a good joke.
“Good for you.” He either doesn’t pick up on my mocking tone or chooses to ignore it.
“I’m Frank LeBlanc.”
The dots connect in my brain, and I stop in my tracks, turning to face him. “Kaitlyn’s husband.”
Frank stops his car next to me, shifting into park, and winks. “That’s me.”
I feel as if my counterfeit smile conveys how I feel about him, but again, Frank ignores it.
“What’s your name, sugar?”
When I had the thought that I could have fun here, I didn’t mean with this slime ball who resembles a Bergen.
“It’s Raven. Not sugar.”
“Oh. So, you’re the new bartender.”
“Yes, I am.”
“How about that ride, sugar?” His own smile is smarmy, giving me chills.
A small snort leaves my mouth as I step up to his car door. He leans toward me as I place my hands on the weatherstrip. “Franklin?—”
