Page 22 of Never the Best

Alice and Maddie both turned to me, their eyes wide, waiting to see how I’d respond. I smiled at them, a genuine smile this time. “That sounds like a whole lot of work, and right now, I already have a full-time job,” I joked, meeting Caroline's gaze head-on.

Cash sighed loudly as if the weight of being the Beaumont patriarch was almost too much to bear. “This is exactly what I mean, Pearl. You’re thirty-one years old. Maybe it’s time to grow up.”

I opened my mouth to respond but then decided it wasn't worth it.

"I think Aunt Pearl is the coolest person I know," Maddie breathed.

"I agree." Alice gripped my hand in hers.

"Girls, this has nothing to do with you," Caroline muttered with fake patience.

"It kinda does, Mama," Maddie continued thoughtfully. "I want to go to college and be an academic. Will you have a problem with me working? It's 2024; we don't expect women to stay home barefoot and pregnant, do we?"

"Darlin', you'll be wearing Jimmy Choos and not be barefoot," Caroline snapped.

Maddy sighed. "That's not what I…." She trailed off and smiled wanly at me.

We fell silent again, and by the time dessert was served—some lemon meringue pie that Birdie insisted wasjust divine—I’d had enough. I bid everyone farewell, but I wasn't lucky because Cash insisted on walking me to my car.

"Pearl, I don't want you to think that I don't appreciate what you did for the family." When Cash and I were alone, our dynamic was different than when he was with the others, demanding I anoint him as patriarch.

"I know, Cash," I said wearily.

"Ah, you know, Lev Steele seems to be in the market for a wife," he continued, "I think that?—"

"Lev and I are friendly," I cut him off, "but we'renevergoing to date."

"Why not?" Cash tucked into the pockets of his slacks.

"Because I'm not attracted to him." I put a hand on my brother's shoulder. "Cash, I like my life. I don'teverfeel that I need a man or children in it to feel good about it. It'salreadygood. I know you don't understand that, and that'sfine, but I need you to stop harping on about it 'cause, if it continues, I'm not going to come over and pretend we're a happy family."

Cash took a deep breath. "I'm a traditionalist, Pearl."

"I respect that and the choicesyoumade; you should offer me the same courtesy."

Cash hugged me then, surprising me. "I'll try."

I pulled away and smiled at him. He was nearly seventeen years older than me and had almost been a parent while I was growing up, since our father died when I was so young.

"That's all any of us can do,” I said to him.

As I drove home, I wondered if coming to Savannah was a mistake. Then I thought about the people I worked with, I thought of Aunt Hattie, and knew it wasn't. I loved it here. This was my home, and I wouldn't let Rhett, or my family, drive me away.

My mother acted like she was concerned about my single status, but I knew she wasn't. She was disappointed. The fact that I didn't want to get married and wasn't interested in playing the role of some Stepford wife who planned charity galas and lived for compliments about her party-throwing skills wasn't me.

Why was happiness designated as getting married and having kids? The truth was that I didn't want to have children. Still, you couldn't say that because the minute you did, people wanted to know if it was because you couldn’tphysiologicallyhave kids—and if you said that wasn't the case, you were branded as being selfish since you didn't want to propagate the humanrace.

If I ever met a man who I wanted to be with, I wouldn’t get married—I'd love and cherish and live with my partner, but I wouldn't want to wear a white dress, sign marriage documents, or change my last name. And I didn't want to have children. It was a personal choice, but in Savannah, that would be seen as blasphemous.

Aunt Hattie had gone through the ridicule her single status caused when she chose to live the life she did—it hadn't been easy. But now, at the age of fifty-five, she didn’t give a flying fuck, as she put it, and she'd live her life the way she wanted, and everyone elsecould go stuff their stuffiness where the sun don't shine.

CHAPTER 9

Rhett

Ihad agreed to attend the Savannah Lace summer party at Forsyth Park to avoid going to a Vance party. Josie had been disappointed, but when I lied that this was about work and networking, she relented. However, she made sure I understood that these priorities would have to shift after we were married.

Every day with Josie was a trial. She insisted that we move in together, but I held off, wanting to wait until we were married…or maybenever.

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