Page 44 of Against All Odds

The momentshewalked in, it was like someone had turned the volume down. The tourists didn’t understand the significance of Alexa being in the Wildflower, but the locals did, and they were ready for the show that Alexa was stupidly going to provide.

“Casey, let Heath know,” I whispered.

Alexa washisproblem. She wasn’t going to be mine.

Casey walked toward the kitchen, her phone in hand as she messaged, I hoped, Heath, letting him know to collect his angry former wife, who’d come into my place of work, guns blazing.

She was dressed to kill, wearing a cream-colored dress and heels that clicked against the wood floors as she made a beeline straight for me behind the bar. Her blonde hair was sleek and perfect, her face set in that controlled, icyexpression I’d seen on her before. But her eyes—well, they burned.

“Are you serious right now, Sable?” she spat, her voice loud enough to cut through the noise.

Conversations faltered. Heads turned. I gripped the edge of the bar, trying to decide if I could talk her down or if I should brace for impact.

“Hello, Alexa. I’m afraid we don’t have room at the bar, but there may be a table open.” I looked around her as if trying to identify a place for her.

“I think there’s one in the back, Alexa. Let me take you,” Mackenna, our new server, said. As a local, she knew the potential for drama.

Alexa gave Mackenna a withering look and turned to me, stepping closer to the bar. I was glad to have the counter between us because her nails looked sharp. And it would be a damn pity for me to call the cops and charge her with assault if she raised a hand to me.

“Oh, don’t play innocent with me,” Alexa snapped. “You think I don’t know what’s going on? You think I don’t know what you’re doing?”

Alexa was my age, so she probably wasn’t going through menopause, I thought almost viciously, a small part of me ready to rip into her, though I knew I couldn’t. This was my place of work; it would be disrespectful.

“Alexa, maybe we can go to my office and?—”

“You are nothing but a gold-digging homewrecker,” she barked.

I sighed. Okay, so this was going to take place in frontof God, everyone who lived in Aspen, and tourists who would hopefully tell their friends, who would also come here to enjoy bison sliders and a catfight. How the fuck was this my life?

“Alexa, there’s no reason for us to have this conversation or any other where you speak to me the way you are.” I knew it was important to remain calm, so I did, though it wasn’t easy.

I had triggers, and a woman from my past who bullied me and yelled at me was taking me back.

Alexa laughed, bitter and sharp. “Poor little Sable. Always pretending like she’s the victim. You little slut?—"

“That’s enough,” I interrupted, my voice rising, but she wasn’t finished.

“—you think you can steal my man?” she hissed, her voice dripping with venom.

The room went dead silent. I could feel the heft of every single pair of eyes on me, and my stomach dropped. This was so much like high school, and even though I wasn’tthatgirl anymore, I could feel the remembered humiliation mixed with this new one. The logical part of me understood that this scene made Alexa look bad—I mean, sure, I was the homewrecking slut, but I wasn’t making a spectacle of myself.

“You think you can just waltz into my husband’s life?” Alexa continued, her voice trembling with rage. “You think you can replace me? Do you even realize what you’ve done to my daughter? To my family?”

“Alexa, I’m not having this conversation with you.”My voice was steady, not revealing the mess I was inside. “You need to leave.Now.”

She laughed again, but this time it sounded hollow. “Oh, I’m leaving, but consider yourself warned.” She spun on her heel. But before she walked out, she threw one last dagger over her shoulder. “I’m going to ruin your life.”

And with that, she was gone.

The silence stretched awkwardly and stiflingly before the conversations around the room started up again—quieter this time. I could feel the pitying glances and whispers already forming.

“The drinks you still have to pay for,” I said, adding levity to my voice, “but the show was free. We do this every Tuesday before trivia.”

Some people laughed awkwardly, others openly, and some didn’t at all.

I turned my back to the bar and gripped the counter, trying to steady my breathing. My hands shook, and I felt like I might shatter into a million pieces.

Casey came up beside me, her voice low. “Heath said he’s on his way.”

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