“Maybe you’re hungry,” Skylar pointed out, oh so helpfully driving the knife a little deeper. Charlotte visibly flinched, her gaze flicking to me again with a heavy amount of trepidation. The last thing she’d expected was to get caught. I should have known she changed her tune too damn fast. She’d been a bitch to Sierra before. Why did I expect her to do better without any incentive?
“She said she wasn’t hungry,” one of the other women pointed out. I didn’t recognize her, and I doubted Sierra knew her. Why invite people who didn’t even know the woman having the baby, but not her family?
“Charlotte–” I began, ready to call her out. This was unacceptable and she needed to know it.
Sierra’s grip on my knee tightened and when I looked over at her, she seemed a little pale. When she rubbed her back and her face twisted up in discomfort, I decided I’d confront Charlotte later. I didn’t want Sierra uncomfortable if I could help it.
“Why don’t we get you out of here, sweetheart? Sky, I borrowed Tank’s truck. You can drive that back, right? I think he’s hanging out with Butch at the clubhouse.”
Skylar looked concerned, tipping her head to study Sierra’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just my back hurts. And I’m a little nauseous. The joys of pregnancy, I guess.”
She said that, but up until now, she’d rarely had many symptoms of her pregnancy. The most she had was heartburn. The fact that she was feeling off now was a red flag for me. Istood to help her to her feet when one of the women tried to stop us.
“Wait. What about the presents?” she asked. When the other three women whipped their heads around to glare at her, I knew I wouldn’t like whatever they’d gotten Sierra. If I didn’t want to get her out of here so bad, I’d demand to see it.
“We’ll, uh, drop those off later,” Charlotte offered with an awkward laugh.
“No, that’s okay. You went to all the trouble,” Sierra said, waving me off. “I can wait a few more minutes. I’d hate to be rude.”
I wanted to argue with her but Skylar shot me a look, shaking her head. For whatever reason, neither of them was willing to leave early if they could help it.
Sitting back down, I kept my arm around the back of Sierra’s chair. “Alright, sweetheart. We’ll leave right after, though. Do you want me to call Mel? Have her meet us at the clubhouse?”
She was smart enough to give it some thought before shaking her head. “I don’t think so. Not yet anyway. I think a nap might be my first plan of action. I got up early to come to this thing and I’m tired.”
Charlotte let out an awkward laugh, waving her hand airly. “Baby showers are supposed to be in the morning. Everyone knows that.”
“Mine wasn’t,” Skylar muttered to Sierra. She wasn’t loud enough for Charlotte to hear her, but I was close enough to catch it. I remembered her shower. It was epic and in the afternoon so we didn’t interrupt Ellie’s nap time. Not a damn thing like this one.
Charlotte’s friends looked awkwardly between me and her. They obviously didn’t want to give the presents, which made me even more suspicious. What the hell had they been planning that they were too afraid to show me? And why? I mean, I knewCharlotte had an issue with Sierra, but did she seriously think punishing her would do anything but piss me off?
“I’ll grab the first one,” Skylar said, standing and heading for the tiny table with a handful of presents wrapped in cow print paper.
“What’s with the cow theme?” I asked with a frown. From what I knew, Sierra didn't like or dislike cows, and I wasn’t aware of cows being related to baby showers in any way. Wasn’t that like baby chicks or something?
A look of panic flashed across Charlotte’s face and her friend practically threw herself forward with a gift for Sierra. “Here, take mine first.”
I wanted an answer, but I got the feeling I wouldn’t like it. I decided to ask after the ‘party’. If it could even be called that. I looked around again while she opened the gift. I could hear the basketball game nearby and the decorations were so bad, I couldn’t even call it shabby. I’d never seen Charlotte treat someone so poorly before. What the hell happened that she felt this much animosity toward Sierra? Was this all because I hired her without telling Charlotte first?
“Oh, um… Thanks?” Sierra’s voice was hesitant, and when I looked down at the outfit in her lap, I frowned at it. It was an outfit, plain jeans and a t-shirt. Nothing fancy, but I thought these parties were supposed to be about giving gifts to the baby, not buying clothes for Sierra. “A little small, though.”
“It’s, uh…” She cleared her throat awkwardly, shooting a wide eyed look at Charlotte. I narrowed my eyes.
“It’s what?” I demanded.
The friend whipped her head around, her smile awkward. “Uh… I thought it’d be a good goal to aspire toward. You know, to motivate you to lose the baby weight. A friend of mine did the same thing when she had her baby.”
She was rambling, trying to cover up the fact that she was basically calling Sierra fat. I scowled, taking the clothes and setting them aside.
“I don’t think–”
“Thank you,” Sierra interrupted with a serene smile. “I appreciate the thought.”
The friend looked confused and awkward, her gaze darting around to her friends for some kind of reaction. They all stayed deathly silent.
“Uh… I guess mine will go next,” another blonde offered, handing Sierra a small package. Inside was a onesie that said ‘new to the herd’ with a baby cow printed on it. Again with the damn cow shit. What the hell was I missing?
