The Audacity

SNOW BROOKE VALLEY

Snowbrook Valley looked so Christmasy, the snow had been falling non stop, and everyone was spending more time indoors with their loved ones.

The streets still wore their early Christmas decorations, faded ribbons tied to lampposts, pine wreaths hanging from shop doors, soft yellow fairy lights blinking lazily even in the daytime. The bakery down the road still smelled like cinnamon and sugar. The café windows still fogged slightly from warm drinks and human conversation.

Life hadn’t paused just because Melody left. Inside Evergreen Café, the air was thick with roasted coffee beans and melted chocolate. Soft Christmas music played from the speakers at the corners of the Café. The place was busy in the way small towns always were, familiar faces, quiet greetings, shared history hanging in the air.

Cynthia sat stiffly at one of the corner tables, both hands wrapped tightly around a ceramic mug of hot chocolate.

Her shoulders were tense. Her jaw was clenched.

Pregnancy had softened her body, rounded her cheeks slightly, but nothing had softened her anger. If anything, it had sharpened it. Made it more dangerous.

Jamie sat across from her, stirring his hot cup of coffee, watching her with cautious eyes. He knew this mood. He had begged her to come, yes, begged might even be an understatement but now that they were here, he wasn’t sure he’d made the right call.

“I still don’t know why I’m here,” Cynthia muttered, staring into her cup as if the chocolate had personally offended her.

Jamie sighed quietly. “Baby…”

“No.” She cut him off sharply, lifting her eyes to his. “No, Jamie. I don’t want to hear it again. You already said everything on the drive here.”

“I just think we should…”

“You think?” Her lips curled bitterly. “You think I want to sit in the same room as a man who cheated on my friend weeks before her wedding? A man who let her plan a future while he was busy screwing someone else?”

Jamie leaned back slightly, hands raised in surrender. “I know he was wrong.”

“Wrong?” Cynthia scoffed. “Wrong is forgetting to take out the trash. What Brandon did was cruel.”

A waitress passed by, smiling politely, oblivious to the tension. Cynthia forced a smile back, then immediately dropped it.

“She loved him,” Cynthia continued, her voice lower now. “Melody loved that man. She built her whole world around him. And he shattered it like it meant nothing.”

Jamie nodded slowly. “I know. I know.”

“And yet here we are,” she said flatly. “Waiting for him. I feel like I'm betraying my friend.”

Jamie glanced toward the café entrance. “He asked to talk.”

“I don’t care,” Cynthia snapped. “I don’t want to hear his excuses. There is no side of the story that justifies cheating.”

Jamie rubbed his temple. “He’s still our friend.”

She stared at him, long and hard.

“Was,” she corrected. “He was our friend.”

Jamie exhaled. “We knew Brandon before Melody.”

“And?” Cynthia shot back. “Does that mean Melody deserved what he did to her?”

“Baby please….”

“Then don’t say that again.”

Jamie went quiet.

Cynthia took a careful sip of her hot chocolate, trying to calm herself. The baby shifted slightly, a subtle reminder that she couldn’t afford to lose control.

“Let’s just have one drink,” she said finally, her voice forced calm. “And then we leave.”

Jamie nodded. “Okay.”

The café door opened.

A cold gust of air swept inside and with it, Brandon. It felt like he was Scrooge, ruining the holiday spirit in every room he stepped his feet.

Cynthia looked up instinctively. And froze. Brandon walked in like he hadn’t destroyed someone’s life. He was smiling, and relaxed. Wearing a tailored coat, confidence sitting easily on his shoulders. And on his arm…

Cynthia’s stomach twisted.

The woman beside him was tall, blonde, and wearing the shortest red dress Cynthia had ever seen outside of a nightclub. It clung to her body unapologetically, her legs bare despite the cold. Her heels clicked sharply against the café floor as if she owned the place. She was wearing an expensive looking coat.

Cynthia’s grip tightened around her mug.

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she muttered.

Jamie followed her gaze and stiffened. “That must be…”

“Claudia,” Cynthia said flatly. “The home wrecker.”

Brandon spotted them and waved, his smile widening. He leaned down, whispered something to Claudia, then guided her toward the table.

Claudia looked Cynthia up and down without shame. A slow, deliberate scan. Then she smiled smug, sharp, dismissive.

Cynthia didn’t smile back.

Brandon reached the table, pulling out a chair for Claudia. She sat, crossing her legs immediately, the hem of her dress riding higher.

“Jamie! Cynthia!” Brandon said cheerfully, like he travelled and is just seeing his old buddies after years. “It’s good to see you.”

Jamie nodded politely. “Hey, man.”

Cynthia said nothing.

An awkward pause followed.

“How's our baby doing,” Brandon asked, trying to mask his unease.

“He's been kicking nonstop.” Jamie laughed, he knew Cynthia wasn't going to respond so he stepped in.

Brandon cleared his throat. “Uh… this is Claudia. My girlfriend.”

Cynthia finally spoke. “Why are we here, Brandon?”

The bluntness landed like a slap.

Brandon’s smile faltered briefly before he recovered. “I know I haven’t been a good person,” he began, voice heavy with practiced remorse. “I know I hurt Melody. I hurt all of you. And I wanted to apologize.”

Cynthia laughed a sharp, humorless sound. “Apologize?” she echoed. “Is that what this is?”

Brandon sighed, leaning forward. “Yes. I made mistakes.”

“Mistakes?” Cynthia repeated. “You planned a wedding while cheating.”

Claudia shifted beside him, visibly uncomfortable but silent.

“I never meant to hurt her,” Brandon said quickly. “I just… I realized I wasn’t happy.”

Cynthia’s eyes blazed. “Then you leave. You don’t cheat.”

Jamie interjected softly, “Brandon, maybe you should…”

“No Jamie,” Cynthia snapped. “Let him talk. I want to hear this.”

Brandon swallowed. “Melody was a good woman. But love isn’t always enough.”

“That’s funny,” Cynthia said coldly. “Because it was enough for her.”

Brandon continued, ignoring that. “When I met Claudia, something changed. I felt alive again. I knew she was the woman I wanted to build a family with.”

Cynthia stared at Claudia now. “This woman?” she asked.

Claudia lifted her chin. “Yes. Me.” It looked like she's had enough of Cynthia's annoying responses.

Cynthia smiled but there was no warmth in it. “How long have you known each other?”

Claudia glanced at Brandon.

“A few months,” Brandon answered.

“A few months,” Cynthia repeated. “And you’re confident enough to destroy another woman for that?”

Brandon stiffened. “I didn’t destroy her.”

Cynthia slammed her mug down hard enough to spill some of the chocolate. “You left her weeks before her wedding.”

Silence fell. Then Brandon dropped the bomb.

“Claudia and I are getting married on Christmas Eve.”

The words hung in the air. Cynthia felt something inside her snap.

“You are disgusting,” she whispered.

Jamie placed a hand on her arm. “Baby calm down.”

“No.” Cynthia stood abruptly. “No. I can’t sit here.”

Brandon looked panicked. “Cynthia please, Melody already knows we weren't comparable, she just wasn't ready to accept it. It was better now than walking down the aisle, and living miserably after the wedding.”

“You’re marrying her,” Cynthia continued, voice rising. “On the day Melody was supposed to walk down the aisle?” 

Claudia scoffed. “We didn’t plan our lives around Melody.”

Cynthia turned on her. “You shouldn't be talking to me, please.”

Claudia rolled her eyes. “Get over it, stop sulking like it was your wedding that was cancelled.”

That was it.

Cynthia grabbed her bag. “Jamie. Take me out of here. Before I forget I’m pregnant.”

Jamie stood immediately. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Brandon stood too. “I’m sorry,” he said weakly. “I just wanted you to hear it from me.”

Cynthia laughed bitterly as she walked away. “Shove your apology up your ass.”

Jamie glanced back once, embarrassed. “Good luck,” he muttered to Brandon and Claudia before following his wife.

The café door slammed shut behind them.

Claudia leaned into Brandon, smirking. “What a bitch.”

Brandon sighed, wrapping an arm around her. “She’ll get over it, it's just the pregnancy hormones I guess.”

Claudia smiled. “With or without them, our wedding is happening.”

Brandon kissed her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”