Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments
Page 13

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you missed me.” I heard the grin in his voice.
“Hardly.”
“I need to see you soon.”
That’s what I was afraid of. “How soon?”
“Tomorrow night.”
My mind started to race over my schedule. “That’s more notice than you usually give.”
“Give and take, Lady. Give and take. Plus, I have more notice this time.”
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. “What do I need to do?”
“Sit in on a simple meeting with a few associates. Jed will pick you up at eight tomorrow night. Behind the Sinclair station.”
“Okay.”
“No worries, Lady. You’ll do great.”
“There’s a lot more to worry about than that, Skeeter.”
“But it’s the only thing that matters to me.” Then he hung up.
Butthead.
I went back to our table and stopped as I rounded the corner. This day was worse than a drunk stuck on a tilt-a-whirl ride.
Kate was sitting at our table.
She glanced up at me with a sardonic smile. “Don’t be shy, Rose. Come join us.”
I looked over at Neely Kate, who dipped a French fry in ketchup and shrugged. Great. Reluctantly, I took my seat.
“You don’t look very happy to see me,” Kate said. “I thought we’d bonded in the waiting room.”
The mention of Neely Kate’s hospital stay made my friend freeze, French fry mid-air. She set it down on her plate.
Now I was pissed. “What do you want, Kate?”
“And here I was trying to be helpful and return this to you.” She slid Mason’s credit card across the table.
I stopped myself from cringing. Mason had only given it to me a couple of hours ago, and I’d already almost lost it. Just great. “Thank you.” I grabbed the card and picked up my purse.
“Were you and Joe really engaged?” she asked.
I put the credit card into my wallet. “Why don’t you ask Joe?”
“Because I’m asking you.”
I looked up into her face. “I’m not sure why you even care. Joe and I broke up. I’m with Mason and I’m happy. Joe is moving on.”
She laughed, but it was a harsh sound. “You really believe that?”
“It doesn’t matter if I believe it or not. Joe is no longer my problem.”
Kate studied me for a moment. “No. You can claim you don’t care all you want, but I don’t believe it for a minute.”
I leaned forward. “Why do you even care?”
“Joe’s my brother. I want him to be happy.”
I shook my head. “Then where have you been these last two years? He’s been through hell. He needed you then.”
Her smile fell. “He had you.”
“No. Not when it mattered. He was all alone.” I turned to Neely Kate. Her face was pale and she looked like she was about to cry again. “Are you ready to go?”
She nodded and stood.
I got out of my seat and handed her some cash. “Neely Kate, why don’t you go pay. I need to talk to Joe’s sister for a moment.”
Neely Kate glanced between the two of us, but when I nodded to show her I was okay, she walked to the register.
As soon as she was out of earshot, I turned my wrath on Kate. “She’s been miserable for two weeks, but she finally found a tiny bit of happiness today. But you and Hilary Wilder just keep snatching it from her—you with your careless tongue and Hilary parading around with a pregnancy nobody wants but her, and even then only for selfish reasons.”
Her eyebrows shot up in bewilderment. “What did I do?”
I lowered my voice. “I have no idea what kind of game you’re playing, but I’m not part of it. Leave me and Neely Kate alone.”
Neely Kate had finished paying, so we left the restaurant, leaving Kate still sitting at the table.
As soon as the door closed, I turned to her. “Neely Kate, I’m so sorry. I just wanted you to have a nice afternoon, but Joe’s sister and his witch of an ex-girlfriend went and ruined it.”
“Oh, Rose. This is the best I’ve felt since losing the babies.”
“But Kate…”
“One good afternoon isn’t gonna make me instantly better. You know that after your breakup with Joe.”
“I know. But I wanted it to last as long for as long as possible.”
She lifted her hand to her pink and purple streaks. “I love my hair, although you still haven’t explained why you had Mason’s credit card.”
I cringed. “I think you can figure it out if you think about the business’s cash flow.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Only temporarily, as Mason pointed out. Plus he made a suggestion that makes me feel better about letting him help me out.”
“Good, because that man loves you somethin’ fierce.”
“I know.”
“Don’t back down from talking to him about Dora and Hilary tonight. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for everything, and you’ll feel better knowing.”
I sure hoped she was right.
I unlocked the car so she could climb inside, then walked over to the office to pick up Muffy. Bruce Wayne had already left, so Muffy was happy to see me, and even happier to see Neely Kate once I let her into the car. My little dog covered her with licks until she started laughing. “Okay, girl. That’s enough lovin’.”