Just then, Kate clicks her heels across the lobby a few feet from the cafeteria. She catches sight of Rick, breaking into a smile and giving him a cute little wave. Then her eyes swing to me, and her smile drops. With a haughty flick of her glossy hair, Kate flounces away and out of sight.
Rick lets out a low whistle and turns back to me. “What you done now, boy?”
I shrug. “Nothing new.”
Rick taps a long finger against the table. “Did I ever tell you about the time I worked on a farm up north?”
I take a bite, shaking my head and settling in for a good story.
“My family raised horses. Well, we got one brought to us. Meanest thing ever, that filly.” Rick’s white hair wafts as he shakes his head. “Been treated badly, you see.”
I quirk a brow but stay silent.
“She kicked and bullied nearly everyone till she learned to trust us.We got bruised up bad.” Rick laughs, and I absentmindedly rub a hand across my jaw. “But underneath all that hurt was a sweet horse, loyal to us ‘til her dying day.” Rick finishes off his sandwich and stands, clapping me on the shoulder. “Hurt people hurt people. But healed people? Well, they heal people. Nowthat’swork worth doin’.”
I mull over Rick’s story the entire way back to my dinky new office.
I pull up short. Kate’s black heels gleam on the desk as she relaxes inmycomfortable office chair. My gaze cuts to the conference room chair in the corner, but it’s gone. The rusty tetanus one is back, the container of antibacterial wipes perched perfectly atop it.
I narrow my eyes at Kate, whose lips widen.
“Welcome back, partner.”
ten
PRESENT DAY
KATE
By the time I make it home after work to the Waterborough gated community, it’s nearly dusk. I punch in my code on the gate. Thankfully, it’s working properly today and not stuck open or closed like it was all last week. I nearly froze my butt off waiting for a security guard to let me in through the pedestrian gate that had also glitched.
After dropping off an extra entree of pierogies to Mrs. Kovolchuk, my elderly neighbor, I wave away her insistence to pay me as I head across the lawn. It’s not that hard to pick up an extra order of whatever I’m getting for takeout, and I know she’s lonely.
I trudge up my front steps, shove my key in the lock, and step inside.
“Liza,” I call, dropping my keys into the stone bowl. I pitch my next words in a silly singsong. “You’ll never believe how crappy work was.” I set Liza and my usual takeout order on the kitchen table and continue without waiting for a response. “You can guess, but I’ll give you a hint. Two words.”
Liza steps out of her bedroom door in a slinky black dress with a single diagonal strap over her chest and shoulder. She fastens an earring while she speaks.
“Let me guess… Brandon and Roberts?”
I tap my nose.
She laughs, then scoops up a heel and fits it on her foot. “Man, I wish I could stick around forthis, but Cam’ll be here any second. We’re going to dinner while his grandparents are in town.” Liza smooths down her brown hair in the entryway mirror, every bit the starry-eyed fiancée. The shoulder length strands are curled, and the top half is pulled into a cute little knot.
Only then do I notice the hefty suitcase she has wheeled out of her doorframe. “You going somewhere?” I ask.
“No, silly. Just hate having to bring stuff back and forth when I sleep at Cam’s. Thought I’d start leaving some stuff there.”
A shallow pain creeps into my gut. I’m already losing her.
“Makes sense,” I say.
Cam’s knock at the door makes the pain intensify, so I turn back to the takeout. I’d rather smash each of these pierogies on my head than dim even an ounce of her excitement tonight. I slowly close up Liza’s styrofoam takeout container and slip it into the fridge.
Cam and Liza’s greetings and kisses fill the entryway as I slide open the silverware drawer to find a fork.
“Bye, Kate! Love you!”
