“The hurting’s going to be a little difficult.” I smirk. “I don’t know what she’s told you about her sex life, but…”
“Gross.”
I stab a shrimp with my fork and mime chasing it around. “More ammo for when you want to push her buttons.”
“Probably shouldn’t do that right now. I think I’m on thin ice with her.” Kathy grimaces.
“Why? Because of what Loony Laura said today?”
“Winnie—she’s always been there for me. She’s always believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. She’s like a tough-love big sister, you know?”
“Yeah.” I think about my older brothers. “I know. Being the younger sibling is a privileged position to be in. But don’t worry about what happened today. If anyone on my team gives you or Winnie issues, I’ll ship them off to Saskatchewan.”
“You can just do that?”
“Yep.” I snap my fingers. “Just like that. So…” I spin the walnut box toward her. “I’m thinking this silver one here with the braided silver band.”
Kathy makes an intrigued face.
“Or the teardrop diamond on a channel-set ring with this matching wedding band.”
“Hmm.” She purses her mouth thentakes a photo.
“Don’t lie—you know I hit it out of the park.” I mime hitting a baseball.
“Carolina’s going to have to weigh in.”
“Uh-huh. What were you thinking of?”
“Something like this.” She shows me her phone.
“That’s almost the same as what I have here.” I point to a silver ring with an oversized sapphire.
“Mm, actually, I think it’s slightly different.”
“Damn, you and your sister cut from the same sarcastic cloth.”
“It’s our grandmother.”
“Yeah, no shit. I had to comp all my guests that day.” I pour out more wine. “Okay, you need to do your part, though. If I go tell Winnie that I want to ask her to marry me after we’ve only known each other for two months—”
“I thought it was, like, three weeks.”
“Uh, semantics. But you know her—she’s going to be like, ‘No, are you crazy, Fitz?’ And the answer will be yes, but also, ‘I love you, Winnie.’”
“I’ll butter her up,” Kathy promises. “But,” she adds, leaning over, “if you really want Winnie to chill out, I have the answer.”
I make a big show of pouring her more wine and call the waiter to bring over the dessert cart. “Wine? Cake? Fried shrimp? I need to know your secrets.”
“Okay.” Kathy crooks a finger. “Here’s what you do to make Winnie love you forever and ever…”
45
WINNIE
“It’s not fair,” I sob on my bed next to Carolina.
She tries to mop my face with a wet washcloth. It just smears my ruined makeup.
