‘Just a meeting.’ He looked away.
‘So. How have you been?’ Deb asked. It was just the polite thing to say.
‘All right. You?’ He was very brief, and Deb could feel that there was something he wasn’t saying.
‘I’m okay.’
‘Right.’ There was a silence.
Dear lord, Deb thought. There was awkward, and then there was teenager-in-a-sulk monosyllabic. This was definitely the latter.
‘Listen. I know we ended on a bad note, but I wouldn’t have pegged you for this rude.’ Deb felt a little exasperated.
‘Oh, you wouldn’t? Rude. Hmm.’ He nodded. ‘I just helped you with those boxes.’
‘You know what I mean,’ she replied. ‘You’re being weird with me. The least we can do is be pleasant to each other in public. Okay, we went on a date, and it didn’t work out. There’s no reason to be like this.’
‘Well, I guess I was confused about why it didn’t work out, and then I realised. Would have been nice of you to tell me,’ he shot back.
‘Tell you what?’
‘I heard that you were back with your ex,’ he said, crossing his arms over his chest. Deb did her best not to notice the way that his large biceps strained against his suit jacket.
‘You heard… what?’
‘It’s fine. I just would have appreciated hearing it from you,’ he continued.
‘Hearing what from me?’ Deb wanted to add,if I’m back with Dan, it’s the first I’ve heard about it.
‘That you were seeing him again. I don’t want to get caught in the middle of… whatever that is. You using me to make him jealous, maybe. Whatever.’ He shrugged.
‘Umm… that’s what you think I was doing, dating you?’ Deb felt the anger rise in her. Kyle had a way of putting her back up like no one else she’d ever known. True, he also made her feel other things she’d never felt with anyone else, but that was by the by.
‘Weren’t you? It happens. I was a convenient distraction, if not.’
‘I can’t say that you were very convenient at all,’ she retorted.
‘Right. Gotcha. Well, I’d appreciate the honesty, next time. Not that there will be a next time,’ he added. ‘Good luck with the party.’
‘But…’ Deb protested, but Kyle was walking away.
‘See you around, Deborah.’ He crossed the street, got into his car and drove off.
What just happened?Deb stood next to her car, feeling as though her stomach had dropped into her shoes. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and she definitely wasn’t back with Dan. Yet, Kyle had made her feel as though she had done something utterly awful.
It was also clear that, as nice as Dotty at the Loch Cameron Inn was, she was also clearly quite chatty when it came to telling people all about what had happened on her premises. Deb shook her head, aghast at the degree to which her personal life was clearly the subject of local gossip. What exactly had Dotty said, and how had Kyle even heard that she and Dan had had a coffee? Was everyone talking about it? The crochet coven too? Or had Kyle just happened to bump into Dotty – and then just happened to end up talking about Deb? She had no idea.
Well, that’s a small community for you, she thought.But,I don’t have to explain myself to anyone, let alone Kyle Abernethy.
Part of Deb wanted to call Kyle and explain to him everything that had happened with Dan. How she had realised that Dan andher were a hundred per cent not going to happen again. But the obstinate part of her hated that idea, and resisted it.
If Kyle didn’t have the patience or interest to talk to her properly, then he could stay in the dark. If he wanted to jump to conclusions, then he was welcome to.
The fact that Deb was being just as stubborn as Kyle was being resistant occurred to her, but she ignored it.
It’s his loss, she thought. It was what Janice would have said.
Part of her felt sad at the thought, but Deb was too busy to consider his feelings – or, even her own – right now. She had a week to finish getting ready for the party, and there was so much that needed to be done.
