hat and turns to walk out of the building.
Cara follows behind him so she can lock up. I hear her saying that we are nice people, that it's horrible that someone would do this kind of thing.
Jack lets out a rush of air. Gus is already on the phone with the glass guy, telling him to get out here tonight.
I glance at Jack. "You really think someone will come this late in the day?" It's getting late. Most glass places won't even come out here. We aren't exactly in the central part of the island.
Jack nods. "Yeah, Gus knows a guy."
"Gus knows everyone," Kate chimes in. Her arms are folded over her chest. She glances at me out of the corner of her eye. "What? I'm not allowed to say things about him? I spent over twenty hours driving cross-country with the guy. I bet I know things you haven't got any clue about." She directs the last part at Jack.
"I lived with the guy for four years, so I seriously doubt that." Jack sits down hard in the chair before looking up at us. Kate and I don't look at one another. "For god sakes, make up already. Go talk and fix whatever broke." He shoos us off.
Kate gives him a weird look, but then shrugs and walks away. I follow her into the kitchen. She grabs the canister of coffee and starts to make a pot. "I didn't mean to be a bitch last night, Abby. It's just that this guy's timing is a little off. I'd be suspicious, and you aren't. At all. What gives?"
I sit at the little table and listen to the coffee-maker percolate. The scent fills my head. I breathe deep, wondering how much to tell her. "I know it wasn't him because we were a thing for a while."
Kate's eyes bug out of her head. "Just when I think your ability to shock me ends, you go and say something like that. I thought you didn't date anyone?"
"It was before seminary. Jackson liked me a lot, but things didn't work out." I snatch a napkin off the table and twist it in my hands as I speak. "That's why I know he has nothing to do with them. I know him."
Kate is looking at me like I have two heads. "You never told me that. How far did you go with the guy?"
"Kate!" I whine and put my head on the table.
"What? It makes a difference. A guy shows up that held your hand, okay, that's fine. A guy shows up that saw you naked in the shower, now we're into a whole other bag of tricks." She grabs the creamer and pulls the sugar from the cabinet.
Lifting my head, I say, "No naked anything. The relationship never got that far. I kept comparing him to someone else."
"Jack. He wasn't Jack, so you dumped him?" She stares at me and then places the sugar on the table.
"Something like that." I grab one of the little sugar packets from the dish and slide it around the table. Not looking at Kate, I say, "You could have trusted me last night. You didn't have to act like I was your idiot little sister."
"Sometimes I have to." I bristle and look up at her. She waves her hands, "No, no - wait. Hear me out. Even if you knew him at some point, it's been years, right?" I nod. "A lot of things can change in ten years, Abby. Look at you. Can you honestly tell me that you're the same person you were the last time you saw this guy?"
I think about it. I want to blurt out "yes." I want to be right, but I'm not. There's been a shift in how I see everything. It affects every aspect of my life. "I don't think people change so much. I'm a little bit different, but you're still you."
She smiles wickedly at me. "No, I'm not. We had to start over too. When you came back, things were tense at first. It wasn't until later, until we accepted how we both changed, that we got on with being friends. That's all I'm saying. When you have batshit crazy people gunning for you, be careful of who crawls out of the woodwork. Promise me that you won't think the best of them. Make them earn it."
Kate's rationale is grounded in the right place, but I wish she wouldn't act like I can't handle things.