overnight bag. I pull out a shirt, and then a piece of lingerie. "So? I'm a slut. You know that. I have to be ready to look good whenever a guy wants me."
"Kate. When I told you to come in the other night, you got here in like ten minutes. You were at Gus's - just admit it." Kate and Gus still play dumb.
Jack puts his arm on Gus's shoulder. "Still have nothing to say?"
"Not a word, man. She'll take my balls off." He says it totally deadpan and doesn't show any emotion until Kate rounds on him.
"What the fuck! You said you wouldn't tell them!" Kate's tense and stomps her heel into the ground.
Gus is laughing. He pulls prickly Kate to him and she seems to melt. "They already know. Jack figured it out already, and we can't have Abby thinking that you're the real Hampton Whore."
Kate presses her lips together like she's going to say something nasty, but she just pecks him on the lips and then turns to us. "Fine, I'm fucking your best friend."
"Use nice words, Katie," Gus chides her. Holding onto Kate's waist, Gus prompts her like she's a child. "Now, what do we call it when both people like each other and want to have regular sex with each other?"
Kate rolls her eyes. "A relationship. Fine. Whatever." Kate looks at Jack and corrects herself. "I hope you don't mind that I'm having a relationship with your best friend." Gus laughs and kisses her cheek. Kate smiles like a schoolgirl. It's an instant transformation that doesn't fade all the way. It softens some of her sharp corners.
I smile at her. "Congratulations, bestie." She holds out her arms and I give her a hug. Jack and Gus do that manly back slap thing and I give Gus a hug, too.
Jack looks at Kate and says, "Last time I tried to hug her, she tried to bite me. I'll just wave, if that's okay."
Kate walks over to Jack and bears her teeth and snaps. Then she pulls him into a hug and laughs. Jack's eyes go wide. He gives Gus a look that says, I hope you can handle her.
"You know how much I like crazy chicks," Gus says. For some reason, Kate doesn't slap him. She just smiles like he told her that she's the prettiest girl ever.
I laugh and say, "Well, we should get back inside and change. Although, if we ran down the driveway right now, I bet we could scare the hell out of the picketers."
Kate and Gus glance at us, like we should realize it. "They're not there. Didn't you hear what happened?"
My stomach sinks. Jack wraps his arms around me, bracing me for whatever's next.
Chapter 34-35
Chapter 34
JACK
He gives Gus a look that says tone it down, but Gus can't read his mind. The guy blurts out everything.
"The group that was here yesterday was driven in early in the morning on a charter bus. They were supposed to be here for a week, according to the news, but last night when they were on the way back to their hotel, a deer ran in front of the bus. It swerved and went off the road. Those things are top heavy, so it rolled."
Abby is pressing her fingers to her mouth hard. Jack hasn't felt her breathe since Gus started talking. Jack cuts him off. "Anyone killed?"
Gus finally gets it. He glances at Jack and then back at Abby. "A few. The rest are beat up pretty bad. They won't be back."
Abby stares at him, unblinking. Jack still doesn't feel her chest expand. He knows something is going through her head, but she doesn't speak. Abby seems to internalize what she feels and makes up her mind before letting a word fall from her mouth. Sometimes that's admirable. Other times, it just scares the hell out of him.
Jack tightens his hold around Abby and she finally inhales. She looks over her shoulder at him with grief strewn across her face. "This is horrible."
"They were horrible people, Abby." Kate says as she picks at her fingernail. "I thought you'd be happy." Abby and Jack stare at Kate. It's too quiet. When Kate glances at them, she waves her hands. Correcting herself, she adds, "That's not what I meant. I thought you'd be glad they weren't coming back. It's a black cloud with a silver lining."
Jack doesn't let Abby answer. She'll tell Kate there is no silver lining. He feels it. Jack