CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Were you talking to us?” Ellie handed Julie a Shiner, the beer from the cooler with the most calories.

“You two look so cozy. I thought you’d like to share the joke,” Julie said.

Julie’s eyes were clear, calculating as they moved from Jack to Ellie, from suspicion to disbelief. Ellie could almost hear Julie’s thought: “You’re fucking her?” Sitting next to Julie, Kelly looked mortified.

“I was thanking Jack for offering to talk to the developers coming in on Tuesday to meet with me and Matt.”

“Developers? What are you talking about?” Michelle’s voice was brittle, her eyes blazing as she stared at her brother across the fire.

“An old friend of mine from Dallas is in historical preservation. He wants to restore the hotel. Curtis knows a chef who wants to open a small, locavore restaurant,” Ellie said.

“Dad won’t like that,” Michelle said.

“Will your developer bring his own contractors into town?” Brian asked.

“We haven’t gotten that far, but I’m sure he’ll bid out the business.”

Ellie’s gaze wandered to Kelly, who studied her as though trying to put together a complicated puzzle. Julie’s eyes hadn’t left Ellie, either. Ellie met the other woman’s direct gaze across the fire and didn’t blink. She was not going to be intimidated by her.

“You’re lucky you have Yourkie on your side, Matt,” Brian said. “If anyone can close the deal, it’s Ellie.”

“Yourkie?” Julie said.

“It was her nickname in high school,” Michelle said. “Go on, tell our new friends how you got it.”

Ellie narrowed her eyes at Michelle. “And ruin your moment of fun? I’d never.”

“She got it from basketball,” Susan said, speaking up for the first time. “She was a tenacious defender. She would lock on her opponent and never let go. She was the best player Stillwater’s ever had.”

Ellie looked at the ground, barely resisting the urge to leave. She didn’t like to think about it, and she definitely didn’t like to talk about it.

“Not that there’s much competition in that department,” Michelle said.

Ellie gritted her teeth. Control, control, control.

“Too bad about the point shaving. How exactly does it work?”

Ellie lifted her head slowly to meet Julie’s smirk.

“That was a bunch of bullshit,” Brian said. “Everyone who knows Ellie knows it.”

Ellie looked from Julie to her oldest and best friend, waiting for her to say something, to defend Ellie as she had so many times before. Finally, Kelly said, “It isn’t something she likes to talk about.”

That was her best friend’s idea of defending her? The roar in Ellie’s ears started low and grew, so she almost didn’t hear the next comment.

“Guilty conscience, maybe?”

“I suppose a guilty conscience is something you would know a lot about, Julie.” Ellie tossed her plate of uneaten food in the fire, turned, and walked off.

As she hit the treeline, Ellie heard Amy say, in a falsely bright voice, it was time for s’mores. She made it fifty yards into the woods before she threw up the little bit of beer she drank. She wiped her mouth and leaned against a tree, her stomach still roiling. She felt her forehead with the back of her hand for the thousandth time since Thursday.

“Ellie?”

Ellie closed her eyes and sighed. “Over here.”

Kelly walked around the tree. Ellie could just see her through the darkness.

“What the hell was that back there?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Kelly said.

“My best friend sitting by and letting some stranger insult me, is what I saw.”

Kelly stepped forward. Her face was silvery in the darkness, but her eyes sparked with anger. “Are you sleeping with Jack?”

“No. Why would you ask me that?”

“Julie was right. You did look awfully cozy.”

“We were talking.”

“You sure as hell weren’t talking about business.”

“Why would you care if I was sleeping with Jack? Worried about your new best friend?”

“You sound jealous.”

“Hardly. I wouldn’t want to be friends with that manipulative, vindictive narcissist if she was the last person on earth.”

Kelly’s head jerked as if she’d been slapped. “What are you talking about? She’s nothing like that.” She narrowed her eyes. “How would you know anything about her at all? You haven’t even tried to get to know her.”

“I’ve been busy. Plus, I thought I had friends. I don’t need to try to make more.”

“You certainly tried to be friends with Jack when he first came.”

“Which you encouraged, if you remember.”

“That was before I knew him.”

“Oh, and what do you know about him?”

“Well, he’s a shitty police chief and he’s a philanderer. He cheated on Julie all the time. That’s the real reason she left. She’s telling the other story so she doesn’t hurt Ethan.”

“Why would you believe her?”

“Because I remember how he went after you when he moved here, or have you forgotten? Jesus, he hadn’t even unpacked before he was trying to get into your pants.”

Ellie’s stomach churned as realization dawned. “You just told her.”

“What?”

“You told Julie.” Ellie pushed Kelly away. “How could you?”

“She has a right to know what her husband has been doing while she’s been gone. While you two were talking about ‘the Henry’ she was telling me how he was a carouser before she left and I said I could believe it. What does it matter to you? Nothing came of it. I told her that in no uncertain terms.”

Ellie shook her head. “You need to stay out of other people’s business.”

“Did I lie?”

“What?”

“When I told Julie you didn’t sleep with her husband.”

“Are you asking me again, if I’m sleeping with Jack? The answer is no. Again. Now fucking drop it. And don’t you ever talk to Julie McBride about me again. Understand?”

“Why do you hate her?”

“The better question is, why do you like her? How could you possibly find anything in common with a woman who abandoned her son for an entire year?”

“She didn’t abandon him. He had his father, and she was constantly in touch with him through email.”

Susan walked up so quietly she was upon Kelly and Ellie before they knew she was there. “Hey, girls. Am I interrupting?”

“Yes, thank God,” Ellie said. “I need to go home. I think I’m going to puke again.”

“What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Susan asked.

Ellie bit back a smart-ass comment. Susan and Brian had defended her against Michelle and Julie, a pair of women Ellie hoped never ganged up against her. Ellie was pretty sure they would destroy her, and smile while doing it.

“I think I’m getting the flu,” Ellie said.

“I think the party’s breaking up anyway,” Susan said.

“Great,” Kelly said.

“Are you blaming me?” Ellie asked.

“You said it, not me.” With a glare, Kelly pushed past her oldest friends.

Ellie watched Kelly dissolve into the dark. She sighed and turned to Susan. “Was I wrong back there? Did I overreact?”

“No.”

“She was baiting me, wasn’t she?”

“Julie or Michelle?”

“Take your pick.”

“I get Michelle, but why would Julie?”

“Kelly told her Jack flirted with me before she got into town.”

“Ah. That explains a lot.” Susan put her arm around Ellie. Ellie leaned into her friend. “Did you sleep with him?”

Ellie took a deep breath. She wanted to tell someone, to share the burden of the secret, to have someone to commiserate with, someone who would listen, let her vent and always tell her she was making the right decision. Susan and Kelly had always been those people. Until now.

“No.” Ellie tugged at Susan’s hand. “Come on. Let’s help clean up.”

The rustle of leaves kept Ellie from moving. “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“What?” Susan whispered back.

“I thought I heard something.” Ellie peered into the trees to their right. She thought she saw movement, but it was too dark to be sure. When she heard the crunch of leaves again, she tugged on Susan’s hand harder.

“I heard that,” Susan said. “Let’s get out of here.”

Though the mood was decidedly more subdued, the party wasn’t breaking up. Ellie focused on toasting her marshmallow to a perfect golden brown while the others chatted about the snipe festival. By unspoken agreement, Jack and Ellie toasted their marshmallows across the fire from each other and pretended the other didn’t exist. Jack stared blankly into the fire while his marshmallows burned to a crisp. Ellie tapped her marshmallow against his and his eyes met hers. “You like them burnt?”

Jack noticed his marshmallows and pulled them from the fire. Julie walked up and, with the ease and familiarity of years of marriage, they wordlessly went about making s’mores for each other. Julie sandwiched the graham crackers and chocolate around one marshmallow and pulled the complete s’more from the straightened wire hanger. She stuck it in Jack’s mouth and repeated the process with the second. She glanced up at Jack and wiped a bit of melted marshmallow from the corner of his lips. “You’re a mess.”

Jack shoved the rest of the s’more in his mouth and Julie held out the second one. “You take it. I’ll make another.”

Ellie turned away, overcome with the feeling she had witnessed an intimacy, a familiarity, which would take years to develop with Jack, if ever. How much of Ellie’s future relationship with Jack would be retreads of his time with Julie?

“I told Ethan it was a prank,” Julie said to Amy. “He immediately showed me a picture and said he almost got beat up when he said the same thing.”

The locals laughed. Amy said, “The same thing happened to me. Well, not the beating up part. But you’d have thought I called them all atheists, or something. These Stillwaterites get protective about their snipe.”

“Why don’t we go on one tonight?” Julie said.

Ellie smashed her marshmallow between two graham crackers and a slab of Hershey’s chocolate. “A wild goose chase only works if someone isn’t in on the joke,” Ellie snapped.

Julie’s expression was slightly vacant. Kelly opened her mouth to clarify when they were jolted by Brian’s yell and the sound of fighting. Jack handed his half-eaten s’more to Julie and ran toward the scuffle.

“I can’t believe you,” Brian yelled at Matt. Chris strained to keep Brian in check. “I thought we were friends.”

“It’s business, man. I’m sorry.” There was a note of pleading beneath Matt’s anger.

“It isn’t business! It’s my life. My livelihood. I was counting on this deal. You knew that!”

“It’s out of my hands.”

“Oh, no,” Susan said, heading toward her husband.

Ellie crossed her arms over her chest against a sudden chill and looked around, her instinct to find her best friend and be beside her. Kelly and Julie stood together, watching. Ellie turned away, and suddenly, Eddie was beside her, out of breath. “I heard yelling.”

Ellie studied him. His face was flushed. “Brian jumped Matt.”

Without looking at her, he nodded and walked to the men. Michelle walked out of the woods in the general direction Eddie came from. She winked broadly at Ellie, wiped the edges of her mouth, and followed Eddie.

Figures.

Brian jerked himself free from Chris and stormed to his truck, Susan on his heels. Susan said something over her shoulder to Matt. Brian stopped and turned so abruptly, Susan ran into him. Brian grabbed his wife by the arms, said something in a low voice to her, and dragged her to the car. Eddie jogged toward Brian, catching him before he got in his truck. He grasped Brian’s shoulder, pulled him close, and whispered in his ear. Brian’s face glowed with anger before slacking into shock. Eddie pulled away, a smile on his face, and gave Brian a genial pat on the back.

Chris closed up the smoker and opened the driver’s door to the fifth wheel.

“What are you doing?” Michelle asked.

“Leaving. Get in or get a ride with someone else.” He got in and slammed the door. Michelle walked around and got in the passenger seat and they drove off.

Matt walked over to the table and started packing up. Amy worked so hard to ignore her husband, but Ellie was sure she’d seen the blood stain on his shirt and the beginning of what promised to be an impressive shiner.

“What a way to end the night, huh?” Julie said when she and Kelly walked up. Everyone ignored her. Kelly didn’t say anything either, but started helping with a puzzled look on her face.

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Matt,” Julie continued. “He seems like a bully to me.”

Everyone stopped and stared at her.

“What? I know he’s your friend and all, but take it from the one person here not weighted down with history and baggage, Brian Grant is a bully.”

Jack and Eddie walked up. “Can we help?” Jack said.

“It’s okay,” Amy said. “We’ve got it. But thanks.”

Julie paused, looked around the group of people, none of whom would look at her. “Okay. If you’re sure. Thanks for inviting us. We had a great time.”

“Yes, thank you,” Jack said. He gently grasped Julie’s arm and led her away.

The rest of them finished cleaning up without a word.