Chapter Thirty-One

Jabberwocky’s was crowded, but it always was at this hour. Kit made her way through the throng toward the bar. Every seat was taken. She hovered close, hoping she’d get lucky and a couple of seats would become available before Rylee got there.

A man at the corner was paying his tab, and she inched closer to him. She could see others eyeing the coveted stools around the bar. He threw a couple of bills onto the wooden surface, pushed the stool back, and stood. When he turned around, she recognized him from when she’d gone to the firehouse to see Hop.

“It’s all yours.” He motioned a hand to the seat.

“Thank you.”

“Hey, aren’t you the friend of Hop’s?”

“I am. Larry, right?”

Suddenly his face fell. “You’re the one that, uh, Shane Dugan’s renting a room from.”

“I am.”

She wondered why he looked like that.

“Then you must be the pretend one, right? Man, that guy’s one lucky son of a bitch, I’ll tell you that.”

“Excuse me? The pretend what?”

He wiped the smile from his face. “I’m sorry. I’ve had a couple of beers and don’t know how to keep my mouth shut sometimes.”

Her face flamed. She wished he’d go and prayed Rylee would walk through the door.

Her insides clenched as she repeated her question. “What did you mean, though? The pretend what?”

“Girlfriend. He told me about your arrangement. But don’t worry. I can keep a secret even if I’ve got a big mouth. But, yeah, he’s here with the real one. I mean the other one.” He pointed to the dining room.

Her heart fell and landed at her feet, like a stone chipped and cracked from its sudden fall. Despite her head chanting for her to get the hell out of the place, she cast her gaze to the dining room, and there they were. Shane had his hand extended across the small square table as he held Dana’s hand.

She turned around to find Rylee standing behind her. “Parking around the square’s nuts tonight.” She studied Kit’s face. “Now that I’m here, can you tell me what’s going on? Your text concerned me. I mean, aren’t you supposed to be making spaghetti carbonara for your fireman?” Rylee sounded confused. “What are we doing at Jabberwocky’s?”

She looked into the dining room again. The couple was standing now, and Dana, small and fit, was in Shane’s embrace. She craned her neck, lifted her hands up to his cheeks, and pulled his head closer to hers. She planted a kiss, and his hands went to her teeny-tiny waist. Kit’s insides turned to cement, and her lungs suffered for air despite her attempts to suck some in.

“Kit.”

She’d forgotten for a second that Rylee was even there. All she could do was stare at her friend.

“Sweetie, what’s going on?”

“I can’t.”

“Tell me.”

“Not here. Let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“Anywhere but here.”