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Claudia and Scott met up with Emily and Kyle for lunch the next day.
The newlyweds didn’t look very blissful. It was understandable given the circumstances. They both knew Kyle was the primary suspect in his cousin’s murder. It was no wonder Emily was uncharacteristically withdrawn and barely managed to even pick at her food. And who could blame Kyle for being in a foul mood?
Claudia could blame Kyle for being in a foul mood.
She knew it was completely unfair. She was willing to give Emily a break for acting unusually, but she wasn’t willing to do the same for Kyle. Claudia knew she was being biased. She knew it wasn’t right. And yet she couldn’t help it.
She found herself watching Kyle out of the corner of her eye. She silently judged him every time he frowned or looked around or even blinked. She had no reason to dislike him...but she had no reason to like him, either. So she watched and waited for him to make an impression one way or the other.
He was a nice looking guy, so he had that going for him at least. He had broad shoulders and muscular arms. His jaw was square and his eyes were a pretty color. While he didn’t look like a movie star or anything, he was the sort of fellow who could definitely turn a head or two.
Claudia desperately hoped that wasn’t why Emily had married him. She wanted to believe her best friend had more sense than that and wouldn’t be blinded by a pretty face. But a tiny bit of doubt nonetheless lingered.
“Look out!” a boy of about ten hollered.
A fraction of a second later, a gigantic beach ball flew through the air. It struck the edge of the dining table before bouncing to the ground. Most of the drinks on the table tipped over. The majority of them spilled right in Kyle’s lap.
Claudia couldn’t help but wonder if it was karma at work.
“Sorry,” the kid said before grabbing his beach ball and returning to the pool area.
Kyle’s face was red. “There are too many people on this ship,” he growled as he tried his best to clean himself up with paper napkins. “How long are we going to be held hostage here? This is ridiculous.”
“It will be okay,” Emily tried to soothe him.
“You don’t know that!” he snapped with surprising intensity. Even he seemed taken aback by his harsh tone. He pushed his chair back from the table. “I’m going to go change clothes. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
“He isn’t normally like this,” Emily said once Kyle was gone. “He’s under a lot of stress.”
“He seems like he has a temper,” Claudia remarked.
“Doesn’t everyone?” Emily retorted. “I know I have a temper. So do you, Claudia.”
Sensing the mounting tension, Scott cleared his throat. “I’m uh...going to go do...a thing. Over there.” Then he promptly bailed, opting to vacate the area before things got heated. It was probably a wise move. In retrospect, Claudia probably should have gone with him.
Instead, she stayed to talk things out with Emily.
Unsurprisingly, the conversation didn’t go well.
“I don’t appreciate all the implications about Kyle!” Emily said tersely.
“What implications? I’m trying to get to know him better, that’s all. Although that’s kind of hard to do when he isn’t here. Does he get mad like that and storm off often?” Claudia asked. She knew she was stirring the pot, but she was tired of biting her tongue.
Emily glared at her. “Why don’t you come out and say it? You think Kyle killed Chad.”
“It did cross my mind,” Claudia admitted. “And I still think it’s a possibility. That said, if I had to guess who did it, Kyle wouldn’t be my first choice. But you know what bothers me? The fact that we even have to wonder if Kyle might be a killer.”
“I’m not wondering.”
“Aren’t you?”
Emily’s eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms and glared. “What’s your problem, Claudia? Actually, I think I know exactly what it is. You’re jealous!”
Claudia’s jaw dropped. “Jealous of what?” she sputtered.
“You’ve told me before that you’re impatient for Scott to propose to you. You’ve told me how you hated being bombarded with wedding stuff years ago when your sister got married because it made you feel bad. You’re jealous!” Emily said again.
“You’re twisting my words,” Claudia declared, her eyes flashing with anger. “All anyone in my family could talk about for months and months was my sister’s upcoming wedding. So yes, I got tired of hearing about it. Anyone would have. And I am not jealous!”
“You are. You can’t stand that I got married before you, can you?”
Her face burning, Claudia scowled at her best friend. “That’s crazy. You’re delusional.”
“You wouldn’t be calling me names if it wasn’t true,” Emily insisted. “You’re defensive. That speaks volumes. Between you and me, desperation isn’t a good look, Claudia. You should really try to get over your insecurities.”
The smug advice set Claudia off. She jumped to her feet, accidentally knocking a fork to the ground in the process. It fell to the floor noisily. “Calling me desperate is really rich coming from you of all people, Emily!” Claudia hissed. “You’re the one who met weird guy after weird guy from the Internet because you couldn’t stand the thought of being alone!”
Emily opened her mouth to protest, but Claudia wasn’t done.
“But then it got worse,” Claudia continued, her blood boiling. “You married the first guy who popped the question! A perfect stranger! Or should I say a not-so-perfect stranger? You were so ashamed of your quickie wedding that you didn’t even want your family to attend. And now look at the mess you’ve gotten yourself into!”
Claudia’s words were harsh. Even as she was saying them, she knew she was being unfair. But Emily’s accusations had really hit a nerve...perhaps because there was a little truth to them. Now Claudia’s temper had flared and all bets were off.
Emily looked as though she had been slapped across the face. Shellshocked, she sat there motionless for a moment as Claudia’s words sunk in. Then her pretty face contorted into something grotesque and full of rage.
She picked up the one glass of water that hadn’t been knocked over by the rogue beach ball and splashed it on Claudia. Then, without uttering a single word, she turned on her heel and stormed off.
Scott returned to the table a moment later to find Claudia wringing water out of her hair.
“What happened to you?” he demanded, almost as though he was afraid to ask.
“What happened,” Claudia said icily, “is that my friendship with Emily is over.”
