Naturally Naughty - Leslie Kelly [88]
He shrugged. “My father had every right to do with this building whatever he wanted to. I’m sure he’d rather see it open as a ladies’ shop than sitting here moldering away. My mother on the other hand…”
Kate snorted. “Yeah, I can imagine.”
“Divorce can be tough.” He glanced away. “On everyone. You marry someone you think you know, think you love, then you find out you don’t really know them at all.”
She figured he was referring to his marriage but didn’t ask. After a minute of small talk Darren said, “I’d better go. I just wanted to wish you luck and to say I’m sorry. Your, uh, friend Armand reminded me the other night that you might have a score to settle.”
Kate shook her head, putting aside not only Darren’s doubts, but any of her own. “No, Darren, I don’t.” Not anymore.
Darren had no sooner left, shutting the door behind them, when Kate heard someone emerge from the dressing room area. She sensed her long, hot bath was going to be further delayed when she recognized Angela. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“Stay away from Darren,” the woman said. “You got your revenge. Your friend made a big fool out of the both of us the other night, so leave him alone.”
Seeing tears in the other woman’s eyes, Kate had to wonder whether Angela had ever given up on her first marriage. Any sympathy she felt for Angela evaporated when she saw the book she held. Her diary. The last time she’d seen it, it had been in a drawer in a desk in the storage room. “Snooping?”
Angela didn’t even have the grace to flush. “Stay away from my brother, too. I won’t let you hurt him in some nasty plot.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Suddenly so tired, Kate rubbed her eyes. She didn’t want to have this conversation. Ever.
Angela slammed the diary on the counter, open to the page with Kate’s revenge list. “Yes, I do. Didn’t you write this? ‘For Mom’s sake, get even with the Winfield family,’” she read. “‘Particularly John Winfield.’ My father isn’t around to hurt anymore, so you’ve decided to focus on my brother. A different man, but who cares, the name’s the same, right?”
Kate took a deep breath, trying to remain calm enough to deal with Jack’s sister, trying to have sympathy for her, given the way Jack had described her childhood. “Angela, that was years ago. I don’t have any intention of hurting Jack.”
The other woman crossed her arms. “Just like you didn’t want revenge on me and Darren, by setting us up to look like fools at the mayor’s reception the other night? Like you didn’t want to hurt the town by opening up this shop? Don’t give me that. You want to hurt my family the way your mother did.”
Then it hit her. Angela didn’t seem the least bit surprised her diary had spoken of Edie and John. She tilted her head and stared at the woman. “You knew. About their affair.”
Angela nodded. “Of course I knew. I’ve known for years. Everyone knows, even my mother.”
Everyone? Including Jack?
“The point is, Kate, your secret’s out. I’m going to tell Jack all about this little revenge list of yours, which you’ve been crossing off since the day you hit town.”
Kate shook her head. “You’re wrong. I care about Jack.”
She smirked. “Won’t matter. Jack doesn’t care about you. You’ve been about one thing to him from the very beginning. He doesn’t love you. Winfields don’t marry trashy Tremaine women who own sex shops or work as maids. He won’t marry you any more than my father married your mother.”
Kate’s anger made her reply so quickly her mind barely registered the ringing of the bell over the front door. “Thanks to your mother.” At Angela’s puzzled look, Kate said, “She made sure of it. Trapping him into marriage with a fake pregnancy just to get him away from my mother, who was his girlfriend throughout high school! That’s probably just what you did to Darren, only he didn’t stick around like your father did after he found out. So don’t talk to me about families being hurt. If anyone deserves some payback, it’s the Winfields.