Naturally Naughty - Leslie Kelly [89]
Angela had grown pale and looked utterly shocked. Kate regretted the words as soon as she said them, angry with herself for letting the woman goad her so. Kate regretted them even more when she realized who had walked into the store.
Seeing the late-afternoon sunlight shining through the front windows onto a familiar—and very dear—blond head, she felt the blood drain from her face. “Jack.”
“Do I even want to know what’s going on here?” Jack forced a note of calmness in his voice as he walked across the store to the counter, where Kate and his sister both stood. They looked equally as disturbed by his appearance.
“This is a misunderstanding…”
“She came here for one reason. To get revenge,” Angela said at the same time. His sister thrust a small book in his hand, obviously a diary. “She’s been plotting it for years. Against me and Darren—we were both totally humiliated by her gay friend the other night. But she’s not satisfied yet, she’s out to get the whole town, including you.”
He didn’t look at his sister, focusing all his attention on Kate. “Angela, would you please leave?”
He thought she’d argue, but she didn’t. Looking confused and upset, more than angry, Angela grabbed her purse and hurried out of the store. As soon as they were alone, Jack put the diary back on the counter.
“It’s not like she said…”
“I know about your revenge list, remember?” he interrupted softly. “You don’t have to explain it to me.”
She looked relieved. For a moment, anyway.
He continued. “I once asked you if it would be bad for me to see the list. When you said yes, I figured it mentioned Angela. Was she right? Was there more to it than that?”
Kate took a slow, deep breath, then nodded.
“You knew about my father and Edie.”
She crossed her arms tightly. “I found out on prom night.”
He absorbed her words and said a silent curse. Both Kate and his sister had learned as teenagers of their parents’ affair. He again kicked himself for leaving town, for not being around when he might have been needed.
“When did you find out?” she asked softly.
“The night I met you,” he admitted. “After I left you at the theater. I had absolutely no idea who you were until then. I didn’t even know your last name, remember?”
She glanced away, her face growing even paler.
As a heavy, uncomfortable silence fell between them, Jack mentally replayed what he’d heard of the conversation. He still had trouble believing it. Not that Kate had written a revenge list, he’d known about it before, after all. He just hadn’t known his entire family was part of the plot. Somehow, it had been easy to imagine she’d gotten over any high school hurts, so he’d accepted her assurances that she really wasn’t opening her store for revenge. Now, however, he had to wonder.
“I have to know,” he finally said, “was your list on your mind when you came back here? When we got involved?”
She stared at him, not answering.
“Tell me, Kate. When you decided to come back to Pleasantville, did you think about a little payback? Getting involved with me, then breaking my heart, like you thought my dad did to your mom?”
She countered with a question of her own. “You tell me something, Jack. The night we met, when you found out who I was, that Edie Tremaine was my mother…is that the reason you never called? The reason you decided we couldn’t get involved?”
He answered easily. “Of course.”
She stiffened, as if offended by his honesty, though he didn’t know why. He opened his mouth to elaborate, to tell her how hurt he’d been for Edie, how he’d wanted to make it up to her and not take advantage of Kate.
Before he could say a word, however, she picked up her purse and keys. “Thanks for being honest. Now, you want the truth? Here it is. I came back here with every intention of seducing J. J. Winfield.” Stepping around the counter, she met his stare steadily with her own. “I planned to get him to go crazy over me, then stomp his heart into the dust with the heels of my six-inch-tall slut-puppy boots.”
Without another word, she turned and walked out of her own store.
14
WHEN NURSING