Snow Blind - Lori G. Armstrong [76]
Kim laughed. “Gotcha. We’ve narrowed it down to the Venetian. Better book your plane tickets and hotel room soon.”
“Good idea. Hey, I’ll talk to Kevin’s new fuck buddy. She’s a travel agent. Maybe she can get me an I’m-shagging-your-partner discount.”
“Fuck buddy? That’s crude, even for you.”
So, I blasted her eardrums on what constituted 269
crude office behavior. When I finished, she wasn’t leaping on the Julie’s-always-right bandwagon like she normally did.
“Is this Amery person in Pierre with him?”
“I don’t know.” Why didn’t I? As his business partner, wasn’t I supposed to know?
Kim’s palm made continual circles on her belly.
“Is there a chance Martinez will come with you to the wedding?”
“I dunno. I’ll ask.”
“How are things going with him?”
“Shitty. He’s mad at me. Again.”
“Why?”
“Between his obligations and mine, we just can’t seem to come to terms on where we’re supposed to be together. Lately it’s been hit-and-miss on us spending any time together at all. I get angry; he gets angry. Seems all we ever do is fight.”
Kim didn’t say anything; she just rubbed the magic ball that was her belly. Why was that so annoying? Almost like she constantly drew attention to the fact she was pregnant.
Christ. I needed a Marlboro in a bad way.
“What else is new with you?”
“I finally decided on a dress.”
“Which one?”
“The ivory with the sweetheart neckline, the empire waist, and the layer of tulle down the back.”
“I don’t remember that one.”
270
“It was next to the tangerine-colored strapless I liked for your dress.”
My eyes narrowed. “Tangerine? As in orange?
Eww. You aren’t going to make me wear some buttugly bridesmaid’s dress, are you?”
“No.” She pushed out of the chair. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you forget the whole thing? You know, sharing the happiest day of my life? I’ll find someone else to stand up for me in Vegas.”
“What? I was kidding, Kim.”
“No, you weren’t.”
She sighed. And rubbed her belly some more. She’d improved at the “pat your head and rub your tummy” exercise since she polished that bulge all the goddamn time—not that I’d comment since her sense of humor had vanished with her waistline.
“Lighten up. You can joke about Elvis but not a dress?”
“It’s more than just a dress.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning . . . do you miss hanging out with me, Julie?”
This was not headed in a good conversational direction. “Every damn day. Why?”
“You have any idea why we haven’t spent much time together recently?”
Because everything changed when you knew I
killed someone.
Kim didn’t wait for my response; she answered, 271
“Because you are negative, cynical, and crude.”
“You used to like that about me.”
“You weren’t like that all the time, Jules. You are now. You find something wrong with everyone and everything around you, no matter what it is.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. Defensive?
Yeah. So?
“Kevin’s girlfriend died and instead of being happy he has the balls to start a new relationship, you’re jealous as hell. And we both know you will go out of your way to sabotage it.”
Wrong. But she was on a roll so I let her go.
“Why have you been hanging out at the ranch so much? You’re kidding yourself if you think it has a damn thing to do with Brittney. She’s using you, Julie, to test the boundaries with her parents. You’re trying to prove you’re worthy to both her and your father.”
“I don’t have the same daddy issues you do, Kim.”
“Yes, you do. You just pretend you can handle it. I cut my dad out of my life like the cancer he is. You haven’t. Do you really believe that if you help your father it’ll erase all the horrible things he did to you? It won’t. Nothing will.
“But rather than telling him to fuck off, like you’d do to anyone else who beat you like a dog, you run to the rescue, drowning in guilt and self-hatred for it. And then you turn your bitterness on the people who really do love and care about you. Kevin. Me. Martinez.”
“That’s not fair.”
272
“It’s the truth. Tony would do anything for you. What have you done for him? Besides keep him at arms’
length? Why