Kate
* * *
FROM: [email protected]
SUBJECT: SEND IT NOW
I can’t believe you even had to ask me that.
RC
10
Six Months Ago
Charlie
“What sortof stupid name is Pete anyway?”
Adam tilted her head and pecked at my boot.
“Yes. I am aware I waited too long and have nobody to blame but myself.”
She pecked again.
“I wanted to tell her. I will tell her. Eventually. The timing wasn’t right.”
Lucy joined her sister and flapped on a hop kicking up dust and feathers.
“Ah, what do you two even know?”
I tossed another handful of feed into the patch of dirt.
Adam and Lucy waddled over to peck at it. Freddy’s head was stuck in the chicken wire fence.
I bent to gently let her free. Not for the first time. Their yard time had to be closely supervised even with the rooster, Nugget, dutifully patrolling the scene.
Summer rain had poured down on the rolling green hills surrounding the Vicarage earlier in the day, but now the sun shone, and the air smelled clean and a little bit like chickens.
“Of course, somebody snatched her up. How was she ever single?” I grumbled.
I hadn’t stopped thinking about her manuscript since she sent it. It had captivated me from the first line, not that I was surprised. I’d see something that would remind me of her characters, and I’d forget for a moment that they aren’t real. A particularly clever bit of dialogue would pop into my head and I’d find myself smiling. She was amazing. Pete had better appreciate her massive talent.
Pete.
What a stupid dumb name for a stupid nob. He had better appreciate what he had in her. Kate’s first few mentions of him had been subtle. A line here or there.Pete got me flowers. Pete loved that movie too. Pete blah blah blah.
She’d even posted a picture of the two of them together on her social media account. Just the one, thank god. He was painfully average-looking with an out of fashion goatee and short brown hair. He looked like every average white guy in a commercial for herpes medication. He likely had a picture of himself holding a fish on his dating app profile and said he was an “outdoorsman.” He was probably still active on dating apps … I should check.
“That may be crossing a line,” I said.
Freddy responded by pecking a stone.
I hadn’t expected theirrelationshipto have lasted so long. But why not? If Kate were mine, I would never let her go. She was charming and gorgeous and talented. Compassionate and kind. Patient and loving. Of course, this shark would swoop in and scoop her up.
And it was all my fault. The first mention of him was shortly after I turned down her offer of a video call. Then the funeral and the relapse …
