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That snapped all of their attention back to her, even Delta’s. That was probably Zora’s game plan, actually, as she loved being the center of attention, and it so often wasn’t hers to grab if either Amanda or Delta was anywhere around.
Amanda said blandly, “Get a divorce. That’s what I did.”
“You’re divorced?” Ellie blurted, surprised. Everyone else murmured their own shock as Ellie looked at Amanda’s husband. “But . . .”
“He just came along tonight to piss me off,” Amanda said. “It’s what he does. He’s a leech. Always trying to get his hands on my parents’ money. Luckily, they left it all in trust for me.”
Ellie almost objected. Hadn’t she married one of the firm’s partners? Amanda’s parents had moved away in the years following the barbeque debacle and a myriad of lawsuits placed against them. Upon a short and unsuccessful post-college stint in Hollywood, Amanda had enrolled at Willamette University Law School and currently was employed at Layton, Keyes, and Brennan, a downtown Portland firm where she’d met her husband, Hal Brennan, one of the partners. The firm was well known and defended some of the wealthiest clients in the state.
“Aren’t you both lawyers?” Bailey asked.
“Yes, but only one of us is a success.”
Amanda made it sound like her husband’s credentials were dubious, at best, even though he was one of the firm’s partners. There’s a story there, Ellie thought. Young as she was, Amanda had been moving up the ranks in the firm. Ellie had heard her name mentioned at the station when one of the owners had employed their firm. She’d also heard some of Amanda’s coworkers refer to her as “Hollywood” in a pejorative way. She might be successful, but she wasn’t well-liked.
“I don’t know if I could divorce Max,” Zora said, a little put off by the idea.
“What about you, Delta?” Amanda challenged. “You ready to put that cheating husband of yours behind you?”
Delta’s lips parted in either disbelief or shock, maybe a little of both, since Amanda could be seen as the fly in the ointment to Delta’s marital happiness. Ellie almost admired her. Amanda j
ust didn’t give a shit what she said.
“Don’t have any plans to leave him,” Delta responded, once she’d recovered. “Marriage isn’t perfect for anyone, I guess. But we chose each other. I didn’t fake a pregnancy to get him to ask me.”
The self-satisfied smile fell from Amanda’s face. “If you’re referring to me, I never faked that pregnancy. It was real.”
“Okay.” Delta clearly didn’t believe her.
“And the only reason he went back to you was because I miscarried, thank God,” Amanda declared, warming up. “So I got to have a life. What have you got? Tanner Stahd? Big fucking deal.”
“I have Owen,” Delta retorted, regarding Amanda uneasily from what clearly looked like rage building inside her old rival. Ellie almost took a step back herself.
“A Tanner mini-me. Hopefully he has a little more discretion than his father. Ask Zora, or Ellie . . .” She swept an expansive arm Ellie’s way. “Ask them what it’s like screwing your husband. They both know. Maybe Bailey does, too.”
He wasn’t your husband then! Ellie immediately wanted to scream. It was all she could do to keep her mouth shut and stop from defending herself. Not so Bailey, who blurted, “I never hooked up with him!” and Zora, who cried, “That’s not . . . we didn’t . . . you’re such a bitch, Amanda!”
“Agreed,” snapped Delta.
Amanda merely shrugged. “I’m a truth teller. Some people have trouble with the truth.” She cast a hard glance at her husband, who seemed to be having a grand time talking to whoever crossed his path. She then looked at the guys’ group, her lip curling faintly. “Tanner’s a piece of shit, but so are all men, if you really want to know.”
“Wow,” Delta said.
“When did you become such a man-hater?” Ellie asked.
“When I married one. That’s not to say they don’t have their place. I mean, sex isn’t the same without them, at least from my point of view, and Tanner still looks good. Not as good as McCrae, these days, but I’d do him again.”
Delta inhaled sharply, and Zora muttered, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to Delta, who stared at Amanda with a look of mixed horror and amusement before saying, “Maybe you should just go ask him. He’d probably oblige.”
“Would he?” A small smile played at Amanda’s lips.
“Oh, please, don’t fight,” Bailey murmured as Ellie held her breath.
“Maybe I will,” Amanda said blithely. She set down her drink on the Memory Table, but it caught the edge of a stack of cardboard coasters with their “2005” graduating year imprinted on them and tipped over. Dark red punch raced toward the board of pictures. The bloody fluid immediately soaked into the cardboard edge and seeped into Carmen’s picture. Mesmerized, Ellie dragged her gaze away from the ruined photo and, along with the Fives, watched as Amanda headed over to Tanner and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Oh, Lordy,” whispered Zora.
