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The distant sounds of road traffic reached Kate’s ears, reminding Kate that though this house had a nicely proportioned gravel drive leading up to it, there was still a main road to greet everyone at the bottom of it. She sipped her wine glass, wishing for the tenth time that she hadn’t been forced to nurse this glass of wine the whole night. A whiskey sounded perfect. A vodka and tonic. Anything that might take the edge off this awful evening she’d endured. Bunny had run out of steam about the house just before they sat down and Mark had tried to pick up the baton, talking about different changes in Somerton Lake and the prospects for the college football team moving up to a bigger conference. He’d never even attended Somerton Lake College, opting for a small state college a few towns over so that he could be near Missy when he didn’t get a football scholarship at Somerton. Now, he’d been talking about it like it was really important.
All throughout, Kate had nodded, making little noises of interest, eating her chicken with its special herbs, done in some special gourmet style Kate was certain Bunny had either learned on a course or studied carefully and copied from one of the professional cooking shows. Kate had felt unable to eat the light-as-air mousse topped with a crackling spun sugar cage, but had forced it down anyway, issuing what she hoped were the right compliments and assurances of its quality.
A tiring day and brewing headache had sent Missy off to bed early, leaving Mark to insist she stay for a cup of coffee on the deck where an outdoor heater blazed away, keeping the evening’s growing cold at bay. She sighed, wishing Mark would hurry with the coffee so she could drink it and be on her way.
Kate approached Missy as quietly as she could in the dark parking lot, aware of the gravel crunching noisily underfoot. Carefully, she avoided the smashed glass from a stray beer bottle and winced when she saw the used needle less than a foot away by the bar’s back door. Sam’s wasn’t known for its quality facilities or its stellar customers. She could see Missy, though, leaning against a dumpster next to some emaciated guy, smoking a joint, her dark hair tangled and unkempt, her jeans and tank top nearly hanging off her. Why wasn’t she freezing in this cold weather without a coat? But Kate knew. Though it had only been a month since Kate had last talked to her, a lot had happened in that month.
Something made Missy look across the parking lot, and catching sight of Kate, she straightened up and made her way over to her. Kate halted, a brief flicker of hope rising in her that was dashed a moment later when she saw the rage in Missy’s eyes.
Missy flung her arm out wide. “Oh, no, oh no, you don’t. You don’t get to come here and talk to me.”
“Missy,” Kate said, trying to keep a reasonable tone. “I only want to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
Her voice was rising, getting louder, and Kate resisted the urge to tell her to lower it.
“I just want to know if you still want to do the Fowler gig, that’s all. See when you want to rehearse.”
“You must be joking. Why would I want to do a gig with you ever again? You blew me off, Kate. It’s you who doesn’t want to do this anymore.”
“I’m sorry, Missy. Really sorry. I got caught up in something. I couldn’t get away. I didn’t mean to miss the gig. I’ve told you. I’ll make it up to you, just like I said. I’ve got feelers out for several other gigs. My dad said he’d help us too.”
“I don’t want any part of your leavings!” She was screaming now. “Go off with your lame college boy you’ve been lusting after. See if he can give you what you want. You obviously don’t want our dream anymore.” Kate flinched as Missy flung those last words at her, each one cutting her like a lash.
The back door opened and Mark emerged, two steaming mugs in hand. He made his way to her, handed her one of the mugs, and took a chair next to her. They stared out into the night silently. The sky was dark, clouds crowding in so heavily that Kate wondered if snow was in the forecast.
“Well, you’ve obviously moved on,” Kate found herself saying.
“And so did you.” His tone was sharp, defensive.
So glared over at him. “Not as much as you may think. And I didn’t become so chummy with someone who hated Missy that I married them.” The words spilled out of her, full of all the pent up bile that had been inside her since first seeing Bunny and Mark together. “God knows what Missy would say if she saw you two now.”
“What would you know?” snarled Mark. “You went abroad. And everyone you left behind had to pick up the pieces.”
She snorted. “You know nothing.”
“And neither do you,” he said sharply. He took a deep breath. “It took me seven years, Kate. Seven long years to get to a point where I could face myself in the mirror. Seven years before I could even look at another woman. She broke me. And for a while, I thought it was for good.”
“Apparently, it wasn’t for good. Yay for you.” Kate gripped her mug, trying but failing to keep control of her emotions.
Mark ran his hand through his hair, mussing what had been an immaculately arranged style. The gesture returned him to more of the image of Mark she remembered.
“Look,” he said. “Bunny is a good person. You don’t know her. You never really knew her. She wasn’t like she appeared to be in high school. She had a lot of pressure at home and it made her insecure. She really struggled with it.”
Kate gave him an incredulous look. “Bunny? Are we talking about the same person?”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but she hid it well.”
“Behind sarcasm, bullying and belittling.” Kate shook her head. “You saw how she was with us. Or maybe you didn’t, because if you were around, she was sickeningly sweet.”
Mark nodded. “I know. And I know why she got the “Heather” label. But it was all an act, Kate. She was jealous of you, jealous of Missy. Especially Missy. You both knew who you were. You were both so confident, not giving a damn what people thought about you.”
Kate stared at him. “What? We were both messes.”
Mark shook his head. “No, you weren’t. You had your music. The two of you shone up on stage. You were mesmerizing. Even I couldn’t compete with that. I knew with Missy the music always came first.”
Kate felt her tears well up. “Until it didn’t. Until I decided that I needed to get Ethan’s attention and play with him at the music department one night. The night of the gig at Seventh Heaven.”
