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“Don’t do it,” Rick Jackson had warned when she came back to her chair. “I see what you’re up to. He’s never going to survive being away from her. I’m willing to bet they’re back together within a week.”
“He’s never been with someone like me before,” she said. “I’ll make him forget all about that dimwit Patty.”
When Tony returned, he came right to her. “I called an Uber. You want to come along?”
“Yes,” she said, grabbing her bag and winking at Rick.
It was little more than a one-night stand. Tony couldn’t get it up, and in order to save face, he made up for it the next morning by a slam-bang-thank-you-ma’am, quickly pulling his clothes on afterward and hitchhiking home. A friend took her to the station to get her car, and while she was there, she saw Mike Saint drop Tony off at his truck. Debating whether she should run to him or not, she decided to have some pride and just let him go.
She didn’t hear from him for two days. Never able to figure out why he called her again, perhaps out of a sense of propriety, he invited her to dinner, and they had a real date. But when it was over, he took her straight home and refused an offer to come inside.
“Look, Katherine, you’re a nice girl.” It wasn’t true, but she had to hand it to him, he was doing the right thing. “I apologize for this; it was ill-timed. I need to recover from the breakup, and I shouldn’t have used you like I did.”
“Get over yourself, Saint. It wasn’t all that.” With that, she slammed the door in his face.
Working with him was painful, and when he got back together with Patty soon after, Katherine knew true hatred, plotting in her head how she could inflict some pain. But slowly the anger dissipated. She even gave Rick a whirl, but he was too much like dating a relative. Surprisingly, and difficult to accept, he mentioned it first.
“I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but there’s no chemistry between us. Zilch. Are you sure we’re not related?”
He was grimacing with his nostrils flared, and Katherine laughed even though it was humiliating. “Maybe we’ve worked together too long.”
“Maybe. So, friends?” He held his hand out to her.
“Of course. If nothing else, we’ll be friends.”
She wondered if that was why she’d had trouble with Tony in bed, that they’d just worked together too long, but as angry as she’d gotten, she wasn’t that cruel to bring it up again.
Watching Tony moving around the garage that day, she could picture him in bed with Bridget, and it made her a little sick. Patty was a jerk. He must have broken up with her right away so he could see Bridget. He was a good guy in that respect, definitely not a two-timer.
Without giving it too much thought, when he was within hearing distance, Katherine apologized to him. “I’m sorry I’ve given you a hard time. I’ll stop.”
The confession took him by surprise. “Thank you,” he replied, walking over to her. “Thank you, Katherine. I appreciate it.”
“You and Bridget look good together. I can see why you’d be attracted to her. She’s beautiful and nice. And smart, too. You’re a lucky guy and she’s lucky to have you.”
“Thank you, Katherine,” he said again.
She nodded and walked away. It wasn’t for a few seconds that he realized he was holding his breath. Relieved, he hated bad feelings between people, especially those he worked with. He got out his phone and sent Bridget a message.
Katherine apologized for giving me a hard time. She said you and I make a nice couple.
In seconds, he got a reply.
Ugh, watch your back.
“Get back to work, nephew,” Charlie Saint teased. “You’re making the rounds of the women this morning, I see.”
“I didn’t get to Connie yet,” Tony answered. “Is she still around?”
“She’s upstairs.” He sidled up to Tony and whispered, “So, is it a match?”
“I think so. If it were up to me, it is.”
“Hold on to her, buddy. She’s a catch.”
So the Saints approved of the Irish girl with the baby. In late August as summer came to a close, Big Mike, Roberta and Charlie rented a spacious place on the beach in Del Mar, with enough bedrooms for everyone.
“Do you want to go to the beach for the weekend?” Tony asked Bridget. “I just happen to have a long weekend coming up.”
