A few seconds later, my phone went off in my pocket. Thinking maybe it was Cane, I pulled it out to see Kari’s name flashing with an incoming text. Curious and a little confused, I opened the text.
Jillian Grady and I were on the screen.
“What the hell is this?” I asked, puzzled. “Where’d you get this?”
“Someone sent it to me,” she said, pausing before my phone flashed again. “And these, too.”
“Why?”
She sat her phone on the table and faced me, her eyes nervous. “I have no idea.”
“Look, I don’t know what’s goin’ on, Kari, but that was Jillian Grady and me going into lunch. Her husband met us a few minutes later.” I scrubbed my hands down the length of my face, trying to figure out who and why someone sent pictures to Kari. “Who sent you those?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know the number.”
“I just . . .” I let my mouth hang open as I released a breath. “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” she said, raising her eyebrows. “That was a business lunch? That woman works in construction? Because she looks like a model.”
“She’s very pretty, I won’t deny ya that. But she’s also a shark. She’s married to Wade Grady, a subcontractor that was good friends with Cane’s father. She’s sharp as a tack and handles all of Wade’s business.”
I saw the apprehension leave her face, the softness of her features that I loved reappear. “So that’s it?”
“That’s it. I’m not sure what else it was supposed to be.”
Her shoulders slacked. “So who sent those to me? Who would do that?”
“I have no idea. But it’s a waste of their time. Cane was supposed to meet them, actually, but he had to take off because something happened. Speaking of which, do you know what’s going on?”
She shook her head. “No. He just called here and told me that I didn’t need to come over this afternoon. He sounded really weird, though. I figure maybe Jada will call me later. He did tell me it had nothing to do with her, though.”
“But if it isn’t her or the company, because I would know if it was, then what could it be?”
She gave me a frown and walked over to the sofa and sat down, curling herself up in the blanket from the back. Her phone buzzed on the table and I picked it up to take it to her. I glanced at the screen.
Unknown: Please, talk to me.
“Who’s this?” I asked, handing her the phone. My jaw pulsed with irritation because I knew damn good and well who it was.
She looked at the screen and sat upright. “Nobody.”
“Really?” I asked, sitting beside her and stretching one arm along the back of the couch. Her nonchalance and the way she was avoided looking at me made the knot in my stomach wind tighter.
Her phone buzzed again and she didn’t look at it, completely ignoring it. “Should we call Cane and Jada?” she asked, trying to divert my attention.
“We can. But I want to know who’s texting you.”
She swallowed roughly before looking up at me. “Blaine.”
“What?” I asked a little louder than I intended. Even though I knew it was him, the sound of it coming out of her mouth was still a blast. “What the hell for?”
“He called today and I—”
“He called you today?” I suddenly knew what real jealousy felt like. If I thought I felt it the day she went for coffee with the doctor, I was wrong. This was it. This burning, itching, come-out-of-my-damn-skin feeling was it.
I got up and headed to the fridge, pausing to read Kari’s sticky before opening it and grabbing a beer. “You didn’t think to tell me?”
“You were at lunch with the pretty blonde,” she said, throwing the adjective I used for Jillian back at me. “I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Don’t even go there, Kar.”
She stood up quickly, shooting me an irritated look. “What? You were at lunch with Jillian while I was helping Isa plan Joselyn’s birthday party and getting pictures of you and Jillian sent to me. Sorry if I forgot to take time out to tell you about the little interruption in my day.”
I took a drink of the cool liquid, watching her over the top of the bottle. Her eyes darted around the room, her phone clutched in her hands. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth.
But what, exactly, is she worried about? What did that asshole say to her? Did he get in her head?
“What did he have to say?” I asked.
“Nothing, really.”
“You want me to believe that? That the man you agreed to marry calls you after however long and he had nothing to say. I’m not stupid.” The longer we debated it, the madder I got.
Why won’t she just tell me!?
“I don’t know why you’re acting like I insulted you by not telling you!” she shouted.
I kicked back a drink, feeling the fizz slip smoothly down my throat. “You want to know why I’m a little insulted as to why you didn’t tell me that the guy you were engaged to, were pregnant by, the guy you told all your secrets to called you?”