Thank goodness Benny hadn’t done the dress shopping. He would have come back with some Southern belle creation complete with hoop skirts. Or something refined in a straight skirt. Either way, there would have been no moving in either.
Satisfied that she at least looked the part, and that part of her plan was coming together, as haphazard as that was, Dani turned and looked Katie in the eye, wondering just how far she could push the girl. With any luck, she’d do something rash like put down that freaking gun or get distracted enough to where Dani could disarm her. Either way would be a winner at this point.
“Katie, David had nothing to do with you being sent away. He was sold out to his father; he didn’t try to cause trouble for you...”
“Dani.” Katie took one of her hands, holding Dani like she was her very best friend and this was an emotional send-off for an actual wedding ceremony. The effect was surreal. Especially when she kept that damned gun pointed at her the whole time. “You really don’t know David at all, do you?” She laughed, coquettish and shy, leaning in as if to tell the biggest secret in the world. “David likes wearing girls’ underwear and frillies. He likes wigs and makeup and being called a dirty little girl.”
As far as secrets went... well... Dani certainly hadn’t seen that one coming. She shouldn’t have been surprised. Since coming home, why would anything surprise her? Dani wrenched her hand free and pulled away. “I really don’t need to hear this.”
“I asked him about it once,” Katie said. “We were in camp, we found an isolated part of the woods, off behind the cabins. There was mandatory workshop, so we had the run of the place for a few hours. He knelt to me, Dani. Me. Katie. The girl whose father sucked up to yours, the girl whose family depended on yours, the cute, forgotten little Katie. The great scion of the House of Rinehart knelt to me. I asked him about it, why he liked it so much. You know what he told me?”
Dani refused to play into the trap, but she wouldn’t back away from it either. Let the girl say what she would. There was no way for Katie to hurt her. Not anymore
“He said,” Katie continued after a moment, “that you were a better son than he could ever be.”
Dani spun and walked away. The room was small, so there was precious little room for indignant stomping; she couldn’t get far enough to block out that incessant voice. She found herself backed into the corner. Katie didn’t need a gun; her words were bullets enough.
“You thought to protect him? You emasculated him. You tried to get between him and his father? Congratulations, you did that admirably well.”
Dani turned resolutely from the girl. Another second and she’d put her fingers in her ears and start saying ‘la la la’ like a child, just to drown out Katie’s voice. Or, better yet, she’d rush the gun and pray that Katie shot true.
“He started doing drugs because you were the man in the house, and thus he was a ‘failure’. His words, not mine. He thought he was a failure all these years because you were a better man than he was.”
“Shut up!” Dani whirled on Katie, but Katie was ready.
“Prove me wrong,” Katie said, the .38 held steady right between Dani’s eyes. “Show me how genteel and feminine you are, kick the shit out of me. Break a chair over my head. That’ll show everyone that you’re a real girl and not a soldier in a dress.”
“I will kill you.” Dani spat out the words, pacing back and forth, ignoring the gun. Ignoring the fact that there were one-hundred armed men out there. Maybe more. Whatever was outside of that room was just that. Outside. This was between them now. “I will absolutely fucking destroy you.”
“What good will that do? Just so you can go back to pretending it was your father’s fault the whole time? I’m just the quiet voice of reason. The villain in this story is you. David’s gone; he’s fine if he can shoot up, but the drug wears off and so does his confidence. It’s too late for him. Hell, he’s out in the chapel right now staring at dust motes and trying not to drool.” She shrugged. “Though he might be good for a laugh or two for old time’s sake.”
“Why? Why are you doing this?”
Katie rolled her eyes. “You have no idea how boring you are. I explained all that several times, Dani. I’m sick to death of picking it up again, so... for the last time, I’m breaking free of you and your family. I’m getting out from under, and if I have to stand on your family tomb to get it, so be it. Your daddy stole from Benny. I was given the perfect reason to call Benny.” She held up her free hand and pointed to the window. Dimly Dani could hear the opening strains of ‘The Wedding March’ wheeze into being from across the courtyard. “Hear that? That’s our song.” She waved the pistol. “Let’s go.”
Dani gave her hard look and turned. Katie didn’t want out. She was stuck in this shit-hole as much as everyone else. The only difference was, she was thriving in it. Dani straightened. She wasn’t going to be a victim. She’d get Luke out of there, David, too. She just needed a plan. A tremor of doubt slid up her spine. Was Katie right? Had she babied David too much? Been too much of a man, when he couldn’t? She shook her head. She had never forced him to be anything more than who he was. She didn’t care about who he was, as long as he was happy. She hoped she had the chance to one day tell him that. She opened the door and walked out to the strains of music. Katie held her flowers over the pistol and kept the gun aimed at Dani.
The room that was chosen for her was in a separate building from the chapel. It was two stories, meant for corporate retreats and the occasional convention. The primary focus of the place was for weddings, the resort complex having absorbed the old church into their grounds, and connected the whole thing with pretty walkways and gardens, all the better for the wedding photographs (photography provided at an extra charge). Benny, in typical over-the-top fashion, had rented the entire building; the reception was already set up, from the smell of things.
I can’t believe we went with the Cornish game hens.
In order for Dani to get to her wedding, they went through a long hallway and the exit door that opened just off of the nave of the church rather than take the more dramatic and scenic route outside. She could only imagine the discussion that had taken place where Benny and the powers that be had convinced the resort staff that a service hallway was the better option for the bride’s grand entrance. Once in the nave, she would make a hard left and show up just inside the front doors, with a clear shot down the aisle.
All this Katie explained to her as they moved out into the hall. Surprisingly, there was no one there but the two of them.
I could take her.
But if she did, then what? Luke was still in the church, surrounded by how many armed men? Taking Katie out would do... what exactly? Indecisive, she lagged, pretending that the dress was making it difficult to walk.