“Then what’s your hesitation? I hope it’s not that you think a man like Devin Card is incapable of behaving like that. Because we both know that isn’t true. No man is truly the master of his dick, Serena. And it’s not that I’m ganging up on Devin. In fairness, I believed the accusations against him seven years ago, but I voted for him anyway.”
“Really?” Serena asked.
“Really. I had a client a few years ago who asked me if I thought it was possible to forgive every sin. I said not only was it possible, it was a human necessity. It doesn’t mean we don’t punish people for what they do, but we also have to accept that people grow and change. And that God’s plan is infinitely more complex than we can understand.”
“Forgive every sin,” Serena said.
“Exactly.”
“That’s hard to do when it comes to rape.”
Alice nodded. “Indeed. In fact, my client said the very same thing.”
29
Curt sat next to Cat on Stride’s sofa and sulked. His mouth was sunk into a permanent frown, and he’d barely said a word since he arrived. His legs were spread wide, showing off bony knees below his loose shorts. His long hair sat on his shoulders, limp and unwashed. With his body slumped, even his tattoos seemed to droop on his skin. He looked like a dog whose owner was away on a month-long vacation.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Cat asked.
“Nothing.”
“It doesn’t look like nothing.”
“I’m fine.”
“Do you want a drink? A beer or something?”
“No.”
“Really? You don’t want a drink, and you expect me to believe nothing’s wrong?”
“Drop it, Kitty Cat.”
Cat sighed loudly. When Curt got into one of his melancholy moods, he didn’t do much more than grunt, and she’d learned over time to keep poking him until he opened up. Ironically, that always seemed to work with Stride, too, although he would have hated the comparison.
Outside, the early evening sky had turned dark, and none of the lights in the cottage were on, making it gloomy inside. Distant thunder rolled continuously, like a plane overhead making endless circles. The century-old walls rattled and shuddered. Cat could see a spatter of rain on the windows, and more was coming. A downpour.
“What’s up with your Eyes on Duluth thing?” she asked. Then she giggled. “You know, the Big Dickes. Your Ferris wheel down in Canal Park.”
“It’s crap,” Curt replied. “All my ideas are crap.”
“Hey, don’t say that. I like the idea. I think it’s cool. You just need to get somebody with megabucks behind it.”
Curt shrugged. “Don’t lie to me. I’m not in the mood.”
“I don’t lie,” Cat told him. “I mean, okay, I lie all the time. But not about this. I really think it’s great.”
“It’s stupid.”
Cat rolled her eyes. “Fine. Okay. Whatever. It’s stupid. If that’s what you want me to say, I’ll say it. Is that the problem? You can’t get anyone to buy your big Ferris wheel?”
Curt didn’t say anything more, and Cat lost patience with his self-pity. She punched him in the shoulder, hard enough to make him flinch.
“Hey, you get that someone tried to kill me today, right?” she snapped, her voice rising. “Somebody unloaded a whole gun at me and Brayden, and he was hit. So how about you grow a pair and realize that I’ve got shit of my own to deal with. It’s not all about you, Curt!”
That got through to him. His head turned slowly, and he focused his sad eyes on her. “Sorry, Kitty Cat. You’re right. Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. I’m seriously freaked.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“Brayden was bleeding like crazy. I thought he was going to die.”
“Shit. That’s scary.”
Cat glanced at the front door behind her to make sure Brayden was still outside. “We kissed.”
“What?”
“Me and Brayden. We kissed.”
Curt’s eyes widened. “Well, that’s not good.”
“Why not?”
“He works for Stride. Plus, he’s a lot older, right?”
“So what? He’s the same age as you.”
“Yeah, and if anything happened between us, Stride would kick the crap out of me. Assuming I was still alive after Serena got done with me.”
She shrugged. “I don’t care how old he is. I like Brayden. He makes me feel safe. And he’s got this look in his eyes when he watches me, like he understands me. He gets why things are so hard for me. Not many people do.”
“I understand you.”
Cat thought about what to say, because she didn’t want to hurt Curt’s feelings. “No, you don’t. You think you do, but you don’t. I’m not trying to be a jerk, and you know I like you a lot, but you don’t get who I am. You never did.”
“Well, gee, thanks,” he said bitterly.
“I’m sorry. It is what it is. You just can’t relate. Look, it’s not just you. Stride and Serena try, but they don’t get me, either. I don’t know how or why, but Brayden does. We’ve got a connection.”
Curt picked up a paper clip from the coffee table and began playing with it between his fingers. His face still looked unhappy. “For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure he likes you, too.”
“Really? He said that?”
“No, but he didn’t need to say it out loud. Guys know the look. It’s all over his face. Be careful, because if I can see it, Stride can, too, and he won’t be happy.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
“You’re right about me, you know. I don’t get women at all. I never have. I suck at it.”
“I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad,” Cat said.
“No, you nailed it. I’m a loser. Colly dumped me today.”
Cat’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Not hesitating, she reached out and pulled Curt into a tight hug. She knew this was the kind of blow that would shake him to his shoes. For all of his macho pretenses, Curt was a vulnerable little boy at heart.
“What happened?” Cat asked. “What did she say?”
“She called me this morning. Didn’t even take five minutes. Said we were done.”
“Did she say why?”
“She said it wasn’t working out. She was bored.”
“Bored? Really?” Cat frowned, because Curt was many things, but he was never boring. “Did you do something to upset her? Did you guys have a fight?”
“Nope. As far as I knew, everything was great.”
She hesitated, biting her lip. “Do you think it could be somebody else?”
“I asked her that, and she ducked the question. That sure sounds like somebody else to me.”
“Do you know who it could be?”
“No. It doesn’t matter.”
“Well, I’m really sorry, Curt. Honestly. You guys seemed good together.”
“Yeah, I thought so, too. I mean, I know it hasn’t been long, but I thought we had something. Hell, she really seemed like she was into me. Nine times out of ten, I have to make the first move, but she saw us talking at the spaghetti dinner and came over after. She said she went to school with you. Anyway, we started talking, and a couple of hours later, we were in bed at my place. It was amazing. I thought I’d hit the jackpot. And now we’re over. One month together, and sayonara.”
“Maybe she’s just having a bad day,” Cat said.
“It didn’t sound like it.”
“You should talk to her. Go over to her place.”
“It won’t make any difference.”
“You want me to talk to her? Talk you up?”