“Charlie.”
“Exactly. Charlie was Charlie. And we broke it off because shit was getting complicated at work and yeah it kind of bugged me at the time but I try really hard to not let anything bother me. So we just moved on and stayed friends. Then he started seeing Ana and I started seeing Honu.”
“And things got complicated.”
“Well, yes.” She clears her throat again. “Eventually Charlie stopped fucking around with Ana. And eventually I stopped sleeping with Honu. And then I guess we started up with each other again.”
I nearly spit out my drink. “Again? You and Charlie.”
“Judgment free zone,” she reminds me gravely.
“I know but . . . okay, I didn't see that one coming. No wonder she doesn't like you.”
“That girl doesn't like anyone that might be a threat to her Charlie, but yeah. That's the reason why. I can't really blame her but I'm also not going to stop getting one of my favorite coffee drinks either. If she wants it out with me, she can say it to my face. Though I'm sure that would probably end up with the cops getting called.”
I stare at her openly.
She gives another shrug. “Girls on this island like to fight.”
“That can't help Charlie's ego at all,” I muse.
Kate giggles. “No, it doesn't.”
“So are you guys still . . . “
She shakes her head emphatically. “No. No, the last time we were together was last Christmas. Almost a year. Charlie may have gone back to her, I don't know and I really don't care.”
“So no residual feelings at all?”
“No.” But somehow I don't believe her. She knows this too because she turns to look at me, her mouth pursed. “I mean it. Charlie and I are done. No hard feelings between us, we're better as friends.”
“Sure, sure,” I tease.
“Ron!” she warns. “Don't even. And don't tell anyone what I've told you.”
I laugh. “Oh my god. First of all, I wouldn't. The only people I talk to are you and Johnny and Charlie. And second of all, I'm pretty sure everyone knows. You can't keep shit like that a secret. You might try but it's always obvious when two co-workers are banging each other.”
She just grumbles something and puts her window down lower. The breeze coming off from the cattle fields to our left is sweet and tinged with the smell of sun-baked dirt and grass. “And Logan,” she adds.
“Logan what?”
“You talk to me, Charlie, Johnny . . . and Logan.”
I snort in disbelief. “I do not talk to Logan. You know this better than anyone.”
“Mmmm,” she says. “I don't know. You were just fucking stranded with him overnight. I'm sure you guys talked about something.”
She's right. We did talk about a lot. But I'm not about to get into that with her. It's way too complicated.
“You know Logan and I are like oil and water,” I remind her.
“Right. But you're the water who decided to go hiking with said oil on your day off.”
“Because I wanted to annoy him,” I explain. I know my tone is starting to sound a bit defensive.
“I know. You're always wanting to piss him off and get under his skin and he does the exact same with you.”
“Yeah but you're describing everyone's relationship with Logan. He's the habut. The grump. Mr. Surly. Team Gruff.”
“Team Gruff?”
“Whatever. You know what I mean. I'm no different.”
“Uh huh.” She puts her hand out the window and starts waving it up and down over the passing air. “You say you know people when you've been working in this business, and I can say the same. Me, the rest of us, we like to bug Logan. But we don't go out of our way. We don't think about it. He's just our boss and he honestly occupies a really tiny space of my brain. I'm sure it's no different for anyone else. Anyone except you.”
“Oh, well,” I trail off. “I mean, he was married to my sister. He's family. So of course I might think of him more.”
“And vice versa. Because that man thinks a hell of a lot about you.”
Something flutters in my stomach. I swallow. “What can I say, I'm like his annoying kid sister.”
“Oh no,” she says. “There's nothing sisterly about the way he looks at you.”
More fluttering. A whole nest of birds is taking flight inside me.
“How does he look at me?”
She glances at me over her glasses. “And suddenly you want to know?” She lets out a dry laugh. “Next time, open your eyes a bit bigger and see the whole picture.”
“I don't know what you mean.”
“You will.”
It has to be said. “Whatever it is that you’re trying to get at, don’t forget who he is. Juliet’s husband. My brother-in-law. Death be damned. And that would be—”