Page 118 of Hurry Up And Wait
“It’s not a big deal. Everyone gets diarrhea from time to time.”
“Not me. Never me.”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you. Where’s Bowie? Maybe you can argue with him about this. I have work to finish.”
“He’s outside checking the perimeter,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“I thought you wanted a man who would check the perimeter.”
“I did,” she grumbled. “But I liked him better when he was just a mechanic.”
“So, tell him to go home.”
“Then he might find someone else.”
This was all too much to think about. “Riley…seriously, can we be done?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Fine, but if the bean dip is gone tomorrow, we’re gonna have problems.”
She stomped toward the kitchen and turned on the TV, blaring it to drown out my silence. Doing my best to forget that whole argument, I went back to work, but I didn’t get far before a name on the television caught my attention. I shoved back from my desk and made my way to where my sister was sitting at the table.
“Turn it up.”
She pointed the remote at the TV and cranked up the volume.
“—where Senator Kavanaugh announced his intentions to run for president. This comes as a surprise to most, but an even bigger shocker was when his son joined him at the rally, along with his fiancée.”
“The senator’s fiancée? Did his wife die?” Riley asked.
I ignored her and watched in shock as Kavanaugh took the stage after the senator walked up the stairs with a younger woman. She was beautiful and poised, but when she turned to Kavanaugh—the younger one—it was his hand she took.
“However, the rally took an abrupt turn when his son Bradford James Kavanaugh took the stage and appeared to have a panic attack. He ran off moments later and did not return. The senator told the crowd that his son has suffered a great deal since returning from the war and still has trouble dealing with crowds. The senator beamed with pride as he told his supporters about his son’s trials and what an amazing job he did serving his country.”
Riley paused the TV and slowly turned to me, her face just as shocked as mine. “Hisfiancée?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t believe it either. “Is there any chance it was the father’s fiancée, but took Kavanaugh’s hand for guidance?”
“That would be a little weird,” Riley muttered.
I sank down in the chair, still shaking my head as I tried to wrap my brain around the fact that Kavanaugh had lied to me. When he told me the other woman wasn’t what I thought, I stupidly suspected the woman was a clingy client or something. He asked me to trust him.
I’m doing everything I can to end the job.
He was trying to end the engagement. He was with this woman and me at the same time. He didn’t tell me because he knew I would leave him, and that’s why Red and Eli looked so guilty when I sawthem. Because they knew. They knew what he was doing and they didn’t tell me.
“I slept with a man who’s engaged to another woman,” I whispered.
“She’s beautiful.”
“He lied to me.”
“Did you see her clothes? They’re not cheap.”
“I don’t understand,” I sucked in a ragged breath. “Does she stay in the city? How does this work?”
“Her manicure was amazing,” Riley sighed. “If I wasn’t lazy, I would get a manicure.”
“Does she know what a lying bastard Kavanaugh is? Seriously, how the fuck is this my life?” I shoved out of my seat and paced the room, ignoring Riley’s comments about Kavanaugh’s perfect future wife. “We have amazing chemistry. How can he marry another woman?”