“Those were over a month old, Kara. I did you a favor.” I was practically racing to keep up with her, she was moving so fast. “Slow down, woman. This isn’t a sprint.”
“Oh, fuck.” Kara all but shouted the words as she rounded the corner of an aisle and nearly ran over a pretty blond woman. Glancing back at me, I saw her eyes go all wonky, like she was trying to tell me something.
I didn’t speak Kara’s eyes, though, so I just waited on her to go around the blond. When the blond didn’t move, either, I looked up and saw she was looking at me with a critical eye. I raised my eyebrows and looked at Kara.
“Grace, it’s been a while.” Kara finally acknowledged the woman and put a barely there smile on her face. It almost looked more like she was smelling something terrible.
My stomach tightened at hearing the name. Surely the pretty little blond in front of us wasn’t the same Grace that had hurt Julian. Yet, I knew instantly that it was, judging by the way she was trying to scalp me with her eyes.
“Kara. And is this the famous Mallory I’ve heard so much about?” Her mouth pinched and turned down as she looked me over. “The stories really do flatter you.”
I tilted my head to the side and stared at her. Surely, she wasn’t trying to be a mean girl to me. I didn’t even know her. “I’m Mallory. I don’t believe I know you. Are you a friend of Kara’s?”
Kara gave me a thumbs-up behind her back and smiled a real smile. “We just see each other around sometimes.”
“I find it hard to believe that you haven’t heard mention of me around. After all, we dated the same men.” Grace adjusted her purse on her arm and looked me over again, her gaze settling on my hips. “It’s just crazy how taste can change from one year to the next.”
I cleared my throat to cut Kara off from whatever she was about to lash out at the mean woman with. “Seems like it. Can we help you with something? We’re just picking up a few things and then heading back home.”
“That’s right; I heard that things aren’t going well with you and the Steele brothers.”
I bit my lip and shook my head. I was going to remain nice if it was the last thing I ever did. No way was I getting into some kind of boob measuring contest with her. “Rumors sure do travel fast in such a small town.”
“You shouldn’t give in to such gossip, Grace. It’s not a good look.” Kara pushed the cart away from Grace and sent a teeth-bared smile her way. “We’ve got shopping to do, if you don’t mind.”
Grace reached out and put her hand on the buggy, stopping it. “Is that really Julian’s kid?”
“Whatever you’re about to do, rethink it.” Kara was bristling up, ready to fight.
“I was just thinking about how pathetic it is to have a kid with the poor one. And you still couldn’t keep them. Honestly, I’m shocked. I know that if I would’ve given in to their desires for kids, they never would’ve let me go when I left. Not that they don’t still send me those lost puppy looks all the time.”
“The poor one?” I laughed, my anger rearing its ugly head. “Lady, I don’t know you or what you’re all about, but it’s abundantly clear that you have about as much heart as a brick wall. It’s obvious that you still don’t fully understand what you lost when you let them get away. Or maybe you do and that’s why you’re here, bothering me like a yippy little dog. Either way, I want nothing to do with it. I’m stressed, I’m tired, and I’m a mom now, so I’m not going to scream at you in a grocery store.”
Kara leaned into her. “Fuck with my baby sister and I’ll end you. I know where the skeletons in your closet hang out, Grace.”
“You’re never going to be enough for them.” Needing one last dig, she looked at our buggy and laughed. “Or maybe the problem is that you’re more than enough. Too much, even.”
Kara reached for her, but I managed to grab her arm just before she made contact. Thankfully, Grace was already turning and didn’t see her life flash before her eyes. “I’ll kill her. I’ll club her to death with a jar of pickles and hide her in the canned meat, where they put the rest of the fake shit.”
I blew out a breath and shook my head. “She’s awful.”
“Worse than awful.” Kara turned back to me and grunted. “You should’ve let me grab her. It would’ve been worth jail time.”
“Did the guys really like her? I mean, she’s pretty, but she’s literally so mean.”
“She had them fooled.” Rubbing her eyes, Kara looked at the stuff in our buggy and nodded. “We need more chocolate.”
I stared after Grace and frowned. “I mean, she’s really, really mean. I’m not like that.”
“Duh.”
“I mean, I’m not like her.”
Kara blinked. “I know. You’re great, and she’s a flying twatwaffle.”
“I’m nothing like her. I don’t feel any of those awful things about Julian. I like Julian.” I shook my head and tried to process everything I was feeling. “Shit. I’m not like her!”
“What the fuck is happening to you?”