Unraveled Read Free Page A

savored the last forkful of cake, then eyed the slices on the end table. “I’ll have to run even more tomorrow morning. This is waaaay too good. I might have seconds.”
    Lisa glanced over her shoulder at Greg approaching, Megan and Marty not far behind. “Better claim it before those savages inhale it all.”
    “Hey, Kelly, it’s good to see you,” Greg said, sinking into a nearby armchair. “Your work schedule has you down in Denver so much we don’t see you as often as we used to.”
    “I know, guys, but Warner has started working on a joint project with several different developers. A renovation deal the city of Thornton put together. So, I’m having to meet with a lot of different companies and coordinate with the project manager so I can integrate all the details into Warner’s accounts.” She took a sip of coffee. “I swear, he has so many irons in the fire it’s hard to keep track. And of course, everyone has to have a meeting. There are huge meetings with all the developers. A mini mob scene.”
    “Death by meetings. I remember that,” Megan said, lifting a forkful of cake. “That’s what drove me out of corporate IT. There were so many meetings, I didn’t have time to get my work done.”
    “Tell me about it,” Kelly quipped behind her mug.
    Greg snitched a crumb of Lisa’s cake. She swatted his hand away. “The university specializes in meetings. You can lose half your day.”
    Marty settled on the arm of Megan’s chair. “Do you ever see Steve at any of those mini mobs?” he asked quietly.
    “Marty . . .” Megan turned to him with a concerned look.
    “It’s okay, Megan. You can talk about Steve in front of me. I know you guys see him whenever he comes into town,” Kelly said, deliberately leaning against a desk.
    She’d learned how to appear relaxed whenever one of her friends mentioned Steve. Inside, however, Kelly was anything but relaxed. An old familiar knotting started in her stomach. The tears had stopped months ago when anger briefly took their place. Beneath it all, the hurt remained. She’d learned to disguise it, but her friends knew her well. And they seldom mentioned Steve in front of her, except to subtly update her on what he was doing.
    “He’s started working full-time for that northern Colorado developer he was working nights for. Sam Kaufman,” Greg offered. “Apparently this Sam raised his salary to more than that Denver architect firm was paying him, so Steve jumped at it.”
    Kelly let her surprise show. “That’s a smart move. Tell him congratulations for me.”
    “So . . . have you ever seen Steve at these big meetings?” Lisa asked in a tentative voice.
    “Yeah, maybe you could congratulate him yourself,” Marty suggested, eyeing Kelly.
    “Mar teeee ,” Megan shot him a disapproving look.
    Kelly held up her hand. “Guys, I said it’s okay. As a matter of fact, I have seen Steve at some of those meetings,” she announced to her attentive friends. “But only at a distance, and he’s never seen me.” She gave them a crooked smile. “Life goes on, guys.”
    “Two ships passing in the night,” Pete observed softly.
    A pall of quiet dropped over the little group for a moment. Only the sound of forks clinking against plates. Kelly noticed Megan’s expression had gone from concerned to sad to annoyed. A Megan eruption was due any second, Kelly could tell.
    “I wanted to strangle him,” Megan spouted, face screwed up in anger. There was no doubt as to who the “him” in that sentence was.
    “Me gaaaan ,” Marty teased, imitating her scolding tone. Too late. Megan’s hand shot out in exasperation. “You know he didn’t come to see us for a month after he left. He was afraid to.”
    “Jayleen said Curt called Steve on the phone and really chewed him out,” Lisa offered. “She’d never heard Curt cuss like that before.”
    “We weren’t sure he’d ever come back after Megan and Lisa took turns beating up on him. Even Jennifer went