with.”
“The guy from Tiny’s?” she exclaimed. “The hunk with the designer wardrobe and the four-hundred-dollar haircut?”
My brain, the part that didn’t want to deal with Blake’s death, wondered how Sue knew about four-hundred-dollar haircuts, much less had the ability to spot one.
“That’s the guy that fell in the moat?”
“His name is—was—Blake Weston.” I crossed my arms over my stomach, as if I could hold myself together that way. “We were friends, then more than friends. It ended badly, and I hadn’t seen him in several years.”
“Until he walked into Tiny’s.” Sue finished my thought. “No wonder you looked like you’d seen a ghost. He didn’t seem much like your type, though. Way too slick.”
I chuckled. “And what is my type?”
Sue reddened. “You know what I mean, Georgie. You’re a plumber now, and you hang around with people like me and Paula and Wade—and none of us exactly have a designer wardrobe, unless you include Wrangler and Fruit of the Loom on the list.”
“I’m still an apprentice,” I reminded her. “And I hang out with people like you because you and Paula and Wade are my friends. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have other kinds of friends before I came back to Pine Ridge.”
“Did you?” Sue said. “Have other kinds of friends?”
Unfolding my arms, I stood up and walked across the shop. My back was to Sue. “I don’t know.”
I fiddled with a display of cat toys, lining them up carefully on their metal peg. “I knew a lot of people in San Francisco, and I worked and socialized with them. But I don’t know if they were friends.”
The gloom was getting to me. I squared my shoulders and turned to face Sue. I steadied my voice and forced a matter-of-fact tone as I summarized my years at Samurai.
“After I got my master’s degree, I started a computer security company. When I started expanding, Blake was my first partner, and we did well. The computer industry was exploding, and we were the hot new thing.
“Guys with money came looking for us, offering to help us grow. They didn’t want to interfere in how we ran the company, or so they said. But when the industry started cooling off, they changed their minds.
“I knew a lot of things about hardware and software”—I walked back to counter, and picked up the thumb drive we’d left sitting there before lunch—“but not a lot about office politics. Blake did.
“When the money guys decided to ‘go in a different direction’ ”—I made air quotes with my fingers—“I was the one who left.” I forced a smile I didn’t feel, and hoped it wasn’t too obvious. “And now you know, the rest of the story.” I mimicked the popular radio host’s signature line.
Sue glanced at the thumb drive I held loosely in my hand. “That’s how you know all that stuff about cookies and worms and spyware and all that stuff you told me about? That was the kind of stuff you were doing?”
“Among other things.” I shrugged. “But I left all that down there, and I don’t want to do it anymore.” I grinned again, and this time I did feel it. “You and Barry are the only ones I make an exception for.”
“So this Blake guy was, what? More than somebody you worked with, that’s for sure. Are we talking close business partner, or maybe ex-boyfriend?”
“We dated,” I hedged. That wasn’t a lie, exactly. It had been a little more serious than that, at least on my part, but a girl has to have some pride. I wasn’t ready to admit he’d been willing to dump me the instant the investors offered him the corner office.
“And Sandra doesn’t know any of this, does she?”
I shook my head. “Would you tell her?”
Sue burst into giggles. “No way!”
I tossed the thumb drive up and caught it. “Now, let me see if I can figure out what’s wrong with this thing.”
I walked back into the office, feeling better than I had since the day I spotted Blake at the McComb job site. I
“The guy from Tiny’s?” she exclaimed. “The hunk with the designer wardrobe and the four-hundred-dollar haircut?”
My brain, the part that didn’t want to deal with Blake’s death, wondered how Sue knew about four-hundred-dollar haircuts, much less had the ability to spot one.
“That’s the guy that fell in the moat?”
“His name is—was—Blake Weston.” I crossed my arms over my stomach, as if I could hold myself together that way. “We were friends, then more than friends. It ended badly, and I hadn’t seen him in several years.”
“Until he walked into Tiny’s.” Sue finished my thought. “No wonder you looked like you’d seen a ghost. He didn’t seem much like your type, though. Way too slick.”
I chuckled. “And what is my type?”
Sue reddened. “You know what I mean, Georgie. You’re a plumber now, and you hang around with people like me and Paula and Wade—and none of us exactly have a designer wardrobe, unless you include Wrangler and Fruit of the Loom on the list.”
“I’m still an apprentice,” I reminded her. “And I hang out with people like you because you and Paula and Wade are my friends. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have other kinds of friends before I came back to Pine Ridge.”
“Did you?” Sue said. “Have other kinds of friends?”
Unfolding my arms, I stood up and walked across the shop. My back was to Sue. “I don’t know.”
I fiddled with a display of cat toys, lining them up carefully on their metal peg. “I knew a lot of people in San Francisco, and I worked and socialized with them. But I don’t know if they were friends.”
The gloom was getting to me. I squared my shoulders and turned to face Sue. I steadied my voice and forced a matter-of-fact tone as I summarized my years at Samurai.
“After I got my master’s degree, I started a computer security company. When I started expanding, Blake was my first partner, and we did well. The computer industry was exploding, and we were the hot new thing.
“Guys with money came looking for us, offering to help us grow. They didn’t want to interfere in how we ran the company, or so they said. But when the industry started cooling off, they changed their minds.
“I knew a lot of things about hardware and software”—I walked back to counter, and picked up the thumb drive we’d left sitting there before lunch—“but not a lot about office politics. Blake did.
“When the money guys decided to ‘go in a different direction’ ”—I made air quotes with my fingers—“I was the one who left.” I forced a smile I didn’t feel, and hoped it wasn’t too obvious. “And now you know, the rest of the story.” I mimicked the popular radio host’s signature line.
Sue glanced at the thumb drive I held loosely in my hand. “That’s how you know all that stuff about cookies and worms and spyware and all that stuff you told me about? That was the kind of stuff you were doing?”
“Among other things.” I shrugged. “But I left all that down there, and I don’t want to do it anymore.” I grinned again, and this time I did feel it. “You and Barry are the only ones I make an exception for.”
“So this Blake guy was, what? More than somebody you worked with, that’s for sure. Are we talking close business partner, or maybe ex-boyfriend?”
“We dated,” I hedged. That wasn’t a lie, exactly. It had been a little more serious than that, at least on my part, but a girl has to have some pride. I wasn’t ready to admit he’d been willing to dump me the instant the investors offered him the corner office.
“And Sandra doesn’t know any of this, does she?”
I shook my head. “Would you tell her?”
Sue burst into giggles. “No way!”
I tossed the thumb drive up and caught it. “Now, let me see if I can figure out what’s wrong with this thing.”
I walked back into the office, feeling better than I had since the day I spotted Blake at the McComb job site. I
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