face didn’t change at all. He didn’t take the keys.
“You are unsurpriseable,” she said.
“Ye-ah.”
“You don’t like it?”
“Oh, I like it. It’s just...a lot of present, Katie.”
“Well, it’s your birthday—”
“How did you know about that? Nobody else does.”
“Well, somebody does, obviously.” She tried to smile.
“Nobody.”
She felt her face redden. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go.
“Have you been snooping around my stuff?” he said. “My wallet, maybe?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then how did you know.”
“Your mother told me, last month.”
“My mother told you.”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t even know my mother.”
“Well, I do now, a little.”
“How did you even get her number?”
“From my phone, of course. When you borrowed it to call her a couple of months ago.” No need to explain how she had dialed and hung up twice before she found the voice to introduce herself and strike up a conversation. And how awkward it had been, as if Kate was the first person the woman had talked to in years. She kept asking whether Julian knew Kate was calling, in a hopeful voice like the phone call would have meant more if he had instigated it.
Which it would have, of course, but why point it out? Why treat Kate as though she were being dishonest when she was only trying to do something nice for Julian?
“Let me get this straight,” Julian said. “You called my mother, weaseled my birthday out of her—”
“Saw it was coming up and scored you a prezzy! I know—clever me, right? It’s really sweet, too. I rode it up here to meet you. I thought we could play on it this afternoon.”
He stood back, eyeing the snowmobile as if it were still on the lot and he couldn’t decide whether to take it home.
“Come on—let’s go for a spin,” she said.
“I’d love to, but I have plans for the day.”
“Just with Zig.”
“I have plans, Kate.”
“Why are you being such a dick right now? This is a present that I bought you for your birthday. It’s supposed to be fun.”
He looked at her as if bewildered by the concept.
“But, I mean, what am I supposed to do with it? I don’t live here. I don’t have any place to store it.”
“You can leave it in our garage. There’s plenty of room.”
“Then really it’s yours, isn’t it?”
“No, of course not.”
“But I’d have to ask to take it out, right? Someone would have to let me in to get it?”
“Sure, but—”
“So then it’s yours.”
“Well, you don’t have to keep it at our place, obviously. Stash it wherever you want. I’ll ship it for you, if there’s somewhere else you need to be.”
She was offended now, and Julian sighed.
“That’s not the point. And I do appreciate the thought, truly. But let’s just call it a loan. We can go out on it tomorrow, okay? I promise. Not today.”
“You have plans.”
He stepped closer and chucked her under the chin with his forefinger, smiling indulgently as if he’d just granted her a huge favor.
“I’m not trying to be a dick. It’s just too much right now.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Sure.”
But her throat was tight and the back of her mouth stung with bitterness.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go back inside. I’ll get you a hot chocolate and schnapps.”
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.