Page 32 of Threat of Danger
Pam sighed. “You’re such a disappointment.”
“Welcome to the club,” Jess muttered, and the next second, Pam was leaping over the wine coolers to hug her.
“I didn’t mean that. I didn’t. I swear.”
Then they almost slipped off the roof, so they settled back down.
Jess groaned. “Could have broken something and ended up next to my mother.”
Pam quirked an eyebrow. “Why did you think I brought the wine coolers? You fall off, full body cast, you’ll have to stay. We couldn’t go gallivanting, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. I’ll sit by your hospital bed, and we’ll chat. Given a day or two, I’m pretty sure I could make you confess to a celebrity affair.”
“I meantyoucould have fallen and broken something. Not me.” And at Pam’s questioning look, Jess added, “I know how to fall.”
Then, on a crazy impulse, she threw herself off the roof, because she’d wanted to throw herself off a roof since she’d gotten here.
She could have landed on her feet like a cat, but because it was more impressive, she hit the ground in a body roll. She ended in a crouch, one hand braced on the ground, and grinned up at Pam, who had a hand pressed to her chest.
“You are so totally nuts.” The horror on Pam’s face slowly morphed into laughter. “I don’t know if we can be friends again. I’m always the crazy one in every relationship. I wouldn’t know how to act any other way.”
Jess sprang to her feet, stepped up on the porch railing, pulled herself up to the roof with only minimal effort, and plopped down on the same spot where she’d been sitting earlier. She wrapped herself into the comforter once again.
“So that’s what you do?” Pam looked gratifyingly impressed. “And I do other people’s taxes.” Her lips puckered as if she’d tasted something sour. “That’s hardly fair, especially when you count in that you also get to sleep with celebrities.” She tilted her head. “Right? Because you can tell me. I’m your best friend.”
An eyeroll accompanied Jess’s grin.
“Fine,” Pam huffed. “Let’s leave the celebrity mistress thing for after we’ve finished the wine coolers.”
She drank from her bottle, then put it between her knees. “So you want to talk about your new boyfriend first, or running into Derek?”
“Neither.”
“I’d like to remind you that you stayed away for ten years and completely ignored your best friend, so you’re already on thin ice here.” She flashed Jess a look that she probably otherwise reserved for clients who cheated on their taxes. It said,I’m very disappointedandDon’t ever do that again.“By the way, Derek is single. No wife, no girlfriend. See? This is what friends do. They volunteer information. I didn’t even make you pump me for that.”
Jess took a sip from her bottle. “I’m messed up on Derek. I can’t separate him from what happened.”
Sounded stupid now that she’d said it.
Pam didn’t point that out. Instead, she watched Jess for a couple of seconds, then nodded, kind of like,All right, let’s work with what we have. “That’s a shame. Because he’s a great guy. He’s a local celebrity now. Everybody reads his thrillers.”
“I’ve seen his books, but I can’t make myself pick one up. I don’t want to do anything that brings back any memories.”
“And Derek brings back memories.” Again, Pam paused to think that over. “He can’t help that,” she said when she finished. “But neither can you help how he makes you feel.”
“I just want to avoid him as much as possible.”
“You’re leaving tomorrow, so that won’t be too hard.” She groaned. “Have I mentioned yet how much I hate the idea of you leaving tomorrow?”
“Only a hundred times or so.”
Jess had told her about the change of plans as they’d been climbing out onto the roof.
Pam tapped her toes on a cedar shingle as she carefully considered her next words, but then finally she came out with them. “Do you blame Derek? I mean, for what happened back then.”
Jess dropped her forehead on her pulled-up knees and stayed like that for several seconds before looking up again. “I kind of used to. And I know it’s stupid.”
Pam didn’t say anything. She gave Jess supportive silence, and the soft sympathy in her eyes, which was exactly what Jess needed.
“I know we were both victims.” Jess rubbed her thumbs over her knees. “But he didn’t suffer like I suffered. He was just the audience.”
