Page 15 of Dissension

With a manicured hand, Claire gestures vaguely. “Not anymore, but many of my friends are here. I come back to visit when I can, between work.”

Oddly, she doesn’t mention coming back to see Nick.

Claire gestures to the player’s field. “Have you seen him jump? I’ve always found it to be a bit more daring.” Claire fixesthe overlarge hat that somehow makes her look elegant. Kara would be swimming under it. This tall, willowy woman would look so nice, standing next to Nick and his pristine appearance. A fitting couple. “He competed quite a bit as a boy.”

Kara distantly knows of all the ways Dieter has and does compete on horseback. But there are a lot of things about him she doesn’t know, and those are the things that keep her wondering. He probably has secret houses and girlfriends in each state for all she knows.

The urge to run away from this woman is so strong that Kara has to work to keep a straight face. She’s drowning, being next to the very woman who has unknowingly caused a lot of pain in Kara’s immediate life. It isn’t even Claire’s fault, but Kara feels gutted. She holds no ill will towards her; instead, she feels terrible about herself.

Guilt feels like chains, tightening around her guts, squeezing them into mush.

Instead of running off to hide like she’d like to do, Kara bears and grins against her mental guilt and anguish. Her smile probably belongs on a serial killer. Forced, unnatural. “No. I’ve never seen him do any showjumping. He leased out The Witch about a month ago, so he doesn’t have a mount for jumping anyway.”

Kara had created the legal paperwork for that rather pricey engagement. She’d been quite proud of herself, actually. Then, she’d been mortified knowing that the lease price for the horse for a year cost about the same as Kara’s purchase price on her car. Insanity!

Claire is giving her an interested look, one lovely dark eyebrow raised. “The Witch?”

Nodding, Kara smiles in memory, thinking of the animal in question. The spicy chestnut mare, sleek and always dancing about on her hooves, snorting like a dragon. She’d seen her onthe day the paperwork was done. “His young mare. He doesn’t have the time for her. I think she pushed him around. But, I also think he liked it?” Kara makes a face. He likes a challenge, butnot too muchof a challenge. “Dieter’s very complicated.”

Dietrich Bittingeriscomplicated.

A calculated look comes to Claire’s pale gaze and Kara realizes she’s been smiling for real after imparting that little story. She blanks her face, feeling guilty. Claire tosses her black hair behind her shoulder and asks, “How long have you been together?”

Kara chokes on her water, spluttering terribly for a second.Embarrassing. She feels her face heat. “T-together? We aren’t…ah…it isn’t like that. He’s just used to bringing Gale to most things, seeing as she basically runs his life for him.” Kara scoffs a bit at that. “I’ve been working for him for like, a few months? I’m like theWishversion of Gale Clarke.”

Claire is examining her French nails in a very rich bitch sort of way. “I’m not often in town, but when I am, I attend the matches with my friends. I’ve never seen Gale here, to be honest.” Seeing the shaken expression on Kara’s face, Claire gives her a smile that feels too patronizing for Kara’s tastes. “Oh, don’t look so shocked. You’re just special, then. A new friend for him to play with. I meanreally; you aren’t his usual type.”

As in, I’m not a six-foot model that’s always perfectly dressed to the nines, paired with fake tits and pumped-up lips? Yeah, I’m perfectly aware.

Kara isn’t sure if she should be offended or not. Mostly, sheisn’t, but a small part of her feels a little snippy about that comment. She shouldn’t care if she’s Dieter’s type. He’s herclient. Wanting to shift the tune and dig into one of the secrets she never unraveled about Nick, Kara says, “Speaking of friends, I’m curious. Dieter often spends his time hanging out with yourfiancé…and yet, they don’t seem to like each other all that much. A bit odd for proclaimed friends. What’s the deal?”

It’s ballsy, bringing up Nick. In fact, it makes Kara feel slimy. Yet, it seems like the perfect opportunity to creep a bit behind the curtain. Who better to ask than his fiancée?

Finally, Claire’s mask of cool perfection seems to crack a bit. She seems unsettled. “That’s a long story. Frankly, I don’t even know all of it. Our families have known each other for decades; hence this…” She glances at the giant ring on her hand, as if searching for the right word. “…this engagement. Those two though? They were closer years ago when we were kids. Something changed. I don’t know what happened, but I know Nicky has this…distrust of Dieter. He never does say why.” Claire shrugs, dismissive. “Men. Who can say what goes on in their silly brains.”

Nicky. Gag.

The information is curious. They were close, but now they no longer seem to get along? Whatever it was back then to cause a rift between them, it had to be bad, considering Nick is certainly no angel or paragon of morality.

Before she can answer Claire, she notices the riders dismounting from their ponies. Kara nods politely to her, pulling out a cold water bottle from her bag. “I’m going to go check on Dieter before he hops on anything else and kills himself from heatstroke.”

With something sly in her gaze, Claire replies politely, “Lovely to see you again, Kara. We should get lunch sometime; I’m always looking to expand my network of women in business. It’s good to havefriendsin different verticals.”

Kara tries to not trip over her own feet, hearing those words.It’s almost like she knows that she makes me uncomfortable. Is that possible? Does she know something…?

Trying to shake off the sick feeling Nick’s bride-to-be has given her, Kara goes up to Dieter, watching him take off his helmet, his riding gloves tight on his athletic fingers. A groom leads his pony away for rinsing. Sweat trickles down his forehead from the late afternoon heat and his face is bright red. Kara scoffs in dismay. “Jeez. Youarecooking your brain in that helmet!Here. I got you some water, drink it all before you faint.” Kara holds up the food pouch that she has also smuggled in her purse. “This is applesauce, for some fast energy. Eat it.”

Green eyes examine her keenly. “You brought these for me?”

He sounds surprised, like he simply can’t fathom why anyone would try and help him when he’s racing around on a thousand-pound animal in the sweltering heat. Kara feels her mouth work momentarily before she presses the cold water bottle into his hands.

He likes being taken care of.

Feeling silly, Kara says, “Well, yeah.”

There’s a strange softness in his green gaze that nearly makes Kara faint. She flushes, but she’s going to blame that on the heat. “Don’t make such a big deal about it. I just don’t want you to fall on your pretty head.”

“That’s sweet of you,” he replies hoarsely. The plastic crunches loudly as Dieter opens the bottle, downing half of it in a fast swallow. The rest he pours over his head. He groans in delight, shaking it out of his hair. “Fuck it’s hot out, isn’t it?” He must be feeling it, his syllables starting to slur together.

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