anything like that?” Rex asked.
“It’s not a bother. If he’s hurt, that’s important,” Annie said.
“You try telling him that, and see if he opens up about it,” Rex said, swirling the ice in his empty glass. “If someone needs to examine someone, I’ll start with examining Kat and go from there.” Rex put the glass back up to his mouth, finishing the sentence with his nose in the glass.
Annie was trying to give Rex the benefit of the doubt in her head. She had been hoping that maybe he had really changed; however, she never did have much to say to him before, and now she was feeling exactly the same animosity. The thought that Grant might be injured was worrying her, and she found Rex’s complete lack of concern for his friend’s welfare incomprehensible. That Grant might get involved with Rex in a business venture didn’t offer her any comfort. He was talking a lot, and he always talked more than anyone in any room. He seemed almost giddy, for some reason. Maybe he was happy that he had finally gotten something to work out properly; or maybe he was just happy to have his old friends back together. Or both. Whatever the reason, he still irritated her—that hadn’t changed over the years—and his lack of complete openness on the subject of Grant’s accident didn’t help matters.
Kat seemed to love the verbal joust. She had heard stories about Rex, and saw no reason to cut him any slack. She saw no risk in offending him, being pretty sure no one was capable of that.
Two women entered the bar, and moved to the end opposite from where Annie, Kat and Rex were seated. Their dresses seemed to be composed more of air and wind than of fabric, and the prints appeared to have been spray painted onto their bodies. Rex took notice immediately.
“Well, ladies, I guess word’s out that Rex is in town.”
“Police blotter, probably,” Kat said.
“Maybe. If so, those are two pretty good looking cops, so maybe they could take me somewhere … you know, for questioning,” Rex said, still looking at the newcomers.
Annie shook her head, looking down at her hands. Isobelle had been hovering nearby, and as soon as she noticed the two women, her demeanor changed.
“Moll and Mag, but I have some other names for them,” she said bitingly.
“Are they friends of yours?” Annie asked.
“Doesn’t sound like it,” Kat added.
“Hang onto your wallet,” Isobelle said, looking at Rex.
“Oh, so they’re on the wrong side of the law, not just a great looking appendage of the law. Now I really want to know them.” Rex was watching them out of the corner of his eye, though he did not stop talking. “I think I should be the one to listen, and to take down their stories.”
Annie looked at Rex, relieved her disdain for him was not without merit. He was still a blow hard in her mind, and she didn’t think she needed to hide her feelings. She really wanted Grant to return. If she hadn’t been waiting for him, she would have left immediately.
Kat just laughed.
Isobelle was clearly not happy that the other women had entered the bar. It was not obvious that she wanted Grant to return, but Kat seemed to sense it. The women at the other end just added a little more tension.
“I had better tend to them, or they will complain to the front desk,” Isobelle said with a sigh.
“They would do that?” Annie asked.
“They have done it before,” Isobelle responded.
“Gosh, why would …?” Annie started.
“I could tell you, but that would be inappropriate. I’ll be right back,” Isobelle said, turning to go tend to the new arrivals.
“So, Annie, how’s the doctor business? I don’t think you told me what your specialty was.” Rex was trying to be on good behavior.
“Small practice, general medicine. I like knowing my patients, not having it be an assembly line, with not enough attention to detail.”
“De-sembly line, you mean.” Good behavior for Rex was a nebulous thing.
“How about you? What part of the saw bones trade you in?” Rex looked at Kat.
“I’m a psychiatrist.”
“Holy shit!”
“Yeah, I don’t get that much.”
Rex wanted the talk turned back to Grant. Rex wanted to plant all the good seeds he could while Grant was away, as he knew Grant would not say much anyway, but he definitely wouldn’t talk about himself. As selfish and conceited as he might have appeared to the women, Rex really was trying to look out for his friend.
“It’s been a long time, Annie. Used to be nonstop-wacky-madcap-fun, you have to admit that much,” Rex said.
“There were some really good times,” Annie said, smiling, a glimmer of reminiscence in her eyes.
“Damn right there were. There could be again, too,” Rex replied.
“That was a while ago. A long time ago, Rex,” Annie said.
“Not that long ago! Not like grade school era,” Rex said, his eyes opening wide.
“Did you go to grade school?” Kat asked.
“No. Actually I went straight into college,” Rex said.
“I thought as much,” Kat said, rolling her eyes.
“Seriously though, it wasn’t that long ago,” Rex said quickly. “Ok, what, you haven’t seen Grant in four or five years, grad school was … undergrad was … why are you making me do math? It’s under a decade, how about that. It’s not like old people thinking back on shit, we’re not that old.”
“I have a new li—a … err, a different life now. Working a practice takes a lot of time and I can’t be worrying about … about….” Annie started to look around the bar, casting around for the most diplomatic way to make her point.
“About what?” Rex asked.
“About whether the two of you are going to go streaking, or get arrested for some … some stupid thing,” Annie said, closing her eyes, tilting her head down.
“We never got caught streaking,” Rex said, very slowly.
“You never got caught streaking,” Annie said. She was having a hard time not laughing.
“That’s right, we never got caught streaking,” Rex said, sticking his chest out. “So what’s it matter?”
“There were other indiscretions. Sometimes, you guys were so, so … in….” Annie said, now trying to find the right word.
“In…?” Rex asked, before she could finish.
Annie paused, looking at Rex. “Insensitive.”
“Ah,
