It was down to me. “Yeah, you’re just gonna have to tell me and trust I won’t go blab it from the rooftops. That’s not my style. So honey, fucking talk!”

Then she laid it on us.

“He has a series of pornos.”

Ruby made a screeching noise and threw her hands over her face. Tori’s eyes bugged out as a smile spread from ear to ear. Me? I was a big fan of porn and had a pretty good collection of clips on my Tumblr page to prove it. So I had to ask, “What was his name? I’m assuming he isn’t doing that anymore.”

“Frankie Fastlight.”

“Oh my fucking fuck,” I whispered.

“Of course.” She threw her hands up and looked livid.

“He didn’t have tattoos then,” I told her, and, unfortunately, the image of Frodo and his huge schlong popped into my head.

“You’re picturing him, aren’t you?” she asked.

“I’m not gonna lie, yeah, but here’s what I can tell you. He must’ve been a lot younger, Dee. His hair was super long then.”

“I’ve seen pictures,” she said.

I was pretty open-minded, and really, he wasn’t still doing porn now, so I tried to reason with her, help her see the bigger picture. “He was an actor doing a job, Dee. It isn’t like he was a hitman or something.”

In no way was I trying to make light of his past or her feelings about it, not really. But that’s exactly how she took it, and her next words dripped with acid as her eyes narrowed on me. “Listen, you may be able to just forget that about, oh, five seconds ago, you were not in a good place, Kath.”

“I know that, and I’m not exactly out of the woods. I just got lucky I found someone who opened my eyes—”

“No, you got lucky you opened your legs to a good guy for once,” she bit, and when her words went through my ears and finally arrived at my heart, I decided it was probably best I leave.

I wiped my hands on the towel Ruby had thoughtfully laid out for each of us and grabbed my purse from the floor by my feet. “I better get going.”

“Kath,” Dee said in a small voice, “God, I didn’t mean—”

“Yeah...yeah, you did, honey. And every word of it was true. But I’m telling you, the day you started playing matchmaker with my life and called Frodo to get Holst into your bridal shop…I might as well have been naked. He saw me completely vulnerable, and you manipulated that, babe. So, thank you. If you hadn’t, I’d still be trying to fuck away the pain I’d been living with since I was twenty. I was just trying to return the favor, before you let the best thing in your life get away. See ya, Dee-ya,” I said, choking back tears, because she hurt me. She knew it, and I wasn’t going to stick around and let her try to kiss my ass and make up for it.

I walked out the front door of Paper Petal, the sun setting on the horizon, and headed home. I used to have a car, one I shared with Tori, but after she and Cam got together, I sold it. I never drove it, and all it did was sit there, free room and board in the guise of insurance and registration. But my place wasn’t far, and I knew Holst would eventually find his way to me. He’d have a late surf after closing, go to his place and do whatever he had to do there…but we always slept at my place. Always.

I was in the alley behind the cottages and just at Tori and Cam’s back gate and garage when I heard Tori behind me.

“God, you’d think after all that hiking I did on the honeymoon, those stairs wouldn’t wind me, but they totally do. Every time!” she huffed.

“I’m gonna go home, Tor,” I said over my shoulder. I’d slowed down, but didn’t stop.

“If you make me chase you to the apartment, I’m telling Cam on you,” she threatened, and I smiled, because I didn’t think Cam would hurt a fly, let alone raise his voice to me. Then again, knowing how he felt about Tori, I probably shouldn’t poke the bear.

I turned around and made my way back to her. She was trying to be pissed, tapping her foot, hand on her hip, but Tori, try as she might, could not give good attitude.

“I love you, and I love Dee, too, for that matter. And I don’t think there’s gonna be a time I’m not reminded I used to be an easy lay. I just don’t need to hear that from my friends. She’ll get over that scene, and so will I. But I’m gonna need a couple of days to regroup. Got me?”

“I’ve got you, Kath, but I’ll raise you,” she said softly. “Her ex married the woman who stole him, and, in the same week, the guy she was reluctant about because she thought he might be the one,” she air quoted, “doesn’t just tell her he used to be a porn star, he opens up the laptop, goes on some porn site, and says, ‘that’s me. The one with the long hair.’ But it wasn’t just that. It was all the women. Her ex didn’t cheat on her once. He’d done it before, a few times, but she forgave him.”

“Frodo isn’t her ex.”

“I know, but Kath…”

“Yeah, I’m hearing all that, but as many women as Frodo was paid to fuck, it’s probably the same as I have fucked, and it wasn’t my job. It was my crutch.”

“Kath, there’s no way you’ve slept with hundreds of men. I lived with you for most of your sexual history.”

I was choosy, but still...

“Thirteen years, Tori. There’s a lot of mileage on this car, and I’d like to say I have no regrets, but right now, I’m feeling them. I love you, big time, but I gotta go home, honey.”

“Kath…” she whispered, but said nothing.

I stood there and just tried not to cry, but I failed, and that’s when she threw her arms around me.

“Thanks, Tor,” I said, trying not to squeeze the life out of her.

“Dee isn’t used to friends. We were there once. We just need to teach her and Ruby how it’s done.”

“Going now,” I said, pulling away first.

“Call me if you need me. My fairy costume doesn’t fit, so I’m gonna wear a big hat. Are you and Holst handing out candy tomorrow? I’m sorry, I didn’t even think to ask.”

Holst decided we should hand out cups of hot apple cider on the sidewalk in front of Bear Claw to promote the business. I’d planned on getting a costume that night, but now, I didn’t really care. In fact, my entire attitude was now ambivalence, which told me it was time to go home and bake.

“We’re handing out cider and one-dollar-coffee coupons,” I told her.

“Okay. Tell Gozer hi for me.” She smiled. It was sympathetic, but not filled with pity, and I loved her for that.

“Yeah. Tell that whore, Zuul, I’ll see her tomorrow.”

And with that, I walked home.

Then I baked my ass off.

Katherine

Later that night, the minute I walked in my front door, I took out the food processor, a stick of unsalted butter, and plain flour. Within five minutes, I’d blitzed the mixture for pâté brisée, or pie dough, wrapped it into two discs, and popped them into the fridge. Then I opened the cupboard to see what fillings I had on hand. I settled on cherry. I had this bad habit, almost like a weird fetish, for buying fancy jars of berries with the intention of making some kind of dessert with them. And this wasn’t some willy-nilly “Hey, what’s that jar in the back of the cupboard that expired four years ago” fetish. No, I baked…a lot, especially since Tori moved out.

While the dough chilled, I ran down to my neighbor, Terry’s. He left me a text that said we had a suspected plumbing problem bigger than his skills, and probably my own. I stood in his living room and saw the color difference in the wall. First things first, I went back upstairs and checked to see if anything was leaking or running, and the last place I looked was Tori’s old bathroom.

“Motherfucker,” I sighed, with a wrench in one hand and a bucket under the S-bend of the sink.

I went back to tell Terry that I’d get a plumber in the next day, but it was obvious to us both, the water damage was pretty bad and probably extended into Frank’s apartment, as well.