“You’re welcome to eat here,” Millie said, watching her old friend draw near. Hadn’t Valerie and Alex dated in junior high? Then he and Verna fell hard and fast in high school. Apparently that wasn’t odd for any of them.
“Thanks,” Valerie said. “I have to see what Alex wants to do. He might want to watch baseball tryouts, if I know him.”
Millie watched him turn around and back the boat in perfectly next to the other one. “He’s a good guide. We could really use him around here.”
“I hope so,” Valerie murmured. “Sometimes I wish Verna had stuck to nursing school with me. I make a decent living and my benefits are great, but she just didn’t like blood.”
“Or needles,” Millie chimed in.
Valerie looked at her feet and used one tennis shoe to wipe mud off the other. “Very true. So you and June haven’t kept in touch much, huh?”
Millie looked sideways at her. “What do you mean? I talk to June at least once a week.” Maybe that wasn’t as close as they used to be. Millie needed to make more of an effort to stay in touch with her friends. “She’s okay, isn’t she?”
“I think she’s lonely,” Valerie mused, her gaze tracking Scott. “She and one of the Fremont brothers dated for a while, but they broke up about six months ago. She hasn’t gone out with anybody since. Is your Scott taken?”
Jealousy spurted through Millie. “I don’t think he’s her type.”
“Gotcha,” Valerie said. “The way you two looked at each other, with the whole lust thing in your eyes, I hoped true love had hit you.”
“We’ll see.” Millie didn’t know what kept hitting her, but the thought of saying goodbye to the badass lawyer made her solar plexus ache. She considered the situation, watching the clouds billow in from down the river. “We do have a couple of guys on our team. They’re British.”
“Ooh,” Valerie said. “I love British accents. Are they both single and does at least one like a curvy girl?”
“Yeah. And they’re twins.”
Valerie frowned. “That’s kind of weird. I don’t think I want to date a twin. Being a twin is enough.”
Millie chuckled. “That’s a really good point. I’m sad June hasn’t dated anybody else. She always loved to go out.”
Valerie kicked at a pebble.
“What is it?” Millie asked.
Valerie stiffened. “Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
Valerie sighed and zipped up her windbreaker. “June and Clay got together. I know she said they didn’t date, but she left Snarky’s with him at least two times a week during the last three or four months. Maybe they didn’t officially date each other, but they bumped uglies together.”
Millie’s insides twisted. “June actually dated Clay?”
“Dating is probably too strong a word, but she stayed the night out there plenty. I don’t know why she lied to you. Maybe she feared upsetting you.”
Hurt swept through Millie. “I don’t understand. She can tell me anything.” Maybe Millie hadn’t been a good friend the last few years. She had gotten caught up in her work and had often gone undercover, but she had met up with her friend every time she came to visit her great-aunt, which occurred often. “I feel terrible about this.” Millie said. “She must have been really lonely to turn to Clay.”
“No kidding,” Valerie agreed. “I considered him the biggest dumbass in the world.”
“Me too. And I dated him.” She’d have to reach out to June soon.
Valerie stood as Alex loped toward them, appearing more relaxed than he had the last several times Millie had seen him. “It looks like he had a good day. I hope this works out.”
“Me too.” Millie pushed to her feet. “I don’t think we can afford health benefits or anything like that. At least not right now.” She wondered if it would be possible to expand the business. They’d always been pretty content with the two boats, but if she set up a corporation and hired more guides, they could expand. Although she wasn’t certain either JT or her great-aunt would go along with that plan.
“Hey there,” Alex said as he approached. “I take it Verna has the car?”
Valerie tucked her thumbs in her front jeans pockets, a light peach filtering across her cheekbones. “Yeah. You’re stuck with me. We’ve been invited to dinner, but I figured…”
“Oh no. I want to watch baseball tryouts.” Alex once again looked like the carefree high school kid Millie had known. Maybe it was a good thing she’d come home. He looked at her. “By the way, one of my anglers today brought the paper with him. Are you being arraigned next week?”
