Polly stopped. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just every time I think about Mom’s death, I have questions. Why was she out there alone? If she was so drunk that she drowned herself, how did she get from Trap to the river?”
Polly seemed to take that in for a moment. “You think there’s more to the story?”
“I don’t know. I was ten when it happened. All I know is what I was told. Now I just want to read the report.”
Polly nodded and they moved forward again. “Okay. Well, if Ward doesn’t give it to you, we’ll find another way. We’ll get the courts involved.”
“We?”
“Yes, we.” Polly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m the help-you-bury-a-body-no-questions-asked best friend.”
“Well, that’s lucky. Because in my apartment, I actually have something you should see.”
“I’ll get the shovel.”
Maggie grinned. “I love you.”
“That’s because I’m willing to commit a felony to keep your ass out of prison.”
They stopped beside the gazebo, and Maggie frowned at the woman across the grass outside the community center. A blonde with blue eyes who was talking to Ferris. “She looks familiar.”
“Raven Price. She was a few years behind us in high school.” Polly was frowning too. “She’s been out of town for a few years though, living somewhere in North Dakota with her fiancé. He was in her grade.”
Maggie tilted her head. “She looks sad.” Her shoulders were slumped and even from here, Maggie could see she almost appeared defeated.
“Maybe they broke up and that’s why she’s back.” Polly lifted a shoulder. “Better now than after saying I do.”
Maggie turned back to her best friend. “Not all marriages end in divorce.”
“Statistically speaking, you’re only fifty percent likely to stay married for life, and out of that fifty percent, I bet a hell of a lot of them aren’thappilymarried.”
“Just because your mother hasn’t been able to stay married doesn’t mean you wouldn’t.”
She scoffed. “It will be a cold day in hell before I get married. Even a relationship is a stretch. I’d settle for some good sex and a martini though. Come on.”
Maggie stopped outside Bloom. “Thanks for the matcha and walk. I should get going.”
Polly grinned. “To see Ethan, right? Maybe for another?—”
“To say hi and check out the new SAR base.”
“Mm-hmm. Say hello for me.”
Maggie gave her friend a quick hug before heading to her RAV4.
She made a quick stop at The Pancake Bar to pick up a few stacks of pancakes with fried chicken and maple syrup. In senior year, it had been a dinner staple for her and Ethan. Probably why she hadn’t been able to stomach the combination of pancakes, fried chicken, and syrup for years after the breakup. It was too much of a reminder of Ethan.
Now, she couldn’t wait to eat it again. And after last night, she was feeling brave. He was single. He’d kissed her. And he still cared about her.
The closer she drove to the old firehouse, the faster her heart raced. She only knew Ethan was working late because they’dbeen texting. And even that—words from him on a phone—had an effect on her like nothing and no one else had ever had.
Ethan’s truck was the only vehicle in the lot. She parked beside it.
She was halfway to the door, bag of pancakes in hand, when something sounded behind the building. Maybe the crunching of gravel beneath feet?
Was Ethan outside?
