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We hear Moira before we see her. “Boys, the peach cobbler just came out of the oven! Get in here and wash up.”
We’re instantly left in a cloud of their dust.
Moira steps out on the porch and calls out, “Hey, you’re here just in time. I just took dessert out of the oven.”
She walks down her front steps and smiles at Prisha and then Ethan. “Hi there, I’m Moira.”
“I’m Prisha and this is Ethan.” She gestures toward Ethan, who gives Moira a lopsided grin I’ve never seen out of him, before saying, “Thanks for putting up with us for a few days.”
“My pleasure,” she says. Their eyes lock on each other for a second too long before she glances at the ground, then back up at him. “It’s not fancy, but I hope you’ll find your room comfortable enough.”
“I’m sure it’ll be great,” he says, suddenly seeming a lot more on board with the idea than he was before he saw his host.
“Come on in and get settled before the boys eat all the cobbler,” Moira says before turning around and heading back to the house.
Prisha walks next to her, while Ethan comes over to me. “Last chance to change your mind about things,” he tells me. “As soon as I get in my room, I’m calling Brett’s team to give them the bad news.”
My heart pounds in my chest and I feel like I’m going to vomit, but I manage to say, “Do it.”
“Good job,” he says, wrapping an arm over my shoulder and giving me a kiss on the forehead. “You’ve got this, Harper. And Prisha and I have got you.”
I nod and force a smile as I stare up at him.
“Having said that, prepare yourself because the storm is coming. I have a bad feeling it’s going to be unlike anything we’ve seen from Brett before.”
A few minutes later, I’m on my way back to the lodge, my head spinning with both fear and excitement at having finally pulled the trigger on ending my marriage once and for all. As I near The Steel Trap, I’m overcome by the urge to share the big news, and I know exactly who I want to share it with first.
Chapter30
Digger
A priest, a rabbi, and an actress walk into a small-town bar … Okay, so it’s just an actress, but there’s still a punchline and I have a feeling I’m it. All eyes in the place immediately land on Harper, and the place goes quiet, save for the Dwight Yoakam song playing over the speakers. She chews on her bottom lip, scanning the room until her eyes land on me.
Standing next to the pool table, cue in hand, I watch as she walks directly toward me, ignoring the men trying to get her attention.
“Umm, Digger … is that the woman fromConspiracy?” Timmy Two-Toes asks me.
He’s who I’m playing pool with, and yes, he only has two toes after an ice fishing trip gone horribly wrong. The good thing is, they’re his big toes so he can still balance pretty well.
“Not that I know of.” I’m not about to add to her troubles by ratting her out.
“Whoever she is, she’s a looker, huh? Do you suppose she’s coming over here to talk to me?” he asks while scrambling to tuck in his t-shirt.
She arrives in front of us, looking a good deal better than the last time I saw her. I’m guessing my fried food hangover remedy did the trick. “Can I talk to you?” she asks me.
I smile at Timmy and shrug my shoulders. “Looks like it’s my lucky day, bud. Not yours.”
“Talk away,” I tell her, picking up the chalk and screwing it over the end of my cue. “I’m just finishing up my game.”
“It can wait,” she says, glancing at Timmy.
“Ah, don’t worry about Tim. He’s real discreet. Aren’t you, Timmy?”
“I never told a soul about the time you slept with that busty Fish and Wildlife officer,” he answers with a wry grin.
Shooting him a look, I turn to Harper. “See? Real discreet.”
“Even so, I think I’ll wait until your game’s done,” she says, plunking her purse on a small round bar table nearby. She hoists herself up onto the stool and sits down, looking agitated.
