It didn’t escape Hailey’s attention that Matt stood at the edge of the parking lot, where the dirt met the trees, and watched them until the car was started and they were on their way. Probably because she was watching him in the mirror.
“You should have asked for his satellite phone number,” Tori said, nudging Hailey with her elbow.
She groaned. “No.”
“If you got laid, this day wouldn’t have been a waste.”
“I’m not going to talk about my sex life.” There wasn’t anything to talk about. “At least the gossips in Whitford will have something to talk about for a while.”
Tori’s mouth turned down at the corners. “We don’t have to tell them.”
“We skipped out on movie night for this, so they’ll ask about it.”
On the first Saturday of every month, some of the women gathered without men or kids to watch a movie and, since it had been Hailey’s turn to host, she hadn’t been able to simply skip it. She’d had to explain about the adventure tour and how the first weekend in May was the only opening they had, thanks to a cancellation.
“We don’t have to tell them every single detail,” Tori said.
“The fact you believe that is proof enough you weren’t born and raised in Whitford. Trust me. We’re going to be famous.”
TWO
BY THE TIME Matt got back to the family’s cabin on the river, the light was starting to change. His dad would probably be tracking the time, wondering if it was time to worry yet.
Bear met him at the edge of the porch and he leaned down to give his black Lab a good neck scratch. “Be glad you stayed behind, buddy. It was a long walk.”
Bear’s tail thumped against the wooden planks for a few seconds before he walked back to his favorite spot under the double swing. Dogs were a man’s best friend until a long nap in the shade was on the flip side of the coin.
“Was thinking about starting up a search party.” His dad held up a can. “Just as soon as I finished this beer.”
Matt grabbed one of his own and plopped down in the other chair. “Had to rescue a couple of damsels in distress.”
“Only you would find women in need of help out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s a gift.” He drained a quarter of the can, fighting the grimace. He was thirsty, but he wasn’t a big fan of beer. It was a tradition tied up with the camp and fishing and his old man, but at the moment he would have swapped it for a tall glass of lemonade in a heartbeat.
“Tourists?”
“I don’t think so.” He realized now he’d never asked the women where they were from, other than where they’d parked their car. “Based on the accents, I’d say they’re both from Maine, though I can’t pinpoint where exactly. Got separated from their adventure tour.”
“Which one?”
“The Dagneau boys.”
That garnered a throaty sound of derision that, in Matt’s experience, only old men from New England could master. “Those two morons would be lucky to find a hooker in a whorehouse.”
“I think I’ll stop in and have a talk with them next week.”
“Somebody needs to.”
Policing local business practices wasn’t necessarily part of his job as a game warden, but he’d always found if a man looked and sounded official enough, nobody would question him. And since it was guys like Matt who’d get called out to find the people jerks like the Dagneaus lost, he figured that gave him the right to speak up.
“I got the house,” he told his dad after a few minutes. “Called the owner while I was out for a walk. Good price and they don’t have a problem with Bear.”
The dog raised his head at the sound of his name, his expression full of joyful expectation. When Matt just smiled at him without getting out of his chair, Bear sighed and dropped his head back onto his paws.
His dad shook his head. “Why rent a house when you can stay here? It’s only forty minutes to Whitford.”
This was ground they’d only covered half a dozen times already. “No, it’s forty minutes from the main road. From here to the main road, if it hasn’t rained and you don’t mind your coffee bouncing right up out of your travel mug, is a good twenty minutes.”
“Lots of people commute an hour to work. No sense in wasting money.”
“You know I get called out at all hours. It can’t take me almost half an hour just to get on the road. And this isn’t a home, Dad. It’s a camp. I’d have to find a house in a few months, anyway. Moving twice would also be a waste of money.”
On the list of traits Charlie Barnett liked in a person, frugality ranked right up there with patriotism and being able to drive a stick shift. Even his old man had to admit Matt couldn’t winter in a cabin that had no indoor plumbing after Columbus Day.