Past Lies by Bobby Hutchinson

Author:Bobby Hutchinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2006-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I wish I could remember that poem you read to me once, about men being unwise and going to Samarkand.

From letters written by Roy Nolan,

April, 1972

ALL THAT DAY, doing her tourist patter, landing and taking off again, Ivy told herself she didn’t need Alex. Admiring the fishermen’s catch, loading the smelly men and their smelly fish into the floatplane, she repeated it like a mantra.

I don’t need Alex. So he’s good in bed, smart and funny, easy on the eyes. I like him fine, but I don’t need him.

Late that afternoon, she skimmed across the water in the Beaver and came to a stop right where she’d planned, a few feet from the dock in front of the lodge. She turned off the motor, secured the plane and then helped the fishermen off. As they wandered up, she and Oliver unloaded rain gear, fishing rods, empty lunch containers and foam coolers loaded with fish and ice into transportable plastic bins to take up. And the whole time she worked, Ivy realized she was listening for the sound of a hammer and glancing toward the newly framed cabins.

He wasn’t there, and he wasn’t at supper, either.

“Where’s Alex disappeared to?” Ivy hoped she sounded casual as she brought a tray of empty salad bowls back from the dining room and started ladling beef stew, mashed potatoes and gravy onto dinner plates. “I was kind of counting on him to help with dishes.”

“He’s gone with Bert to town.” Mavis spooned peas and carrots on each plate as Ivy handed them to her. “Bert came with the boat and they took off a couple hours ago.”

“Did Alex say when he’d be back?”

“Later tonight, was all he said.” Mavis finished the last plate and joined Ivy in loading them on serving trays. “I can see you’re sweet on him, honey. Saw you running like a rabbit from his cabin early this morning.”

Ivy felt herself turning magenta. She concentrated hard on the trays.

“Just take care of yourself. These guys from Away are here today, gone tomorrow.” Mavis pursed her mouth. “Mind you, all men are slippery buggers when it comes down to it.”

Ivy was still trying to figure out what part of that to address when Mavis added, “I never met a man who didn’t have a fatal flaw, and that’s the truth.” She smacked a plate on the tray with more force than was necessary. “And Lord knows I’ve fallen for their blarney often enough myself.”

Ivy was flabbergasted. She’d never heard Mavis talk about men. She knew from Aunt Cait that Mavis had been married to a man from Seattle, and that the louse dumped her when she got burned, but that was all she’d ever heard of Mavis’s background, except that she and Caitlin had been friends from childhood.

“You sure he’s not married?” Mavis flopped the last plate down and studied Ivy. “Some of ’em will lie, you know.”

“He’s divorced.” Ivy was feeling defensive. “And that fatal flaw thing, Mavis? I know what you mean, but there are guys who don’t have it.

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