Page 57 of Smoky Lake

She turned to Gil, who was busy righting the bag of groceries he’d dropped. She noticed a carton of blueberries and a box of condoms. Picturing him in the supermarket perusing the fruit section, her heart melted a little. Oh Gil. Would he want anything to do with her after this embarrassing drama? “John still has me on his ‘find my friends.’ He was supposed to delete me.”

Gil simply nodded at the explanation and tucked his thumbs in the front pockets of his jeans. An alert stance, ready for anything. His expression didn’t give her any clues about what he was thinking.

She let out a long breath and turned back to John. “And he still hasn’t told me why he came all this way instead of texting or calling.”

“Because…I…I…” John shot Gil a resentful glance.

Ani could see why he might feel intimidated. Seeing Gil and John side by side was eye-opening. She wouldn’t be surprised if John recommitted to that gym membership when he got home. John had played football in high school, but since then his exercise was mostly golf and playing the field. He looked like what he was—a good-looking, weak man who blamed all his bad behavior on other people.

“Can we talk in private?” he finally asked Ani.

“We have nothing to talk about. We’re divorced. It’s finalized, you signed, I signed, we’re done.”

He stole another glance at Gil, who folded his arms across his chest, raising the intimidation factor one more tick. “Are you with him now?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“That’s not a ‘no.’”

Ani lost patience. It had taken her a few years to wrap her mind and heart around the fact that their marriage wasn’t working. Once she had, she’d taken a painful, honest look at why it had taken her that long. Pride…no one wanted to admit they’d made a mistake. Devotion…she’d taken her marriage vows very seriously. But also, insecurity. Who besides John would ever want a limping, scarred woman like her?

He’d always hinted that he’d done her a favor by choosing her. That was pure manipulation, and it had worked. But not anymore.

Now, looking at him, she felt suddenly ten feet tall.

“I will do whatever I want with Gil, whenever I want. And believe me, I want a lot. You have three minutes to tell me why you’re here, then I’m going to call the…” No, better not call the police. She thought about the state trooper flying to Fire Peak Lodge, and didn’t want to take a chance. “I’ll kindly request Gil to throw you out of here,” she said instead.

“What is he, your bodyguard?”

“That’s right.” Gil stepped forward. “She said three minutes. Better get talking.”

John looked so outraged that Ani almost laughed. For once, she wasn’t putting his sensitivities first. “I came a long way to see you Ani. You’re really going to treat me like this?”

Playing the victim. She knew this move. For a moment, it worked. From Indiana to Fairbanks, Alaska was quite a trek. Then she reminded herself that he hadn’t asked her if he could come, and that he’d probably flirted with multiple flight attendants along the way.

“Apparently so.” She folded her arms across her chest, mirroring Gil’s posture. The two of them probably looked like a parody rap album cover. “Two minutes thirty seconds.”

“Someone broke into our house,” he blurted. “I got notified by the security system.”

Hadn’t he deleted his name from any of the apps?

“It’s just an empty house. Probably kids looking for a place to party. You should call the realtor and have her change the code on the lock.”

“It wasn’t kids. I drove over to check it out, and I saw two men wearing black masks coming out.”

Ani shrugged, not wanting John to see how that news affected her. “Maybe they were worried about Covid, or maybe they have allergies.”

“Masks are very helpful for anyone with allergies,” Gil added. “Cuts down on pollen intake.”

John ignored Gil and focused on Ani. “They also had guns, or at least one of them did. I saw it on his belt. I got a little freaked out. I was parked in front, but I was afraid they’d see me so I scooted down. Remember the old lady from next door, with the Pekinese obsession?”

“Mrs. Bigelow,” Ani said impatiently. How could John never remember her name? Did women simply cease to exist for him once they hit fifty? “What about her?”

“She was walking her dog, and she stopped to talk to them. I overheard them ask about you.”

Gil cleared his throat. “So if I’m getting this straight, you were hiding in your car while the little old lady interrogated the suspects?”

Ani pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at the look on John’s face. “Her name is Mrs. Bigelow,” she corrected him.

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