Page 29 of Bad Girls Don't Marry Marines (Rock Canyon, Idaho 3)

Justin paused and gave him a dark look. “You can’t believe everything you hear.”

“Yeah, but even if it isn’t all true, her dad hates your guts.”

“We’re adults, man. I’m not asking her father’s permission, if that’s what you’re getting at,” Justin said, getting more aggravated with his best friend.

“Okay, but think about a future with her and how it will look,” Jared said.

Justin shook his head. “It’s one weekend. Not like I’m proposing marriage or anything.”

“What am I gonna tell Steph? I think she had a date planned for you this weekend with the new vet.”

Justin didn’t bother answering as he headed for door. What Jared told his wife was the least of his concerns. Getting Valerie Willis to let down her guard and admit she was interested in him was going to take up all his energy this weekend.

VAL DROVE PAST Twin Falls and over the bridge, heading for the rock formations and dusty trails that off-roaders and bikers adored. Making a right, she kept driving until she found a dirt road that looked promising. She loved coming here when life got crazy. The first time had been when she was thirteen and Caroline and whatever guy she was dating had brought her. As he’d hit each bump and groove in the road, she’d felt a little less stressed, a little less angry, and for the first time since her mother had died, free to feel something good.

As it climbed over the first hill, her truck crawled over a rock, tipping up onto its side. Val grinned as she accelerated. Some people loved guns, some used a punching bag, but all she needed was a truck and a bumpy road.

Her phone started ringing in her purse, but she ignored it as she hit the gas and jostled to the left, letting out a loud shout as she drove through the thin layer of snow. The ground was too frozen for there to be any mud, but it was still fun.

Her phone rang again, and she thought about the trip to Nevada, spending all weekend trapped with a bunch of men she didn’t know while some nut job tried to pair her up, and her hands tightened on the wheel.

Billy Currington’s “People Are Crazy” came on the radio and she turned it up, saying out loud, “You are so right, Billy.”

JUSTIN TRIED CALLING Val’s cell again, but it went straight to voice mail. Oh well, he wasn’t even sure what he would have said to her.

He headed into his house and started packing his bag, pulling a couple of collared shirts from his closet. He hoped this thing didn’t have some jacket-and-tie dress code because he had no idea where his only tie was.

Someone knocked on the front door and he yelled, “Come on in!”

His dad came in, his once-powerful frame thin. Justin thought he looked a little pale. “Hey. I wanted to talk to you about this weekend. I’ve got to head out of town for a few days and wanted to make sure you could hold down the fort.”

“I can’t, Dad,” he said, grabbing some socks from his drawer. “I’m leaving tomorrow for this thing.”

“Well, shit.”

Justin glanced up and caught his dad’s worried expression. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just have to go to Boise. I’ll ask your brother if he can handle it,” his dad said, turning to leave the room.

“You sure you’re okay?” Justin detected something off, but unless his dad wanted to give up the information, there was nothing he could do. Fred Silverton was stubborn as hell.

“I’m fine, son. Have fun at your thing.” His craggy face broke into a grin and he asked, “This thing wouldn’t happen to be with a woman, would it?”

Justin shook his head. “Nope.”

Not yet.

“Hmmm, too bad. We could use a woman’s touch around here. I keep waiting for one of you to get serious with a girl, but you keep playing the field. You do realize by the time I was your age, your mother had already had both of you.”

“Yeah, Dad, we know,” Justin said, frowning at him. “You aren’t saying this shit to Everett, are you?”

“I know your brother has his demons, and no, I haven’t said a word to him,” he said, waving his hand. “But what’s your excuse?”

“I’m working on it,” he said, grinning. Before six in the evening, his dad was actually fun to be around, and Justin could almost forgive him for all the late-night bar rescues.

“Well, hurry up. I’m not gonna live forever, you know.”

“I don’t know. I’ve heard orneriness is better than taking a vitamin a day.”

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