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"I can understand that," I say syht by circuation to keep her and her dad afloat "But what about before you moved here?"
"H a dainty sip of her water "Let's seeI like to read--sci-fi and paranormal thriller stuff--and I used to spend a lot of ti a lot She's a Lab and loves the water, so we'd spend a lot of time at this local lake that was near my house"
"Where is she now?" I ask, intently curious now that for the first ti an easy conversation with h my head, and that's to hit her up hat she ht about loyalty to herself, but I instantly quash it It's not the time Maybe it won't ever be
Vale's eyes go sad and I have a sudden urge to reach out and grab her hand I curl e of the wooden table to resist as she says, "I had to leave her with Avery Todd wasn't a dog guy, but Avery gladly took her for me"
"Where is Avery these days?" I ask, a sudden flush of guilt going through me that not only do I not knohere Avery is, but I don't knohere Oliver is either We just simply lost touch
"She's still living in Sydney Married to a boat mechanic They have a little boy who's three"
"Wow," I say, aled when sometiether I cough slightly, al to ask because it lets Vale knofirmly behind "And what about Oliver?"
A knowing look filters into her eyes She's very much aware I haven't kept in touch with Oliver, yet I don't indicate any censure Instead, she leans forward in a conspiratorialinvolved with this uy and they would spend weekends on Cape Breton You know Oliver, it was just a screw to hiether, and because he really liked having his trophy wife on his arm, he just merely de, poor stud"
"And what did she do?" I ask, caught up in the juicy details of this forbidden affair
Relishing the power of her tale, Vale hunches forward a little more "Well, Oliver of course was just in it for the hot sex I mean, Nina is smokin', but she's also really nice too But she knew Oliver wasn't offering her any commitment, or at least he'd oodbye and went back to her loveless e"
"That's a sucky ending," I mutter
"But it's not the end," Vale says slyly, and sits back in the booth With an i to Avery, Oliver realized he loved her and marched up to their mansion on the bay, stormed inside, and carried Nina out over his shoulder"
"You're kidding?" I say, not able to see Oliver doing so like that It fills me up with respect for him
"Nope They gotbabies They'll be beautiful too"
We're interrupted when the waitress co I look to Vale "Mind if I just hang out here with you?"
She shakes her head and takes another bite of her salad I turn back to the waitress "I'll just have a burger and fries And a Coke"
"Have that out in a jiff," she says, and scurries off
"So Oliver's still in Sydney?" I ask as I turn back to Vale
"He is now They had actually moved to upstate New York where Nina's from, but then decided he o He'ssupply warehouse Nina is a receptionist at a veterinary clinic"
"Wow," I say in wonder, a sudden feeling of re me I've missed so much
"You should give hi my mind "He'd love to hear from you"
Weirdly, an odd sense of hope and exciteh me In theto the Cold Fury, I've been reconnected tolife I had good friends, even better times, and despite the way our paths veered apart, the possibility of having theeth
er makes me feel uniquely joyous
"You know, I think I will," I say as the waitress returns with my Coke
Vale gives a tinkling laugh, the very one I remember froain and says, "So, I'll tell you more about the whole Nina scandal There was a rumor her rich, old husband had soot started up, but for the longest time after Oliver carried her out of the house, ere all convinced he was going to sith the fishes or so You should have seen Oliver"
I sit there and listen to Vale Her voice is light, carefree, and melodic I let her fill me in on the details of et swept away in the memories
Chapter 12